The Fruit of Victory: Born out of the Ashes of Vietnam

-

 

The Fruit of Victory: Born out of the Ashes of Vietnam


                        "First Boots on the Ground"[1]

The fruit of the victory of U.S. Armed forces, along with a very broad coalition of allies, in the Gulf War (‘Operation Desert Storm’ 1990-1991) was born out of the ashes of the Vietnam War. A tremendous number of lessons were learned during the Vietnam War. The Platoon, Company and Battalion level officers and fighter and strike pilots of the Vietnam War would shape the training, procurement of equipment and modernization of the U.S.  Armed Forces of the ‘80’s that provided the incredible victory against Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military in Kuwait.

Doctrinally, the U.S. Armed Forces, freed from the ineffective ‘counterinsurgency’ of Vietnam, retooled and refocused on a combined arms strategy to face the Soviet threat in Eastern Europe. Technological advances exploded in the ‘80’s with precision guided munitions, Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) and even early stealth technology.

The U.S. Army explored the concepts and integration of these new technologies and weapons systems at the Ft Irwin National Training Center. There, they integrated the new M1 Abrams main battle tanks, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter. In addition, the U.S. Air Force integrated the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft providing Close Air Support (CAS) to the highly mobile Army forces in the desert of Southern California.

“Rock Drill” CMTC, Hohenfels, Germany.[2]

 The All-Volunteer force took shape   and had immediate effect; a   disciplined force, technologically   savvy, and the repetition of the   training cycle would pay dividends   during the Gulf War.

 The strategy and operational   concept employed during   Operation Desert Storm utilized   and leveraged all available assets   from the National Command   Authority and the ‘warfighting   CINC’, Central Command.

 “With their memories of the   terrible frustration of the Vietnam   war, the air offensive planners   envisioned a bold strike, of   intensity dictated only by the plans, the weather, the air forces capability, and the enemy, not by the media or political irresolution.”[3]

The ‘Airland Battle’ doctrine of the 1980’s U.S. Army would be fully implemented during ‘Desert Storm.’ A massive aerial campaign would destroy the Iraqi Air Force and thus, ensure absolute dominance of the air above all U.S. and coalition forces. The U.S. Navy would dominate the Persian Gulf and use the U.S. Marines as an Eastern feint.

Maximum application of force would sever the Command-and-Control capability of the Iraqi’s, deception would serve to get the Iraqi’s off balance, and the ability of the U.S. Army to fight at night with advances in technology would ultimately disrupt the Iraqi ‘OODA’ (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) cycle.

“U.S. forces exploited the strategic mobility of the helicopter to plunge deep into the enemy's rear, severing the line of retreat.”[4] The ‘Airland Battle’ doctrine incorporated flexibility, rapid and fluid maneuver coupled with mutually supporting attacks utilizing technologies that provided commanders incredible situational awareness and understanding. “The U.S. doctrine stresses rapid movement on a fluid battlefield, seeking out an opponent's weaknesses while maintaining a high operational tempo to dislocate the enemy force physically and shatter its commanders psychologically.”[5]

By the end of the air and ground campaign, U.S. logisticians had moved well over 500,000 personnel into the theater. Cold War diplomacy and cooperation was, by 1990, very fine tuned and the majority of coalition partners were well trained NATO forces.

                    “Armor on the Hunt”[6]


RESOURCES

[1] William S. Phillips, "First Boots on the Ground," Oil on Canvas, Image size: 28" wide x 14" height, http://www.military-art.co.uk/military-artists/william-s-phillips.asp.

[2] Master Sergeant Sieger Hartgers, U.S. Army Center for Military History, Combat Artist Program, oil on canvas, 30” X 40”, https://history.army.mil/museums/armyArtists/msgHartgers-msgVarisano.html

[3] Grant, Gregory M., “Learning the Correct Lessons from the Gulf War: Strategy: The U.S. military used tactics that worked for Napoleon and for the Germans in World War II. But how will this victory affect the peace?” The Los Angeles Times, 3 March 1991, http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-03/opinion/op-312_1_world-war/2 accessed on 27 April 2018

[4] Ibid.

[5] Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski, For the Common Defense (New York: The Free Press, 1984), 637

[6] SFC Darrold Peters, "Armor on the Hunt" - Karbala, Iraq - 2006 Digital Oils, Corel Painter IX.5, U.S. Army Center for Military History, https://history.army.mil/museums/armyArtists/sfcPeters.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"CONVENTIONAL COMMANDERS IN AN UNCONVENTIONAL WAR: THE U.S. ARMY IN VIETNAM 1965-1967"

-
Image
INTRODUCTION                  Between 1965 and 1968 the majority of the Infantry Brigade and Battalion commanders fighting in Vietnam were veterans of the Second World War and/or the Korean war. Who were these   WWII veterans who led the U.S. Army in Vietnam and, as a group, how did they interpret their assigned tasks during the first two years of America’s involvement in Vietnam. This study illustrates how the ‘first wave’ of maneuver commanders, of whom a majority were veterans of the Second World War or Korea, adapted to myriad of conditions they faced across the 44 provinces in the Republic of Vietnam.   Within the historiography of the U.S. Army in Vietnam, the secondary literature concentrates on the strategy developed and implemented by the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) and the ‘search and destroy’ operations executed across the country. A small group of scholars have argued that without any clear method through which to measure success, the commanders pursued ‘bod
Read more

“U.S. MARINE CORPS PRE-WAR TRAINING AND THE BATTLE OF BELLEAU WOOD: 1917-1918”

-
Image
I : Introduction                     The fighting in Belleau Wood, France, in  June, 1918 saw the command of the U.S. Marine 6th Machine Gun Battalion change hands four times in 11 days. Such was the nature of the vicious fight between the 4th Marine Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division (U.S. Army) and the Germans pushing towards Paris. By all accounts, this first real test of the U.S Marines in the First World War, was a bloodletting that should have ended in a rout as the experienced and veteran German machine gunners tore into the inexperienced U.S. Marines. Rather than collapse, the 4th Marine Brigade withstood the German assaults and not only held firm, but triumphed. The U.S. Marine Corps 5th and 6th Marine Regiments in 1918 fought against the veteran and very experienced German infantry. This study seeks to identify how ad hoc Marine Corps infantry battalions and the newly formed 4th Marine Brigade was able to not only stop the German advance, but ultimately prevail, over a much
Read more

1968 TET OFFENSIVE: The Beginning of the End for Continued U.S. Involvement in Vietnam

-
Image
  The Vietnam War after the Tet Offensive of 1968   The 1968 “Tet” Offensive spread out across South Vietnam between 30 and 31 January. The offensive produced shock both politically and militarily in the capital cities of Saigon and Washington D.C. The purpose of the offensive, in the extreme, was for Hanoi to cause a general uprising across the beleaguered cities of South Vietnam; a ‘popular enjoining’ of the fight by sympathetic South Vietnamese against the South Vietnamese government and her mighty ally, the United States. Sam Adams, a CIA analyst who was stationed in Vietnam at the time, believes Hanoi’s chief objective was to “jolt American public opinion right before the American elections. And in my view they succeeded in spades in doing that. [1] And at minimum, to cause chaos, sow worry and concern for South Vietnamese citizens and Americans alike, and to influence American public opinion. Surely the calculus of the North Vietnamese took into consideration the free press o
Read more

“AUFTRAGSTAKTIK" - Mission Type Orders and The Heer

-
Image
  Introduction to Basic WWII German Army Doctrine  Staff officers quick huddle and map check. Max Hastings, British historian and journalist, said in a radio interview on WGN Chicago …             “...there's no doubt that man for man, the German army was the greatest fighting force of the Second World War”. And author Chris Evans:             “The German soldier was very professional and well trained, aggressive in attack and stubborn in defence. He was always adaptable, particularly in the later years when shortages of equipment were being felt.” Analysis by the US Army of the 1939 German Campaign in Poland  found that "The emphasis which the Germans placed on the development of leadership and initiative in commanders during years of preparatory training brought its rewards in the Polish campaign. With confidence that these principles had been properly inculcated, all commanders, from the highest to the lowest echelons, felt free to carry out their missions or meet c
Read more
-
Image
           Interview with Ms Trisha Sicilia, Senior Supplier Quality Engineer, Lockheed Martin Corporation By Patrick Eaton INTERVIEW LINKS: (3 Part Recordings) ABSTRACT: The topic of the final research is the Bell Aircraft Corporation and the Air Force Plant #6 in Smyrna/Marietta, Georgia. During the Second World War II, Bell Aircraft won a contract to produce the B-29 Superfortress. Cobb County Georgia and the Governor of Georgia lobbied to have Bell Aircraft produce the B-29 in Marietta Georgia. As Bell Aircraft ended operations in 1945, Lockheed Aircraft picked up operations in Marietta and continues to operate in Marietta. I conducted an interview of Ms. Trisha Sicilia who is a Senior Supplier Quality Engineer in support of the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35), the F-22 Raptor, the F-15C Eagle, and the C-130 Hercules aircraft. Ms. Sicilia has been involved in the aviation industry for well over 20 years and has previously worked at Pratt & Whitney before starting work with Lockheed
Read more