Page 63 - 100 Hours to Destiny

2/24/1991 @ 0300 hours

Captain Pollard suddenly burst over the net, “All Delta elements, this
is Delta 6, standby to move.” And right then and right there, chills ran down
my spine. I knew by listening to Captain Pollard's briefing less than 24 hours
ago that at 0300 we would move the 15 clicks to the line of departure. What
this meant to Delta Company was that for the very first time we were just
moments away from pushing past the gates of Saudi Arabia at OP4 and
would enter into the Country of Kuwait, which at this time was enemy
th
territory; occupied by the 5 largest army in the world – the Army of Iraq.
“Witcher, fire up the Hogg and standby to move on my command.”
And with a hand that felt like a 100-pound weight was tied around it for
some strange reason, I reached up to the ignition toggle switch and further
activated 275 Turbo Charged HP of Detroit diesel; The Hogg fired right off of
course and began to harmonically balance as the turbo wound up. I thought
to myself what a magnificent sound.
Over the net the Executive Officer of Delta Company, 1stLt Scott
Williams piped in and reiterated the fact that indeed we were stepping off
into enemy territory and to be prepared, by happenchance, we engage
hidden enemy sappers. “Remember Gentlemen, from here nothing is
guaranteed. Get on your toes and stay there until further instructed.” The
net came alive with various Marines from Delta Company sounding off,
“Oorah! Semper Fi! Get Some Sir!” 1stLt Williams responded, “Delta
Company be advised I’ve got air on station in the case that we run into
trouble… and we’ll kill ‘em all!” The net just burst with the sound of Hounds
– the Teufel Hunden came alive on the net, far more aggressively than
before.
American Hero Gunner, Sgt Terry Davis was given the honors by
Captain Pollard to initiate the advance of Delta Company 3D Light Armored
Infantry through the gates of OP4, “Delta Company this is American Hero. fall
into position. We are Oscar Mike at this time.” And so, it began, the slow roll
in the early morning hours. Second to fall in Missile Magnet, the LAV-C2, the
XOs vehicle.
“Go!!!” came the order from GySgt Steven Dell. “And pull down with
your right hand three times, hard right, OK. 50 meters. Pull down with your
left. Do you see the 1stLt?”
“Affirmative Gunny. I’m picking him up on the fishbowl perfectly.”
“Stay back about 20 meters but get in his tracks.”
As I stayed focused on Missile Magnet, I could hear the rest of Delta
Company piping off sequentially as each and every variant found its place