Desert Shield Three of the ships assigned to the brigade’s Military Sealift Command support squadron were leased vessels with foreign flags, and they were unable to be employed in a combat zone. With the prepositioning ships now emptied of gear, two vessels from Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two—the PFC William Baugh Jr. and the 1stLt Alex Bonnyman Jr.—were assigned to the brigade’s support squadron instead. Throughout October and November, the three leased vessels—the Bassro Polar, Pheasant, and Aurora T—were off-loaded in al-Jubayl, and their cargos were combat loaded onto the two roll-on/roll-off* prepositioning ships. Major General Jenkins explained, “This was the first time that [Maritime Prepositioning] ships had ever been combat loaded to support a general landing plan for the amphibious force.”30 While the amphibious forces trained and reorganized themselves, they also had a more active maritime mission to prosecute against Iraq. UN Security Council Resolution 661 established an embargo on exports from Iraq and Kuwait, as well as on imports of most cargo except medical supplies and food. The U.S. Navy took the lead in an international naval effort to enforce this embargo, but the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) was tasked, per doctrine, with providing a maritime special purpose force for conducting opposed boarding operations against underway vessels. The USS Ogden detached to conduct these operations with a heliborne force from 1st Force Reconnaissance Company and a Naval Special Warfare Command (Sea, Air, and Land [SEAL]) detachment.31 The first interdiction occurred on 13 October against the Iraqi vessel Al-Mutanabbi, and the next on 22 October against the Al Sahil Al Arabi. On 28 October, the 13th Marine Expeditionary Force’s maritime special purpose force made its last interdiction against the Amuriya, an Iraqi vessel that refused to stop despite warning shots fired by U.S. and Australian frigates and low-level passes by U.S. Navy aircraft. The successful boarding party insertion finally persuaded the vessel to stop and allow an inspection. None of the boarding actions resulted in any casualties.32
A Line in the Sand: Planning to Defend Saudi Arabia With Lieutenant General Walter Boomer at the helm *
Roll-on/roll-off ships are designed to carry wheeled cargo such as trucks, automobiles, or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship.
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of both Marine Forces Central Command and I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marines continued to deploy to the Gulf and to solidify the defenses of Saudi Arabia. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade deployed to Saudi Arabia by air and met the ships of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three at alJubayl. The brigade did not operate independently when it arrived in Saudi Arabia, however. Instead, it combined with the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade upon arrival, as planned, forming the I Marine Expeditionary Force, the primary combat arm of Marine Forces Central Command.33 I Marine Expeditionary Force officially took over as the controlling Marine air-ground task force in Saudi Arabia on 3 September. The staff of the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade was combined with incoming staff to form the new headquarters, and Major General John Hopkins became the deputy commander, I Marine Expeditionary Force. Major General Jeremiah W. Pearson III was the deputy commander, Marine Forces Central Command. He remained in Riyadh at Central Command headquarters, serving as the senior Marine on staff there and coordinating with the other services. The ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force during this initial phase of Operation Desert Shield was the 1st Marine Division, commanded by Major General James M. Myatt. The division’s regiments were initially the 7th Marines, led by Colonel Carlton Fulford; 3d Marines, commanded by Colonel John H. Admire; and 11th Marines, led by Colonel Patrick G. Howard. In addition, the division had the 3d Tank Battalion, 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion. Because the division deployed in waves, several of its regimental units were comprised of battalions from different regiments. This lack of unit coherence extended to the company level for some of the attached battalions. Lieutenant Colonel Clifford O. Myers III of the 1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion responded to having companies from multiple battalions by designating the light armored infantry force as Task Force Shepherd; later this practice would spread to the entire division.34 The I Marine Expeditionary Force air combat element was the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing; it initially comprised three air groups and their supporting logistics and air defense units. Colonel Manfred Rietsch commanded Marine Aircraft Group 11, which controlled most of the fixed-wing squadrons of the wing at Shaikh Isa Air Base and Bahrain Interna-
