The four carrier battle groups operating Iraqi forces were committed to defend Kuwait in the Persian Gulf, together with the two against amphibious attack. This diversion of additional battle groupsinthe Red Sea1 comple- forces was a critical element in the overall mented the striking power of land-based coa- campaign plan. It set the stage for coalition lition air forces in Saudi Arabia and other armored forces on the western flank to rapidly coalition Gulf states, and the USAF units in envelop the Iraqi forces fadng seaward and eastern rurkey. This effectively surrounded southward towards the central thrust spear- Iraq with strike capability and demonstrated headed by the Marines. the mobility, flexibility and firepower which naval forces bring to the battlefield. THE AIR WAR. Navy and Marine Corps pilots, aircrews and support personnel joined Critical to the success of all aviation in the most powerful and successful air assault missions was the role of electronic counter- in the history of modem warfare. From "H- measures, "jamming" or "defense suppres- hour" on 17 January when the air campaign sion" aircraft. Navy EA~B Prowlers deter- began, until the end of offensive combat op- mined threat location then jammed and de- erations 43 days later, Navy and Marine avia- stroyed enemy radars. Navy defense suppres- tors destroyed key targets and helped ensure sion aircraft supported all U.S. and coalition the United States military and its coalition forces -- in fact, availability of the EA-6Bs was partners owned the skies over Iraq and Ku- a go/no-go criterion for many strike missions. wait. If Navy defense suppression wasn't available, the missions didn't fly. Operating from six aircraft carriers, two large amphibious assault ships (LHAs), vari- The presence of U.S. naval forces on ousotheramphibiousships,plusgroundbases both flanks of coalition land and air forces and makeshift airstrips ashore, Navy and ashore complemented and enhanced the air- Marine fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft were g;round campaign. It helped ensure the contin- an integral part of the coalition air campaign. ued flow of logistics throughout the war and Of more than94,000 sorties flown by U.S. air- provided the "insurance" which allowed the craft during the war, Navy-and Marine aircraft Gulf states to confidently participate in the flew close to 30,000. Sea-service pilots flew coalition without fear of retaliation. around 35 percent of the sorties, which was in direct proportion to their numbers in the U.S. Naval forces destroyed the Iraqi Navy air inventory. and contributed directly to the liberation of Kuwait. They continued the maritime inter- More than 1,000 Navy and Marine Corps ception campaign throughout the war. They aircraft joined the U.S. Air Force, -Army and supported the ground campaign with air power coalition partners to knock out the Iraqi mili- and naval gunfire. tary machine. The air campaign was con- ducted in four phases. Phase I was to gain air To fully appreciate the contribution of superiority by destroying Iraq's strategic ca- the Navy and Marine Corps to the campaign pabilities. That phasewas accomplished within ashore, one need only consider the large scale the first seven days. Phase II required the models of )[raqi defenses discovered in Kuwait suppression of air defenses in the Kuwaiti City. Those defenses were pointed seaward. Theater of Operations. During Phase III, the -36 -
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