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Units and personnel of the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor
services have served with distinction in every major American
conflict since the founding of the United States.
The Persian
Gulf War proved no exception to this rule.
The Persian Gulf
War began on August 2, 1990, when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
ordered land forces to invade and occupy Iraq's southern neighbor
Kuwait. Within days, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S.
forces to prepare for military operations in the Middle East.On
August 6, the Department of Defense (DOD) initiated Operation
“Desert Shield” to defend Saudi Arabia from attack by the Iraqis.
Although the Coast Guard was under the Department of
Transportation, not DOD, during the Gulf War, the Coast Guard
mobilized personnel and units to ensure the safe conduct of military
shipping to the Persian Gulf and enforcement of United Nations
sanctions in the theater of operations.
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Members of U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit 302 patrol the harbor aboard a Navy harbor patrol boat during Operation Desert Shield
in 1990. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
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On August 10, Coast Guard Marine Safety Offices (MSOs)
activated personnel to inspect the nearly 80 Ready Reserve
Fleet (RRF) vessels preparing for sea duty. MSOs throughout
the nation also instituted a flexible Merchant Marine
manning and licensing program to expedite the movement of
RRF vessels. In addition, Coast Guard MSOs became
responsible for Port Security Detachments at ports within
their respective areas of responsibility. This effort
involved the oversight of security for port facilities and
supervising the loading of explosives and hazardous material
on board Military Sealift Command vessels bound for the
Persian Gulf.
At the request of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, the Coast Guard also committed 10 four-person law
enforcement detachment boarding teams (LEDETs) to serve with
U.S. maritime interception forces. On August 16, U.S. forces
initiated maritime interdiction operations consistent with
United Nations sanctions. Within two weeks of instituting
these maritime interdiction operations, a Coast Guard LEDET
had boarded its first Iraqi-flagged vessel.
The Persian Gulf War set many
precedents for the Coast Guard's combat mission.
On
August 22, Bush authorized the activation of Coast Guard
reservists in support of military operations. Of the 950
reservists called to active duty, over 500 of them were
members of the Coast Guard's newly formed Port Security
Units (PSUs). On September 14, PSU 303 from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, became the first port security unit deployed
overseas when it was assigned to Al Damman, Saudi Arabia. On
September 22, PSU 301 based in Buffalo, New York, deployed
to Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, and on November 14, PSU 302 from
Port Clinton, Ohio, deployed to Bahrain. These PSUs featured
the first Coast Guard women to serve in combat roles,
including female machine gunners assigned to “Raider”
tactical port security boats.
On January 16, 1991,
the White House announced the commencement of Operation
“Desert Storm,” an offensive military operation against the
Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait. This operation altered Coast
Guard activities at home and abroad. It increased the level
and tempo of the MSO's activities as they stepped up
land-based security patrols around key U.S. military and
commercial waterfront facilities and enforced waterside
security zones to defend against terrorist attack. Overseas,
the Coast Guard's LEDET personnel helped clear Iraqi oil
platforms, securing 11 such platforms and aiding in the
capture of 23 Iraqi prisoners.
With the added threat
of environmental warfare carried out by Hussein's regime,
the Coast Guard assumed yet another unprecedented mission —
that of environmental protection in a combat zone. On
February 13, two Coast Guard HU-25A Falcon jets, equipped
with oil detection equipment, flew from Air Station Cape Cod
in Massachusetts to Saudi Arabia. They were joined by two
Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, which
transported spare aviation parts and support packages. The
Falcons were deployed for 84 days, providing daily updated
surface analysis of the location, condition and drift
projections of spilled oil to the Coast Guard-led U.S.
Interagency Assessment Team.
On February 28,
coalition offensive operations ceased and, on April 11, the
United Nations declared a formal ceasefire, ending the Gulf
War. On April 21, when coalition naval forces entered
Kuwait's Mina Ash Shuwaikh Harbor, they selected a Coast
Guard “Raider” port security boat from PSU 301 to lead the
way. This event symbolized how Coast Guard forces played a
vital role in Desert Storm military operations.
In
the Persian Gulf War, the Coast Guard provided essential
support for naval and land-based military operations that
the U.S. Navy could not. The MSOs ensured a nearly 100
percent ready rate of RRF vessels and LEDET personnel either
led or supported 60 percent of the 600 merchant ship
boardings. Aviation units mapped over 40,000 square miles of
the Persian Gulf while their aircraft maintained a readiness
rate of nearly 100 percent.
During the Persian Gulf
War, Coast Guard personnel proudly served their country both
at home and abroad and proved once again the importance of
Coast Guard missions in overseas conflicts. These Coast
Guard activities focused on, but were not limited to, marine
safety, vessel boarding, port security and environmental
protection operations. In all of these missions, men and
women of the Coast Guard fulfilled their wartime missions as
members of the long blue line.
By William H. Thiesen, Atlantic Area Historian, USCG
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2016
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