WnH THE I MARINE EXPEDIrIONARY FORCE IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM 33 intelligence section, now under Colonel Forest L. Lucy, to help develop the essential elements of information required for the intelligence preparation of the battlefield. General Schwarzkopfs original strategy placed the British 1st Armour Division under the tactical control of General Boomer as a third maneuver element. This heavy British force was to constitute more than a third of MarCent's combat power, particularly in main battle tanks and artillery. As noted earlier, the integration of the British 7th Armour Brigade with 1st Marine Division had gone exceedingly well. It was therefore a disappointment to General Boomer and the staff when General Schwarzkopf notified him on 17 December that CentCom was withdrawing the British division from MarCent control and placing it with the main Central Command attack. The transfer of British forces was completed in stages by 10 January. To partially compensate for the transfer of the British division, General Schwarzkopf ordered the 1st Brigade of the U.S. 2d Armored Division to MarCent on 10 January. The soldiers of "Tiger" Brigade, commanded by Colonel John B. Sylvester, USA, had trained together in a desert environment for about two years and brought a wealth of night vision equipment and experience as well. However, the brigade had significantly less combat power than the British forces; 116 General Dynamics MiAl Abrams main battle tanks replaced approximately 170 British Challenger tanks and 24 M109 self-propelled 155mm guns replaced 72 British lSSmm guns. Both the M1A1 and M109 were essentially similar to the Marine models. The Abrams tank featured 120mm smooth-bore guns and computerized sight and thermal target imaging systems. Even so, given this smaller force, General Boomer had to reduce I MEF to two reinforced division maneuver elements. He left the issue of an operational reserve in abeyance for the moment. Boomer placed the Tiger Brigade with the 2d Marine Division which would conduct MarCent's main attack. This reinforcement increased that unit's total of tanks to about 257; thus, General Keys commanded the heaviest Marine division ever to take the field. Several logistical complications came with the transfer. Whereas the British forces had been essentially self-supporting, apart from food, fuel, and water, the Tiger Brigade had no similar logistic support. Neither could the brigade bring with it the equivalent of a third of a division's communications and intelligence assets since these could not be task organized. Mitigating the situation was the commonality of Tiger Brigade's main weapons systems with those of the 2d Marine Division. The issues were pragmatically resolved at a series of conferences where it was decided that ArCent would 1,cross-support" Tiger Brigade in clothing, organizational equipment, and ammunition, while MarCent would provide food, fuel, personal items, and general medical support. The Marines also supplied all repair parts and components except for Army-unique items. These communications and logistics issues led to a dispute over the command and control of the brigade, however. General Schwarzkopf proposed in late December that the brigade be placed under Lieutenant General Boomer's operational control, but be supported by ArCent. As this was being discussedFirst Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |