Combat· Gulf War (Op DESERT SHIELD/STORM)
Gulf War 1990-1991 (DESERT SHIELD + DESERT STORM)
The Gulf War was the United States–led coalition campaign to reverse Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait, and it became the largest Marine Corps combat deployment since Vietnam.
After Iraq seized Kuwait in August 1990, the Marines were among the first forces rushed to Saudi Arabia to deter further aggression and build up combat power during the long defensive buildup of Operation DESERT SHIELD. When the offensive came, Marine aviation joined the air campaign that pounded Iraqi forces, and in February 1991 two Marine divisions spearheaded the ground assault, breaching Iraq's fortified defensive belts and driving north to liberate Kuwait City in a hundred-hour campaign. A large Marine amphibious force afloat in the Gulf fixed Iraqi divisions on the coast through the threat of a landing that never came. The war ended in a swift, decisive coalition victory, validating the Corps' combined-arms and maritime-prepositioning capabilities.
Engagements in this conflict (11)
Record no. 724