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Appendix C Chronology of Significant Events
from Liberating Kuwait
by Dellvzla
u APPENDIX Cu
Chronology of Significant Events
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1979
16 July
4 November
1980
March The U.S. Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force is established.
22 September Iraq launches air strikes against Iran, beginning the Iran-Iraq War.
23 September Iraq invades Iran.
Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq.
Iranian militants seize U.S. embassy personnel, starting the Iranian hostage crisis.
1981
January
20 January
7 June Iran launches first counteroffensive against Iraq.
The Iranian hostage crisis ends.
Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor.
1982
July The first battle of Basrah between Iran and Iraq takes place.
1983
1 January U.S. Central Command is established.
1985
27 November Gen George B. Crist becomes commander of U.S. Central Command.
1987
January
17 May The second battle of Basrah occurs.
USS Stark (FFG 31) is hit by two Iraqi Exocet missiles.
July
August Operation Earnest Will, the U.S. Central Command’s convoying of Kuwaiti tankers through the Persian Gulf, begins.
Detachment 2, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit (24th MAU), arrives in the Persian Gulf on board USS Guadalcanal (LPH 7), beginning Marine Corps involvement in Operation Earnest Will.
21 September U.S. forces capture the Iranian vessel Iran Ajr as it lays mines in the Persian Gulf.
8 October U.S. forces sink or destroy three Iranian motorboats after they fire on U.S. forces.
November Contingency Marine Air-Ground Task Force (CMAGTF) 1-88 aboard USS Okinawa (LPH 3) relieves Detachment 2, 24th MAU, in the Persian Gulf.
1988
February Iraq begins launching surface-to-surface missiles at Tehran in the final “War of the Cities.” CMAGTF 2-88 aboard USS Trenton (LPD 14)relieves CMAGTF 1-88 in the Persian Gulf.
April
May to July
June
3 July
8 August
September Iraqi forces drive the Iranians from the al-Faw Peninsula. USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) is severely damaged by an Iranian mine. In response, Operation Praying Mantis is conducted by U.S. forces, which sink an Iranian frigate, severely damage another, sink or destroy multiple Iranian small craft, and destroy two oil platforms. During the operation, a Marine AH-1T Sea Cobra crashes, and its crew members— Capts Stephen C. Leslie and Kenneth W. Hill—are killed.
Iraqis launch a series of offensives against the Iranians.
CMAGTF 3-88 relieves CMAGTF 2-88 in the Persian Gulf.
USS Vincennes (CG 49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655, killing its 290 civilian passengers.
Iran and Iraq announce a cease-fire, ending the Iran-Iraq War.
Operation Earnest Will ends.
23 November Gen H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA, becomes commander of U.S. Central Command.
1990
2 August
6 August
7 August Iraqi military forces invade Kuwait. The U.S. government orders two carrier battle groups to the Persian Gulf.
Saudi Arabia requests U.S. assistance. The United Nations (UN) authorizes economic sanctions against Iraq.
President George H. W. Bush orders U.S. armed forces to Saudi Arabia. Operation Desert Shield begins.
8 August
10 August
11 August
12 August
14 August
15 August
16 August
20 August
22 August
24 August
25 August I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF), 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (1st MEB), 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (4th MEB), and 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (7th MEB) receive warning orders for possible deployment to the Persian Gulf.
LtGen Walter E. Boomer assumes command of I MEF and U.S. Marine Forces Central Command.
The Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet orders the 4th MEB from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to the Persian Gulf.
Brigade Service Support Group 7 arrives in Saudi Arabia to prepare the port of alJubayl, Saudi Arabia, for unloading Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two (MPSRON-2).
Three ships of MPSRON-2 arrive at the port of al-Jubayl.
First Marine helicopters (AH-1Ws) and fixed-wing aircraft depart El Toro, California. The 7th MEB, from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California, is the first Marine combat organization to arrive in the Persian Gulf.
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 (HMLA-369), comprising the first Marine Aircraft Group 70 (MAG-70) aircraft, arrives in theater. Headquarters Marine Corps announces the commitment of 45,000 troops to the Persian Gulf area. They consist of elements of I MEF, including units from the 1st Marine Division, 1st Force Service Support Group (1st FSSG), 3d Marine Aircraft Wing (3d MAW), and 7th MEB. Also en route are elements of the 4th MEB, including units from 2d Marine Division, 2d Force Service Support Group, and 2d Marine Aircraft Wing. Additionally, MPSRON-2 had been at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The five-ship squadron contains 7th MEB’s equipment and enough supplies to sustain the 16,500-person force for 30 days. Ultimately, the Marines would comprise a portion of the approximately 200,000 U.S. ground troops.
Military Airlift Command begins flying missions to al-Jubayl Naval Air Facility.
Marine Attack Squadron 311 (VMA-311), with the first Marine fixed-wing aircraft (AV-8Bs), arrives in theater.
President Bush orders the first mobilization of U.S. military reserves in 20 years and declares the call-up “essential to completing our mission” of thwarting Iraqi aggression in the Persian Gulf.
MAG-70 begins combat air patrol missions over the northern Persian Gulf. The U.S. embassy in Kuwait is ordered closed. Marine security guards and approximately 100 U.S. officials and citizens are transferred to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad by the Iraqi government. They are among an estimated 1,000 Americans held hostage in Iraq during the crisis.
MajGen Hopkins reports 7th MEB is combat ready and ready to defend al-Jubayl, a week prior to expectations.
3 September MAG-70 dissolves and 3d MAW stands up. BGen James A. Brabham assumes command of the 1st FSSG.
7 September 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (13th MEU [SOC]) arrives in North Arabian Sea.
8 October
13 October
22 October
28 October The 13th MEU (SOC) interdicts and boards the Iraqi vessel Amuriya.
8 November President Bush announces that he plans to add more than 200,000 U.S. troops to those already deployed in Operation Desert Shield in the Persian Gulf area.
The first fatal accident for Marines in Operation Desert Shield claims eight lives when two UH-1N helicopters crash into the North Arabian Sea during a night training mission. The Marines were assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 164, part of the 13th MEU (SOC).
The 13th MEU (SOC) interdicts and boards the Iraqi vessel Al Mutanabbi.
The 13th MEU (SOC) interdicts and boards the Iraqi vessel Al Sahil Al Arabi.
18 November The 2d Marine Division receives orders to deploy to the Kuwait Theater of Operations.
22 November President Bush addresses U.S. Marines, U.S. sailors, and British soldiers during his visit to Saudi Arabia. Standing before a crowd of more than 3,000 frontline forces, the president reaffirms his resolve to see Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein ousted from Kuwait. The president and Mrs. Bush then join the Marines for a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal.
29 November UN Security Council Resolution 678 authorizes the use of “all necessary means” to get Iraqi forces to leave Kuwait if they have not done so by 15 January 1991.
11 December I MEF increases by 58 percent when air flow reinforcements start bringing an average of 945 Marines and sailors and 222 short tons of cargo every day for the remainder of the month.
24 December The British 1st Armored Division is transferred to the operational command of U.S. Army Forces Central Command (ArCent); the U.S. Army’s 1st (Tiger) Brigade, 2d Armored Division, is transferred to I MEF.
26 December The 4th MEB interdicts and boards the Iraqi vessel Ibn Khaldoon.
30 December The 4th MEB interdicts and boards the Iraqi vessel Ain Zallah.
1991
2 January
5 January Operation Eastern Exit is launched when the 4th MEB contingency MAGTF departs Masirah, Oman, for Somalia.
Operation Eastern Exit continues. Two CH-53s launched from USS Trenton insert a 60-man evacuation force and then return to USS Guam (LPH 9) with 61 evacuees. Task Force 158/I MEF holds planning meeting.
6 January Operation Eastern Exit, the Somalia evacuation, is completed.
6–15 January Direct Support Command’s (DSC’s) engineers build a sprawling complex of more than 40 square kilometers at Kibrit, Saudi Arabia, directly west of al-Mishab, as a defensive measure against Iraqi air and artillery attack.
8 January I MEF reports six Iraqi helicopters cross the border near Observation Post 4 (OP4). The helicopters are in contact with Saudi and Marine interpreters on the ground. Helicopters requesting to land in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, are refused and advised to land 30 miles south of the border. Four land at al-Khafji, Saudi Arabia, and two land near OP-4.
10 January
11 January
12 January
15 January The U.S. Army’s Tiger Brigade reports to the 2d Marine Division from ArCent.
Operation Eastern Exit ends; the 262 evacuees debark at Muscat, Oman.
Congress approves the president’s use of military force against Iraq.
The UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait passes with Iraq still occupying that nation.
17 January Operation Desert Shield becomes Operation Desert Storm as forces of the allied Coalition launch an air assault against targets in Iraq and occupied Kuwait in an effort to liberate Kuwait and enforce the UN Security Council’s resolutions.
17–19 January The Iraqis respond to the Coalition air bombardment by shooting FROG (free rocket over ground) missiles at al-Mishab.
18 January
21 January
26 January
27 January
28 January Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO-2) loses an OV-10 Bronco flown by its commander, LtCol Clifford M. Acree. LtCol Acree and his observer, CWO-4 Guy L. Hunter, are captured by Iraqi forces. The last of the 2d Marine Division’s units, the 2d Tank Battalion, completes its offload of equipment at al-Jubayl and moves forward to join the division. Iraq begins launching Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia.
1st Marine Division conducts an artillery raid against Iraqi forces in Kuwait. Baghdad airs footage of captured allied airmen. Marine prisoners are identified as LtCol Clifford Acree and CWO-4 Guy Hunter.
1st Marine Division conducts an artillery raid against Iraqi forces in Kuwait; Iraq begins dumping oil from Mina al-Ahmadi oil terminal into the Persian Gulf.
Saddam Hussein presents his plan for the attack on al-Khafji to the III Corps and IV Corps commanders in the Iraqi city of Basrah. Gen Salah Aboud Mahmoud promises to present Saddam with the city of al-Khafji as a present on the morning of 30 January. The 2d Marine Division conducts its first offensive operations with an artillery raid against Iraqi positions.
VMA-311 loses an AV-8B Harrier. Its pilot, Capt Michael C. Berryman, is taken prisoner by the Iraqis. Gen Salah Aboud Mahmoud meets with his division commanders at the 5th Mechanized Division headquarters, beneath the al-Maqwa oil refinery.
The 3d Marine artillery raid into Kuwait is conducted. E-8C Joint STARS aircraft note Iraqi movement on the Saudi-Kuwaiti border. Coalition aircraft strike columns of the 3d Armored Division moving through the al-Wafrah oil fields.
29 January
30 January
31 January
1 February
2 February The Iraqi 5th Mechanized Division and 3d Armored Division assault the KuwaitiSaudi border, beginning the Battle of al-Khafji. Two Marine light armored vehicles are destroyed by friendly fire at OP-4 during the Iraqi assault. Eleven Marines are killed.
The 5th Mechanized Division occupies al-Khafji. Iraqi forces assaulting the berm at OP-4 are repulsed. The 7th Battalion, 2d Brigade, Saudi Arabian National Guard, launches an attack to retake al-Khafji and is repulsed. A U.S. Air Force AC-130 attacking Iraqi reinforcements bound for al-Khafji is shot down by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile; the 14-man crew is lost.
7th Battalion, 2d Brigade, Saudi Arabian National Guard, launches another attack to retake al-Khafji and is repulsed.
The 7th and 8th Battalions, 2d Brigade, Saudi Arabian National Guard, secure alKhafji and end Iraqi resistance in the city.
An AH-1 helicopter of Marine Attack Helicopter Squadron 775 crashes during an emergency MedEvac conducted using night-vision goggles; both pilots, Capt Jonathan R. Edwards and Maj Eugene McCarthy, die in the crash. U.S. Navy aircraft mistakenly bomb Battery S, 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, 30 kilometers north of al-Qaraah, killing one Marine, LCpl Eliseo C. Felix, and wounding two others.
3 February HMLA-369 loses a UH-1N when it crashes into the ground; four fatalities result.
3–7 February A Marine explosive ordnance disposal team clears al-Khafji, destroying a total of 4,000 pieces of ordnance and removing 80 armored vehicles in the process.
8 February Khanjar forward logistics base established.
9 February Marine Attack Squadron 231 loses an AV-8; the pilot, Capt Russell A. C. Sanborn, is taken prisoner.
9–20 February DSC moves from Kibrit to Khanjar, approximately 160 kilometers northwest of Kibrit, in a massive supply buildup.
15 February USS Tarawa (LHA 1) offloads AV-8Bs at al-Jubayl and is just missed by a Scud missile attack.
17 February
18 February
20 February USS Tripoli (LPH 10) is disabled after it hits a mine.
Marine reconnaissance teams cross into Kuwait to conduct surveys of Iraqi minefields and obstacles and to identify any gaps and weaknesses.
The 2d Combat Engineer Battalion begins to make cuts through the berm along the Kuwaiti-Saudi border.
21 February
22 February
23 February
24 February
25 February
26 February
27 February
28 February
3 March
4 March
8 March Marine Attack Squadron 331 (of Marine Aircraft Group 40) conducts 20 combat sorties from USS Nassau (LHA 4); this is the first fixed-wing combat strike from this class of ship.
The 2d Light Armored Infantry Battalion begins screening the 2d Marine Division in Kuwait.
The 2d Combat Engineer Battalion finishes the cuts through the berm. The 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, moves into Kuwait to provide security for artillery surveying parties.
Marine Attack Squadron 542 loses an AV-8; its pilot, Capt James N. Wilburn III, is killed in action. Four of the 2d Marine Division’s artillery battalions move into Kuwait to provide fire support for the division’s assault.
Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 loses a CH-46 Sea Knight on a night-visiongoggle takeoff during the lift for Task Force X-Ray. I MEF begins the liberation of Kuwait. 1st and 2d Marine Divisions breach the Saddam Line.
Marine Attack Squadron 542 loses an AV-8; the pilot, Captain John S. Walsh, is recovered by friendly forces. VMO-1 loses an OV-10; Maj Joseph J. Small III is taken prisoner, and Capt David M. Spellacy, the pilot, is killed in action. 2d Marine Division assaults and secures its first objective, fighting through the “Ice Cube” and the “Ice Cube Tray.” The Battle of Burqan, an Iraqi counterattack launched at the 1st Marine Division, ends with a Marine victory. Task Force X-Ray lands near Task Force Papa Bear.
Another counterattack is defeated on the 2d Marine Division’s right flank. Iraqi units are reported to be withdrawing from Kuwait. The Tiger Brigade, 6th Marines, and 8th Marines attack to their final division objectives on the outskirts of al-Jahrah and Kuwait City. 1st Marine Division’s Task Force Ripper reaches Kuwait International Airport. Eight thousand Iraqi prisoners of war (POWs) reach the holding compound at Kibrit.
Arab forces of the Joint Forces Command–North pass along the 2d Marine Division’s front and participate in the liberation of Kuwait City. 2d Marine Division consolidates its positions outside of al-Jahrah and Kuwait and clears the last pockets of Iraqi resistance. 1st Marine Division consolidates its area and clears the last pockets of resistance around Kuwait International Airport.
Operation Desert Storm ends when the cease-fire declared by President Bush goes into effect.
Cease-fire accepted at Safwan airfield in Iraq.
13th MEU (SOC) captures more than 1,400 Iraqi POWs on Faylakah Island.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 loses two F/A-18s in a midair collision. 13th MEU (SOC) departs Persian Gulf.
9 March
10 March 4th MEB begins retrograde.
Five Marine POWs are among the 21 POWs who arrive at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC. The Marine POWs were freed on 5 March and transported from Iraq by an International Red Cross aircraft. They are LtCol Clifford Acree, Maj Joseph Small III, Capts Michael Berryman and Russell Sanborn, and CWO-4 Guy Hunter.
