10 U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991 The I MEF Marine Air-Ground Task Force was MarCent's operational command. Marine forces afloat, principally the 4th, and later the 5th, Marine expeditionary brigades were under the operational control of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, Vice Admiral Henry H. Mauz, USN, and after December by Vice Admiral Stanley R. Arthur. The Joint Forces and Theater of Operations was commanded by a prince of the Saudi royal family. His Royal Highness Lieutenant General Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, or more simply, Prince Khalid, coordinated all Arab coalition force operations. There were no formal "host nation" or "status of forces" agreements normally associated with the deployment of American forces overseas. General Boomer placed a high priority on effective relations with Arab allies and ordered the establishment of liaison and combined training teams to work with the Saudi forces in the area. There were two Saudi ground forces in the kingdom: the Royal Saudi Land Forces under the Minister of Defense and Aviation (MODA) and a separate elite force, the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG). In the campaign to follow, brigades of both~forces would be on the Marines' right flank. For the moment, however, the closest was the 2d SANG Brigade to the north in the sector between the Marines and southeast Kuwait. In addition, the Saudis were in the process of establishing a Marine Corps as part of the Royal Saudi Naval Force at a coastal base near Mishab (Ras Al Mishab). A U.S. Marine training team went there as well.s With respect to relations between Central Command and its Marine component, both Generals Schwarzkopf and Boomer later characterized them as close, constant, and effective. When the issue of a separate Marine component A MajGen Royal N. Moore, Jr., Commanding General, 3d Marine Aircrafl wingFirst Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |