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Operation DESERT SHIELD
Operation DESERT SHIELD is the name, assigned by a United
States-led coalition of nations, which
joined to defendSaudi Arabia afterIraq, under the orders
ofSaddam Hussein, invaded and
occupied Kuwait. In Kuwait, the Iraqi military was a clear and
present threat to Saudi Arabia. While it
was unlikely that the Saudi military could stop an Iraqi
invasion, the idea of having foreigners, especially
non-Arab, non-Muslim forces enter the Kingdom was alarming to
the conservative monarchy, heading
an Islamic state underIslamic law.
Eventually, however, the King decided to be joined by a
coalition of nations in defending his country.The largest force in
the Coalition was from the United States, and there were delicate
issues ofrespecting the leadership of the Saudi military, while
having the most experienced command and staff.
A high-level U.S. delegation, including Secretary of DefenseDick
Cheney, United States CentralCommand commander GEN H Norman
Schwarzkopf Jr., and others met with the King, and
obtainedagreement to defend Saudi Arabia.
While it had been hoped that the strong defensive coalition,
combined with diplomacy, might convince
Saddam to withdraw, those measures failed to liberate Kuwait.
After aUnited Nationsdeadline passed,an intense air campaign,
Operation DESERT STORM disrupted Iraqi command and controland
causedserious damage to the Iraqi military. Eventually, however, a
100-hour land operation, OperationDESERT SABRE, ejected the Iraqis
from Kuwait.
Defense of Saudi ArabiaIt took negotiation at the highest levels
before the Saudis agreed to have foreign troops in their
country.KingFahd asked for a briefing on August 4, and agreed to
the deployment on August 6.
On August 7, OPERATION DESERT SHIELD formally began.[1]Once
there was approval, the first unitsthat arrived were United States
Air ForceF-15 Eagleair superiority fighters and E-3 Sentryearly
warningradarand air battle command post aircraft. The Saudis
themselves operated versions of bothaircraft types. There appears
to have been initial surprise by the Saudis on the size of the
groundsupport organization needed just for these aircraft.
Aircraft carriers and warships capable of launching cruise
missilesdeployed to international waters. Thefirst significant land
forces unit was the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, the division ready
brigadeof whicharrived on 14 August, with the full division in
theater on 29 August. The 82nd was variously called atripwire, or,
more cynically, a "speed bump", as a paratroop division could not
have directly fought Iraqiarmored units. Until U.S. armored units,
such as the 24th Infantry Division could arrive, the 82nd couldonly
stay in light contact with Iraqi units, with carrier aircraft being
the major weapon.
On August 23, before the Saudis had agreed to the full force,
the Iraqi Republican Guard divisionspulled back from the
Kuwait-Saudi border. This was not a move of fear, but a
consolidation of forcesand putting the strongest troops into a
position where they could maneuver. [2]. U.S. News describedthis as
"withdrawing". [3]
Had Saddam chosen to move immediately into Saudi Arabia,
especially for a short distance, little couldstop him until more
forces arrived. His thinking has never really been explained.
Attempts to prevent all-out hostilitiesFollowing the invasion,
there were a number of diplomatic initiatives to find a peaceful
solution, andhopes that the formation of what became a 34-nation
coalition might give second thoughts to SaddamHussein.[4]
The United Nations, in an unprecedented way, had played a
crucial role throughout the eight-month
international crisis, which began on 2 August 1990 when Iraq
invaded, occupied and annexed itsneighbour--the tiny, oil-rich
State of Kuwait--calling it an "integral part" of Iraq.
After the Iraqi invasion but before Coalition combat operations
began, the U.N. Security Council, with
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majority votes, adopted 15 resolutions related to the crisis,
among other things: condemning the initialinvasion; calling for
Iraqi troop withdrawal and protection of prisoners of war, diplomas
and civilians;imposing strong, mandatory, comprehensive economic
sanctions against Iraq until it complied with itsdemands; arranging
for aid to innocent victims of the conflict and countries
economically affected by theembargo; and setting a deadline before
authorizing the use of "all necessary means" to
restoreinternational peace and security in the area.
UNSC Resolution 665, of August 25, authorized a maritime
blockade. Resolution 678, passedNovember 29, invokes Chapter VII of
the UN Charter, which can include military action.
The deadline passed. And a seven-week war took place--waged by a
coalition of troops representing 34nationalities--to oust Iraq from
Kuwait. Resolution 686, of 2 March 1991 after the cease-fire,
demandedprovocative overflights stop and provided the basis of
no-fly operations.
Preparing for operations against IraqFrom the first deployment
of foreign troops into Saudi Arabia, a variety of options were
considered toforce the Iraqis out of Kuwait. While some of the air
planners believed, perhaps for the first time with thetechnology to
have a real chance of following through, that they could put enough
pressure on theIraqis, Schwarzkopf, Powell, and other senior
commanders assumed a ground attack would be neededif diplomacy
failed.
The nature of a ground offensive, however, was controversial in
the U.S. military, to say nothing of theSaudis and other coalition
members. At first, until the tanks of the 24th Division arrived in
September12,[5] there was much concern about the light forces of
the 82nd Airborne Division even holdingground. When the XVIII
Airborne Corps was present, Schwarzkopf and the planners still felt
that asingle corps, and not a heavy corps, really did not give a
good counteroffensive option.
Eventually, the highest U.S., Saudi, and other national levels
agreed a stronger force would be needed.An active defense, followed
by an air offensive, was seen as the way to bring in adequate
ground force.
Air Planning
GEN Schwarzkopf asked for assistance in planning an air
counterattack, and COL John WardenIII presented the original draft
concept, called INSTANT THUNDER, for the 1991 Gulf War air
campaignto GEN (ret.) Chuck Horner, then a lieutenant general
commanding Schwarzkopf's air component(AFCENT) forUnited States
Central Command. According to a book by Horner (coauthored by
TomClancy), Horner found his personality immediately clashed with
Warden's, although there wee goodideas in the presentation. [6]
Sound thinking was involved, one member of the Checkmate.
DavidDeptula, teamed stayed in Saudi Arabia, and now is himself a
lieutenant general, and Deputy Chief ofStaff forIntelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance,United States Air Force. Horner
looked furtherfor a compatible air operations planners, and
selectedBuster Glosson.
The problems first seemed a matter of personalities. GENH Norman
Schwarzkopf Jr.,commanding United States Central Command during the
Gulf War, spoke well of Warden's original air
war concepts.[7] Schwarzkopf did express concern that Warden saw
the air component winning thewar, and did not provide enough
support to land forces.
In his August 10 presentation, Warden modeled the Iraqi system
as a set of five concentric circles, with
Saddam and hiscommand and controlat the center. Next came the
industrial and other infrastructureneeded to sustain a war, such as
the electrical grid. In the third ring was transprtation, with the
fourthring as the civilian population and its food supply. The
outermost, and to Warden the least important,ring was the enemy's
conventional military forces. Warden was not insistent that the
centers of gravitywould always be the same:
The enemy's air [in the sense of air targeting] center of
gravity may lie in equipment...in logistics...geography...in
personnel...or in command and control.[8]
Putting the Iraqi army as the lowest priority clashed with
Schwarzkopf, who, while an advisor to SouthVietnamese forces,
objected that his unit did not have enough air support. A U.S.
colonel, not inSchwarzkopf's chain of command, asked Schwarzkopf,
sarcastically, what would be enough.Schwarzkopf, then a captain,
replied:
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Sir, when it's my a** out there on the ground, about a hundred
B-52s circling around would be just barely
adequate. Now, I'm willing to settle for something less, but I'm
not willing to settle for nothing.[9]
Throughout the Gulf War, Schwarzkopf wanted most support plans
to include area bombing by B-52s
against troops in the field, even when more
modernprecision-guided munitionsmight be more effectivefor a
specific objective, and an objective, such as Saddam's
communications, might be more criticalthan the Republican Guard.
This is not meant as serious criticism of Schwarzkopf, but to
illustrate the
kinds of cultural conflicts that take place between different
services, or even between different branchesof different services
Schwarzkopf, who came up from a regular Infantry background,
disliked ArmySpecial Forces, although he commended them for their
performance at the end of the Gulf War.Warden had written
if our tools in the Iraq case had been similar to those
available in World War II, we would have been compelled to
attack Iraq serially, and we would have started with some part
of its air defense system. If we were very lucky,
after a long period of time, we might have been able to start
the reduction of the key inner rings but that would
have been far into the future.[10]
The actual campaign attacked both inner and outer rings
simultaneously, but Glosson was able topresent these ideas in a way
acceptable to Horner and Schwarzkopf.
Increasing the tension,Air Force Chief of StaffMichael Dugan
gave an interview, published onSeptember 16, not only suggesting
that the Air Force could be decisive, but giving clues to the
evolvingINSTANT THUNDER plan. Cheney immediately fired him.[11]
Ground forces: active unit deployment, reserve callups
Central Command's Army Component (ARCENT) was formed around the
headquarters, Third UnitedStates Army(LTG John Yeosock). Cole
interprets Atkinson as saying that Schwarzkopf also
dislikedYeosock's methodical, refused to make him land forces
commander, and often bypassed Yeosock andgave direct orders to
Yeosock's subordinate corps. Cole, however, says Atkinson
overemphasizedSchwarzkopf's personality as an issue. [12]In the
first phase of building up U.S. forces, the mainconventional ground
units were theXVIII Airborne Corps(LTG Gary Luck) and its
constituent 82nd
Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), 24th
Infantry Division, 3rd Armored CavalryRegiment.2nd Armored
Divisionand1st Cavalry Division were in CENTCOM reserve.
In addition, theI Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) (LTG Walter
Boomer), a corps-sized formationincluding more aircraft than a
comparable Army organization, deployed. A brigade-sized Marine
forceremained afloat, on ampbibious ships.
The issue of land forces command
While all air and naval forces in CENTCOM had their own
components, there was a disunity ofcommand in land forces, with the
Army regular troops under III Army, and the Marines under I MEF.
Inthe 1944 invasion of Europe,Dwight D. Eisenhowerelected to have
an overall land forcescommander,Bernard Law Montgomery, reporting
to him, with the armies and army groups reportingthrough
Montgomery.
Schwarzkopf chose to wear the "dual hats" of CENTCOM commander
and land forces commander,rather than assign it toJohn Yeosock,
ARCENT and Third United States Army commander.
Buildup of land forces
Schwarzkopf asked for a planning team to work out advanced
options, and received four officers,recent graduates of the new
School of Advanced Military Studies, whose graduates were known,
insidethe army, as the "Jedi Knights".[13]. Arriving on September
14, what became the Special Plans Groupprepared the two-corps
plan.
CENTCOM had roughed out the one-corps "high-risk" offensive
option on 6 October, using the XVIIIAirborne Corpsand I MEF[14]
CENTCOM's chiefs of operations and planning respectively, were
Navyand Air Force officers, and there was concern that the staff,
without augmentation, could develop astrong land warfare plan. [15]
Air warfare was in much better shape.
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A fundamental challenge was the CENTCOM position that a second,
armor-heavy corps would benecessary to take offensive action
against the Iraqis in Kuwait. This was briefed to the White House
onOctober 11, and, according to Powell, advisors thought CENTCOM
had enough force, and calledSchwarzkopf another" [George]"
McClellan, a Union commander in theAmerican Civil Warwho
washesitant to go on the offensive. Gordon and Trainor reported
that the Civil War critic was NationalSecurity AdvisorBrent
Scowcroft, a Air Forcelieutenant general assigned to the White
House.[16]
On October 29, Schwarzkopf recounted that Powell told him that a
frustrated Cheney had come up withhis own plan, judged of extreme
risk. Criticism flowed back and forth for a week. On 2
November,Schwarzkopf met with the Saudi leadership over the
delicate question of ultimate command authority ina coalition. The
compromise was that Schwarzkopf and his Saudi counterpart, Prince
Khalid bin Sultanal-Saud, were to be co-equals, but the CENTCOM
commander would have final authority foroperational decisionms.
After significant discussion, on November 8, CENTCOM it was made
public that it had been given evena larger force than originally
requested, VII Corps (LTGFred Franks), which was being demobilized
aspart of draw-downs in Europe, was designated as the second Army
corps. Commitments also weremade to upgrade allM1 Abrams tank guns
to the newer 120mm version; civil servant volunteers fromthe U.S.
Army Tank and Automotive Command set up an overhaul facility, at
the port of entry into SaudiArabia, to upgrade guns, armor, and
other systems.
According to Cole's review of Rich Atkinson's book, Crusade,
From the moment Franks arrived in Saudi Arabia, if not before,
Schwarzkopf took an immediate dislike to the
man. Atkinson says that Schwarzkopf privately dismissed Franks
as a pedant with an ability to mask battlefieldtimidity with
verbose and theoretical lectures on tactics and operational
maneuvering. [12]
Without judging pedantic styles, it should be noted that
Schwarzkopf's staff experience was inoperations, finance, or
personnel; he taught engineering at West Point. After Desert Storm,
Franks waspromoted to the four-star commander ofTraining and
Doctrine Command, the pinnacle of Army conceptdevelopment. Simply
comparing their assignments shows them to have very different
personalities.
The President used his authority to call up reserves, but, in
practice, onlycombat support andcombatservice support units
actually deployed to the theater of operations. ThreeArmy National
Guard combat
brigades intended to "round out" U.S. Army divisions proved not
to be combat ready.[17]
The ground concept emerges
Scouting the desert, to the west of Kuwait, found little Iraqi
presence. Terrain reconnaissance showedthat the ground would
supportM1 Abrams tanks and other heavy vehicles. While Cheney's
originalbrainstorm of a move in the extreme west of Iraq, with
forces moving to the western base, seemed toorisky, there was more
and more reason to believe that Saddam simply would not expect a
"left hook"well to the west of Kuwait, which would then drive
eastwards.
Some analysts believe Saddam had fixated on a Marine amphibious
landing from the east, coupled witha frontal attack on Kuwait.
CENTCOM was doing all they could to encourage his incorrect
thinking, with
visible amphibious rehearsals, such as an October 1 exercise,
called Camel Sand, in Oman. [18] Whilethe Marines never made an
combat landing, their activity drew Iraqi eyes, and, during the
actual groundphase, Navy SEALs placed demolitions and other special
effects on beaches, simulating a pre-landingbombardment.
Essential to the success of the left hook was that the Iraqis
had to be unaware of the movement of theXVIII Corps from its
positions near the Persian Gulf coast, to well inland, west of the
Kuwait border withIraq. CENTCOM took every possible step to deprive
Iraq of any intelligence sensors more sophisticatedthan a pair of
binoculars. Passing one military unit through another is always
complex, and it becameeven more complex when the western force had
to move through rear areas without detection. Makingit even more
difficult is that supply dumps had to be in position, along the
route to the west, before themain troop units reached them.
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