U.S. Army Engineers in the Gulf War
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war.56 T h e Corps' emphasis shifted quickly to constructing facilities for
redeployment, and construction expenditures dropped dramatically.
T h e redeployment of equipment and personnel began with the XVIII
Airborne Corps, followed rapidly by VII Corps. Redeployment officially began
on 10 March. By the end of May, more than 365,000 soldiers from the two
corps had left the theater, at an average rate of 5,000 soldiers a day, faster than
personnel had entered.57
Engineer operations shifted to construction projects for redeployment,
especially vehicle washing facilities and hardstands for staging the equipment
before and after it was cleaned. The U.S. Department of Agriculture insisted
that all equipment be thoroughly cleaned before it was returned home to
prevent importing crop-infesting insects. Dust palliative was required at the
wash racks because the cleaned equipment and vehicles could not be parked
back in the dust while awaiting shipment to the United States or Europe.
Staging areas and wash racks for military vehicles became the dominant
c o n s t r u c t i o n requirement. Contractors and troops established wash sites at
Dammam, Dhahran (where the VII Corps would redeploy), Jubail, and King
Khalid Military City (where the XVIII Airborne Corps would redeploy). The
plan called for 80 wash points at an estimated cost of .6 million, but this was
later revised to provide 60 wash points at King Khalid Military City at an
estimated cost of .6 million.
Soldiers clean vehicles at a wash rack in Saudi Arabia.
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