United States Army Special Forces In DESERT SHIELD/ DESERT STORM: How Significant An Impact?
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Major William M. Johnson
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United States Army Special Forces In DESERT SHIELD/ DESERT STORM - Major William M. Johnson
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Text originally published in 1996 under the same title.
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Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.
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U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES IN DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM: HOW SIGNIFICANT AN IMPACT?
BY
MAJ WILLIAM M. JOHNSON, USA.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
ABSTRACT 5
CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION 6
Significance of This Study 6
Background 6
Scope 13
Primary Question 14
Secondary Questions 14
Assumptions 14
Limitations 14
Definitions 14
Delimitations 16
Summary 16
CHAPTER 2 — LITERATURE REVIEW 18
Literature Review 18
Doctrine 18
Books 19
Articles 21
Speeches. Monographs, and Lessons Learned 21
Summary 23
CHAPTER 3 — RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24
CHAPTER 4 — ANALYSIS OF SPECIAL FORCES OPERATIONS IN DESERT SHIELD 27
Border Surveillance 27
Coalition Warfare 29
Summary 34
CHAPTER 5 — ANALYSIS OF SPECIAL FORCES OPERATIONS IN DESERT STORM 36
Introduction 36
Coalition Warfare 36
Special Reconnaissance 38
Direct Action 44
Combat Search and Rescue 45
Kuwait City 47
Summary 49
CHAPTER 6 — CONCLUSIONS AND FINDINGS 51
Secondary Questions 51
Question 1: How were the U.S. Army Special Forces principally used during the Persian Gulf War? 51
Question 2: Could other forces or agencies have had the capability to conduct the missions instead of Special Forces? 52
Question 3: What is the emerging significance the operations, particularly coalition support to the U.S. Army Special Forces in the future? 53
Primary Question 54
How significant an impact did the U.S. Army Special Forces have on the overall force during operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM? 54
Significance of the Thesis 58
Conclusions 58
APPENDIX A — FIGURES 60
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 68
BIBLIOGRAPHY 69
Government Publications 69
Books 70
Periodicals 71
Speeches 72
Unpublished Works 72
ABSTRACT
U.S. Army Special Forces in DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM: How Significant an Impact, MAJ William M. Johnson, USA.
This study investigates the contributions made by the U.S. Army Special Forces (SF) during the Persian Gulf conflict. Particular emphasis is placed on each mission performed by the SF during operations DESERT SHIELD/ DESERT STORM. Emphasis is placed initially on the building-block foundation of how a Special Forces Group (Airborne) is organized, paying particular attention to the operational A-detachment and the makeup of the SF soldier, which is paramount to this study. Brief accounts and descriptions are made of the various missions assigned to SF's coalition warfare support, which involved providing ground truth
and close air support to the Arab-allied units, border surveillance; direct action; special reconnaissance; and combat search and rescue. This provides a base of knowledge into the myriad of operations conducted by the SF during Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM. The study concludes by examining published quotes from key leadership within the Department of Defense which provides this study with a measurable means of determining what significance the missions executed by the SF did have on the success of DESERT SHIELD/STORM.
CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION
Since his special operations force commander's arrival in the gulf six months earlier he'd worked close to the front lines helping to hold the coalition together. I complimented him on the performance of his troops: they had run reconnaissance and made raids behind enemy lines, taught the Saudis, reorganized and equipped the Kuwaitis and during the fighting, served as military, advisors to Arab units they're good men.
{1} — Norman Schwarzkopf, It Doesn't Take a Hero
The U.S. Army Special Forces performed brilliantly during Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM, effectively accomplishing the entire spectrum of mission capability. This was the largest scale conventional combat operation for the U.S. military since the close of the Vietnam conflict fifteen years earlier, and Army Special Forces were heavily involved in all aspects.
Significance of This Study
There has been much published since the 1991 conclusion of Operation DESERT STORM which talks of the U.S. military and the numerous operations performed. This literature has not neglected the U.S. Army Special Forces. One does not have to search long or far to find information on what Special Forces (SF) accomplished.
What this study will attempt to show, however, is another side to this already-published material, a side that is perhaps closer
to the action using personal notes and remembrances of actual participants from the SF units engaged in the operations.
During this study the question is the significance of the operations and missions and what role and effect did it have on the total overall scheme of maneuver and campaign plan laid by the Commander in Chief (CINC), U.S. Central Command, who at the time was General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.
This study will examine the wide range of missions conducted by the SF throughout the spectrum of conflict, beginning with the initial buildup of DESERT SHIELD in August/September 1990 and concluding with the cease-fire of DESERT STORM in February 1991. This study will look at the myriad of missions performed and the overall effectiveness it may have had. It must be noted specifically that this study looks only at the U.S. Army Special Forces in the conflict, not other elements of the U.S. Special Operations Command, which includes U.S. Navy SEALS and Special Boat Units, U.S. Air Force air and ground assets, U.S. Army Rangers and Special Operations Aviation, and Special Mission units. These units all had equally important tasks and missions during this conflict and will be mentioned only in context of their interface and support with Army Special Forces.
Background
It is necessary to understand how it came about that SF became involved in the conflict and why. Due to its unique organization and makeup of highly-qualified, senior officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) who are language-trained, culturally oriented trainers and leaders, SF is routinely called upon to assist in the development of a foreign country's armed forces. This notion of training friendly forces is a logical product of the original mission for which SF was first created in 1952.
Although the creation and formation of Army Special Forces geared itself primarily to counter the Soviet threat in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, and involved the languages and cultural awareness of that region, Vietnam presented a new and unique challenge and really expanded the SF's role to that of a worldwide mission. Thus, SF officers and NCOs took on a global awareness, becoming specialists in areas of the world.
In Europe, interoperability and integration had reached workable levels four decades after World War II. In the region of the Middle East, however, there had not been four decades of togetherness and the U.S. military did not have this same level of interoperability and integration. From the outset, starting with the 2 August 1990 invasion by Iraq into Kuwait, which signaled the beginning of Operation DESERT SHIELD, General Schwarzkopf, the military representation of the U.S. within the Persian Gulf and the direct representation of the President of the United States, faced the requirement to develop and hold together a constantly changing and frail coalition of forces. Bringing this ad hoc coalition of nations to a common understanding operationally and having a reasonable chance of success was