THE UNITED STATES NAVY
                            IN "DESERT SHIELD" I "DESERT STORM"

  V: "THUNDER AND LIGHTNING"
         
             
             "Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the United States Central Command, this
     morning at 0300, we launched Operation DES~RT STOKM, an offensive campaign that will
     enforce the United Nation's resolutions that Iraq must cease its rape and pillage of its weaker'
     neighbor and withdraw its forces from Kuwait. My confidence in you is total. Our cause is
     just! Now you must be the thunder and lightning of Desert Storm. May God be with you,
     your loved ones at home, and our Country."

                 General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA
                 Commander-in-Chief U.S. Central Command,
                 in a message to the command, 16 January 1991


INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW. On 17                    Navy. Any future aggressor will have to con-
January, DESERT STORM began with a coor-            tend with the demonstrated capability of U.S.
dinatedattackwhichindudedTomahawkland               forces to launch complex coordinated missile
attack missiles (TLAMs) launched from cruis-        and air attacks from multiple axes. The TLAM
ers, destroyers and battleships in the Persian      and other precision-guided and high-tech
Gulf and Red Sea. TheThAM launches opened           munitions used by the Army, Navy, Marine
a carefully crafted joint strategic air campaign.   Corps and Air Force clearly produced a revo-
The initial barrage of over 100 ThAMs took out      lution in the art of warfare.
heavily defended targets in the vicinity of
Baghdad and made a critical contribution to              The joint air campaign was successful
eliminating Iraqi air defenses and command          beyond the most optimistic expectations. As
and control capabilities.                           full partners in that campaign, Navy and Ma-
                                                    rine Corps aviators flew from carriers and
     In all, 288 TLAMs were launched as             amphibious ships in the Red Sea and Persian
part of the integrated air campaign. Launches       Gulf, and from bases ashore, from the day
were conducted from both the Red Sea and the        hostilities began until the cease-fire was or-
Persian Gulf from nine cruisers, five destroy-      dered. Navy aircraft struck targets up to 700
ers, two battleships and two nuclear powered        miles distant, with Red Sea sorties averaging
attack submarines. The top shooter was the          3.7 hours in length, and Persian Gulf sorties
destroyer USS FIFE (DD 991) which fired 58          averaging 2.5 hours. As was also the case for
missiles.                                           their ground-based Air Force counterparts,
                                                    many flights lasted as long as five hours, and
     ThAM adds a dramatic new dimension             virtually every flight required airborne
to the offensive firepower of the United States     refueling at both ends of the journey.


                                                 - 35 -

| Table of Contents | First Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |