TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/090390/09030110.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 4KB | 80 lines

                                                                                THE GULF, Page 28

In the Heat of the Desert



    The young sergeant is lying prone in the sand, the butt of
his M-16 rifle tucked against his shoulder. It is late
afternoon in the Saudi Arabian desert. The sergeant's squad is
manning a defensive line while several officers scout the top
of a nearby hill. The officers are deciding where to position
antitank weapons that could turn the road below into a shooting
gallery if an Iraqi armored column moves along it.

    The 250 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne's Second Infantry
Brigade are in their third day of training in the desert heat.
Before their arrival they had been warned that they might go
into combat as soon as their planes landed. Now they are
finding it hard to adjust to the waiting game as U.S. troops
stream into the country and Iraq's army settles into defensive
positions in Kuwait. "A lot of my men feel like we're wasting
time," says the sergeant. "That's the basic consensus: Let's
get the show on the road or get out of here. You know, we
thought the 82nd Airborne was coming over to save Kuwait. And
here we are, just sitting."

    After the sun has set and the temperature slips from 110
degrees to 95 degrees, the troops reassemble for their first
nighttime march. A cooling breeze begins to blow across the
desert, making the harsh terrain suddenly seem soft and
welcoming. The men head for a road 1 1/2 miles away, where they
plan to practice digging in for an ambush. There is no talking
and no illumination except for starlight. In the darkness the
silhouettes ahead could belong to a band of desert nomads. A
hundred yards away a herd of camels shuffles by, urged on by
its Bedouin master as he gruffly shakes his crop at an American
photographer.

    "They tell us we'll be here about a year," says a private.
"We're being told to expect to fight in about 30 days -- as
soon as all the guys are here. By mid-September we should have
about 100,000 troops. They're telling us to expect to take
Kuwait." He adds that the troops have been told that if Saddam
Hussein withdraws from Kuwait, the 82nd will go home without
fighting. "I hope that's what he'll do," says the private. "If
we go into Kuwait, I'm going to die."

    The soldiers volunteer that there are no bullets in their
M-16s. Three days ago, while traveling by bus to the barracks
where the Second Brigade is stationed, a staff sergeant in
another company fired a 9-mm pistol round into his helmet,
which was on the floor of the bus at the time. No one has an
explanation for the incident. But after it, the troops were
quickly ordered to turn in all but an emergency supply of
ammunition.

    Soon the men reach what seems to be their destination. Two
soldiers begin digging a position from which they could fire
a 5.56-cal. machine gun at approaching Iraqi vehicles. But
another soldier appears out of the darkness and tells the
machine gunners that their platoon has ended up in the wrong
place. It is too close to the road. In fact, it turns out that
the platoon would be in the fire zone if the 82nd were to
launch a mortar attack.

    Eventually the men find their way to safer ground. The
company commander explains that the platoon's lieutenant is
new. "It's good to get him out here to practice," he says
dryly. Observes the sergeant: "It's a small price to pay to be
one of America's finest."


By Jay Peterzell/Saudi Arabia.