NAVY TALKING POINTS OFFICE IF INFO DESERT STORM

File: 970327_dec96_decls37_0004.txt
Page: 0004
Total Pages: 19

Subject = NAVY TALKING POINTS OFFICE IF INFO  DESERT STORM                

Folder Title = MAJ GALLOWAY S MATERIAL                                                                         

Parent Organization = MARCENT     

Unit  = 1 MEF       

Box ID = BX600094

File Cabinet = Week-51 

File Room = dec96_classified    



                                                       UNCLASSIFIED



           On January 21, USS THEODORE ROOSEVELTjoined the'forces in the Persian Gulf. Two 1000"
           bedNavyhospital ships, USNS MERCY andUSNS COMFORTwere activated and quickly deployed
           to the Persian Gulf. The fact that over 100 ships could be deployed and sustained in the Middle East
           is a tribute to the naval rebuilding program of the 1980s.

           TOTAL FORCE - RESERVES

                   On August 22, the President, in an Executive Order, authorized the call-up of 48,800 members
           of the Selected Reserves to active duty. Reser vists in the order were directed to support OPERATION
           DESERT SHIELD in deployed units or fill critical military support vacancies in the United States or
           elsewhere caused by regular active duty deployment io the Middle East. Naval Reserve Units subject
           to call-up included the following mission areas: Medical; Mine Warfare; Combat Search and Rescue;
           Cargo Handling Battalions; Naval Control of Shipping; Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare; Naval
           Construction (SeaBees); Intelligence; Public Affairs; and logistical support. Marine Corps Reserve
           units included combat and support units. On November 12, a subsequent Executive Order authorized
           the activation of 72,500 additional reservists, and extended the active duty period from 90 to 180 days.
           In December, 63,000 more military reservists were authorized and the Navy's ceiling was raised from
           10,000to3O,OOO. OnJanuaryl9,1991,theNavyandMarineCorps'ceilingwasincreasedto44,000,
           and the active duty period extended up to one year.

           IXYP0IN7ST0EMPHASIZ9

                   * The DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM Operations are the largest naval operations
           since World War 11, involving the Navy's Middle East Force; six carrier battle groups; the battleships
           WISCONSIN and M[ISSOURI; two Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF); and selected combat logis-
           tics force ships for at-sea sustainability. In mid-January 1991, this naval support included over 100
           ships and 75,000 embarked sailors and Marines. A thirty-one ship Amphibious Task Force with
           Marine Air-Ground Task Forces embarked was included in OPERATION DESERT STORM.

                   I In OPERATION DESERT STORM a new generation of naval weapons proved their
           precision capability in combat, including sea-launched TOMAHAWK cruise missiles and carrier-
           based naval aircraft firing Standoff Land Attack Missiles (SLAM) and laser-guided bombs.

                   * These ready naval forces were either forward deployed or deployed on short notice due to
           the past investment of the 1980s in combat-ready forces, including top quality sailors and Marines.

                   I The strategic sealift forces (including Maritime Prepositioning Ships); Afloat Prepositioning
           Ships; Fast Sealift Ships (T-AERs) and Ready Reserve Force (RRF) Ships were ready as planned and
           keys to supporting DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM operations. Over 95 percent of the
           supplies arrived by sealift.

                     Forward deployed, mobile Navy-Marine Corps forces were first on-the-scene and ready on
           arrival to conduct a full spectrum of operations from forward presence, to maritime intercept opera-
           tions, to full scale combat operations, including amphibious capabilities.






                                                              UNCLASSIFIED

Document 19 f:/Week-51/BX600094/MAJ GALLOWAY S MATERIAL/navy talking points office if info desert storm:03249710492938
Control Fields 17
File Room = dec96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-51
Box ID = BX600094
Unit = 1 MEF
Parent Organization = MARCENT
Folder Title = MAJ GALLOWAY S MATERIAL
Folder Seq # = 207
Subject = NAVY TALKING POINTS OFFICE IF INFO DESERT STORM
Document Seq # = 10
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 24-MAR-1997