Summertime in Florida is a swell time. Again, it marks the start of hurricane season, hot days, hot nights, high humidity and the endearing sounds of female mosquitoes attacking you and your barbecue. I have also notice a general mood swing in the public- that of heightened irritation, aggravation and manners befitting barnyard animals. This was especially important to me, as I had been working as a police officer for the city of Boca Raton since 1981. By 1991, I had been firmly established for some time as a marine officer, which involved riding around in a boat all day. Okay, someone has to do it. I would usually work the day shift and be at home in the evenings eating dinner and watching the news. Usually, there would be the normal rapes, murder and mayhem that so delicately embrace the region; however, there was a budding interest in stories being filed from the Middle East. It seemed Iraq was creating a small global issue by walking into the small but oil-rich country of Kuwait. There have, of course, been moments of unhappiness in this region since the beginning of time. In fact, Iraq had just been at war with another neighbor, Iran, and was not playing well with other countries in the region. The surrounding Arab world was trying to reason with Saddam Hussein to pull his troops out and go home. The stories of atrocities being committed to the people of Kuwait began to expand into nightly news coverage. President George Bush was beginning to publicly condemn their actions, stating that the United States and its Allies demanded an immediate and total withdrawal from the region, and indicating that a diplomatic solution of the region’s problems must be reached. Hussein, however, indicated that he was not moving. Apparently, there were those in the Pentagon who knew, long before things began to manifest themselves, that we were going to be gearing up for a conflict with Iraq. One problem with this area was military intelligence- meaning we had little. Although we had our allies in the area, such as Israel, information was difficult to usurp from a culture quite foreign to ours.
The threats were getting more serious as the evening news was now devoting the majority of its coverage to an escalating situation. It was apparent that top negotiators were having no luck in convincing Iraq’s defense forces to leave. Instead, there were more invading troops following the road to Kuwait, with fortifications being developed and long term military provisions being put in place. At home, President Bush was now stating that he would be looking to the United Nations and allied forces to seek support should military action become necessary. Several of the nations indicated that they would love to help out. Our staunchest allies, the British, had some of the best desert fighters on the planet. We had an arsenal stockpile and new war toys that had never been battle tested.
Meanwhile, on the home front, everyone was asking the same question: Why should we get involved in someone else’s civil war? We were being told that we could not stand by while countless people suffered and died from injustices being delivered from such a menacing satanical force. It was generally assumed, however, that justification for military intervention actually would evolve around greed. After all, with the Middle East in turmoil, the flow of oil (the Babylonian whore?) could dwindle and obviously paralyze a nation based on mobility and comfort. Each night, efforts to peacefully resolve matters deteriorated. The war talk volume was getting louder. Some even wanted God to take sides, claiming this could become a “holy war”. Now, matters were becoming personal. The talk was that if the U.S. were to activate its military, there would be a need for reservists to supplement regular forces. At our drills, people were becoming more serious. We heard well- placed hints that if a deadline for a peaceful solution were to come and go without resolution that our unit could be in the mix. Then, there was the possibility that, if activated, we would simply remain stateside. Our unit would replace the staff at Fort Stewart, Georgia, while they went to war. But most of us decided that, if we had to be activated, then we would rather “pay our money and take our chances” overseas, even though we really didn’t want to be activated at all.
But peace was not breaking out as we had hoped. In fact, it became painfully evident that military action was eminent. Plans to put the big war machine into motion were now being executed.
One Wednesday evening, I sat in front of the television with great frustration, watching the drama unfold. Everyone at work was asking if we were going to be deployed. I had no answer. Every ring of the telephone caused a bit of minor panic. Finally, the phone rang with due cause. The voice told me that I was to report to the armory as soon as possible. I donned my uniform quickly and drove the distance, wondering if this was it. Upon arrival, I was told that I was to prepare the NBC equipment for transport. After inspection of the devices, it was decided that while the equipment had served well as training aids for the unit, it wasn’t designed to be real war material. So the paper work began, declaring all of our stock as
“unserviceable”. My conversations with the several other troops, who had also been brought in for the night detail, continued to hold out for a pre-war settlement. Or maybe, because this was hurricane season, Florida Governor Bob Martinez would find our state mission as a priority, and not throw us under the bus. I left the armory with no answers, but one of the sergeants from our higher headquarters who found himself attached to us stated that he didn’t believe that we would be going anywhere. The following night, I was back at the armory, again with the NBC equipment. The sergeant from the previous night approached me. “Remember what I told you guys about not being activated? Well, you can forget that.” Although not exactly what I wanted to hear, I had been listening to the news all day and I could have predicted this.
Our regularly scheduled drill weekend had arrived, but it