158                                   U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991

passage of lines, especially if the sole breaching attack bogged down; making
better use of supporting arms--all of the things Marines think about.   But I
wasn't telling General Boomer anything he didn't already know.   He looked at
me and said, "Yes, I agree and we're thinking about doing it.
    Then he said, "And I'm thinking about doing it here. " He put his hand on
the map--not on the southern part, but the western part--maybe 150 kilometers
northwest of Kibrit. Then he said, "Can you support that? " [EDITOR'S NOTE:
About 40 years   earlier,  Brigadier General Krulak's father,   then the G-3
(Operations) Officer of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, was asked whether the
Marines could provide a division to reinforce embattled forces in Korea, as
requested by General Douglas MacArthur.      Then-Colonel (later Lieutenant
General Victor Krulak let his faith in the Marines override the discouraging
numbers then at his disposal, and said that the Corps could support.  Within
three months, the 1st Marine Division, with two of its three regiments comprised
mostly of reservists, landed at Inchon and changed the course of the war.j
    I thought to myself, "I'm not sure I can support that!" But what I said was,
"I know I can't support that from Kibrit. I need to find another location for the
combat service support area."
    "Okay, go look for another place," General Boomer said.
    I went back to my staff and they went out and looked. They came back and
said, "There's a location called the Gravel Plains, about nine miles west of the
Kuwait border, which would be perfect to support General Boomer's scheme of
maneuver," they said.


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