44 U.S. MARINES iN THE PERSIAN GULF, 199O~I99I The commander of the Military Sealift Command Southwest Asia, Commodore Richard A. Crooks, was ultimately successful in developing a satisfactory shipping route into the port by having ships thread their way through the oil field. The movement of a large ship along the dangerous route into the port required a great deal of coordination: NavCent had to provide escort ships and the Royal Saudi Naval Force tug boats. On 26 January the first ship to reach Mishab was MV Mallory Lykes, carrying 500 containers of MarCent sustainment. It was unloaded and turned around in less than 24 hours. In early February, humble and ubiquitous Army coastal craft known as LCU-2000s also began hauling much waterborne support on regular shuttles between Dammam, Jubayl, and Mishab. The concept of logistics support involved the pre-positioning of material at the port of Mishab and at the Direct Support Center at Kibrit. This required theater support in the form of U.S. Army and commercial line haul equipment, a tactical petroleum terminal, a fuel truck company, an offshore petroleum dispensing System, reverse osmosis water purification units (ROWPUs), and various watercraft such as the LCU-2000. Airfields for helicopters and forward staging of McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier vertical takeoff and landing jets were another issue in January. General Boomer needed Mishab's jet-capable airfield for one of 3d Marine Aircraft Wing's helicopter groups, Marine Aircraft Group 26, commanded by Colonel Michael J. Williams. Although the airfield could accommodate a helicopter group after the SeaBees had enlarged the ramp, the ground campaign required both wing helicopter groups to be forward. The only other appropriate site was Aramco's jet-capable airfield at Tanajib (At Tanaqib) 14 kilometers south of Safaniyah. Aramco, the world's largest petroleum production enterprise, was Saudi-owned, American-managed, and at times to the I MEF staff, seemed like a sovereign entity unto itself. The company refused the Marines permission to use Tanajib even though its own operations there had scaled down considerably with the threat of war. After persistent and lengthy negotiations and with time running out, General Boomer made a direct request for help to Prince Khalid, the Saudi Minister of Defense and Aviation and commander of the joint Arab forces. Prince Khalid promptly instructed that Marines be accommodated. Despite this, Aramco still declined to cooperate and commandeering the site was considered. This proved not to be necessary, and the second helicopter group, Marine Aircraft Group 16, commanded by Colonel Larry T. Garrefl, moved north to Tanajib on 8 January. Cementing the Alliance As I Marine Expeditionary Force moved north and west, its units continued to train with the 2nd Brigade of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the Royal Saudi Marine Corps, and, increasingly, the 8th and 10th Brigades of the Royal Saudi Land Forces with, a view toward improving interoperability. Because the 1st Marine Division occupied MarCent's right flank, its 3d Marines,First Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |