174                                   U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, I99O~1991


    The division commander asked me to analyze the mission in detail and deter-
mine what external assets we'd need.  Rather than trust a "paper analysis," we
ran through some practice missions to determine what our needs would be.
    Security for the raid force became the most obvious.         Fortunately, Task
Force (TF) Shepherd, composed of elements of the 1st and 3d Light Armored
Infantry (LAl) Battalions was already screening in our proposed operating area.
TF Shepherd provided a company for security and a very close relationship
developed.   The commanding officer of Company B of TF Shepherd was
integrated into the planning effort early-on and provided invaluable assistance
both during planning and execution of the raids.  This close association was to
prove valuable later on as 5/li supported TF Shepherd during a pre-G-Day Iraqi
spoiling attack and, again, during the attack into Kuwait.
    We also needed help moving our SP howitzers over the long distances from
the battalion's position area to the final raid assembly area. Reliable navigation-
al aids were a must.  We'd be operating well outside the position, location and
reporting system's (PLRS') range, and accurate information was critical.
    We asked for an electronic warfare surveillance capability to pick up any
enemy radio traffic that might indicate the Iraqis had detected our movement or
were about to fire on us.  On-call, fixedwing air support also seemed to be a
good idea in case we ran into trouble.  The 1st Marine Division G2 offered
remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) support to both locate raid targets and to confirm
their final positions as late as possible before firing.
    It was apparent that these raids would truly be a combined-arms effort.   The
final task organization~1or the raid force is depicted in Figure 1.


              Raid Force Task Organization of 5/11

Raid Force
 Two Batteries 5/11*
 Company B, TF Shepherd (LAl)
 Detachment, 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion
 Detachment, Motor Transport Battalion, 1st FSSG (HETs)
 Detachment, Communications Company, 1st Marine Division (GPS and SATC0M)
 Detachment, 1st Radio Battalion, 1st Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Intelligence
 Group (Mobile Electronic Warfare Surveillance)

Supporting Forces
 On-Call Fixed Wing Air Support (Close Air and Electronic Warfare Support)
 On-Call MEDEVAC Helicopters
*Assignments rotated bet"veen the four firing batteries of the battalion.

Figure 1