Robert Benfer grew up in the small
town of Kerrville, Texas, and joined the United States Army shortly
after high school. During his eight years of service as an
Electronic Intelligence Interceptor/Analyst, he worked missions in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Republic of Korea, Intelligence Center Pacific
(IPAC) at Camp Smith, Hawaii, Augsburg, Germany, and the ARCENT TCAE in
Saudi Arabia.
In
August of 1991, soldiers from the Iraqi Republican Guards invaded
the small Persian Gulf country of Kuwait with the intention of
stealing an entire country. As "Desert Shield"
turned to "Desert
Storm," a small group of soldiers were deployed
to the KTO to assist with the defeat of the invading army.
This group of soldiers from the 204th Military Intelligence
Battalion became known as the "Desert Storm Ruffians."
The Ruffians worked as targeting analysts in the
theatre level intelligence center known as the ARCENT TCAE.
They endured Scud attacks, suffocating smoke from oil well fires
ignited by retreating Iraqi forces, sudden sandstorms, tainted food
and water, snipers, and boredom. But the one thing they hadn't
counted on was the lasting effect from the horrors and the sheer
brutality of war that they witnessed.
The Ruffians were tasked with a difficult mission under difficult
conditions, and this book is based on their story.
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