The soldiers and officers of A/40th Field Artillery MLRS began preparations for deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield months before we, and the other 25,000 3rd Armored Division soldiers, received orders to deploy from our bases in the Hanau, Gelnhausen, Giessen and Frankfurt in Germany to the Middle East. In November of 1990 we loaded our vehicles and MLRS rocket launchers on rail cars for transport to the port in Antwerp, Belgium. Several A/40th soldiers stayed with our equipment all the way from the local rail-head, through Antwerp, the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and on to the Saudi Arabian port of Dammam. Physically, emotionally and logistically preparing for combat deployment is a marvel in itself, let alone surviving actual combat operations. When A/40th MLRS and 3rd Armored Division received official orders to deploy from Europe to Saudi Arabia, the mighty American industrial complex and production capacity kicked into overdrive. New equipment, parts, supplies and replacement soldiers flooded into the 3rd Armored Division, filling personnel and equipment gaps to well beyond division capacity. War materiel was so plentiful that whole battalions of Armor, Calvary and Mechanized Infantry were deploying without their M1A1
Abrams tanks and Bradley's IFV's. Literally battalions worth of brand new equipment were already being shipped from the U.S. to ports in Saudi Arabia. A week before our equipment was due in Dammam, Saudi Arabia; A/40th boarded an Air Force C-141 for the ‘hop’ to the Middle East. We flew out of Rhein Main AFB in Frankfurt, Germany on December 29, 1990: It was in the low 30's, cold and raining. Next stop, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East: The last place on Earth any of us thought we would ever visit, much less be deployed for possible combat. We had been focused on Russia for decades. It was about 0900 when we poured out of the back of the U.S. C-141 and it was already over 100 degrees!
40th Field Artillery, MLRS - Deep Strike!
Reginald Bruce appears to be a bit of a tight fit in the transport ship's berthing quarters.
The transport ship in Antwerp, Belgium appears to be fully loaded: Next stop: Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Patrick uses a line and hook to fish aboard the ship. I can't even catch one at the grocery store!
Scott Johnson fights the boredom on the ship sharpening his bayonet and pondering the future.
Paul Rogers notes, "when going to war, you can't be picky about your beer." The Beast...
Patrick Wagner has a stiff talk with 'Johnnie Walker,' to pass the evening abord ship.
Doug Nance is near the bow of the transport ship. See the land in the distance?
A transport ship in Antwerp, Belgium loads A/40th and 3AD vehicles and equipment.
Doug Nance took this picture of a city while passing through the Suez Canal.
Farming along the Suez Canal. Notice how close the bank is to gauge the narrowness of the canal.
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Operation Desert Shield
A/40th Deploys To The Middle East
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