8                                     U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN aULF, 1990-1991

growing force that offered both access and security, a number of ca1n1ps were
leased in the adjacent 250,705-acre industrial city of Jubayl.  The camps had
been set up in the 1970s for some of the 52,000 workers who built the
petro-industrial complex that Guinness would later term as "the world's largest
public works project of modern times. "3
    In the meantime, follow-on Marine forces afloat and ashore also began
deploying to the Gulf.   From the east coast another brigade, the 4th Marine
Expeditionary Brigade, commanded by Major General Harry W. Jenkins Jr.,
departed on 17 August. It become a floating reserve along with the smaller 13th
Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU[SOC]). The 1st
Marine Expeditionary Brigade, less its command element, flew out of its Hawaii
base on 25 August.    The next day, the lead elements joined their equipment
which had just arrived at Jubayl in the ships of Maritime Pre-Positioning
Squadron 3 out of Guam.    The remainder of the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing from
southern California also deployed along with two specialized aviation logistics
support ships, USS Curtiss (T-AVB 4) and USS Wright (T-AVB 3).

                           Establishing the Force

    Lieutenant General Boomer flew to Riyadh, the Saudi political capital and
prospective headquarters for Central Command, to establish relations with its
staff on about 20 August.  On 3 September 1991, he set up his command post
at an unused administration building at the commercial port of Jubayl.    The
initial mission assigned U.S. Marine Forces Central Command was: "Defend
in sector to protect vital facilities in the vicinity of Jubayl; on order, conduct
passage of lines with Royal Saudi Land Forces and Gulf Cooperation Council
forces."  This defensive task would remain unchanged throughout the force's
deployment to the Gulf.  The initial area of operations assigned to the Marines
was a 40 by 100 kilometer strip along the coast centering on Jubayl.
    Nearly a generation had passed since the Marine Corps had conducted
corps-sized Operations in combat.  It had been 45 years since a Marine officer
had commanded a corps-size unit with two or more maneuvering divisions.     In
recent years, the prospect of corps-level operations seemed so remote that it was
scarcely mentioned at all in the curriculum at the Marine Corps' Command and
Staff College.  Although the U.S. Army did have a manual on the subject, it
was oriented to an European land campaign rather than the desert expeditionary
situation now at hand.4
    During the campaign, Lieutenant General Boomer was both Commander,
U.S. Marine Forces Central  Command     and Commanding        General, I Marine


    ~ieutenant General Roy S. Geiger commanded Ill Amphibious Corps at Okinawa in 1945.
The divisions of Ill Marine Amphibious Force in Vietnam occupied generally fixed areas and did
not maneuver relative to each other.