Operation Desert Storm Case Study

The Persian Gulf War began with Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq moving his forces into the neighboring country Kuwait mid-1990. During this time Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world, after being supplied by the United Sates during their eight year war with Iran raised some concerns. (Operation Desert Storm) Also with the chance of Iraq controlling one-fifth of the world’s oil supply didn’t sit well with the United States, nor its Allied forces. (Operation Desert Storm) Early August 1990 the United Nations Security Council directed Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991. (Operation Desert Storm) Towards the end of 1990 United Sates began the defense of Saudi Arabia, which known as Operation Desert Shield. Along with multilateral support, the United States sent

Operations Desert Shield/Storm took place during the Gulf War, which was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of more than 30 nations mandated by the United Nations, led by the United States commanded by General Norman Schwarzkopf, who conducted one of the greatest military campaigns of all times that resulted with the coalition victory. The name Operation Desert Shield was for the operation leading to the built up of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm for the combat phase to liberate Kuwait. This war included more than 500.000 United States troops, dominated by technological superiority that definitely favored the coalition forces. The use of missiles, guided bombs and invisible plane made easy to destroy Iraqi ground targets, being so the first war in history to use the air power to defeat ground forces. The commander of this operation General Schwarzkopf was a consolidated leader with great experience in war and diplomacy, who had extend knowledge of the Middle East since the childhood. General Schwarzkopf ability to use the principles of mission command led the coalition into the desired end state, which was the defense of Saudi Arabia and liberation of Kuwait. General Norman Schwarzkopf successfully utilized mission command principles within Operation Desert Storm/Shield by creating a shared understanding, building cohesive teams through mutual trust, provide a clear commander’s intent, and accept a prudent risk, which played a

Operation Anaconda was a subordinate joint combat operation, during Operation Enduring Freedom, (Lyle 2012) to be carried out in the Shahi Kot Valley located in southeastern Afghanistan. Operations planning took place in February of 2002 and was executed from 2-16 March. The operational purpose was to capture or kill, what was reported to be, “The largest concentration of al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan”. Operation Anaconda Case Study (2003) In order to undertake a mission of this magnitude and scope, unity of command would prove critical. The task organization of Operation Anaconda involved both joint and multinational assets. Operation Anaconda lacked unity

My organization is called Operation Salute. Operation Salute is an organization that helps homeless veterans and veterans with PTSD. I want to help the veterans because they do not get enough recognition for fighting for our country. In the US, 21 veterans commit suicide each day because of PTSD. 11% of homeless adults are veterans. 70% of veterans have substance abuse problems. I can help them by creating a care center for veterans who suffer from PTSD by giving them the care and rehabilitation they need. Veterans with PTSD can come to the care center and get the rehabilitation they need. If veterans do not want to come to the care center, trained nurses can come to their houses periodically and help them. The homeless veterans can come to this care center for shelter,

On August 2nd, 1990 Iraqi military forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. The order was given by Iraqi dictatorial president Saddam Hussein. His aim was apparently to take control Kuwait's oil reserves (despite its small size Kuwait is a huge oil producer; it has about 10 per cent of the world's oil reserves ). Iraq accused Kuwait, and also the United Arab Emirates, of breaking agreements that limit oil production in the Middle East. According to Saddam Hussein, this brought down world oil prices severely and caused financial loss of billions of dollars in Iraq's annual revenue.

“Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, a massive U.S.-led air offensive hit Iraq’s air defenses, moving swiftly on to its communications networks, weapons plants, oil refineries and more. The coalition effort, known as Operation Desert Storm, benefited from the latest military technology, including Stealth bombers, Cruise missiles, so-called “Smart” bombs with laser-guidance systems and infrared night-bombing equipment” (“Persian Gulf War - Facts & Summary”). The goal here was to win the war in the air in order to reduce combat on the ground as much as possible. “By mid-February, the coalition forces had shifted the focus of their air attacks toward Iraqi ground forces in Kuwait and southern Iraq. A massive allied ground offensive, Operation Desert Sabre, was launched on February 24, with troops heading from northeastern Saudi Arabia into Kuwait and southern Iraq. Over the next four days, coalition forces encircled and defeated the Iraqis and liberated Kuwait” (“Persian Gulf War - Facts & Summary”). Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, ending the Persian Gulf War. According to the peace terms, Iraq would recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty and get rid of all of it’s weapons of mass

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, attacked Kuwait as a result of overproduction of oil in Kuwait, which had cost Iraq an estimated $14 billion a year when oil process of obtaining the

position “shareful ultimate”. Soviet union announces eight-point with drawal plan. Israel's blaze one-sixth of kuwait 950 oil wells. On the 25th the Iraq fires two scuds missiles into Israel. On the 27th U.S. Marine in kuwait city says U.S. Embassy is back under U.S. cotrol.On the 28th Kuwait troops raise emirate is flag in Kuwait city. President Bush declare suspenion of offensive combat and layout condition for payment cease-fire.(Ashmccall).In operation Desert Storm 148 deied in battle, 145 non-battle died and 467 wounded. 532,000 forces served.(Evans). All this started on January 17,1991. (Formanek) In the mid-July 1990 the U.S. was watching Saddam Hussein.(Hussein) Iraq has twenty-four percent of the world’s oil supply and fourty-four percent world’s oil

Saddam then staged him armies along the Kuwaiti/Iraq border and the military waited for the order to invade Kuwait. The small country could not defend themselves with the overpowering larger force and within hours, Kuwait City had collapsed. The Emir fled to Saudi, taking his family and regime with him. Now Saddam that his military had seized the country, he was in control of 20 percent of the world’s oil

For the last decade, the Army has been actively engaged in the War on Terror. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) began on October 7, 2001 with allied air strikes on Taliban and Al Quada targets in Afghanistan. Even though United States President Barrack Obama announced the drawdown of Armed Forces in Afghanistan by the end of 2016, OEF would have lasted 15 years, becoming the Army’s longest war in the United States history (Taylor, 2014). On the other hand, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) lasted approximately 105 months, beginning in March 2003 and lasted until December 2011 with the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq (Schifrin, 2011). Between OEF and OIF, over 2 million American Military personnel have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or both

Task Force Normandy created by 1st Battalion, 101st Airborne Air Assault Division in order to complete mission “Normandy” that consisted in destroying Saddam Hussein’s key Early Radar Detection System during his invasion in Kuwait to provide the air campaign with a radar free route into Iraq.

The fact that 2nd battalion led by LTC Frost almost accomplished a mission designed for a division is remarkable. LTC Frost demonstrated all the principles of the warfighting function of mission command. As ADP 6-0 says, “commanders influence the situation and provide direction, guidance, and resources while synchronizing operations. They encourage subordinates to take bold action, and they accept prudent risk to create opportunity and to seize the initiative,” LTC Frost was able to emulate.

Exterior Lines of Operation (LOO) best characterizes General Schwarzkopf’s Operational Approach for Desert Storm. The Coalition operations converge on the enemy and XVIII Airborne Corps along with VII Corps used the envelopment firstly to cut lines of communication of the enemy and to destroy it in the Kuwait Theatre of Operation. In addition, the Coalition showed itself as a modern army with high-speed armor capabilities and total control of the air. It kept distance from the enemy since units remained outside of enemy artillery and multiple rocket systems range until the Ground Offensive Campaign began.

In order to develop effective solutions for complex military problems, the Joint Community within the US Military adopted the methodology of Operational Design in Joint Doctrine. This methodology addresses the concept of complex, ill-structured or “wicked” problems. In fact, Lessons Learned as a result of operations conducted over the last 15 years played an instrumental role in the continued development of this doctrine. Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) illustrates a perfect case study for evaluation utilizing this methodology. Therefore, the intent of this paper is to evaluate US Military campaign planning for OIF by using operational design as the framework for this analysis. First, this paper looks at how planners and commanders interpreted pre-invasion civilian policy guidance, their understanding of the current operational environment, and how these commanders defined the problem. Next, it identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the initial approach. After discussing this initial approach, this paper examines how commanders assessed the campaign and refined the approach – to include how the reframing occurred. Lastly, it provides examples of how these lessons learned shaped current joint planning policy and doctrine.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. Alarmed by these actions, fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene. Hussein defied United Nations Security Council demands to withdraw from Kuwait by mid-January 1991 and the Persian Gulf War began with a massive U.S.-led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm4. After 42 days of relentless attacks by the allied coalition in the air and on the ground, U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire on February 28; by that time, most Iraqi forces in Kuwait had either surrendered or run away. Though the Persian Gulf War was initially considered an unqualified success for the international coalition, simmering conflict in the troubled region led