Duringthe PersianGulfWaragroupofAmericansoldiersscoopedup anew
recruitatRijaid Airport, thendrovehim, withblackenedheadlights, directly
across miles oftractless desertsand.Squintingtoward the horizon, hecould
see almost nothing when suddenly the driver mashed on the brakes, gave
him a quick salute, and instructed him to step out into the darkness. As
his bootssankintothesand, hewasstunned torealizethathewasonlyafew feet
away from the flap of his tent. Before setting out, the driver had keyed
the tent'scoordinates into a Navstar receiver, so itcould guide him back
again. No one knows exactly how many Navstar receivers ended up serving
coalition forces along the Persian Gulf because mothers and fathers-and
sweethearts, too-located a few stray units on the shelves of
marinesupply houses/plunked down their money, and express mailed them to
their loved ones in the Persian Gulf. A few resourceful soldiers called
stateside suppliers long distance, then used their credit cards to order
receivers, many of which arrived in Saudi Arabiaa
dayortwolateraboardcommercialjetliners. Bythe timetheground war finally
started, 4,000 to 7,000 Navstar receivers were clutched in the hands of
grateful American soldiers. They were used to guide fuel-starved
airplanes for linkups with aerial tankers, to pull in air strikes
against enemy emplacements, to guide mess trucks toward hungry troops,
and to vector Special Forcesunits intheir muffled dune buggies deep
behindenemylines. Afew enterprising military engineers learned how to
follow meandering goat trails so they could locate underground springs
where the goats wa- tered themselves. They then used their hand-held
Navstar receivers to record the precise coordinates of each spring, thus
insuring fresh water supplies for onrushing troops.
