Desert Storm: The First Persian Gulf War in American History

My end of the year project was on Desert Storm. The books used were, Desert Storm- The First Persian Gulf War In American History, written by Debra McArthur, and The Brave Women of the Gulf Wars: Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, written by Karen Zeinert and Mary Miller. My main topics are; “Before And Background”, “ War”, “After War”. I will talk about the weapons, attack plans, how American prisoners were treated, and many things that happened after the war. America’s head General was General Schwarzkopf, and the general leading Iraq is their Dictator, General Saddam Hussein.

In August of 1990 our president was George Bush, Iraq's dictator was Saddam Hussein. Iraq was established in 1931. Iraq had three major religions, Islamic, Judaism, Christianity. The Islamic religion was divided into three different groups, the Sunni, Kurds, and the Shiite Muslims. The Baath Party wanted to take complete power of Iraq. The Baath Party succeeded in 1965 when they took control of the government and the Iraqi Army. Second in command to the Baath Party was Saddam Hussein, who brought a new level of violence to Iraq. Hussein committed his first violent act at the age of fifteen, when he assassinated someone. For Hussein to gain power in Iraq he put his cousin, Ahmad Hassan Al-Bakr, the leader of Iraq, in jail. Al-Bakr was left in jail where he later died. Hussein’s new power gave the Sunni Muslims the opportunity to gain dominance in Iraq. Hugh Grossman was Commander of the 403rd Military Police Reserves, TLAMs were used, TLAM stands for Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.

The TLAMs could fly at altitude of less than one hundred ft above ground, they traveled over five hundred miles, and could still hit within fifty feet of their original targets. The US and Iraq used radars to detect missiles, tanks, planes, and land troops coming. Missiles that were used were measured at eight feet long, Microcomputers would keep the missile on one target, and would allow it to hit the missile it was aimed at. TLAMs would carry one thousand pounds of explosives, and would release spools called Kit Zs. The spools contained Carbon filament, they would also disable the defense system. Operation Desert Shield would last for five months, and have 700,000 American toops, 1,600 combat planes, warships, and medical care teams. The united states would build up military forces in the middle east along with their allies. One of the United States biggest concern during the time of war was that Hussein would use poisonous gases, and new biological weapons he was creating. The biological weapons were carrying diseases, and germs. The Troops of the allied powers had special gear for if Saddam would use chemical or biological warfare.

The special gear consisted of MOPP level three, and MOPP level four, MOPP stands for Mission-Oriented Protective Posture. The only difference between the two levels was that level four had gloves along with the gear for level three which is hood, mask, and vinyl shoes. Sergeant Anita Porter said, “ The silence in the bunker was eerie. The only sound that could be heard was the popping noise from the filters in our gas masks” (9-10). Sergeant Porter was describing a part of her first day in Saudi Arabia. Sergeant Porter had been telling a reporter what it was like in a bunker during a possible chemical attack. Instant Thunder is a mission for the American E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System Aircraft would fly across to Iraq's border. Their mission was not specified in this book so i can not go into detail of what this mission was. Air Force Pave Low Helicopters would lead the first air mission into Iraq.

Pave Low led two Squadrons of Apache Helicopters, their code name was “Team White and Red”. F-117A Stealth Fighter- Bombers were also used, these aircrafts were supposed to be invisible to radars. EF-11A Ravens are used to block the radar signals. Iraq would use Anti Aircraft Artillery to destroy the F-117 A's, the Anti Aircraft Artillery were also called AAA’s. Great Britain would use Tornado Fighter planes. France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab Nations would help the US fight, the Arab Nations that joined some of the US troops would be called coalition troops. Our allies used similar planes to the Iraqis, to identify If the planes was allied planes of Iraqi planes they use IFF, IFF is Identification Friend or Foe.

In August of 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Saddam Hussein was to withdraw his troops by January 15th. US used TLAMs, the first TLAM left ship at 1:37 Baghdad time, and it was headed for Baghdad, colonel Dick Cody was leader of the Apache Helicopters. Colonel Cody pulled a trigger that released the first Hellfire Missile. Within four minutes both radar systems were destroyed that Iraq was using. CNN was broadcasting the War, Saddam was angry that America was broadcasting the attacks on Iraq. The British would bomb the Iraqi Airfield so they could not use their Airfields to put Fighter Planes in the air to fight off the allied troops fighter bomber planes. Mesopotamia was the main target to invade. No one had interest in it till oil was found there. The use of Tanks and Planes in War demanded more oil for them to be used. The three muslim groups in Iraq wanted different Muslim leaders for each group. This made some of the Iraqi people support what Hussein was doing and then other were opposed to Hussein and what he was doing. Saddam was Chief of Internal Security before he was president. Saddam built up his Military with power and money. His Air Force was increased by Mirage F1 Fighter Plane. America Supported Iraq in the Iraq-Iran War.

Hussein first formed the Republican Guard in the Iraq-Iran War. During Desert Storm Hussein killed five thousand Iraqi Kurds. Iraq was already in debt of $80 million, and the War had hardly started yet. America's Ambassador said for US to step back and let Iraq and Saudi Arabia talk it out, but the US knew that wouldn't work even after we fired the TLAMs into Iraq. August 2, 1990 thousands of Iraqi tanks crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border. Hussein's Republican Guard went to the south to keep people from escaping. The United Nations Security Council, had delegates form fifteen different nations, their job was to maintain peace and security. Resolution 660 accused Hussein of breaching the peace and security. Resolution 661 would use economic actions against Iraq, it said they could not sell or buy any goods from Iraq or Kuwait. King Fahd officially met with US secretary of Defence, to ask for help to get Iraq out of Kuwait.

During this time the US forced many men into the Army. When troops were withdrawn fifty five thousand troops died. Drug use had been common for the troops during War. 40% of the troops interviewed admitted to using drugs, and 7% of those troops admitted that they had used heroin. 40% of the troops had no High School Diploma, and 41% of the troops were classified as Category IV. Category IV is showing low mental ability. April 1980 the US Military attempted to rescue the hostages that were still being held form the Embassy invasion. This rescue failed, eight soldiers died and many more were injured. The US and allied powers needed more soldiers so they campaigned the Army, to better themselves mentally and physically. The soldiers who launched Patriot missiles were called “Scudbusters”.

The first female Scudbuster was Lieutenant Phoebe Jeter. She commanded an all male unit that flew KC-135 Tanker Planes that would refuel aircrafts in midair and launch Patriot Missiles. Major Marie T. Ross will be one of fourteen women who died in Desert Storm. The Patriot missiles and M-1 Tanks failed their testing. The US use “Smart” Bombs, the Smart Bombs found the targets better than a person firing them by hand, they could hit within thirty feet of their original target. CENT-COM would meet and play their internal look game. This gave them an idea of how War would look and how they should attack the Iraqi troops.

The Internal Look was almost exact to what the Iraqis actually did during the War. To defeat the Iraqi Troops the US and Coalition Troops had to be in place before the Iraqi troops got there, the troops had to leave right away to get there in time. The only problem with this was how to transport the heavy equipment. The Internal Look estimated that one hundred twenty thousand soldiers would be needed and fifteen Generals would be needed to lead them. There was a total of 37,000 plus women personal in Desert Storm. The Army had 26,000 women, 3,700 in Navy, 2,200 in Marines, 5,300 in Air Force, and 13 in the Coast Guard. Women made up 11% of the active soldiers and 15% of the Reserves in Operation Desert Storm. In total fourteen women were awarded combat awards.

When Hussein invaded Kuwait he closed the borders so no one could leave this angered the coalition and many of the Kuwait people. Resolution 664 said that foreign guests must be removed from countries. Instead of releasing them Hussein moved them to one of his Military Bases, this would prevent the Coalition troops form bombing his Military Base. General Schwarzkopf had chosen Lieutenant General John Yeosock to be Central Command Army Commander. Lieutenant Yeosock would build a defense shield against the Iraqis. Staff Sergeant John Ferguson was commander of the 2nd Brigade of Army Airborne Division, this was also known as the 82nd Brigade, this Brigade was always ready to be sent out to War. The 2nd Brigade had two thousand three hundred men. US Navy Ships carried Cruise Missiles but no Fighter Jets were aboard. The first Fighter Jet was the F-15 Eagle Fighters, Surveillance Crafts were E-3 AWACS. The E-3 AWACS patrolled Saudi-Iraq border from the air. CNN reporters reported live on the 82nd Airborne's departure and arrival. The 82nd Airborne's mission was to defend the Airfields at Dhahran, the 82nd Paratroopers did not have the equipment to destroy tanks if Iraq were to cross the border.

When the 82nd Airborne arrived many of the Kuwait citizens that left came back to Kuwait. Bush activated the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, this required any commercial airline to provide their planes in a Military emergency, this was also known as CRAFT. UPS and FedEx gave their planes to transport cargo for the Military. The marines used several ships that were close enough so it would only take seven days to reach the gulf, so they could transport the heavy equipment quickly. They had enough supplies for sixteen thousand men for thirty days. The Military leaders in the US lowered number of active Military personal, and increased the size of the Reserves and National Guard. The president can call two hundred thousand Reservist for up to six months without the congress's approval. In the Vietnam War 70% of the soldier were Reservists and National Guard personal.

Our Military had a shortage of food, to solve this problem, they bought Dinty Moore and Lunch Buckets, along with their MREs. Desert Shield needed four desert battle dress uniforms, the Army had only enough for two hundred thousand uniforms, and the Army needed six hundred thousand uniforms in total. Many of the soldiers had to got to War in the desert in dark green uniforms. The Military Airlift Command said that one billion pounds of equipment and supplies was being sent or already sent to Saudi Arabia. On August 24, Schwarzkopf prepared to move his Headquarters to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabia heat and dehydration were the two most serious dangers. Arab Nation soldiers needed three gallons of water a day to survive, but the American soldiers needed five gallons a day to survive because they were not as used to the heat as the Arab Nations were. “In fact, the numbers of heat-related illness in Saudi Arabia was lower than the usual rate at American military bases in a typical summer” (54). This is explaining how intense the heat was, but also saying that with the right supplies and right amount of hydration you would most likely get a heat illness in America than there in Saudi Arabia.

When they sent up their tents the Al Kharj sand would not hold the stakes they used to hold the tents down in the wind. The Army brought in twenty five thousand truck loads of dirt to sent up their tents, the soldiers set up six hundred tents, they also added hospital tents for the medical care staff. When the Army need supplies many of the trucks would get stuck in the sand. Rathbun-Nealy and David Lockett were driving a twenty five wheeled truck with tanks on it to deliver to an Army Base. The truck had gotten stuck and when they were stuck Hussein’s troops advanced on them. The Iraqi troops put both as prisoner. Rathbun-Nealy was the first woman POW of Desert Storm. CIA believed that Iraq had Sarin and Tabun, CIA stands for Central Intelligence Agency. Sarin and tabun affect the nervous system, and makes the person unable to breathe, soldiers carried the injectors to give themselves the antidote to some of the nerve gases that Hussein's troops could use. Biological weapons looked like they were being stored in twenty different places.

Botulism and Anthrax are two of the biological weapons, which are germs that infect the body. A single gram of botulinum would kill one million people. When the wind blew it would blow the sands to an altitude above ten thousand feet. Many of the tractor trailers did not want to stay on the base at night, soldiers set up a tent with a big screen with a wrestling events that the drivers were interested in so they would stay the night at the base. If they stayed the night at the camp they would be ready in the morning to take the next truck of supplies. The trucks would sink into the sand over night so the soldiers would have to dig out the trailers before they could drive them. The Saudi laws put restrictions on the female soldiers. Many stores and families sent toys and supplies to the Military families and the Military personal that were overseas. The coalition troops made a blockade and stopped tanker and supply ships going to Iraq to resupply the troops. Resolution 678 allowed Coalition to use Military forces if Saddam Hussein did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15th, 1991. Hussein released foreign hostages still being held. Instant Thunder attack on Baghdad began on January 17, 1991.

Bombers took off from Saudi airbase next day along with warships launching TLAMs. Eight B-52 Bombers dropped more than one hundred tons of explosives, seven more B-52 Bombers bombed power plants and communication centers. General Schwarzkopf and Coalition Commander wanted to start war with an air attack and end it with ground attacks. Air War Plan had three components: Strategic Air Campaign (SAC), Attainment of Air Superiority, and Battlefield Preparation. SAC would destroy radars, communication centers, Military targets, weapon plants, and command headquarters. The next step was to destroy Hussein's planes and airfields, the final step was to attack hussein's ground troops, destroy as many tanks, and artillery units as possible. The Coalition troops bombing the airfields made it almost impossible for the Iraqi planes to fight back. Air Superiority had been achieved within one week of air attacks. Hussein’s Soviet Scuds could travel about one hundred eighty miles, the Iraqi engineers modified the scuds to make them travel three hundred fifty miles. The Americans radars could detect the scuds and their launchers.

The Iraqi troops had launched a scud but the scud was not headed toward Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, it was headed toward Israel. Israel was not part of the war so no one knew why it was launched at Israel, they soon found out it was because Israel had close relations with America. Hussein had hoped that attacking Israel would destroy the Coalition. Reporters from Tel Aviv, Israel confirmed that six scuds had been fired at Israel and two had been fired at Haifa. The news had reported that the bombs contained poisonous gases. Israel had nuclear weapons ready to fire but they did not fire back at the Iraqis, Israel also sent warplanes into the sky but they were ordered not to attack the Iraqi troops. Hussein's next attack would be on Kuwait's oil wells, oil ships, and oil barrels. Hussein threatened to set fire to oil wells and pour crude oil into the Persian Gulf.

The Department of Defense reported that on January 25, seven to nine million barrels of oil was poured into the water. Three days after the oil was released from the barrels it had caught fire, there was immediate concern for the power plants and Saudi Arabia's desalination plants. Saudi Arabia's desalination plant supplied most of the water to Coalition troops and the Saudi Arabian people. The next five weeks the Coalition troops continued to bomb Iraq targets. For the Fighter Jets to refuel without stopping Tanker Jets would refuel them in the air, this made it possible for the Fighter Jets to complete more missions each day without stopping. The spy satellites helped to locate the Coalition troops for the Iraqis.

Observers watched for weeks to make sure the Al-Firdous were used for Military purposes. Soldiers would cover the Al-Firdous Buildings with camouflage. February 13, two F-117A Jets bombed the Al-Firdous, instead of Military leaders there it was housing Iraqi civilians as a public shelter. Hussein did not have Bomber Planes in the air but he did have Anti-Aircraft Artillery and Surface-to-Air Missiles ready to launch at any Coalition plane they saw. Coalition troops had almost all of Hussein's radars destroyed. Most AAAs and SAMs were human fired because of the loss of the radars. Iraq kept any of the Coalition pilots that they captured and they had been forced to appear on tv while being kept as a POW. The Coalition leaders and Hussein relied on the CNN News for their reports on the War. The Coalition leaders would give Hussein false information through the CNN News. For the Coalitions not to find and destroy the Scud launchers the Iraqis would setup, launch, and then move the Scud launchers so that by the time the Coalition troops got there the launcher would be gone.

By February the Coalition was running out of Patriot Missiles. Pilots found a new way to destroy tanks and other vehicles. A lot of the Fighter Planes would use Forward-Looking Infrared Radar Systems, also known as FLIRS. The FLIRS were used for finding targets in the night, the tanks would absorb heat during the day so that at night it would give off heat and the FLIRS could find it much easier. Russia and Iraq had a last minute plane to withdraw from Kuwait to avoid ground war, the Coalition rejected it. Bush gave Hussein one last chance to withdraw, but February 24, 1991 would be the start of ground war. Battleground would be referred to as Kuwait Theater of Operations (KTO).

East of the KTO, Marines would fight with the Joint Forces Command (JFC). The Army’s VII Corps would cross the Saudi/Iraq border through Iraq's front line. Iraqi troops in the front battlefield were not well trained, after they faced them they had to face Hussein's Republican Guard. The six hundred twenty thousand Coalition troops would face the five hundred forty five thousand Iraqi soldiers. The Iraqi troops planted mines under the sand along the Kuwait/Saudi border, mines are explosives that are buried underground. The Marines used line charges to get across the minefields, the line charged were a line attached to a rocket that would set off the buried explosives. If any of the explosives were not discharged yet the tanks they used would set off the rest of them. The Iraqi soldiers would make berms to protect themselves form the Coalition troops and their tanks.

The US soldiers would use the tanks to bulldoze the berms along the Iraq/Saudi border. Iraqi soldiers would hide in bunkers that were behind the berms. The Fighter Jets would release Leaflets now to tell the Iraqis to surrender before they would attack again. Sergeant Porter’s Psychological Operations would make the leaflets they dropped. Within the first ten hours of Ground War five thousand five hundred Iraqi troops had surrendered. Sergeant Hugh Grossman was a guard for one of the POW camps, Sergeant Grosman was expected to get five hundred Iraqi prisoners. Instead of the five hundred he was supposed to get he got two thousand two hundred prisoners. Iraq had no planes, radars, or satellites in the air to watch the Coalition troops, the Iraqis had no idea when the Coalition would attack again. The french would take over As Salmon and the airfield near by to use it as a refueling and supply base, this was known as Forward Operating Base (FOB).

The FOB was code named Corbra. The Marine 1st Division, JFC troops, and Corbra helicopters destroyed Iraqi vehicles and captured hundreds of prisoners. The Army’s 101st Airborne Division was ready to take over highway eight. Taking control of highway eight would cut off Hussein's troops from their leaders in Baghdad. Highway eight would also block the Republican Guard from escaping the attack. The US radars detected a scud headed towards Dhahran Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the scud hit a warehouse in Al Khobar. On February 26, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) detected Iraqi troops trying to escape on highway eight. The Coalition pilots would bomb the Iraqi vehicles trying to escape. The news reporters broadcasting the attacks called highway eight “ Highway of Death”. The Iraqis surrendered after another failed attempt at escaping, Kuwait was finally free. VII Corps and the British Army went westward to meet the Republican Guard, with Radar Systems Coalition would detect the T-72s before they could detect the Coalition tanks. On March 3, General Schwarzkopf met with Iraqi Generals at Safwan Airfield to discuss the conditions on ending the war. Iraq had been holding Forty one Coalition troops prisoner, and the Coalition was holding sixty thousand plus Iraqi troops as prisoners.

The US Coalition troops had reported being abused and psychologically tortured by the Iraqis, although the two women who were POW said they were not mistreated by the Iraqis. Hussein gave a speech to his people, his speech stated they had not lost the war. The Iraqi troops would later tell that they had beat and publicly executed Kuwait's who resisted, Pentagon Reporters said that one thousand eighty two Kuwait citizens were killed during the time of Desert Storm. After the war some citizens in Kuwait still supported the Iraqis. Seven years after the war Green Cross International (GCI), said that 40% of fresh water was still contaminated by the oil that had been dumped into it. The Shiite and Kurd Muslims protested against Hussein after the war ended. The republican Guard was not to be reorganized, but when the Muslims began to protest they had reformered it to protect Hussein. The Kurds and Shiite reached out to US Government but US Government said they did not want to be a part of Iraq's internal affairs, the US helped the kurds by giving them medical care, food, and clothing. Reporters said they didn't have as much freedom as they had had in other wars, the reporters could not travel anywhere without an escort, and could not interview anyone without approval. Veteran Affairs reported that in 2002 seven thousand seven hundred fifty eight Gulf War soldiers died.

Two hundred thousand soldiers made medical claims with Veterans Administration. Possible causes for Gulf War Syndrome could be exposure to chemical agents or the treatments to their exposure, and another cause could be exposure to radioactive material. Field Officers say that one hundred fifty Iraqi soldiers were buried alive. United Nations Weapons Inspectors found traces of Anthrax and other germ warfare, they also found seventy tons of nerve gas and four hundred tons of mustard gas. The US government wanted to take Hussein out of power. On March 19, 2003, President George W. Bush put Operation Iraqi Freedom into action. The Coalition troops had taken Saddam Hussein out of power by April, they had declared that the Hussein government had fallen. War with the Iraqi people was finally fully over.

After Desert Storm the UN established a no fly zone because of the rebel that happened with the Shiite, Kurds and the Iraqi Government. With women playing a big role in the success of Desert Storm DACOWITS eliminated all laws that prevented women from serving in certain positions in the Military. Some women in the war agreed but many did not. They did not believe women should serve in dangerous positions because of the danger and the harshness of the position. Some of the other weapons the Coalition and US used are; M-1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18, Navy ships were all same design, USS Iowa (BB-61). In 2021 the US government is planning to start the build of a National Desert Storm Memorial. This memorial will be located in Washington D.C