118                                U,S. MARINES iN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991


ultimately coming up against the same impenetrable darkness and sandstorm that
had made the final assaults of Task Forces Ripper and Papa Bear so difficult.
At 2230, the division G-3, Lieutenant Colonel Humble, directed the task force
to laager in the oilfield and continue at first light.
    By midnight, the 1st Marine Division had achieved its primary objective,
cutting off the Kuwait International Airport. Enemy resistance had collapsed.
It only remained for Task Force Shepherd to move into position for the final
push to physical!y occupy the airport itself. Behind the mechanized task forces,
Task Force Grizzly succeeded in taking Al Jaber in a dawn attack by 2d
Battalion, 7th Marines. The infantrymen cleared the buildings. "With minimal
vocalization they quickly secured their objective," Sergeant Grow observed.1S4
    Task Force Grizzly spent the day carefully clearing every bunker in the
complex.   At 1500 Colonel Fulks felt satisfied the airfield was clear and
announced I MEF Objective A secure. Even before the declaration, however,
combat service support personnel arrived and installed a forward air refueling
point.
    Colonel Howard's artillery scheme of maneuver worked exactly as planned.
Leaving Battery A, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, to support Task Force Grizzly,
Colonel Howard leapfrogged the artillery north. By 1400 he had them placed
within range of Kuwait City and the airport.1S5
    Nevertheless, the close proximity of the task forces to the city, combined
with the poor visibility, left few opportunities to use artillery. The only notable
engagement of the day occurred at 0412 when 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, fired
79 RAP rounds at an enemy position spotted by observers from the 2d Marine
Division.  By  0630  the fire mission ended and the battalion       began  its
displacement north. First to move were Batteries R and S, followed three hours
later by the remaining batteries. In the regiment's shift north, one of the
regimental ammunition trucks struck an antipersonnel mine that disabled the
vehicle but caused no injuries.

                      G Plus 3, 27Februaiy 1991

    It took Task Force Shepherd three hours to find its way through the darkness
and reach the airport perimeter. Shepherd first moved south on the coastal
highway, then west along the perimeter hard-surface road to approach the airport
from the south side. As the LAYs moved in, Colonel Hodory relocated the 3d
Battalion, 9th Marines, to positions outside the fence-line, thus clearing an area
for Task Force Shepherd's assault. Observation of the airport with thermal sights
revealed enemy activity, but it was not until 0330 when Task Force Shepherd
neared the 3d Battalion's former position that the Iraqis reacted.  RPGs and
machine gun fire caused the night to come alive with bright yellow-orange
tracers and the flash of explosions. Mowever, the LAYs suffered no casualties
or vehicle hits and the firing gradually subsided.
    Myers ordered the two companies on line. At 0430 the attack began in
complete darkness with Company A on the left and Company C on the right.