With all of the above as a background, let me now share some of the activities of the CENTCOM Engineer Section.

Note that most component commands (ARCENT, MARCENT, AFCENT, NAVCENT) had their respective Engineer Section in its headquarters, and subordinate troop units had their own engineers. So what do CENTCOM Engineers do? We looked at engineering requirements from a theater perspective. Huge troop numbers required a huge amount of supplies that needed to be placed in warehouses and/or on hardstand. Airfields needed additional plane parking areas plus apron space plus turn pads plus enlarged refueling areas. Mortuaries had to be constructed. These requirements came up through the component commands for our action.

With DESERT STORM being the most major military operation since Korea, there were lots of offers to "help." I can only assume that CENTCOM felt it had the resources it needed to accomplish its mission and did not need the added effort it would require to host incoming generals from various commands who would need to be briefed and accommodated in other manners, so it obtained a decree that no GO's were allowed it the theater. This included Corps of Engineers generals, so we ended up meeting in Bahrain. I did my best to answer their questions and address any concerns they might have raised, though I do not remember any major actions generated by those meetings.

Early on, there was a request that was generated through Army channels to ARCENT for about $30 million and it was funded by Congress. Of course that made the question of, "Why aren't the Saudi's funding our support?" get a lot of attention. Soon CENTCOM was collecting estimated transportation, food, fuel, and construction costs for the initial deployment, for the build up phase, and for upcoming combat operations. So we worked at building the cost estimate for theater level construction operations. I think the number we (the CENTCOM Engineers) came up with was around $600 million dollars. And I think the cost estimate for everything was something like $1.7 billion.

So one day I found myself in a large conference room with high ranking officers of the Saudi government and our forces. A special team had been sent in from the US to negotiate the compensation package. It was headed by a Corps of Engineers two star who had previously working in The Kingdom. He was a good choice because persons of Arab nations believe strongly in personal relationships. The American concept of two men meeting, shaking hands, and then immediately "getting down to business" is just not the Arab way. There is first a discussion about family, friends, weather, etc., and . . . finally . . . business. Maybe they have something there.

The conference table where the negotiations were to take place was perhaps 20 feet long with the Saudis sitting on one side and the American delegation and other Americans sitting on the other side. As the person who generated the construction estimate I had a seat at the table, and - considering my relatively low position - I sat down at the very end. As the various parties were introduced and the required small talk was being made, I began writing a letter to Bonnie. At some point it was time for the America delegation to present its claim for expenses, and this got my full attention.

When the Americans claimed $1.7 billion, the Saudis conferred briefly in Arabic and then came back with a number less than half that amount. Upon hearing the Saudi response, the American negotiator said "Okay" and I nearly fell off my chair. The previous night someone should have taken that man down to the local rug merchant to help him remember how to haggle. He should have pretended to do some elaborate calculations on scrap paper and respond with something like, "If that is all you can provide in support then we will have to pull six fighter squadrons, an aircraft carrier, three Army divisions and half a Marine division out of the theater." That, or something like it, would have, in my opinion, gotten the Saudis to agree to our reimbursement request or at least to something much closer to what we asked for. (Of course I was not privy to what guidance our American negotiator had been given.)

But, at any rate, we did get an agreement of support from the Saudi's that included money for construction. Therefore once a week I would meet with a Saudi Brigadier General and take projects to him that we needed to have done to support the theater effort. (These were projects that were brought up to the CENTCOM Engineer Office from the engineer offices of the component commands. My office reviewed the projects and essentially approved all of them.)

Our meetings followed the Arabic customs that I noted earlier: I was offered tea and we spoke of family, weather, and similar topics for a while before getting down to business. One thing I learned was that if I finished my tea, which was served in very nicely decorated small porcelain cups on porcelain saucers, that I would be immediately offered more tea. I had to be careful or I would find myself bloated and sorely needing a bathroom call.

This scenario repeated itself every time I visited the general's office except for one time. I must have arrived looking rushed or extra busy or something like that. I began with something like, "Well, General, how are you and your family?" He responded, "They are fine but today we can do business the American way. What projects do you have for me?" He being ready to get down to business brought me a smile.

Around the time we were received the approval from the Saudi government for construction projects to support the war effort, we received news that the Japanese had established a Gulf Peace Fund that we could also access for construction projects. The Gulf Peace Fund, to my knowledge, received no publicity, yet the magnitude of this initiative - at least from a military construction perspective - was enormous. It expedited all the work we needed to get done because the funds were already there. A seond GOLD STAR for Japan.

Soon, therefore, the projects being brought up to the CENTCOM Engineer Office from the component commands were not being referred to the Saudi's but were being approved using Gulf Peace Fund monies.

Since these funds did not have to be approved by the Saudi's I have to conclude that CENTCOM wanted to ensure that the funds were really being spent appropriately. Therefore I had to brief the Gulf Peace Fund projects to the Deputy CENTCOM Commander on a weekly basis. It turned out that I knew him and he knew me from when he was a division commander in Europe and I was the engineer brigade commander in the same corps. He was a fine commander in all respects, but the truth was that he did not have much knowledge of engineer theater construction and I suspect he trusted me. So our meetings were mostly pro forma, and that was fine with both of us.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there were limitations on what Gulf Peace Fund monies could be used for. They were to be used for PEACE, not WAR. So, for example, I would draft project that was for "4,000 square meters of placed concrete" that would be approved, but somehow in the process those 4,000 square meters of placed concrete became "A-10 Combat Turn Pads" for rapid refueling.

In total, Japan provided over 36 million dollars for theater construction efforts to support US Forces. Super great! And we provided oversight on these projects from an office of eight.

No, I did not spend all my time getting project approvals. I found time to go out and visit some of the sites where construction was going on. The visits were always very interesting and I was so proud of the engineers, both active duty and reserve, who were putting forth great efforts to support the coming war effort.

What else did Americans do in their spare time? Well they sure created a ton of Gulf War humor, and I have appended some of it to this site.

Meanwhile CENTCOM had negotiated with the Saudi's and obtain a fairly large military compound that had a lot of room for building and also for a dining facility. So the engineer section moved there, and the facilities were pretty decent. The food was also good. As a colonel, I had my own room in one of the billeting areas, and other Engineer Office personnel were "double bunked" in nearby rooms. It turned out that the mess arrangements also involved meal tickets, but the Saudi owner of the food service operations also had a restaurant not too far away the honored the tickets. Well, there was still no accountability for the tickets and so everyone always had a handful. When things were slow we would go out to the restaurant. Our first order, for five of us would be for something like 18 beers! Drinking "regular" beer was not allowed, but it was okay to drink the no alcohol version and that's what we did. They sure did taste good after a hard day. (No, with Bonnie home raising two kids and maintaining a household, I didn't tell about these times of relaxation, though I know she would have approved.)

The Saudis also picked up our phone bills, and so we all got to call home weekly at no cost - sweet. Sometimes War is Hell.

In the November time frame, as I recall, the J4 Section under MG Dane Starling, a Transportation Corps officer, got a Deputy J4. He was BG Pat Stevens, a Corps of Engineers general officer. I asked General Stevens, once he arrived, if he was there to be the new CENTCOM Engineer, and he said no. And so my 'business' continued as before. (DESERT STORM was going to be a short war, as compared to Vietnam where there was an Engineer Command headed by a two-star general who had a large staff to assist his efforts. Nonetheless, it was my opinion, before, during, and after DESERT STORM; that the CENTCOM Engineer should be a Special Staff Officer of the command and not a subordinate office of the J4.) MG Dane Starling, bless his heart (he passed away in May, 2009) just did not know much about engineering, and I sensed he somewhat distrusted engineers. At any rate the good news was that that there was now a Corps of Engineers general officer on the CENTCOM Staff.

POW Camps for Iraqi Prisoners
In the days leading up to Desert Storm, it became apparent that US forces would likely capture a l..a..r..g..e number of Iraqi soldiers, and that we would need to provide for this contingency. So a Military Police Brigade was activated from the reserves - a brigade that had the mission of operating POW camps. Of course the nature and size of this mission was something that the US military had not experienced since WWII, and - as a matter of fact - most of the documentation on how to handle and process POWs came from this era. Since POW camps would be something that the International Red Cross would inspect, there was a fair amount of attention to doing things right. So all of this occasioned a number of meetings between the US Army MP Brigade, the Army warfighting headquarters ARCENT, and their respective Saudi counterparts. First question: How many POWs might we have? We didn't know, but thought the number might be as high as 200,000. However, for planning, we started with 100,000. "No problem," said the MPs as they pulled out their manuals. "For that many POWs we'll need 27 miles worth of barbed wire to construct the camps." While we were there with our mouths open, they continued with the requirements according to their manuals. "... and each POW will need at least one change of clothes so we'll need 200,000 orange jumpsuits; 100,000 slippers; 100,000 sets of bedding; and 100,000 sets of NBC masks and protective gear (Hey, the International Red Cross requires that we protect captured combatants)." The camp would also need lights on the perimeter so there were umpty thousand lights and wiring and generators to power it all. And then there is daily food and water for 100,000 prisoners and the kitchen equipment to prepare and serve it. "And, by the way, we're going to expect some type of recreational equipment like soccer balls because the IRC will want to see that we are giving the POWs the opportunity to exercise." And then there was the issue of sanitation, as in "we'll need enough porta potties to serve 100,000, and since their culture is such that they are very modest people, you will have to find some options other than gang showers and toilets." It was interesting to attend these meetings and watch as the MPs would bring in more requirements every time, and we would all sit in silence watching the Saudi's reaction.

Some Iraqi POW-Related Information from the Defense Technical Information Center:
On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Almost five months later, after numerous attempts to get Saddam Hussein to peacefully withdraw his forces from Kuwait and abide with the United Nations Security Councils Resolutions, the United States and its other 35 Arab and non-Arab coalition allies began the war to liberate Kuwait. After 38 days of around-the-clock bombing and 100 hours of devastating ground combat, the fourth largest army in the world had been driven out of Kuwait and soundly defeated. By the end of the war, 3,700 of 4,280 battle tanks, 2,600 of 3,110 assorted artillery pieces, and 2,400 of 2,870 assorted other armored vehicles were destroyed. Additionally, up to 42 Iraqi divisions were either destroyed, captured, or rendered combat ineffective. Finally, over 69,000 enemy prisoners of war EPW, the largest number of EPWs captured and interned by the United States since World War II, were captured and turned over to Saudi control.
My Comments:
1. During the planning dicussions, the Military Police Brigade used the acronym EPW. At first the Saudis, who all spoke English, did not comment, but soon asked, "What are EPWs?" The answer was "Enemy Prisoners of War." Ooops, we then learned that they did not like the term "Enemy." Even though we were about to go to war on them, the Saudis preferred "detainees."
2. I did not visit the Saudi POW Camp, but I have no doubt that it was no more than one single strand of barbed wire, some very basic food such as rice, and very rudimentary cookware with the Iraqi "detainees" providing their own mess kits.

I did find time to write my 1990 Christmas Letter and others playing in the sandbox must have had a lot of free time because there was a lot of DESERT STORM humor floating around.

The air campaign began in mid-January, and we all were pleased by the regular reports of US and Coalition successes. There must have been a lag in engineer business, because I found time to write a Valentine's Day letter to be sent home.

Meanwhile, back in Tampa the city was preparing for SuperBowl XXV on January 27. Despite fears of terrorism the event went off without a hitch. The Half Time show featured children of DESERT STORM military personnel, and Bonnie had been driving Robert and Anne back and forth for daily rehearsals for at least three weeks. That also went off very smoothly.

Eventually it became D-Day H-Hour for the ground campaign. The Engineer Section went to 24-hour-a-day operations, but while field engineers were fully engaged with their units in combat operations, an Engineer Section at Theater level has already done what it can, and we had done a lot: hardstands for storing supplies, large warehouses, extensive enlargements and improvements to Saudi airfields. At any rate, it was over in 100 hours. I spoke to an engineer colleague who had been with a troop unit. Saddam's soldiers would run up to them waving white flags to surrender. Of course surrendered enemy soldiers had to be guarded, segregated by rank, provided water and food, and moved to a POW holding area. He said it got so they would tell the surrendering Iraqis to come back tomorrow - they already had their fill of EPWs for the day.

Did I drive up into Iraq to see battle damage for myself? No. Did I want to? Yes. But my transportation would have been that Japanese Toyota, and to leave Bonnie a widow with four children to raise because some American got nervous and shot up the vehicle would have been dumb on my part.

This is a just a brief vignette; no need to read it. But I do want to make note of a Military Police company. I don't know the unit designation, or where it was from, or if it were an active duty or reserve unit. All I know is that this company had the mission of securing the building that housed, among other staff activities, the CENTCOM Engineer Section. Q: "What do you do in the First Gulf War, daddy?" A: "I was in the city of Riyadh and I spent nine months checking vehicles and people coming into a small compound with one six story building." Checking essentially the same people and vehicles every day. What a boring job. Yet they did it faithfully and professionally. Twenty-four hours a day. Day after day. Your vehicle got the same thorough check on Day 1 as it got after the war ended and on the last day you were in country. Once I even saw the company's First Sergeant pulling duty at the checkpoint. He told me he did this occasionally to give a soldier a break. No, we never had a security breech on our city compound. In their own way they were DESERT STORM heroes.

With the war over, what did we do? We probably had some meetings to talk about what went right and what needed to be improved. The Chief of Engineers Office sent a Historian to recreate a record of engineer actions. We did some running and other exercises that were needed to get us back in shape as the wartime scenario for a staff officer of long days and nights mostly at a desk is not the healthiest of atmospheres. I also wrote two more letters, March 10 and March 23.

Eventually it was "fly home day." The plane was a Boeing 747 decorated with yellow ribbons, US flags and other DESERT STORM color graphics. To the best of my knowledge, those who arranged that flight thought it would be returning the victorious General Schwarzkopf back to the USA. Actually, the general and his primary staff members had departed about ten days previously on the military transport that Schwarzkopf used as his flying headquarters. So, golly gee, the most senior staff officers on that plane were colonels. Yep, yours truly flew home in an oversized and spacious lounge chair in the luxurious upstairs First Class seating area. We had a refueling stop at Ramstein AFB in Germany, and they also thought General Norm would be on board so they laid out a feast. Not wanting to seem impolite, we gobbled it up with great gratitude.

Finally we landed at MacDill AFB. Bonnie and the kids were there to greet me. If the truth were known, Bonnie had those months much harder than mine, and she was the real trooper of the family.