Lesson 5.16: The U.S. Navy from the Maritime Strategy to 9/11, 1981-2001

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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 5.16 The U.S. Navy from the Maritime
  Strategy to 9/11, 1981-2001

2
Enabling Objectives

• Explain the policy goals of the Reagan defense
  buildup and the effects of increased military
  spending on employment of naval forces during the
  1980s.
• Know the essential elements of the Maritime
  Strategy of 1986.
• State possible causes of the invasion of Kuwait
  and the U.S. reactions to it.
• Define the military capabilities of the coalition
  forces and the Iraqi military after the invasion.
• Describe the Navy and Marine Corps role in the
  different phases of Desert Shield and Desert
  Storm.
• Describe the national strategic implications of
  the Post Cold War and its effects on policy and
  the Navy.

3
The U.S. Navy Under Ronald Reagan, 1980-1988

• Soviets bent on world domination. We must build
  our military to combat communists and terrorists.

4
Strategic Reorientation of U.S. Military

• The U.S. would only fight when its national
  interests were clearly at stake.
• U.S. would apply overwhelming force vs. limited
  force
• Carl von Clausewitzs On War

5
Revamping U.S. Naval Strategy

• SECNAV John Lehman, 1981-1987
• A reserve naval aviator.
• Thought Navy was being dominated by engineers.
• Fired Rickover in Jan 1982.
• Maritime Strategy
• Offensive in nature.
• Goal 600 ship Navy.
• Carrier battle groups were key.
• Designed to press home attacks against Soviet
  naval forces and homeland bases.

6
Interventionism-Peacekeeping and Responses to
Terrorism

1. Grenada
2. Beirut Bombing
3. Gulf of Sidra attacks
4. Operation Eldorado Canyon
5. Tanker Wars
6. Operation Praying Mantis

7
Grenada and Beirut

• 12 October 1983
• Marxist overthrow of govt.
• 600 U.S. medical students threatened.
• 19 killed, 142 wounded.

• 23 October 1983
• Lebanese civil war.
• 220 Marines killed.
• Deadliest since Iwo Jima.

8
U.S. Tangles with Libya, 1981

• 1973 Gaddafi proclaims a 12NM extension zone
  off its territorial waters.
• The Line of Death - 62 NM
• Aug, 1981 Reagan sends Nimitz and Forrestal to
  conduct FON.
• Libyan jets fired on 2 F-14s inside Gulf of Sidra
  and are promptly shot down.

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U.S. Tangles with LibyaAgain

• March, 1986 USS America, Coral Sea, and Saratoga
  CVBGs conducting FON Ops.
• CG and and two DDs crossed line of death.
• Libyans fired on escorting U.S. planes.
• U.S. responded by destroying a Libyan corvette
  and attacking missile sites.
• 5 April 1986 La Belle bombing kills 2 U.S.
  servicemen and wounds 200.

10
Operation EL DORADO CANYON,15 Apr 1986

• USN and USAF airstrikes near Tripoli.
• Navy planes strike SAM sites and hit Benghazi and
  Benina Airfield.
• U.S. lost one F-111 and 2 pilots killed.
• 37 Libyan dead and 93 wounded
• Americas willingness to retaliate for acts of
  terrorism.

11
The Tanker Wars

• Iran-Iraq War from 1981-1988
• US agreed to escort Kuwaiti supertankers through
  Gulf.
• 17 May 1987 Iraqi fighter fires 2 Exocet
  missiles into USS Stark (37 American dead)
• 14 April 1988 USS Samuel B Roberts strikes
  Iranian mine which blasted a 21 foot hole in
  hull.
• 10 Sailors wounded.

12
Operation PRAYING MANTIS

• 18 April 1988
• Immediate goal destruction of two more Iranian
  oil platforms
• In response, Iranian gunboats shot up nearby
  American flagged tankers
• 270 neutral ships escorted through Persian Gulf
  (mines and shore-based Silkworms everywhere)

13
The Immediate Post-Lehman Navy(1987-1991)

• The Navy continued to be built around the
  big-deck carrier.
• The Soviet Union Collapses
• Berlin Wall torn down 9 Nov 1989

14
Battle History Video

• Chapter 4 Second to None
• Part a Time 1004 - 2240

15
The Gulf War, 1990-1991

• 2 August 1990 3 Iraqi RGFC divisions attack
  across Kuwaiti frontier.
• U.S. Response 2 August 1990, Carrier battle
  groups positioned to Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
• U.S. would provide forces to defend Saudi Arabia
  and leave the Kingdom when it was done.

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The Coalition

• United Nations coalition forces
• UN Resolutions passed requiring Iraqi withdrawal.
• Nearly 50 countries
• 38 countries with land, sea, air forces
• U.S., U.K., France, Canada sent Navies
• Gulf Co-op Council Saudi, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE,
  Oman, Kuwait provided access and logistics.

17
Operation Desert Shield/Storm

• U.S. National Policy Objectives
• Withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait
• Restoration of Kuwaits legitimate government
• Security and stability of Saudi Arabia and the
  Persian Gulf
• Safety and protection of the lives of American
  citizens abroad

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Iraqi Military Capabilities, 1990

• 5k main battle tanks, 5k armored infantry
  vehicles, 3k artillery pieces.
• 400 Scud missiles
• 1 million regular troops.
• 4th largest army in the world

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Naval Role in the Gulf War

• Maritime Intercept Operations (MIO)
• Sealift - Maritime Pre-positioning Ships (MPS)
• 95 of equipment came by the sea.
• Six carrier battle groups (CVBGs) and two
  battleship battle groups (BBBGs)
• Complete air and maritime supremacy.
• Navy aircraft flew 1/3 of air missions.
• 143 Iraqi naval vessels destroyed/damaged.
• All northern Persian Gulf oil platforms secured.

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Naval Role in the Gulf War

• Battleships Wisconsin and Missouri
• 16-inch guns to support ground troops.
• First time 16 guns were used since Korea.

22
Marines and the Ground Campaign

• 24-28 Feb -- 100 hour campaign
• I MEF committed two Infantry divisions
• I MEF took 8000 prisoners 20 miles into Kuwait by
  the end of day 1.
• Kuwait airport secured by 27 Feb.

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Conclusions

• Estimated Iraqi losses
• 100K soldier s dead, wounded and captured
• 3847 tanks destroyed
• 1450 armored personnel carriers destroyed.
• 2917 artillery pieces and 32 aircraft destroyed.
• 86,000 est. prisoners
• U.S. Losses
• 313 combatant and non combatant deaths
• Importance of unity of command, power projection
  from the sea, and littoral warfare.
• Ready land bases may not always be available
• War reinforced the importance of the Navy-Marine
  Corps team for power-projection ashore

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Battle History Video

• Chapter 4 Second to None
• Part b. 2240 - 3406

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Battle History Video

• Chapter 4 Second to None
• Part c. 3406 - 4434

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Enabling Objectives

• Explain the policy goals of the Reagan defense
  buildup and the effects of increased military
  spending on employment of naval forces during the
  1980s.
• Know the essential elements of the Maritime
  Strategy of 1986.
• State possible causes of the invasion of Kuwait
  and the U.S. reactions to it.
• Define the military capabilities of the coalition
  forces and the Iraqi military after the invasion.
• Describe the Navy and Marine Corps role in the
  different phases of Desert Shield and Desert
  Storm.
• Describe the national strategic implications of
  the Post Cold War and its effects on policy and
  the Navy.

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Questions?
Next time Lesson 5.17 The US Navy Since 2001