The American Military

by Brad D. Lookingbill

  After accomplishing the mission in Panama, the American military extolled what was known as the Powell Doctrine. Echoing principles previously outlined by Weinberger, Powell justified the use of the armed forces in operations only when vital interests were threatened. “Have a clear political objective,” he posited, “and stick to it.” Furthermore, he encouraged using “all the force necessary” without apologizing for “going in big if that is what it takes.” Decisive force “ends wars quickly,” which he claimed saved lives in the long run. Whatever the emerging threats, the Powell Doctrine formed the bedrock of strategic thought for years to come.

  Line in the Sand

  On the morning of August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein, the brutal dictator of Iraq, invaded Kuwait, a tiny, oil-rich neighbor. Controlling the fourth largest army in the world, he intended to annex what he called a “lost province.” Within days, most Kuwaitis surrendered or fled their country. Iraqi forces looted Kuwait City, while Hussein turned his attention toward Saudi Arabia and its abundant wealth. If successful, he would control nearly half of the world's oil reserves. Though caught off balance, the United Nations passed multiple resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

  With global oil markets shaken by the turbulence, the Bush administration took action to block Iraqi forces. “Mr. President,” Powell asked during an emergency meeting, “should we think about laying down a line in the sand concerning Saudi Arabia?” Bush answered with an affirmative: “We're committed to Saudi Arabia.” Immediately, Saudi King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz accepted American military assistance to protect his kingdom.

  General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who headed U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, took charge of American military assistance. Six days after Iraq invaded Kuwait, personnel from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived in the Arabian peninsula. Drawing from Operations Plan 1002-90, CENTCOM dispatched the 101st Airborne Division and the 24th Infantry Division as well. Likewise, elements of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing and 1st Marine Expeditionary Force joined them. The 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, arrived that September. The Military Airlift Command, or MAC, transported the personnel, equipment, and supplies to the Persian Gulf. Bush ordered the Pentagon to commence mobilization of the reserve component, especially support and service units. Code-named Operation Desert Shield, the primary objective was to deter Iraq from invading another Arab state.

  Hussein refused to yield Kuwait, but the aggressive diplomacy of the Bush administration helped to confer legitimacy to Desert Shield. Secretary of State James Baker convinced leaders from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America to support a trade embargo. While the Navy maintained a tight blockade, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iraq for non-compliance with previous resolutions. Although the Soviets supplied most of Iraq's arms in the past, Eduard Shevardnadze, the Soviet Foreign Minister, issued a joint statement with Baker to condemn Hussein. To alleviate the mounting costs of the military operation, the “United Fund” raised money from Japan, Germany, and Korea as well as from the Gulf Cooperation Council. A total of 34 nations sent troops to the Gulf, but the U.S. provided more than two-thirds of the boots on the ground. Despite the unease about the multinational coalition, numerous flags appeared along the Saudi border.

  Hoping to make Hussein think twice before crossing the Saudi border, Schwarzkopf measured his words carefully during briefings and interviews with the media. Privately, he worried about a “window of vulnerability” while ramping up the operation. U.S forces and coalition partners deployed rapidly, but he estimated that a fight might cost as many as 5,000 casualties. Preparing to defend enclaves that included ports and airfields on the Gulf coast, he counted on air power to disrupt a potential Iraqi drive across the desert. In other words, the first cohort of American troops represented little more than “speed bumps.”

  Desert Shield introduced American troops to a formidable environment, which offered no ground for anyone to hide. Daytime temperatures often surpassed 120 degrees, while the evening chill dropped to 30 degrees at times. U.S. armored vehicles became so hot at midday that some soldiers actually fried food on them. Shortages of the desert-pattern battle-dress uniforms, or BDUs, left many with only one set of camouflaged clothing and boots to wear. Defending a line in the sand, the scattered units endured five months in the arid wasteland.

  Units arriving in the Gulf encountered alien customs and unfamiliar traditions. Because Saudi Arabia held the holiest sites of Islam, U.S. commanders encouraged personnel to avoid offending the religious sensibilities of the host country. For example, the reading and the display of the Bible remained confined to military camps and compounds. The presence of women in uniform challenged the prevailing assumptions of gender, which demanded coverings from head to toe. To the chagrin of many Muslims, female service members worked with arms bared and barked orders to men. Although the hoisting of the Stars and Stripes aroused some alarm, the Saudis generally appreciated the American colors.

  Despite the logistical challenges, Schwarzkopf trained Americans for battle over the ensuing months. Outnumbered nearly three to one, they faced an adversary equipped with tanks, artillery, aircraft, and missiles. The enemy's elite corps formed the Republican Guard, which reported directly to Hussein in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Furthermore, American intelligence detected the emplacement of mines, trenches, ditches, bunkers, and barbed wire inside Kuwait. In addition to a nascent nuclear program, Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons.

  For the next phase of the operation, Schwarzkopf planned for combat against Iraq. He turned to a team of officers from the School of Advanced Military Studies, or SAMS, at Fort Leavenworth, where graduates earned the nickname Jedi Knights. During September, they met in Riyadh and developed options for a ground attack. Air Force Colonel John A. Warden proposed an air campaign known as Instant Thunder, while Army logistics favored the option of a corps going “straight up the middle” to kick Hussein out of Kuwait. However, a sweeping “left hook” to the west of the Iraqi lines represented another option. After reviewing the options that October, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney suggested revising them “with a little imagination this time.” Bush promised to double the number of troops after the midterm elections, which emboldened the planners to exploit the mobility of a second corps. The final iteration of the plan retained a direct advance into Kuwait to pin down the Iraqi forces, but additional U.S. forces would maneuver in concert on the western flank to envelop them.

  In early November, Bush issued Executive Order 12733 to authorize the mobilization of combat units from the National Guard and Reserves. With the president's signature, the Defense Appropriations Act enabled him to place the citizen soldiers on active duty for up to 360 days. The number activated reached 227,800, while another 10,000 volunteered for immediate deployment. Cheney postponed sending the “round out” brigades to join their parent divisions for as long as possible, but nearly half were sent to the theater of operations eventually. While preparing a rotation policy, the DOD counted on the reserve component in the Gulf.

  By the close of the year, U.S. forces in the Gulf exceeded a half-million men and women. Along with carriers, battleships, and aircraft, massive quantities of armaments flowed into the region. When sanctions failed to bring an end to Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, the United Nations delivered an ultimatum for a withdrawal by January 15, 1991. Both houses of Congress voted to authorize the use of force, albeit reluctantly. As the deadline approached, Americans waited in the desert for what Hussein would call “The Mother of All Battles.”

  Desert Storm

  Two days after the deadline passed, Operation Desert Storm unleashed one of the largest and most sophisticated collections of weaponry ever amassed for war. Beginning at daybreak, Apache helicopters and Tomahawk missiles struck targets across Iraq. The initial phase also included aerial attacks by B-52s, F-117s, F-16s, A-10s, and A-6s. People around the world watched on television, which broadcast footage of “smart bombs” along with scen
es of “collateral damage.”

  A television reporter wanted to interview Major Bobby “Jet” Jernigan, who returned from a tactical strike by his South Carolina Air National Guard F-16 fighter-bomber unit. The 37-year-old exited his aircraft and walked across the runway with his helmet under one arm. While the reporter chased him with a microphone and a camera, Jernigan turned to say thanks to God for the safe completion of his mission and “for the love of a good woman.” Pausing once more, he added with a grin: “I want to thank God that I'm an American fighter pilot.”

  Owing to the precision of American firepower, Iraq plunged into darkness. The multiphase air campaign demolished Hussein's radar facilities, communications infrastructure, and power grid. Damage assessments of the bombardments suggested that the Iraqi Army appeared on the verge of collapse. Moreover, the Iraqi Air Force ceased to exist. Thousands of sorties destroyed enemy planes in the sky and on the ground, while more than 100 Iraqi aviators fled with their aircraft to Iran. Nevertheless, Hussein launched Scud missiles into Saudi Arabia and Israel. During the “Great Scud Hunt,” Air Force and Navy jets knocked out several mobile missile launchers. With air supremacy achieved, coalition forces continued to work together to eliminate Iraqi command-and-control sites.

  On January 29, Iraqi soldiers crossed the border to attack the deserted Saudi town of Khafji. From houses and buildings inside the town, two Marine reconnaissance teams directed artillery and air support against their opponents. Less than 48 hours later, the Battle of Khafji ended with an Iraqi defeat. Thousands of Hussein's troops perished during the first land battle of the Gulf War, while most American casualties came from “friendly fire.” An aerial counterstroke reached deep into Iraqi-held territory to disrupt the flow of supplies and reinforcements to the forward positions, which indicated the importance of air power in shaping the battlefield.

  While General Chuck A. Horner directed the air power of Desert Storm, Schwarzkopf, who aptly named the operation, planned to begin the ground attack in mid-February. However, General Walter E. Boomer, commander of the Marines, needed more time to align his two divisions. Given the weather forecast for Kuwait, Powell agreed to February 24 as the date to commence the next phase – G-Day. After Iraqi troops dumped crude oil offshore and set oil wells ablaze, Schwarzkopf called his commanders to say that “it's a go.” No commander doubted the outcome, especially after the 38-day air campaign loosened Hussein's grip on Kuwait. A campaign of misdirection convinced the dictator that the Marines intended to conduct an amphibious assault against Iraq's deepwater ports in the Gulf. A feint up the Wadi al-Batin by the 1st Cavalry Regiment caused the Republican Guard to miscalculate the location of the main advance. Consequently, nothing Hussein hurled at the coalition forces slowed their carefully synchronized and highly focused offensive.

  As the offensive commenced, the coalition forces engaged the enemy along three axes. Accompanied by an all-Arab corps, Boomer sent the Marines through a minefield into Kuwait. Nearly 200 miles west of the Gulf coast, General Frederick M. Franks of VII Corps prepared to deliver the “left hook” to knock out the Republican Guard. On the extreme western flank, General Gary E. Luck directed XVIII Airborne Corps into southern Iraq and maneuvered toward the Euphrates River. To the delight of military planners from Riyadh to Fort Leavenworth, the offensive swept through the desert with speed.

  Figure 15.3 Operation Desert Storm

  During the first day of the offensive, the coalition forces nearest the Gulf advanced 20 miles into Kuwait. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force captured around 10,000 Iraqis and seized Al Jaber Airfield. An Iraqi division counterattacked the next day but was quickly repulsed. Afterward, the Marines isolated Kuwait City, secured Kuwait International Airport, and seized Mutla Ridge. Amid the burning oil wells, the air they breathed became darkened with soot. By February 26, the offensive liberated the capital city. Thousands of Kuwaitis cheered in the streets: “Thank you, thank you, U.S.A!”

  Meanwhile, XVIII Airborne Corps penetrated over 90 miles into Iraq. The 101st Airmobile Division seized a forward operating base and dispatched a brigade to the Euphrates by the second day. Ahead of schedule, American helicopters maneuvered to interdict Iraqi troop movements along the northerly routes into Kuwait. After driving overland to the Euphrates, General Barry McCaffrey, commander of the 24th Infantry Division, steered his mechanized regiments eastward to assist VII Corps in smashing the opposition.

  The infantry, armor, artillery, and aviation of VII Corps formed a mailed fist, which consisted of 142,000 soldiers and 48,500 vehicles. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment entered Iraq at Phase Line Becks, while their loudspeakers broadcast Wagner's “The Ride of the Valkyries.” Striking the defensive positions down range, field artillery batteries with Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, or MLRS, fired more than 11,000 rounds in only a half-hour. The 1st Infantry Division breached berms, minefields, and barricades across a 9-mile front, where armored bulldozers entombed the enemy in shallow trenches. Within two days, the 1st and 3rd Armored Divisions rolled around the western edge of the obstacle belt and proceeded to envelop the Iraqi forces to the east. The Abrams tanks of the 2nd Cavalry outflanked, outranged, and outgunned the Iraqi's T-72s at every turn. Gathering momentum, VII Corps amassed a wall of tanks and armored vehicles nearly 80 miles wide.

  On February 27, the 1st Armored Division under General Ron Griffith fought the Battle of Medina Ridge – the largest tank battle in American military history. In the northwest corner of Kuwait, 166 Abrams tanks from the 2nd Brigade smashed into a line of T-72s approximately 7 miles long. The brigade commander, Colonel Montgomery C. Meigs, ordered the tankers to “move gently but deliberately and kill all those people.” For 40 minutes, they fired, reloaded, and fired again. Many Iraqis abandoned their vehicles and ran for their lives. Without losing a single tank to hostile fire, Americans pulverized a division of the Republican Guard.

  The rest of the Republican Guard screened for elements of the Iraqi army that fled Kuwait. The last major escape route was Highway 80, which stretched across the desert from Kuwait City toward the Iraqi town of Basra. However, the four lanes became a shooting gallery for American fighters in the skies. With all roads across the border choked by traffic, the charred debris of nearly 1,500 military and civilian vehicles littered the “Highway of Death.”

  Before images of the “Highway of Death” appeared on television, Bush asked Powell: “Why not end it?” The latter consulted with Schwarzkopf on February 27, when “Stormin' Norman” agreed to a suspension after only 100 hours. Despite the commander-in-chief's earlier demonization of the Iraqi dictator as “Hitler revisited,” he decided to leave Hussein's regime in power. He liberated Kuwait as promised but refused to send U.S. forces to Baghdad. “Our military objectives are met,” Bush announced from the White House that evening.

  Bush's announcement ended the “Hundred Hour War,” which appeared far less costly to Americans than anyone had predicted. The worst loss of life for the U.S. occurred in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where a Scud missile struck a military barracks and killed 28 activated reservists. U.S. forces counted 148 dead and 458 wounded from battle, while coalition partners reported another 99 killed in action. The bombardments by the Air Force and the Navy killed thousands of Iraqi civilians, including some used as “human shields” by the Iraqi military. Although estimates about Iraqi soldiers varied, fatalities from combat operations surpassed 20,000. In addition, a total of 86,000 surrendered on the battlefield. Despite the lopsided American victory, a number of Republican Guard units escaped from Kuwait partially intact.

  In the aftermath of Desert Storm, Schwarzkopf met with a handful of Iraqi military leaders just north of the Kuwaiti border in Safwan. According to the terms of the ceasefire, Iraq agreed to fully comply with UN Security Council resolutions in respect to Kuwait. Moreover, they eventually agreed to abide by all resolutions regarding the international inspection of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons facilities. As American troops returned home to cheering parades,
Hussein brutally suppressed uprisings within his country by Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in the north. For the rest of the decade, U.S. forces in the Gulf patrolled no-fly zones, provided humanitarian relief, and sparred with the Iraqi military.

  Drawdown

  The principles of liberal democracy seemed to inspire the outbreak of almost bloodless revolutions around the globe. Beginning in 1989, communist regimes fell in Poland, East Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. As the Soviet bloc came apart, free men and women danced atop the broken sections of the Berlin Wall. Germany soon reunified, but hard-liners in China retained power after crushing demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Since the Red Army no longer threatened to invade NATO nations, the superpowers agreed to reciprocal cutbacks in nuclear arms on land and at sea. In 1991, the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START. The communist regime in Moscow collapsed thereafter. The “evil empire” ceased to exist, which marked the beginning of what Bush called “a new world order.”

  The Bush administration began touting the prospects of a “peace dividend” in the U.S., because Americans seemed focused on domestic priorities after a half-century of armed vigilance. While the national economy slipped into a recession, Congress intended to stimulate a recovery by slashing defense appropriations. To be sure, the Pentagon lamented even the modest cuts in weapons programs as well as in military personnel. Powell responded with the “Base Force” concept, which defined the minimum troop levels necessary to fulfill peacetime missions. Looking forward to reduced taxes and balanced budgets, few in Washington D.C. acknowledged any risks to national security.