Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 20, 1991 TAG: 9102200403
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On their reconnaissance probes north of the Saudi border Sunday, searching out possible pockets of resistance to any ground offensive by allied forces seeking to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, they rounded up 52 Iraqi prisoners using quickly improvised chopper tactics.
Capt. Michael Thome, the company commander who led the mission, told of finding two well-fortified Iraqi bunkers during the patrol. Speaking at a base in Saudi Arabia that cannot be identified because of the Pentagon's rules for reporters here, he said soldiers came out of the first with their hands in the air when the helicopter approached, and later, after the gunships fired near the bunker, a "very well dressed" captain came out to surrender, making 11 captives.
At a second bunker, 41 Iraqi soldiers surrendered, Thome said, after "we took the roof off."
Thome said that among the things seized from the bunkers were several cases of brand-new AK-47 assault rifles, still in their wrappings.
"A huge pole came out of the bunker and started waving a white flag," said Warrant Officer Charles Cunningham, an Apache attack helicopter pilot. "Another wounded guy we picked up, this guy had a white flag ready. He pulled it out of his shirt."
Nearby, mechanics replaced the protective tape over the blades of an Apache helicopter. The tape had been softened by an unexpected rain. Thome climbed back into his helicopter for another flight, pulling on a helmet painted in orange-and-black tiger stripes.
Warrant Officer Matt Thompson, another Apache pilot, said of the operation Sunday: "The Iraqis were dug in very well. All it looks like is a big rock pile. But having the optics we have, it stands right out."
Chief Warrant Officer Greg Keller, pilot of an observation scout helicopter, said: "This was an operation you could plan and practice forever, but we just did it. Everybody did the right thing."
Cunningham said: "They probably never saw an Apache before. It's so ugly." - The New York Times
by CNB