Posted on Jan 15, 2016
Operation Desert Storm: 25 Years Since the First Gulf War
15.7K
35
8
13
13
0
On January 16, 1991, President George H. W. Bush announced the start of what would be called Operation Desert Storm—a military operation to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded and annexed months earlier. For weeks, a U.S.-led coalition of two dozen nations had positioned more than 900,000 troops in the region, most stationed on the Saudi-Iraq border. A U.N.-declared deadline for withdrawal passed on January 15, with no action from Iraq, so coalition forces began a five-week bombardment of Iraqi command and control targets from air and sea.
Operation Desert Storm: 25 Years Since the First Gulf War
Posted from theatlantic.comPosted in these groups: Operation Desert Shield/Storm
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
Posted >1 y ago
Infantry Divisions were tank heavy. At least the ones doing the major end around. The Iraqis were fixated by the Marines in the Gulf and 1CD was feinting up the middle of of Iraq's Defenses by going North into the Iraqis area and returning. This entailed reducing Iraqi obstacles to facilitate the feints which helped the final assault. The Iraqis fixated on the Marines and 1CD, East and South respectively.
Traditionally Arab Armies used roads, wadis, and highways to navigate through the desert to prevent losing bearing thus causing the perception the Coalition Army had the same limitation. The Coalition had a hand held GPS to fix that problem and give it confidence. The 101st, 82nd, and 24ID (Tank Heavy) started in earnest with the M1 in front. The M1 had almost impenetrable armor and had a longer effective range which is a "stand off distance" or range where we could unilaterally destroy targets without fear of being engaged effectively. The mission of the left hook Divisions was to destroy Iraq's military COG, the Republican Guard or Tanakawa Divisions. Once the strength of the Iraq's military was destroyed it became a turkey shoot as regular army units looked for the infamous "Highway of Death" which became a choke point of destruction. I am out of drivel now.
Traditionally Arab Armies used roads, wadis, and highways to navigate through the desert to prevent losing bearing thus causing the perception the Coalition Army had the same limitation. The Coalition had a hand held GPS to fix that problem and give it confidence. The 101st, 82nd, and 24ID (Tank Heavy) started in earnest with the M1 in front. The M1 had almost impenetrable armor and had a longer effective range which is a "stand off distance" or range where we could unilaterally destroy targets without fear of being engaged effectively. The mission of the left hook Divisions was to destroy Iraq's military COG, the Republican Guard or Tanakawa Divisions. Once the strength of the Iraq's military was destroyed it became a turkey shoot as regular army units looked for the infamous "Highway of Death" which became a choke point of destruction. I am out of drivel now.
(6)
Comment
(0)
MAJ Ken Landgren
5 y
I would guess our M1s had ballistic distance advantage of three times the T72s.
(0)
Reply
(0)
Posted >1 y ago
I was involved the year before Desert Storm in the planning of what would eventually be known as Operation Desert Storm SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL.
That was the first real test of M2 Bradley AFV, M3 Bradley CFV and the M1 Abrams tank is combat. Despite the challenges of sand storms and vast distances of land with little landmarks where are GPS. The M1 and Bradley's did very well against the T-72 export MBT. Desert Storm was a defining moment for the combined arms team in modern armored warfare.
That was the first real test of M2 Bradley AFV, M3 Bradley CFV and the M1 Abrams tank is combat. Despite the challenges of sand storms and vast distances of land with little landmarks where are GPS. The M1 and Bradley's did very well against the T-72 export MBT. Desert Storm was a defining moment for the combined arms team in modern armored warfare.
(6)
Comment
(0)
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
>1 y
MAJ Ken Landgren that's a no brainer, you know and I know that one!!
(1)
Reply
(0)
MAJ Ken Landgren
>1 y
Thank you for clarifying! It would have been nice to have tanks in the Div Cav.
(1)
Reply
(0)
Read This Next