Operation Desert Storm Research Paper

Prove of the Marine Corps new efforts at warfare would pay off, but with great losses, in the Pacific campaigns, such as Peleliu, Iwo Jim, and Okinawa. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, led to the largest deployment of Marines forces since WWII, which consisted of 24 infantry battalions, and 40 squadrons, which totaled to a number of about 95,000 Marines in the Persian Gulf region, as a part of Operation Desert Shield, which began in August of 1990 to January 1991. It has been known as the “100 Hour War” because “by the morning of Feb. 28, 100 hours after the ground war began, the Iraqi army was no longer a threat.”(www.globalsecurity.org ) Most of the fighting that had been going on between the US military and enemy forces, after 9/11 has been in Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as the Global War on Terrorism “One of the key strategies of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2003 was the capture of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. A convoy of thirty thousand Marines advanced five hundred miles from the border of Kuwait in just ten days. On April 9, 2003, Marines secured the center of Baghdad. That same day, Coalition forces declared an end to the dictator’s rule.” (www.marines.com )

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

     On November 29, with coalition forces over whelming in Saudi Arabia and Iraq showing no signs of retreat, the

The Second Battle of Fallujah was fought during OIF 2 (Operation Iraqi Freedom). Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 began at about March-April 2004 and lasted until February-March 2005. The Second Battle of Fallujah began 7 November 2004 and ended 23 December 2004. The objective of the operation was to capture or kill those responsible for murders and, corrupt activities, and end the rise of the insurgency in the city. The intent of the operation was to restore control of

Operation Al-Fajr in Arabic, Operation Phantom Fury was the code name given to the second battle of Fallujah, considered the hottest point of conflict of all the military campaign in Iraq. Led by the US Marine Corp against the Iraqi combatants, who had held the city under their control, some consider it was the most difficult battle marines have been involved since Vietnam in the 60s. The battle put end to the insurgent control over the city and constituted an important victory for the US troops, however such victory had a high painful price 1.

One could imagine living in a world without television, the internet, whiffle ball, bubble wrap, or snowboarding. None of these twenty-first century items that are taken for granted today were around in 1944. Everything about normal life was changing in 1944 due to events happening across the world. Although most fighting from World War II was contained to Europe, its effects were certainly felt at home in the United States. Food and other necessities were rationed. Men were being drafted into the war. Families were being split apart. The Allied Forces fighting the war were losing strength, so in an attempt to regain strength and bring the war to an end, the Allied Forces launched the largest sea invasion ever. Nicknamed Operation Overlord,

Iraq (1993): Warplanes bombed Iraqi anti-aircraft sites; U.S. naval forces launched missiles against the Iraqi Intelligence Service’s headquarters in response to an unsuccessful assassination attempt of President Bush; U.S. carried out raids to disable Iraqi defenses. (Collier, 1993).

Desert Storm was the largest build up of U.S forces since the Vietnam War. Within a short period members of the 82nd Airborne Division as well as 300 combat aircraft were deployed to the Middle East. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait with 120,000 military personnel 2,000 of which were tanks. Iraq’s Air Force at the time was the largest but it was week. They choose quantity over quality also, their Navy was virtually nonexistent. Iraq rolled over Kuwait in two days because Iraq owed $80 million in foreign debt from its war with Iran. Saddam Hussein demanded Saudi Arabia and Kuwait forgive $30 million in Iraq's debt. He accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi oil through slant drilling. At the time Iraq had the fifth largest army in the world. They boasted more than a million men in uniform in 1991 but only a third of those were skilled professional fighting forces. Iraq rule over Kuwait was very brutal and harsh. America decided that it could not stand by had watch. By the end of September 1990 there were nearly 200,000 American personnel in Saudi Arabia enough to repel any Iraqi attack. The Gulf War coasted an estimation of 63 billion but, for the U.S this was a relatively cheap war. Over 18,000 fighter jets were deployed to combat the Iraqi Air Force. This was the most massive and effective air campaign ever with the U.S only losing 63 combat aircraft. Over a short period of time the Iraqi death toll was over 9,000 the U.S on the other hand only had 1 M.I.A soldier and 383 fatalities in the region more Americans died back home from H.I.V (29,850). The U.S captured over 70,000 enemy troops in the eight months that the war took place. This war brought many new technologies, the Army and Air Force were supplied with most of the new tech. The Marines on the other hand were issued with Vietnam dated gear and outdated version of newer tanks, aircraft, and guns. The U.S military at the time of desert storm used M16A1 M16A2 Car-15 XM4 Carbine M60 MP5 M249 m240 M9 M1911 Barret M82 M24 sniper M2HB M72Law M16 and M47 Dragon. The U.S also a new and advanced platform of tanks known as the M1 series. They used the M1 Abrams MBT

“Desert Storm was the first combat test of the cruise missile system. It also marked the first coordinated Tomahawk and manned aircraft strike in history. Within the first few minutes of Operation Desert Storm, Tomahawk missiles launched from battleships Missouri and Wisconsin struck with accuracy at Iraq’s presidential palace,” (Hersh, Press, 1994, p.137).

Operation Iraqi freedom started on March 20th 2003. One of the main reasons for America to go to war was the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001. During a speech by President George W. Bush on January 2002, he stated that Iraq had a connection to the terrorist group al-Qaida and was identified as a “rouge nation”. America reacted by sending in its military to get rid of the Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein. All branches of the military were deployed to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but only one branch stood out amongst the rest for doing noteworthy effects and some damaging effects. This branch of service was the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Marines played a major role in Operation Iraqi Freedom because they fought and won a lot

In the early morning hours of the 19th of March 2003 the leviathan force better known as the United States military began an occupation to topple the brutal Saddam Hussein regime. The conflict later known as the Iraq War and dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States, brought together four separate nations to overturn Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist government. The war introduced tactics and strategies of urban warfare, the likes of which have never used by the U.S. military before; and despite President George W. Bush declaration on the 1st of May 2003 abroad the USS Abraham Lincoln, the war was anything but “mission accomplished.” Operation Iraqi Freedom consisted of twenty-one major battles throughout its rough ten-year occupation. Operation Phantom Fury, or better known as the Second Battle of Fallujah, was one of those strategic key battles. Then Major General Richard F. Natonski led the 1st Marine Division through Operation Phantom Fury. I will introduce a brief history of LTG Natonski, the strategic location of the City of Fallujah, and an in-depth critical analysis of the mission command throughout the deadliest battle in the Iraq War.

Operation Desert Storm began January 17th, 1991, with the same mission to go in and set Kuwait free, for their royal family was working as custodians of Islam’s holist shrines, Makkah and Medina. The first weapon that was launch in Operation Desert Storm the TLAM that came from the Red Sea headed towards Baghdad. However it was not the first to hit anything, the Hellfire missile was the first to make an impact causing a gap in the Iraqi’s surveillance radar and the boarders of Saudi Arabia. It also had many more successful hits. Operation Desert Storm lasted forty-three days before the United States.

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

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