WrrH THE 1ST MARINE DIVISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM           Ill


wind that blew sand and oil over every exposed object and Marine. By 1609
battalion gunners had destroyed eight BTRs.
   Three minutes later, Colonel Fulford directed Lieutenant Colonel Mattis to
conduct a hasty breach of the minefield. Like a released spring, Team Mech and
Team Tank immediately jumped off and began breaching operations. Team
Mech's combat engineers with their M60A1 tanks and AAVs moved into
position and fired line charges to open three lanes. Suddenly, 200 meters away,
two Iraqi tanks emerged from out of the smoke and attempted to beat back the
combat engineers. Team Tank's gunners spotted the enemy attack and destroyed
the two tanks before they could do any damage.
   Covered by a curtain of .50-caliber fire from AAVs, tanks, and CAAT
teams, the combat engineers successfully fired line charges across the obstacle
belt. Yet, in what had become a typical experience, each charge failed to
detonate by remote control. A combat engineer ran over the exposed desert to
manually prime the line charge. This unnerving task had to be done three times,
but within a short period Team Mech successfully opened three lanes. Team
Tank added two lanes of its own and Mattis launched the battalion through.
Penetrating the minefield collapsed the Iraqi defense. Pushing north Lieutenant
Colonel Mattis ordered planned artillery fire against known enemy positions and
(especially after the earlier experience) against every quarry encountered.
   The persistent wind gradually increased in intensity to become a raging sand
storm. That combined with smoke and darkness made the final movement to the
highway a blind grope. Mattis dismounted the infantry for the last assault and,
in pitch black darkness and blowing sand, the battalion took up a position about
700 meters south of Kuwait City and 400 meters west of the airport perimeter
No one saw the city on the other side of the ~~g~~~y~1'S
   The advance of Task Force Ripper ultimately exposed its right flank. With
1st Battalion, 7th Marines, heavily engaged in clearing the obstacle belt, at 1620
Colonel Fulford asked General Myatt to launch Task Force Papa Bear's attack.
Ten minutes later Papa Bear crossed Phase Line Diane. Visibility deteriorated
as the task force moved into the same weather conditions confronting Task Force
Ripper's Marines. Unit  commanders    found themselves fighting     problems
generated by circumstances and the environment as much as they did the enemy.
The position location and reporting system (PLRS) suddenly went out when the
master station relocated to keep pace with the rapid advance.      Normally,
operations officers used the global positioning system to cover periods when
PLRS failed to work; however, it also failed. Commanders immediately returned
to standard desert navigation techniques using compasses and constant odometer
checks. That worked to a point. Papa Bear's advance took it into the heart of the
Magwa Oil field (which made up the northern part of the Al Burqan Ojlfield)
complex of wells, over-ground pipes, and power lines. Frequent twists and turns
got the task force around most obstacles but challenged navigational abilities.
Unfortunately, smoke, blowing sand, and darkness obscured terrain features,
making progress slow and halting.
   Task Force Papa Bear remained channeled by the burning wells and above-
ground pipe lines. Colonel Hodory organized the task force into two columns.