Desert Shield

By R. R. Keene - Originally published in October 1990

Like the sudden sand storms notorious in the region, events in the Middle East gulf states have blown into a major confrontation, with Marines entering the apex of the storm.

Iraqi President Saddam (whose name means "confrontation" in Arabic) Hussein fired the guns of August during his nation's blitz into neighboring Kuwait on August 2.

That triggered nearly unanimous condemnation by the United Nations and a massive military response by the United States: Operation Desert Shield, which not only shielded Saudi Arabia, the suspected next "domino," but also placed an American military umbrella of approximately 100,000 air, ground and naval forces in the region, so rapidly that it surprised everyone except the most optimistic of military planners.

While most American forces quickly fielded troops in the area, planners struggled with the logistical problems of maintaining equipment in the sand, and opening supply lines (especially those carrying water) to troops facing 110 degree heat on deserts that see less than four inches of rain annually.

The Navy/Marine combination which makes up the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF), has, for more than a decade, been preparing to enter into situations of this nature, almost self-contained. They faced this largest deployment of U.S. troops in almost a quarter of a century, as a matter of course.

On August 11, spokesmen from Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps announced that elements of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, headquartered at Marine Corps Base (MCB), Camp Pendleton, Calif., were deploying "East of Suez."

(For old-timers who've been away from the Corps for more than a decade, a quick, but by no means definitive, lesson in the MAGTF concept may be in order. Marine expeditionary forces are organized to be self-contained for 30 days or more. The smallest MAGTF component is the Marine expeditionary unit (MEU), composed of an infantry battalion, combat service support element and a composite aviation squadron.

Three MEUs make up a Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB), and three MEBs equal a Marine expeditionary force (MEF). The Marine Corps has three MEFs-one on each U.S. coast and a third in the Pacific. Experts say the beauty of this combat structure is that units can deploy to operate alone, can be interchanged, and can, as in the present situation, come together as a whole.)

I MEF includes California-based elements of the First Marine Division, First Force Service Sunnort Oroun (ESSG) at Camn Pendleton: the Third Marine Aircraft Wing (3d MAW), headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Calif.; the 7th MEB, from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), Twentynine Palms; and the 1st MEB, based at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. These units eventually linked up with elements of 4th MEB, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., which includes units from the Second Marine Division and 2d FSSG at MCB, Camp Lejeune; and the 2d MAW at MCAS Cherry Point and MCAS New River, all in North Carolina.

It came to a total of 40,000-strong, commanded by Lieutenant General Walter E. Boomer, who assumed command of the MEF on August 8.

The MEF came with more than numbers. Maritime prepositioning came into its own during the 1980s, staging the tools of war aboard roll-on/ roll-off ships at strategic locations throughout the world. August 15 saw Maritime Prepositioned Squadron 2 (MPS-2) ships off-loading in Saudi Arabia with supplies for two Marine brigades who were being air-lifted into the Saudi Eastern Lowlands.

Five more MPS ships were ordered in from the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, and four ships set sail from Guam to await I MEF. In their holds were tanks, artillery, vehicles, bullets, "beans" and precious water that Marines would need not only to survive, but to fight, if need be, under any conditions.

From across the Atlantic, an amphibious task force of B ships carrying the remaining elements of I MEF also ferried more assault vehicles, tanks, artillery and supplies. Additionally, the air-combat element of the MEF filled space on the flight decks of the assault ships with vertical take-off and landing AV8-B "Harrier" jets; AH1 "Cobra" helicopter gunships and tank killers; OV-10 "Bronco" aircraft for aerial reconnaissance; CH-46 "Sea Knight" and CH-53 "Sea Stallion" helicopters for troop and cargo hauling, and UH1 "Huey" helicopters for gunships or medical evacuation.

Flying trans-Atlantic and refueling in mid-air to reach bases ashore in the Middle East or onboard the nuclear aircraft carriers were the Corps' F/A-18 "Hornet" fighters-attack aircraft and A-6 "Intruder" attack-bombers.

In related support, the U.S. Navy activated the hospital ships Mercy, based at Oakland, Calif, and Comfort, home-ported in Baltimore.

The Comfort's complement of medical personnel was augmented by 400 doctors, nurses, corpsmen, medical service and medical supply men and women from the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., who left from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., August 21, to join Comfort when it docked in Spain, en route to the Persian Gulf region.

While U.S. Navy warships have medical facilities that can handle almost all emergencies, these hospital sister ships can provide medical care to American and allied soldiers, airmen and Marines, as well as civilians caught up in war or natural disasters.

Navy press releases pointed out that the hospital ships are unique for several reasons. Both are converted crude oil tankers that each displace 69,000 tons with 894-foot hulls, making their decks capable of accommodating the largest helicopters ferrying injured or sick to treatment.

Each ship has a medical military detachment of 1,162 personnel. Each contains 12 operating rooms, and between the two, they have a patient capacity of 2,000 beds. (The average hospital has a 300-bed capacity.) Additionally, each ship has radiological services, medical laboratories, oxygen-producing capabilities, an optometry lab, pharmacy, and morgue.

By late August, speculation that the hospital ships might be needed arose as more than the desert started getting hot.

Saddam Hussein took foreigners as hostages, calling them "guests" and placing them in accommodations near areas likely to be targeted if the world retaliated against his country.

U.S. Air Force pilots on patrol in F-15 "Eagle" fighters over Saudi airspace said they'd been fired on by Iraqis flying Soviet-made MiG-23 fighters.

Claiming Kuwait to be part of Iraq, Hussein ordered foreign diplomats to abandon their embassies by August 24. On August 23, the State Department, citing the facts that Marine security guards at the embassy in Kuwait City could not hold off the whole Iraqi army and that the Marines had destroyed all classified material, ordered the detachment to accompany 110 diplomats and their dependents to Baghdad.

It also ordered the American Ambassador to Kuwait, W. Nathaniel Howell, and about 10 others to remain behind to assist the estimated 2,500 Americans still trapped in Kuwait. On Friday, August 24, Iraqi troops surrounded 19 foreign legations in Kuwait.

Also on August 24, the Pentagon began to call up 49,703 military Reservists. The Marine Corps held the option to call up a portion of its Reserve in abeyance. Captain Linda Western, a Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps spokeswoman read the following: "The Secretary of the Navy has been given the authority to order to active duty up to 3,000 members of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve.

"At this time, the Marine Corps does not anticipate a requirement to activate any Reserve forces.

"This decision is in line with our consistent policy of organizing, training and equipping our active force for combat. The readiness of Marine forces allows us to deploy, employ, and sustain a Marine expeditionary force of some 45,000 Marines in Operation Desert Shield for at least 60 days.

"Our Reserve Marine forces are ready for combat to support this effort, and we will not hesitate to call on them should the need arise."

When the United Nations condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, an international force began to close on Iraq. In addition to an armada of approximately 30 ships flying U.S. national ensigns, neighboring Canada sent two destroyers and a supply ship.

From Europe, Britain sent a flotilla including a destroyer, two frigates, three mine sweepers, four support ships and two squadrons of fighterbombers. France sent seven ships including an aircraft carrier, and committed 180 paratroopers. Italy sent two frigates, two corvettes and one supply ship. Belgium added two mine hunters and a supply ship, and the Netherlands sent two frigates.

The Soviet Union had a destroyer and one support ship in the area. Australia contributed two guided-missile frigates and a supply ship, and tiny Bangladesh sent 1,200 troops.

Other Arab nations picked up their share: Egypt sent 4,000 troops across the Suez, Morocco sent 1,200, and Syria committed 2,000. The Gulf Cooperation Council, consisting of Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, had 10,000 troops in the area, in addition to Saudi Arabia's 65,000-man military.

All together, these forces faced-off against Saddam Hussein's military-the fourth largest in the world, with more than a million troops, 200,000 of whom are veterans of eight years of war with Iran. It is estimated that the Iraqi military had 160,000 men in Kuwait in August, backed by 1,500 tanks, Soviet- and French-made aircraft, an assortment of weaponry purchased from various world markets, Scud B missiles, and chemical weapons which they have demonstrated a willingness to use.

However, by August 25, reports were filtering outside the Iraqi-Kuwait borders of guerilla activity in Kuwait City, low-morale in the Iraqi ranks and signs that the naval embargo was taking effect.

Across the border in Saudi Arabia, more Marines continued to arrive. Compensating for the Iraqi numbers with technology, nearly unlimited supplies of equipment, and training, those involved in Operation Desert Shield were mastering the terrain and heat.