Amen to that. My uncle was a Green Barret who went in on the ground secretly before the day 1 air campaign and he said the Republican Guard were no joke. RIP!
The war was about oil for everyone, including Iraq. The size of the Coalition was due to the size of Iraq's military at the start of the War. Before the air war started Iraq has the 5th biggest military on Earth. It was also believed to to be battle hardened due to the very resent gruelling 8 yr Iran-Iraq war. That is why the coalition decided to try to bomb Iraq back to the Stone Age before launching the ground war.
As an Army Brat, my dad trained a lot of the armor division commanders during the Gulf War as an instructor at the US Army Armor War School in KY at the time. He had quite a few former students and buddies in the 3rd Armored division and 1st Calvary out of Ft Hood. I had a lot of friends in the 24th Mech out of Ft Stewart involved in G-Day. So none of us got much sleep that night. What the video didn't mention was how coalition forces used the aggressive reporting by global news outlets to hold Iragi forces on our left flank in place. For days the Navy pounded the coast giving the impression that we were softening up ground for a D-Day like amphibious invasion. We invited the press to broadcast aboard destroyers to film this Bombardment. On G-Day Iraqi forces and the press believed the amphibious landing was coming...it never did. But the anticipation of it held Iraqi forces in the east in place, while coalition forces incircled Enemy forces from the west. As for your question about oil, it's not as simple as it seems. Yes it was self interest, but not about oil wealth. Oil is the most strategic natural resource in the world to an industrial power. Global industry and Militarys run on oil. That much of control of oil in the hands of a potential hostile government would alter the balance of power in the region and the world. Don't forget The Nazi war machine in WW2 like Nato today had the advantage of superior technology and weapons. Neutralizing this advantage called for denial of the ability of Hitler to refuel its armored forces, its logistics, and its Airforce. Hitlers limited access to oil also prevented him from quickly rebuilding factories to resupply its losses. So yes the gulf War was about oil, but for geopolitical reasons.
One of the main reasons was indeed to protect the oil fields in Kuwait and the stability of nearby oilfields and countries, all of which were generally pretty weak compared to Iraq. When the Kuwait oilfields fell to the Sadam he controlled around 20% of the world's oil supply. If Sadam then went on and conquered Saudi Arabia, as it looked like he was planning to, Sadam would have controlled 45% of the world's known oil at the time.
There's an anecdote about this campaign. Supposedly, as an Iraqi pow was being put into the back of a Bradley APC, he noticed there was a picture of German General Erwin Rommel inside. Asking the vehicle commander why he had a picture of an old enemy inside, he was told "If you'd studied that man a bit more, you wouldn't be in the back of my tank right now."
O.K. I did some digging and found this on Quora: "According to US Army Lt Gen H. R. McMaster, who as a captain commanded an armored cavalry troop in the Gulf War, one of his M2 Bradleys had a picture of Erwin Rommel inside. An Iraqi officer prisoner asked the Bradley's driver why he had a picture of America's enemy inside his armored personnel carrier. The driver replied that if the Iraqis had studied Rommel's campaigns perhaps he wouldn't be an American prisoner." McMasters reported this exchange in the documentary, "Inside the Kill Box". I have not seen this documentary so cannot comment on it's authenticity though it is sounding like it may be real.
I was there with the 24 Inf Division out of Ft Stewart Ga. I turned 23 that day. RIP to our brothers and sisters who didn't come back. Thank you the the brothers and sisters who served during this time. Victory and First to Fight
My brother was in the USAirforce at that time but he wasn't sent. He was an aircraft engineer. He was injured when he was working on an F16 canopy, it fell on his upper back and damaged nerves in his back and neck. He was under doctor orders not to work. He was so upset because he would have been sent to the Middle East. The Airforce retired him because of his injuries in the 90s. He died of skin cancer in 2009 on Christmas day. Broke my heart, my mom had passed away in 2008.
5:07 the picture on top in the Abrams tank. It's armed with a 120mm main gun and it weighs about 70 tons. It has tungsten and depleted uranium for armor. The one below is a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). It's armed with a 30mm chaingun and 2 TOW anti-tank missile launchers. It's armor is mostly aluminum. It carries 6-7 soldiers in the back that it can deploy.
"6-7" cramped and really pissed off infantry, we normally only did 5 in full kit, there is not a lot of room and even 5 with armor, weapons, and assult pack is a tight sqeeze. Plus its so loud you cant hear yourself think, and it vibrates enough to make your ass go numb.
FF or Friendly Fire has always been an issue on the battlefield however it is over exaggerated in this conflict because of the staggeringly few casualties inflicted by the enemy
I met "Stormin' Norman" during Desert Storm, a hell of a man! I was with 18th Airborne in an Aviation unit, we were constantly told to hold position or slow our advance or we'd outrun certain elements of our group.
One of the MD's I worked with had a nephew in Iraq visiting his grandmother as the situatuon formed. He was force "inducted" into the Iraq army , trained with a broomstick since they did bot guns to train with, was told to grab a gun from a dead soldier on the line and sent to the front. He was able to convince the entire squad to surrender when the US troops were in reach of them. They all dropped their weapons, stood up with their hands up and his nephew had opened his uniform shirt to show off his US college tee shirt. The US troops took them without a shot.
Before the war, when we knew it was coming, I was driving past the base. The base was covered with tanks and other fighting vehicles and they were all painted "sand" and not olive drab anymore. It was stunning. The soldiers who deserted presented a sight and a problem. We had to feed them! That wasn't in the plan. I remember a reporter listening to two of our soldiers who were watching the hundreds of deserters, who were terrified, and one of our guys said, "Are we bad, or are we bad?". It was a small moment of levity I'll never forget. Stormin Norman was much loved, BTW. Glad you're doing this!
You have to remember US armored doctrine stresses speed above all else. Speed = Life. The slower you move the more time the enemy has to prepare a defensive line or counter attack.
@@egret203 I'm honestly not sure if you're being serious or not regarding the French.... The French aside, I was referring to Navy Seals, sometimes called frogs, depending on how old someone is when referring to them. That's practically a seal doctrine: "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." Basically, take the time to make sure you do it right the first time, because it's ultimately less time consuming than having to go back and correct an error and start from scratch. I cannot personally atttest to how the French feels about this philosophy. I suppose it really depends on how far back "overall performance" goes. They definitely had their time, for sure. Just maybe not post 1900's, comparatively speaking. I think Napoleon might have been their last great performer, and that definitely ended up taking a turn for the worse.
Now I can not confirm this, but I believe that one sortie is one aircraft taking off, going on it's mission, and then landing. That would mean that yeah, that is a lot of missions.
Don't quote me, it's my wife that is the fighter pilot, I am just a ground-pounding infantryman. However, from what I have heard, it's more of an action-based term. The way she explained it is say you flying an F-35 and you are carrying 2 cruise missiles and 2 air-to-air missiles. You fire a cruise missile at a bunker or troop concentration, then change course and fire another at a different target, then you down an enemy attack helicopter harassing troops, then you go to intercept an unknown radar contact and fire your last missile, and before going back to base, you do recon with your Intelligence and Surveillance equipment. That is 5 sorties from what she said. 2 strike sorties, 1 air-to-air sortie, 1 intercept, and 1 ISR sortie. Typically, you don't do 5 sorties at a time, typically you want to only do two or three different strikes because of air time on internal fuel.
Great observation! Yes, I am certain we intervened with overwhelming force to preserve oil exports. Iraq's attack of Kuwait gave the coalition the perfect excuse to deploy troops. I flew an Apache attack helicopter on combat missions in Desert Storm during the battle of 73rd Easting.
You commented on the general wanting the attacks sped up. You would want them sped up because after the 1st attacks on day 1, you no longer have the element of surprise. You try to do some things that will make it tougher for your enemy to reorganize but you have no promises you will be able to get all of that done. The less you get done, the more likely you are to sustain casualties. Im sure his commanders also wanted as fast a pace as possible. The coalition did have some hicups. Some areas they had to slow down. But in some of those cases the slow downs actually helped because it allowed supply lines to catch up. No military can last long without supplies. There are several examples of inability to resupply turning wars/battles around through out history. In some areas, because there was so little resistance, we advanced faster than anticipated and supplies could have started becoming a problem for out advancing troops. The 3 day dust storm they mentioned wasnt just a problem for us. It was a problem for Iraq too. But it allowed our supplies to get fully restocked and organized before they moved again.
When I was really young, stationed in Guam at the time I think, my father was active duty Navy deployed for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. "Hazard pay" he called it.
a sortie is each time they leave the base and go do something a mission may take several sorties to achieve ( destroy all of the radar in the country) that sort of thing.
5:05 The top photo is of an Abrams main battle tank. Notice the gun. It is a 120mm. It fires several different rounds including depleted uranium rounds designed to tear though heavily armored vehicles like the Russian T-72s used by the Iraqi Army. The bottom picture is of a Bradly Armored Fighting Vehicle. This is the main armored personnel carrier / tank killer used by U.S. Army to transport and support Armored Infantry Units. It is used to rapidly deploy and support infantry troops and to engage and destroy armored targets supporting enemy infantry. Its main gun is a 25mm chain driven cannon capable of rapid fire to take out armored vehicles, targets and positions other than enemy main battle tanks. For main battle tanks the Bradley is equipped with TOW missiles. However, the 25mm gun proved quite effective against the older T-55 Russian tanks also used by the Iraqi Army. It also contains 7.62mm machine guns for dealing with enemy infantry. Deployed in groups these units devastated entrenched Iraqi infantry and armored positions. Upon seeing Bradleys approaching many Iraqi units would leap from their tranches in an effort to surrender before being killed.
We were there for the oil. And even if not the oil, then the fact that the world's economies are directly tied to Middle East energy, and if Saddam captured Kuwaiti and Saudi oil, he'd control nearly half the world's supply at the time which means one man alone could basically determine the price of oil which could roil global markets.
Oil was a factor but not how many would think. At the time the Middle East supplied about half of the world's energy. Either through intent or miscalculation that energy was disrupted it could easily lead to a global depression. The resulting economic collapse would detribalize many parts of the globe. The last time the world suffered a major economic depression we ended up with WW2. Saddam was a major destabilizing factor in the region and responsible for starting two wars in less then a decade. In Kenneth Pollack's book "The Threatening Storm" he outlines the rationale of intel services (mostly the UK and US) concerning the long term effects on global stability.
I was stationed in Crete as a support equipment mechanic for 2 aircraft. When the war kicked off a couple of us all of a sudden became aircraft mechanics, jet engine mechanics, avionic technicians, aircraft refuelers amongst other things.
12:58 The 101st Airborne got their nickname "Screaming Eagles" from an actual Bald Eagle that went into battle during the American Civil War. His name was Old Abe and his perch was carried into battle alongside the American flag and Wisconsin state flag. The Confederate rebels called him "That damn Yankee buzzard". He survived the war and died years later in the Wisconsin capitol building. The 101st Airborne have a depiction of him as their insignia.
A sortie is a single aircraft launch. The same aircraft might return, rearm, and launch again contributing more than one sortie per days count. Sorties include not just the combat aircraft launched but support aircraft as well such as tankers, airborne radar aircraft or electronic warfare aircraft.
On the oil question: It really depends -- do you really want someone like Saddam Hussein being in control of 25% of the world's proven reserves? Because as of January 1, 1991, that's exactly what the situation was...
My brother was part of the 82nd Airborne during this war. He worked for Blackwater the 2nd time we went to war over there. He still works in Baghdad today as head of embassy security.
yes a sortie is a mission. The pilots were flying at least 2 combat missions a day and in the beginning it was more. I was there in Riyadh Saudi Arabia and moved all over the theater... it was over 35 nations against Iraq. research the highway of death.
@8:50 the reason was BOTH. Mainly to secure the oil agenda, but it actually helped the country of Kuwait from being annexed and consumed by a larger neighbor. So your question is arbitrary.
For the coalition forces, armor losses were pretty small, for the Iraqis however, it was a little bit different. In military aviation, a sortie is a combat mission of an individual aircraft, starting when the aircraft takes off. For example, one mission involving six aircraft would tally six sorties. Before you get on the generals ass about being disgruntled because they are not going fast enough, you should understand that speed and violence of the advance = less casualties to your men. He's not just being a dick, he wants to reduce the danger to his men. As for the150 men that got buried alive, I guess they should have surrendered.
Sortie = 1 plane, 1 mission. Schwartzkopf was upset at the slower advance because everything is based on SPEED. Advance, advance, overwhelm before the enemy can realized you're swarming them. Delay = death. Say you lose "only" 1000 men. Do you tell their families "Well, we were going bit slow but I didn't want to be bossy and annoying, so I let it go. And anyway, we didn't lose very many, after all."
We were there to protect the Kuwaiti and Saudi oil fields. Had Sadam taken the Kuwaiti and Saudi oil fields he would have controlled 45% of all known oil reserves in the world. There was never any doubt about the reason we were there and it was clearly spelled out before the war started. Schwarzkopf was unhappy because it took too long to achieve the objective. The Vietnam-era tactics were not appropriate for the situation. Remember, the most important thing in a battle is not to not lose soldiers, it is to achieve the objective. That is how war works.
A total of 35 countries were involved in one way or another, they separated by logistics, supply, and combat, and there were subdivisions of all three of these, for instance, Saudi Arabia, provided all of the jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline, (petrol) that any country needed, however delivery of it was mostly dependent on the U.S. and our large air tanker fleet, Saudi Arabia also provided most of the ground bases for combat and support aircraft from all nations, air combat forces were primarily provided by the U.S. secondarily provided by the U.K. Canada, Australia, France, 3rd was all others such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Spain, Germany, Japan, South Korea and others, ground forces were similarly allocated, about 85% of the heavy lifting was done by the U.S. and facilitated mostly by Saudi Arabia, nearly 50% of all strike missions were carried out by the U.S. Navy through ship launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, aircraft from 6 aircraft carriers and 16 inch gun bombardment from the U.S. Battleships Missouri and Wisconsin, strategic and strikes into heavily defended areas was the responsibility of the USAF and the stealth abilities of the F-117, CAP, (Combat Air Patrol) was mostly handled by the USAF and U.S. Navy with the F-15's and F-14's, Saudi Arabia Japan and the U.K also helped with this part, ground combat was mostly done by the U.S. Army and USMC, with help from Kuwait U.K France and Germany, the tank warfare was almost exclusively done by the U.S. Army and USMC.
@Kabir Considers If you liked this, I recommend the video "Greatest Tank Battles: Battle of 73 Easting" it covers an engagement during this campaign, complete with interviews with men who fought in Desert Storm.
5:15 top picture is m1 Abrams main battle rank. Bottom picture Is a Bradley infantry fighter vehicle. Abrams roll in rhe front. Bradley's follow holding infantry support for support of the tank crews.
A friend of mine from High School was stationed in Kuwait for this military action. (The USA hasn’t officially been at war since WW II) I wrote and asked if she wanted anything and she said reading material. Because of where she was stationed I had to go through every magazine with a marker and black out all necks, arms and legs in photos. 🤦♀️
@@corinnepmorrison1854 Thank you. Did you know anyone can adopt a soldier? I adopted three during Afghanistan/Iraq. With practice you get REALLY good at packing those little boxes from the post office. One of the silliest things I included in a box was a lip balm called Chicken Poop. I can only imagine how many soldiers asked others for chapstick and were handed that. *Giggle*
Yes, I'd say it WAS heavily about oil as well as the stability of the region. NONE of those neighbors were really going to be able to put up enough of a fight by themselves, much less a united front. Iraq was poised to further destabilize the area politically (more than they already had) but also economically with Iraq being in an increasing position to control THE major oil supplies for a huge portion of the world. Don't make the mistake of thinking that it _wasn't_ a worthy cause, a worthwhile reason to go to war. The fact that it meant relieving military pressure on the whole region and actual liberation of an Arabic state from the vile invasion and destruction of Iraq wasn't the FIRST reason - but it most certainly also helped the US in assembling the coalition against Iraq after the stinking, pathetic failure of the UN to actually stand behind its words. As von Clauswitz said - war is a continuation of politics by another means.
Sadam was upset that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members were producing to much oil keeping the price low making it harder for Iraq to recover from it's war with Iran and Kuwait vertical drilling into Iraq didn't help matters
The answer to your question at 9:00 is yes to both, but I lean more to the former, I genuinely believe that liberation was the goal, especially because Kuwaitis and other Arabs were involved, The USA warned Iraq (an ultimatum) to get away from Kuwait and he (Saddam Hussein, President... I mean... Dictator of Iraq) didn't listen. I think is was 80% liberate, 20% for oil security, one is noble one is kinda selfish, but I understand both sides of that coin. The role of the UN and especially the USA is to police the world by destroying dictatorships and oppressive regimes (yes I know about what we did during the Cold War, and I'm not excusing that), but that's just my opinion. Kuwaitis out there, we love you
@Jim Book Lol, what a sweet boy. I said I don't excuse it, but that war in my mind was justified, The Kuwaitis were literally helping in the invasion as were many other Arabs, that's why it's called a coalition. Liberation was, in my mind, the main goal. And bro, I'm nearly 20, I'm no boy.
My dad had just gotten back from cruise when this started. He was so pissed he could not fight along side his brothers and sisters. Instead he was in the waiting room for me (his daughter) to come out of recovery from surgery. I wish to this day he could have been there. To train for war all your adulthood for war and not participate was hard on him.
A sortie is 1 aircraft flying 1 mission. Over the course of the air campaign leading up to the ground war, coalition aircraft flew roughly 87000 sorties.
General Schwartzkopf came through our unit's area in Saudi Arabia before the war started, asking us if we were ready to (quote) "kick some ass". It was hilarious watching officers scramble to line up to kiss Schwartzkopf's ass, because they assumed he was there to see them and not us enlisted guys. Well, Schwartzkopf spent his entire stop with us enlisted guys instead, and when he left the area he did it as far away from the officers as he could get. The officers looked like rejected little girls. We loved it!
In Desert Storm, the Coalition only lost 75 aircraft, the Iraqis over 400. Only 154 Coalition soldiers lost their lives in combat 65 others in accidents. That's for the whole war.
Yes oil was a top concern, but in order to put a stop to the atrocities that were being done to the trapped Kuwaiti population was the TOP concern, Saddam Hussein was trying to pay for his 8 year long war with Iran by conquering Kuwait and stealing the money from them, that was the driving force for his invasion of Kuwait
When you mentioned the heat component inside the tank, while that may be true elsewhere the U.S. air conditions the equipment within the tank. This is a benefit to the personnel as well. Anywhere there are electronic equipment consider that the computers, the brains and associated electronics must be kept cool. Though I can't say if ducts are vented for operator benefit they still benefit from the cooler air the a/c puts out for the computer's stability and operationality. We went into Kuwait because they were a buffer between Saudi Arabia, ostensibly our friends, and Iraq, enemy to all. Allegedly SA paid us, gave us plenty of room for base camp set-ups, fuel, all to join in the fun. It was to the benefit of both of us. Plus the Saudi's played a minor role by "participating" in the offense, we allowed them to enter Kuwait first for the PR of it all.
You have to understand that a large portion of the Iraqi army had basically no communication. So after 5 weeks of being bombed and clearly being overwhelmed simply by the air, they had no clue what was going on. Or even pretty much what to do. Not only was communication basically cut, but there was no re-supply either as those lines were cut and stopped. And living under constant bombardment for weeks. And yes many of them simply went awol and went back home, many of them who really were not wanting to be in the war to begin with, as Saddam led by fear. There were even reports of some small units being found after the war was over and they had no clue that the war was even over. Many also surrendered before the ground invasion started. You can see unmanned drones flying, surveying and watch Iraqi's trying to surrender to the drones, waving white flags. Yes oil was a HUGE factor for both sides. Also it was a way for US to get a step in the door into Mid East influence, as most Mid East countries were against (and troubled by) Iraqi military and Saddam. However, having said that, I suspect that even without those two big factors. US and allies still likely would have supported Kuwait and helped liberate them. A lot of countries were concerned about the dictator Saddam and Kuwait was friendly with a lot of countries. So helping Kuwait and helping to put down Saddam to any degree were also both big considerations and factors. Even IF the US and UK for some reason did not help with physical manpower, and only with supplies like they are currently doing in Ukraine. It is very likely that many Mid East countries would have helped to liberate Kuwait, and likely led by Saudi Arabia. Although maybe not as soon.
This war began in Jan of 1991. It was in response to Iraq invading Kuwait and claiming it as part of Iraq in order to seize it's oil fields. They falsely claimed Kuwait was side drilling and stealing their oil in order to justify the invasion. The MIG is Russian made. They also had a few French Mirage and US F-14 fighters. As far as your comment about the B-2 looking like the F-117 stealth fighter you are correct. They were the first two aircraft in the world with stealth technology. Remember you can tell what the aircraft is for by the letter. F for fighter, B for bomber and C for cargo. Lastly Sortie means a flight or mission.
Alright 5:16 the one on the bottom is the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (50 being sent to Ukraine) not a tank, it’s equipped with a 30mm auto cannon and tow missiles. It’s job is to carry troops into combat to fight alongside the Abrams tanks. You don’t want to face a tank one on one in a Bradley you’ll have a bad day The Abrams on top is the main battle tank, 32 being sent to Ukraine
Friendly fire or Blue on Blue is very common, but lots less common compared to wars in the past.. with high intense battles and constant blending of air and ground clashes alone with obstacles and weather, Blue on Blue is very prone.
I taught school in Kuwait (Q8) starting in 2010. I ran with 6 or 7 women from the US who met their husbands at university in the US. All had lived in Q8 at different times before the Iraqui invasion. All but 2 families, Q8 husbands included, were back in the US before the invasion. The 2 women and their children stayed inside during the entire invasion until Liberation Day. If they had been found they would have either been killed or taken hostage. They were obviously not Q8 natives. 1 was blonde w/blue eyes. The other was red w/blue eyes and very pale skined. She could not have passed for Q8 even fully covered. People would sneak by their flats and drop off canned/dry foods. There was no electricity, so food was eaten cold, no light (even flash lights could be used at night, water was cold too. They've all had stories to tell. Scary.
Kabir, yes the war was definitely about oil. Iraq was a rogue nation that the western world did not want to have control or such important oil reserves. A former neighbor of mine was a former assistant police chief in San Francisco who remembers the Oil embargo in the 70s that caused huge lines at gas stations here in the US because of the scarcity of oil. He said if such an oil scarcity happened again here there would be riots here in the streets. He said that can't happen, we need to do whatever it takes in our foreign policy to preserve law and order here at home.
The reasons for the massive coalition build-up and attack: Iraq at the time had 10% of the world's proven oil reserves. When Iraq conquered Kuwait, it captured another 10%, and was right on the border of Saudi Arabia, which had another 20%. Having Saddam Hussain controlling 40% of the world's oil was not acceptable.
You can't get a feel for the war until you have seen some of the Schwarzkopf news briefings. Remember, this war mandated a coalition of not only NATO allies, but of regional Arabian forces as well. Everything was done to show the US and NATO was not beating up on an Arabian nation. That is why the vocabulary is charged with "precision weapons", "Coalition Forces", and other reassuring terms. This is also why everyone was pulled out so rapidly after the battle ended and why no further attempt was made to unseat Saddam after such a glorious victory.
When momentum is on your side and you have the enemy dazed and confused, you don't stop. You stop you start to die...Was there lived through it and got the T-shirt. Need more Generals like Stormin Norman!!!!!!!
We’ll to answer your question about why the war started - Iraq had 8 year long war with Iran to capture its strategic objectives, plus they were already almost finished their nuclear reactor plant for building nuclear bombs. When I Iraq won against Iran, they were in massive debt from Kuwait and did not want to repay but instead invade and take the oil fields of Kuwait that were very rich. After invasion started entirety of UN council even the Soviet Union which previously backed Iraq declared that it is an act of aggression. Iraq stopped flow of oil to other nations and as a result coalition forces though Iraq will now start war with Syria or Saudi Arabia. And that is why operation desert shield and desert storm we’re planned to take down Iraq. For anyone who’s looking for comparison it’s like the Grayjoy rebellion type of thing from GOT.
1) You asked why did so many nations fight against Iraq. Saddam's invasion of Kuwait was just such a naked act of aggression that it could not be allowed to stand. Both religious and secular Arab governments joined the coalition, including Syria, which had closer ties to the Soviet Union than the West. This is pure speculation, but perhaps if the Iraqis had preceded their invasion with a marketing campaign to justify it, there might have been less international resolution to undo it. The justification would not need to have been factual, merely plausible, such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Russian war in Ukraine. I would imagine the Russians did not expect the nearly universal international opposition they have faced in the last year. 2) The French Daguet Division and the American 82nd Airborne advanced toward a location designated as "Objective Rochambeau." This was likely named for Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte (Count) de Rochambeau (1725-1807). He was the commander of the French troops who fought alongside Americans during the War of Independence.
A sortie is defined as when an aircraft leaves a friendly area, attacks an enemy target and returns. An individual aircraft could perform several sorties in a given day. The term is used to differentiate between missions where forces are deployed forward and remain in a position to attack or be attacked without retreating to the safety of the rear such those carried out by artillery or infantry units. You would NOT, for example, describe an armored infantry unit attacking 3 different targets as carrying out 3 sorties even if it were done on the same day.
Each aircraft that take off is considered a “sortie”. So if 1,000 sorties are flown, then 1,000 flights were made. Many of these sorties were flown by the same aircraft. Take off and do a mission then land = one sortie. Then the same aircraft refuels and re-arms then takes off on a new mission begins a new sortie.
We prepared for chemical attacks, and well, MRE attacks. I had my chem gear and 8 boxes of ExLax. Sometimes you need some help lol. BTW Kabir Exlax helps you make boom boom (poop). It's a laxative and it really helped. I made some money from those that disregarded that portion of our supply list.
A sortie (from the French word meaning exit or from Latin root surgere meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare.
2:30 Yes, a single fighter or bomber may conduct several or more "sorties" in a day (i.e. drop their ordinance, return, rearm, refuel and go back out on another sortie). 3:43 I've seen anywhere from 31 to 39 nations. All I know is that, it was a lot.😄😉 5:43 You have to understand, during that time, Iraq had one of the largest Armies in the world with over 5,000 tanks. 8:59 It was for altruistic reasons, but not altruism alone. There's no simple, single equation here. Saudi Arabia had long been a U.S. ally and it's borders were now (obviously) being threatened by an aggressor nation with a ruthless dictator who (in an act of genocide) used poison gas on his own people in the "Halabja massacre" on March 16th,1988. There were few nations in the world that had an affinity for Saddam Hussein & Iraq at the time. After Iraq began it's unprovoked attack on Kuwait and began to threaten Saudi oil fields, the price of oil began to destabilize world economies. Iraq had already shown a propensity for aggression during its war with Iran not long before. Iraq's persistent aggression was also having a destabilizing effect on the middle east as a whole. Not to mention, Saddam Hussein was given plenty of chances & advanced warnings about the consequence if he refused to withdraw his forces from Kuwait. He knew full well of the build-up by coalition forces and the potential threat he faced. And there's still more to it than that, but this should help a little in getting you off the "it was just for oil" bandwagon.🤭 The USA has more than enough of its own oil, gas, coal and shale energy resources. Speaking for the U.S., it didn't need Kuwait. You shouldn't stir the pot if you aren't sure what you're cooking.😄😉 16:15 TRIVIA: Major General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was the son of Col. Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. who was the first Superintendent (Chief) of the New Jersey State Police and who was directly involved in the investigation of the "Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping" case in 1932. 17:23 Fratricide has been present in every U.S. conflict, though its prevalence has dwindled as communication & planning capabilities continually evolve. The "fog of war" is something that's difficult to account for. Peace Kabir.🕊
@Jim Book What do you mean by "weak". Economically? That's not the point. The point is resources and we didn't need Kuwait's.😳 It's about economies outside of the USA that needed oil price stability. We had plenty of our own oil back then. 🤔I'm not sure I understand your point, and it certainly was NOT 99% about oil. To say something like that leads me to believe you weren't even alive back then.
If it was a country invading America, I would for sure stay and fight. I honestly think most Americans feel a duty to the ones before us, and what they fought for. The U.S. has made some mistakes in its history, but all of it was to try to make sure we always had more power than communism. If there has to be a world police, I don’t think there is a better choice.
We went there to help Kuwait. However, in the process, the Arab world saw us come to the aid of one of their own, and the oil producing countries were probably a little more sympathetic to our petroleum needs. I have a friend who was part of General Schwartzkopf's staff at the time. The general should be immortalized by having a base named after him. General Schwartzkopf's father was the head of the New Jersey State Police at the time and was part of the investigation of the Lindberg baby case. Google it. It was big news back in the early 1900s.
Kabir, there's lots of thought on why the Gulf War happened. The surface answer was that Saddam invaded Kuwait and was using horrible gas and other weapons on the basically defenseless Kuwaitis (and Kuwait had lots of oil). My Canadian vets were also there on the ground in the air and on the sea. Though the coalition freed Kuwait, Saddam was not defeated and went back to rule with an iron fist in Iraq. THIS is what sets up Desert Storm after 9/11. GW Bush goes back to finish what his father Bush senior couldn't and that was the capture of Saddam. It was all crouched in revenge for 9/11 and the world backed the US. The search for non-existent weapons of mass destruction and all the following events seem to begin with the invasion of Kuwait...
Not defeated? His military was wiped into near nonexistence and forced out of the country they invaded. It as an overwhelming defeat for the world's third largest military at the time. Saddam used gas on his own citizens prior to this invasion. You're also watching a video of Desert Storm... yet have no idea of when and where it occurred. How is that even possible?
@@outdoorsman7324 I think what he's pointing out was Saddam Hussain stayed in power until the 2003 Iraq war and wasn't a kind person to the people under his control and was still a destabilizing force in the region. He is also confusing the Gulf War with the Iraq war which is something I've seen a lot lately with people.
The reasons for entry into Kuwait was two fold; the United Nations passed resolution 678 because Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The second was self explanatory IMHO, they interrupted the international supply chain of oil much like Russia today. The difference in the scenario between Ukraine and Kuwait is that Kuwait was a member of the United Nations and OPEC. Which we had a mutual protection pact (we being 190 nations).
Sortie mean one plane, one flight. If I recall correctly (which I probably don't) it was 35 nations involved in some way in Desert Sheild/Storm. The reason we fought to liberate Kuwait was to toss out a brutal regime that had just invaded it. The same reason we are helping Ukraine now (which incidentally has no oil to speak of). From Iraq's point of view, it was for the riches of the country. So in a round about way, it was for oil. Just not from the Coalition's point of view. Schwarzkopf had to adhere to a schedule pretty closely or risk more troops later on. He wasn't just getting them to jump when he said frog.
If part of the advance is slower than the rest, that gives the enemy a way to penetrate the line there and flank the friendlies ahead of them from the side. You want to keep the advance in sync across the field of battle.
Honestly I think the Western countries were itching for a chance to see how well our militaries would fair. This was a large scale of enough of a conflict against a enemy that's relatively obsolete in equipment but still poses enough of a danger not to be a complete cake walk. Basically Iraq had one of the largest conventional armies in the world, even if obsolete. It would be a great test bed to see how well the Western Armies would do against say China at the time who was even worse equipped at the time, or vs the bulk of the Soviet Military which wouldn't have the best the USSR had to offer them. It was an absolute slaughter. Confidence in western technology, military strategy and air power few off the charts after the Gulf War. It was predicted we would suffer considerably higher loses than we actually suffered, which made many question Soviet technology for man years afterwards. It also shattered the belief that many countries like China had at the time that they could win a war by numbers alone. It was a rude wakeup call for Commiboos as well, who didn't realize just how much superior western militaries had gotten in the past twenty years as the USSR was in a huge down turn at this time. Meaning despite having some good equipment the bulk of the Soviet Military was just as bad as the Iraqi military. It's also ignored that a lot of western forces involved were also using obsolete equipment. For example the US Marines in the Gulf War were mainly using M60 Tanks, which were just as old if not older than some of the models being used by the Iraqi Military. Our Armored Personnel Carriers like the M113 made up the bulk of APCs deployed by the US Military as well despite dating back to the 1960s. A lot of American Vehicle crews were using M3 Submachineguns which date back to WWII.
The Iraqi regime set the old fields in Kuwait on fire before retreating. All off that had to be dealt with, which is no easy task. Not to mention the environmental disaster it created.
The M-2 Bradley fighting vehicle is taller than Abrams tank because it carries a troop of 8 soldiers to the battle area. The Bradleys actually killed more Iraqi tanks than the Abrams did.
Hey Kabir, I wonder if you would interested in reacting to another band "U2 - Moment Of Surrender (Live at the Rose Bowl)" U2 is an Irish rock band that formed in 1976 and has sold over 170 million records. The band consists of Bono the lead singer, Edge the lead guitarist and backup vocals, Adam Clayton on bass guitar, and Larry Mullen Jr. drums. U2's lyric's often address social and political issues such as war, human rights, spirituality and love and reflect the bands personal as well as, collective experiences. I really enjoy your content Kabir👍
Hussein was so outgunned that there were two Gulf War jokes. One was, "Q: How do you stop an Iraqi tank advance? A: Shoot the guy pushing the tank." The other was, "Did you hear about the new Saddam Hussein condoms? They're for pricks who just won't pull out."
You want to advance quickly to prevent the enemy from falling back to defensive positions and reforming their command structure. If they can do that it makes penetrating their defenses more difficult and costly.
I was there, all I'll say is; RIP PFC Avey, 32 years later, you are still missed.
Amen to that. My uncle was a Green Barret who went in on the ground secretly before the day 1 air campaign and he said the Republican Guard were no joke. RIP!
Thank you for your service.
Right on brother
Blue Cord Brotherhood
Thank you for y'all service and sacrifice
The war was about oil for everyone, including Iraq. The size of the Coalition was due to the size of Iraq's military at the start of the War. Before the air war started Iraq has the 5th biggest military on Earth. It was also believed to to be battle hardened due to the very resent gruelling 8 yr Iran-Iraq war. That is why the coalition decided to try to bomb Iraq back to the Stone Age before launching the ground war.
He said it was a 35 nation coalition like 2 minutes before you asked how many nations took part.
As an Army Brat, my dad trained a lot of the armor division commanders during the Gulf War as an instructor at the US Army Armor War School in KY at the time. He had quite a few former students and buddies in the 3rd Armored division and 1st Calvary out of Ft Hood. I had a lot of friends in the 24th Mech out of Ft Stewart involved in G-Day. So none of us got much sleep that night.
What the video didn't mention was how coalition forces used the aggressive reporting by global news outlets to hold Iragi forces on our left flank in place. For days the Navy pounded the coast giving the impression that we were softening up ground for a D-Day like amphibious invasion. We invited the press to broadcast aboard destroyers to film this Bombardment. On G-Day Iraqi forces and the press believed the amphibious landing was coming...it never did. But the anticipation of it held Iraqi forces in the east in place, while coalition forces incircled Enemy forces from the west.
As for your question about oil, it's not as simple as it seems. Yes it was self interest, but not about oil wealth. Oil is the most strategic natural resource in the world to an industrial power. Global industry and Militarys run on oil. That much of control of oil in the hands of a potential hostile government would alter the balance of power in the region and the world. Don't forget The Nazi war machine in WW2 like Nato today had the advantage of superior technology and weapons. Neutralizing this advantage called for denial of the ability of Hitler to refuel its armored forces, its logistics, and its Airforce. Hitlers limited access to oil also prevented him from quickly rebuilding factories to resupply its losses. So yes the gulf War was about oil, but for geopolitical reasons.
One of the main reasons was indeed to protect the oil fields in Kuwait and the stability of nearby oilfields and countries, all of which were generally pretty weak compared to Iraq. When the Kuwait oilfields fell to the Sadam he controlled around 20% of the world's oil supply. If Sadam then went on and conquered Saudi Arabia, as it looked like he was planning to, Sadam would have controlled 45% of the world's known oil at the time.
Good response....all you have to do is look south....if Sadaam was able to hold Kuwait, there was a good chance Saudi Arabia would have been next.
Sadam did cross over the Saudi Border, briefly.
There's an anecdote about this campaign. Supposedly, as an Iraqi pow was being put into the back of a Bradley APC, he noticed there was a picture of German General Erwin Rommel inside. Asking the vehicle commander why he had a picture of an old enemy inside, he was told "If you'd studied that man a bit more, you wouldn't be in the back of my tank right now."
That’s so cool! Thanks for sharing that!
I heard that very same story almost to the word. Don't know if it's true or not but it sounds good.
O.K. I did some digging and found this on Quora: "According to US Army Lt Gen H. R. McMaster, who as a captain commanded an armored cavalry troop in the Gulf War, one of his M2 Bradleys had a picture of Erwin Rommel inside. An Iraqi officer prisoner asked the Bradley's driver why he had a picture of America's enemy inside his armored personnel carrier. The driver replied that if the Iraqis had studied Rommel's campaigns perhaps he wouldn't be an American prisoner."
McMasters reported this exchange in the documentary, "Inside the Kill Box".
I have not seen this documentary so cannot comment on it's authenticity though it is sounding like it may be real.
History has slandered Germany.
I was there with the 24 Inf Division out of Ft Stewart Ga. I turned 23 that day. RIP to our brothers and sisters who didn't come back. Thank you the the brothers and sisters who served during this time. Victory and First to Fight
Bless you. Thank you for your service.
Thank you sir!
My brother was in the USAirforce at that time but he wasn't sent. He was an aircraft engineer. He was injured when he was working on an F16 canopy, it fell on his upper back and damaged nerves in his back and neck. He was under doctor orders not to work. He was so upset because he would have been sent to the Middle East. The Airforce retired him because of his injuries in the 90s. He died of skin cancer in 2009 on Christmas day. Broke my heart, my mom had passed away in 2008.
5:07 the picture on top in the Abrams tank. It's armed with a 120mm main gun and it weighs about 70 tons. It has tungsten and depleted uranium for armor. The one below is a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). It's armed with a 30mm chaingun and 2 TOW anti-tank missile launchers. It's armor is mostly aluminum. It carries 6-7 soldiers in the back that it can deploy.
Bradley is armed with a 25mm gun...not a 30mm. ✌
25mm chain gun
"6-7" cramped and really pissed off infantry, we normally only did 5 in full kit, there is not a lot of room and even 5 with armor, weapons, and assult pack is a tight sqeeze. Plus its so loud you cant hear yourself think, and it vibrates enough to make your ass go numb.
They called him Storming Norman for a reason, lol. He was a sort of modern day Patton.
But not as abrasive...
Or modern day Rommel?
FF or Friendly Fire has always been an issue on the battlefield however it is over exaggerated in this conflict because of the staggeringly few casualties inflicted by the enemy
I met "Stormin' Norman" during Desert Storm, a hell of a man! I was with 18th Airborne in an Aviation unit, we were constantly told to hold position or slow our advance or we'd outrun certain elements of our group.
Thank you for your service.
One of the MD's I worked with had a nephew in Iraq visiting his grandmother as the situatuon formed. He was force "inducted" into the Iraq army , trained with a broomstick since they did bot guns to train with, was told to grab a gun from a dead soldier on the line and sent to the front. He was able to convince the entire squad to surrender when the US troops were in reach of them. They all dropped their weapons, stood up with their hands up and his nephew had opened his uniform shirt to show off his US college tee shirt. The US troops took them without a shot.
Smart play. Figures I guess.
Before the war, when we knew it was coming, I was driving past the base. The base was covered with tanks and other fighting vehicles and they were all painted "sand" and not olive drab anymore. It was stunning.
The soldiers who deserted presented a sight and a problem. We had to feed them! That wasn't in the plan. I remember a reporter listening to two of our soldiers who were watching the hundreds of deserters, who were terrified, and one of our guys said, "Are we bad, or are we bad?". It was a small moment of levity I'll never forget.
Stormin Norman was much loved, BTW.
Glad you're doing this!
You have to remember US armored doctrine stresses speed above all else.
Speed = Life.
The slower you move the more time the enemy has to prepare a defensive line or counter attack.
Unless you're a frog, in which case slow is smooth and smooth is fast
The US military is default aggressive.
@@vanessasullivan2137 have some respect. the French military is one of the most successful fighting forces ever in regards to overall performance.
@@egret203 I'm honestly not sure if you're being serious or not regarding the French.... The French aside, I was referring to Navy Seals, sometimes called frogs, depending on how old someone is when referring to them. That's practically a seal doctrine: "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." Basically, take the time to make sure you do it right the first time, because it's ultimately less time consuming than having to go back and correct an error and start from scratch. I cannot personally atttest to how the French feels about this philosophy. I suppose it really depends on how far back "overall performance" goes. They definitely had their time, for sure. Just maybe not post 1900's, comparatively speaking. I think Napoleon might have been their last great performer, and that definitely ended up taking a turn for the worse.
@@vanessasullivan2137 I completely read that wrong. My apologies 😑
We don't have generals like Stormin' Norman anymore.
There are some, at least in the Marine Corps. A few of my classmates from the US Naval Academy are currently Generals in the US Marines.
Now I can not confirm this, but I believe that one sortie is one aircraft taking off, going on it's mission, and then landing.
That would mean that yeah, that is a lot of missions.
A sortie is one plane on a mission, yes.
Don't quote me, it's my wife that is the fighter pilot, I am just a ground-pounding infantryman. However, from what I have heard, it's more of an action-based term. The way she explained it is say you flying an F-35 and you are carrying 2 cruise missiles and 2 air-to-air missiles. You fire a cruise missile at a bunker or troop concentration, then change course and fire another at a different target, then you down an enemy attack helicopter harassing troops, then you go to intercept an unknown radar contact and fire your last missile, and before going back to base, you do recon with your Intelligence and Surveillance equipment. That is 5 sorties from what she said. 2 strike sorties, 1 air-to-air sortie, 1 intercept, and 1 ISR sortie.
Typically, you don't do 5 sorties at a time, typically you want to only do two or three different strikes because of air time on internal fuel.
Great observation! Yes, I am certain we intervened with overwhelming force to preserve oil exports. Iraq's attack of Kuwait gave the coalition the perfect excuse to deploy troops. I flew an Apache attack helicopter on combat missions in Desert Storm during the battle of 73rd Easting.
Thank you sir for your service !
You commented on the general wanting the attacks sped up. You would want them sped up because after the 1st attacks on day 1, you no longer have the element of surprise. You try to do some things that will make it tougher for your enemy to reorganize but you have no promises you will be able to get all of that done. The less you get done, the more likely you are to sustain casualties. Im sure his commanders also wanted as fast a pace as possible. The coalition did have some hicups. Some areas they had to slow down. But in some of those cases the slow downs actually helped because it allowed supply lines to catch up. No military can last long without supplies. There are several examples of inability to resupply turning wars/battles around through out history. In some areas, because there was so little resistance, we advanced faster than anticipated and supplies could have started becoming a problem for out advancing troops. The 3 day dust storm they mentioned wasnt just a problem for us. It was a problem for Iraq too. But it allowed our supplies to get fully restocked and organized before they moved again.
General Norman Schwarzkopf belongs on mount Olympus with Zeus!
He at least deserves to be on the Mt. Rushmore of Generals next to Eisenhower, Grant, and Patton.
Stormin’ Norman
@@sallyintucson Amen! That man took Patton's tank legend, and expanded it.
@@boydrobertson2362 NathanBedford Forrest - “first’est with the mostest”
@@cygnusx-3217 I'm embarrassed reading your's. All this tech but your retarded ass still can't express itself!
When I was really young, stationed in Guam at the time I think, my father was active duty Navy deployed for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. "Hazard pay" he called it.
a sortie is each time they leave the base and go do something
a mission may take several sorties to achieve ( destroy all of the radar in the country) that sort of thing.
5:05 The top photo is of an Abrams main battle tank. Notice the gun. It is a 120mm. It fires several different rounds including depleted uranium rounds designed to tear though heavily armored vehicles like the Russian T-72s used by the Iraqi Army. The bottom picture is of a Bradly Armored Fighting Vehicle. This is the main armored personnel carrier / tank killer used by U.S. Army to transport and support Armored Infantry Units. It is used to rapidly deploy and support infantry troops and to engage and destroy armored targets supporting enemy infantry. Its main gun is a 25mm chain driven cannon capable of rapid fire to take out armored vehicles, targets and positions other than enemy main battle tanks. For main battle tanks the Bradley is equipped with TOW missiles. However, the 25mm gun proved quite effective against the older T-55 Russian tanks also used by the Iraqi Army. It also contains 7.62mm machine guns for dealing with enemy infantry. Deployed in groups these units devastated entrenched Iraqi infantry and armored positions. Upon seeing Bradleys approaching many Iraqi units would leap from their tranches in an effort to surrender before being killed.
We were there for the oil. And even if not the oil, then the fact that the world's economies are directly tied to Middle East energy, and if Saddam captured Kuwaiti and Saudi oil, he'd control nearly half the world's supply at the time which means one man alone could basically determine the price of oil which could roil global markets.
Oil was a factor but not how many would think. At the time the Middle East supplied about half of the world's energy. Either through intent or miscalculation that energy was disrupted it could easily lead to a global depression. The resulting economic collapse would detribalize many parts of the globe. The last time the world suffered a major economic depression we ended up with WW2.
Saddam was a major destabilizing factor in the region and responsible for starting two wars in less then a decade.
In Kenneth Pollack's book "The Threatening Storm" he outlines the rationale of intel services (mostly the UK and US) concerning the long term effects on global stability.
I was stationed in Crete as a support equipment mechanic for 2 aircraft. When the war kicked off a couple of us all of a sudden became aircraft mechanics, jet engine mechanics, avionic technicians, aircraft refuelers amongst other things.
Thank you for your service !
@@pearlymae5705 Totally worth it, an experience of a lifetime for sure.
12:58 The 101st Airborne got their nickname "Screaming Eagles" from an actual Bald Eagle that went into battle during the American Civil War. His name was Old Abe and his perch was carried into battle alongside the American flag and Wisconsin state flag. The Confederate rebels called him "That damn Yankee buzzard". He survived the war and died years later in the Wisconsin capitol building. The 101st Airborne have a depiction of him as their insignia.
A sortie is a single aircraft launch. The same aircraft might return, rearm, and launch again contributing more than one sortie per days count. Sorties include not just the combat aircraft launched but support aircraft as well such as tankers, airborne radar aircraft or electronic warfare aircraft.
On the oil question: It really depends -- do you really want someone like Saddam Hussein being in control of 25% of the world's proven reserves? Because as of January 1, 1991, that's exactly what the situation was...
My brother was part of the 82nd Airborne during this war. He worked for Blackwater the 2nd time we went to war over there. He still works in Baghdad today as head of embassy security.
yes a sortie is a mission. The pilots were flying at least 2 combat missions a day and in the beginning it was more. I was there in Riyadh Saudi Arabia and moved all over the theater... it was over 35 nations against Iraq. research the highway of death.
@8:50 the reason was BOTH. Mainly to secure the oil agenda, but it actually helped the country of Kuwait from being annexed and consumed by a larger neighbor. So your question is arbitrary.
For the coalition forces, armor losses were pretty small, for the Iraqis however, it was a little bit different. In military aviation, a sortie is a combat mission of an individual aircraft, starting when the aircraft takes off. For example, one mission involving six aircraft would tally six sorties.
Before you get on the generals ass about being disgruntled because they are not going fast enough, you should understand that speed and violence of the advance = less casualties to your men. He's not just being a dick, he wants to reduce the danger to his men. As for the150 men that got buried alive, I guess they should have surrendered.
Sortie = 1 plane, 1 mission. Schwartzkopf was upset at the slower advance because everything is based on SPEED. Advance, advance, overwhelm before the enemy can realized you're swarming them. Delay = death. Say you lose "only" 1000 men. Do you tell their families "Well, we were going bit slow but I didn't want to be bossy and annoying, so I let it go. And anyway, we didn't lose very many, after all."
We were there to protect the Kuwaiti and Saudi oil fields. Had Sadam taken the Kuwaiti and Saudi oil fields he would have controlled 45% of all known oil reserves in the world. There was never any doubt about the reason we were there and it was clearly spelled out before the war started.
Schwarzkopf was unhappy because it took too long to achieve the objective. The Vietnam-era tactics were not appropriate for the situation. Remember, the most important thing in a battle is not to not lose soldiers, it is to achieve the objective. That is how war works.
A total of 35 countries were involved in one way or another, they separated by logistics, supply, and combat, and there were subdivisions of all three of these, for instance, Saudi Arabia, provided all of the jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline, (petrol) that any country needed, however delivery of it was mostly dependent on the U.S. and our large air tanker fleet, Saudi Arabia also provided most of the ground bases for combat and support aircraft from all nations, air combat forces were primarily provided by the U.S. secondarily provided by the U.K. Canada, Australia, France, 3rd was all others such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Spain, Germany, Japan, South Korea and others, ground forces were similarly allocated, about 85% of the heavy lifting was done by the U.S. and facilitated mostly by Saudi Arabia, nearly 50% of all strike missions were carried out by the U.S. Navy through ship launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, aircraft from 6 aircraft carriers and 16 inch gun bombardment from the U.S. Battleships Missouri and Wisconsin, strategic and strikes into heavily defended areas was the responsibility of the USAF and the stealth abilities of the F-117, CAP, (Combat Air Patrol) was mostly handled by the USAF and U.S. Navy with the F-15's and F-14's, Saudi Arabia Japan and the U.K also helped with this part, ground combat was mostly done by the U.S. Army and USMC, with help from Kuwait U.K France and Germany, the tank warfare was almost exclusively done by the U.S. Army and USMC.
@Kabir Considers If you liked this, I recommend the video "Greatest Tank Battles: Battle of 73 Easting" it covers an engagement during this campaign, complete with interviews with men who fought in Desert Storm.
I was in the 3rd Armor Div. some of our prisoners' said they felt the ground shake for 3 days, and they though they were fighting Iran.
Reasons for the Gulf War aka Destert Storm!- for Oil? For Kuwait? Or Middle East stability? To minimize Iraqi Threat?
Answer is All ! ---- YES
5:15 top picture is m1 Abrams main battle rank. Bottom picture Is a Bradley infantry fighter vehicle. Abrams roll in rhe front. Bradley's follow holding infantry support for support of the tank crews.
A friend of mine from High School was stationed in Kuwait for this military action. (The USA hasn’t officially been at war since WW II) I wrote and asked if she wanted anything and she said reading material. Because of where she was stationed I had to go through every magazine with a marker and black out all necks, arms and legs in photos. 🤦♀️
You are a good friend!
@@corinnepmorrison1854 Thank you. Did you know anyone can adopt a soldier? I adopted three during Afghanistan/Iraq. With practice you get REALLY good at packing those little boxes from the post office. One of the silliest things I included in a box was a lip balm called Chicken Poop. I can only imagine how many soldiers asked others for chapstick and were handed that. *Giggle*
Please react to Schwarzkopf's press conference!!! It is as iconic as the General himself.
Yes, I'd say it WAS heavily about oil as well as the stability of the region. NONE of those neighbors were really going to be able to put up enough of a fight by themselves, much less a united front. Iraq was poised to further destabilize the area politically (more than they already had) but also economically with Iraq being in an increasing position to control THE major oil supplies for a huge portion of the world. Don't make the mistake of thinking that it _wasn't_ a worthy cause, a worthwhile reason to go to war. The fact that it meant relieving military pressure on the whole region and actual liberation of an Arabic state from the vile invasion and destruction of Iraq wasn't the FIRST reason - but it most certainly also helped the US in assembling the coalition against Iraq after the stinking, pathetic failure of the UN to actually stand behind its words.
As von Clauswitz said - war is a continuation of politics by another means.
Sadam was upset that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members were producing to much oil keeping the price low making it harder for Iraq to recover from it's war with Iran and Kuwait vertical drilling into Iraq didn't help matters
The answer to your question at 9:00 is yes to both, but I lean more to the former, I genuinely believe that liberation was the goal, especially because Kuwaitis and other Arabs were involved, The USA warned Iraq (an ultimatum) to get away from Kuwait and he (Saddam Hussein, President... I mean... Dictator of Iraq) didn't listen. I think is was 80% liberate, 20% for oil security, one is noble one is kinda selfish, but I understand both sides of that coin. The role of the UN and especially the USA is to police the world by destroying dictatorships and oppressive regimes (yes I know about what we did during the Cold War, and I'm not excusing that), but that's just my opinion. Kuwaitis out there, we love you
@Jim Book Lol, what a sweet boy. I said I don't excuse it, but that war in my mind was justified, The Kuwaitis were literally helping in the invasion as were many other Arabs, that's why it's called a coalition. Liberation was, in my mind, the main goal. And bro, I'm nearly 20, I'm no boy.
My dad had just gotten back from cruise when this started. He was so pissed he could not fight along side his brothers and sisters. Instead he was in the waiting room for me (his daughter) to come out of recovery from surgery. I wish to this day he could have been there. To train for war all your adulthood for war and not participate was hard on him.
A sortie is 1 aircraft flying 1 mission. Over the course of the air campaign leading up to the ground war, coalition aircraft flew roughly 87000 sorties.
A _sortie_ consists of one takeoff and one landing. (They are supposed to balance.)
General Schwartzkopf came through our unit's area in Saudi Arabia before the war started, asking us if we were ready to (quote) "kick some ass". It was hilarious watching officers scramble to line up to kiss Schwartzkopf's ass, because they assumed he was there to see them and not us enlisted guys. Well, Schwartzkopf spent his entire stop with us enlisted guys instead, and when he left the area he did it as far away from the officers as he could get. The officers looked like rejected little girls. We loved it!
In Desert Storm, the Coalition only lost 75 aircraft, the Iraqis over 400.
Only 154 Coalition soldiers lost their lives in combat 65 others in accidents. That's for the whole war.
The infamous 82nd airborne and the prestigious French foreign legion
Yes oil was a top concern, but in order to put a stop to the atrocities that were being done to the trapped Kuwaiti population was the TOP concern, Saddam Hussein was trying to pay for his 8 year long war with Iran by conquering Kuwait and stealing the money from them, that was the driving force for his invasion of Kuwait
When you mentioned the heat component inside the tank, while that may be true elsewhere the U.S. air conditions the equipment within the tank. This is a benefit to the personnel as well. Anywhere there are electronic equipment consider that the computers, the brains and associated electronics must be kept cool. Though I can't say if ducts are vented for operator benefit they still benefit from the cooler air the a/c puts out for the computer's stability and operationality.
We went into Kuwait because they were a buffer between Saudi Arabia, ostensibly our friends, and Iraq, enemy to all. Allegedly SA paid us, gave us plenty of room for base camp set-ups, fuel, all to join in the fun. It was to the benefit of both of us. Plus the Saudi's played a minor role by "participating" in the offense, we allowed them to enter Kuwait first for the PR of it all.
You have to understand that a large portion of the Iraqi army had basically no communication. So after 5 weeks of being bombed and clearly being overwhelmed simply by the air, they had no clue what was going on. Or even pretty much what to do. Not only was communication basically cut, but there was no re-supply either as those lines were cut and stopped. And living under constant bombardment for weeks. And yes many of them simply went awol and went back home, many of them who really were not wanting to be in the war to begin with, as Saddam led by fear. There were even reports of some small units being found after the war was over and they had no clue that the war was even over. Many also surrendered before the ground invasion started. You can see unmanned drones flying, surveying and watch Iraqi's trying to surrender to the drones, waving white flags.
Yes oil was a HUGE factor for both sides. Also it was a way for US to get a step in the door into Mid East influence, as most Mid East countries were against (and troubled by) Iraqi military and Saddam. However, having said that, I suspect that even without those two big factors. US and allies still likely would have supported Kuwait and helped liberate them. A lot of countries were concerned about the dictator Saddam and Kuwait was friendly with a lot of countries. So helping Kuwait and helping to put down Saddam to any degree were also both big considerations and factors. Even IF the US and UK for some reason did not help with physical manpower, and only with supplies like they are currently doing in Ukraine. It is very likely that many Mid East countries would have helped to liberate Kuwait, and likely led by Saudi Arabia. Although maybe not as soon.
FF is also called Blue on Blue
goin back to the Blue force trackers we used to track fellow movements
This war began in Jan of 1991. It was in response to Iraq invading Kuwait and claiming it as part of Iraq in order to seize it's oil fields. They falsely claimed Kuwait was side drilling and stealing their oil in order to justify the invasion. The MIG is Russian made. They also had a few French Mirage and US F-14 fighters. As far as your comment about the B-2 looking like the F-117 stealth fighter you are correct. They were the first two aircraft in the world with stealth technology. Remember you can tell what the aircraft is for by the letter. F for fighter, B for bomber and C for cargo. Lastly Sortie means a flight or mission.
Alright 5:16 the one on the bottom is the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (50 being sent to Ukraine) not a tank, it’s equipped with a 30mm auto cannon and tow missiles. It’s job is to carry troops into combat to fight alongside the Abrams tanks. You don’t want to face a tank one on one in a Bradley you’ll have a bad day
The Abrams on top is the main battle tank, 32 being sent to Ukraine
Not intirely correct, my good man. A M1 Bradley is equipped with a 25mm Bushmaster chaingun, not a 30mm autocannon.
Stormin Norman was a great general. His father was a founding member of the New Jersey State Police.
I was in the 1st engineer division. A division that's part of the 1st infantry division. The big red 1.
You mean 1st Engr Bn , I was also there in 1st infantry 2/3 ADA .
Friendly fire or Blue on Blue is very common, but lots less common compared to wars in the past.. with high intense battles and constant blending of air and ground clashes alone with obstacles and weather, Blue on Blue is very prone.
Sortie is basically a plane in flight mainly to a designated target. After that they land refuel/arm and take off again that's another sortie.
I taught school in Kuwait (Q8) starting in 2010. I ran with 6 or 7 women from the US who met their husbands at university in the US. All had lived in Q8 at different times before the Iraqui invasion. All but 2 families, Q8 husbands included, were back in the US before the invasion. The 2 women and their children stayed inside during the entire invasion until Liberation Day. If they had been found they would have either been killed or taken hostage. They were obviously not Q8 natives. 1 was blonde w/blue eyes. The other was red w/blue eyes and very pale skined. She could not have passed for Q8 even fully covered. People would sneak by their flats and drop off canned/dry foods. There was no electricity, so food was eaten cold, no light (even flash lights could be used at night, water was cold too. They've all had stories to tell. Scary.
Kabir, yes the war was definitely about oil. Iraq was a rogue nation that the western world did not want to have control or such important oil reserves. A former neighbor of mine was a former assistant police chief in San Francisco who remembers the Oil embargo in the 70s that caused huge lines at gas stations here in the US because of the scarcity of oil. He said if such an oil scarcity happened again here there would be riots here in the streets. He said that can't happen, we need to do whatever it takes in our foreign policy to preserve law and order here at home.
"Bradley fighting vehicles" is the nice way of saying "Bradley tanks".
The reasons for the massive coalition build-up and attack: Iraq at the time had 10% of the world's proven oil reserves. When Iraq conquered Kuwait, it captured another 10%, and was right on the border of Saudi Arabia, which had another 20%. Having Saddam Hussain controlling 40% of the world's oil was not acceptable.
Really enjoyed this video, keep it up!
You can't get a feel for the war until you have seen some of the Schwarzkopf news briefings. Remember, this war mandated a coalition of not only NATO allies, but of regional Arabian forces as well. Everything was done to show the US and NATO was not beating up on an Arabian nation. That is why the vocabulary is charged with "precision weapons", "Coalition Forces", and other reassuring terms. This is also why everyone was pulled out so rapidly after the battle ended and why no further attempt was made to unseat Saddam after such a glorious victory.
When momentum is on your side and you have the enemy dazed and confused, you don't stop. You stop you start to die...Was there lived through it and got the T-shirt. Need more Generals like Stormin Norman!!!!!!!
We’ll to answer your question about why the war started - Iraq had 8 year long war with Iran to capture its strategic objectives, plus they were already almost finished their nuclear reactor plant for building nuclear bombs. When I Iraq won against Iran, they were in massive debt from Kuwait and did not want to repay but instead invade and take the oil fields of Kuwait that were very rich. After invasion started entirety of UN council even the Soviet Union which previously backed Iraq declared that it is an act of aggression. Iraq stopped flow of oil to other nations and as a result coalition forces though Iraq will now start war with Syria or Saudi Arabia. And that is why operation desert shield and desert storm we’re planned to take down Iraq.
For anyone who’s looking for comparison it’s like the Grayjoy rebellion type of thing from GOT.
1) You asked why did so many nations fight against Iraq. Saddam's invasion of Kuwait was just such a naked act of aggression that it could not be allowed to stand. Both religious and secular Arab governments joined the coalition, including Syria, which had closer ties to the Soviet Union than the West. This is pure speculation, but perhaps if the Iraqis had preceded their invasion with a marketing campaign to justify it, there might have been less international resolution to undo it. The justification would not need to have been factual, merely plausible, such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Russian war in Ukraine. I would imagine the Russians did not expect the nearly universal international opposition they have faced in the last year.
2) The French Daguet Division and the American 82nd Airborne advanced toward a location designated as "Objective Rochambeau." This was likely named for Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte (Count) de Rochambeau (1725-1807). He was the commander of the French troops who fought alongside Americans during the War of Independence.
A sortie is defined as when an aircraft leaves a friendly area, attacks an enemy target and returns. An individual aircraft could perform several sorties in a given day. The term is used to differentiate between missions where forces are deployed forward and remain in a position to attack or be attacked without retreating to the safety of the rear such those carried out by artillery or infantry units. You would NOT, for example, describe an armored infantry unit attacking 3 different targets as carrying out 3 sorties even if it were done on the same day.
Each aircraft that take off is considered a “sortie”. So if 1,000 sorties are flown, then 1,000 flights were made. Many of these sorties were flown by the same aircraft. Take off and do a mission then land = one sortie. Then the same aircraft refuels and re-arms then takes off on a new mission begins a new sortie.
We prepared for chemical attacks, and well, MRE attacks. I had my chem gear and 8 boxes of ExLax. Sometimes you need some help lol. BTW Kabir Exlax helps you make boom boom (poop). It's a laxative and it really helped. I made some money from those that disregarded that portion of our supply list.
It was like someone typed in a cheat code. There was no escape as everything closed in.
A sortie (from the French word meaning exit or from Latin root surgere meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare.
Why I’m I first? This is a great channel and it deserves more likes views etc etc
2:30 Yes, a single fighter or bomber may conduct several or more "sorties" in a day (i.e. drop their ordinance, return, rearm, refuel and go back out on another sortie).
3:43 I've seen anywhere from 31 to 39 nations. All I know is that, it was a lot.😄😉 5:43 You have to understand, during that time, Iraq had one of the largest Armies in the world with over 5,000 tanks.
8:59 It was for altruistic reasons, but not altruism alone. There's no simple, single equation here. Saudi Arabia had long been a U.S. ally and it's borders were now (obviously) being threatened by an aggressor nation with a ruthless dictator who (in an act of genocide) used poison gas on his own people in the "Halabja massacre" on March 16th,1988. There were few nations in the world that had an affinity for Saddam Hussein & Iraq at the time. After Iraq began it's unprovoked attack on Kuwait and began to threaten Saudi oil fields, the price of oil began to destabilize world economies.
Iraq had already shown a propensity for aggression during its war with Iran not long before. Iraq's persistent aggression was also having a destabilizing effect on the middle east as a whole. Not to mention, Saddam Hussein was given plenty of chances & advanced warnings about the consequence if he refused to withdraw his forces from Kuwait. He knew full well of the build-up by coalition forces and the potential threat he faced. And there's still more to it than that, but this should help a little in getting you off the "it was just for oil" bandwagon.🤭
The USA has more than enough of its own oil, gas, coal and shale energy resources. Speaking for the U.S., it didn't need Kuwait. You shouldn't stir the pot if you aren't sure what you're cooking.😄😉 16:15 TRIVIA: Major General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was the son of Col. Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. who was the first Superintendent (Chief) of the New Jersey State Police and who was directly involved in the investigation of the "Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping" case in 1932. 17:23 Fratricide has been present in every U.S. conflict, though its prevalence has dwindled as communication & planning capabilities continually evolve. The "fog of war" is something that's difficult to account for. Peace Kabir.🕊
Fratricide in every conflict not just US conflicts
@@craigplatel813 Yes I know, but I'm not from every country. I'm from the USA. Right now, Russians have been killing Russians in Ukraine.😉
@@beesnestna9544 but the comment makes it sound like you're saying fratricide only takes place in US wars.
@@craigplatel813 Really? Why don't you point out exactly where it says that.😉
@Jim Book What do you mean by "weak". Economically? That's not the point. The point is resources and we didn't need Kuwait's.😳 It's about economies outside of the USA that needed oil price stability. We had plenty of our own oil back then. 🤔I'm not sure I understand your point, and it certainly was NOT 99% about oil. To say something like that leads me to believe you weren't even alive back then.
If it was a country invading America, I would for sure stay and fight. I honestly think most Americans feel a duty to the ones before us, and what they fought for. The U.S. has made some mistakes in its history, but all of it was to try to make sure we always had more power than communism. If there has to be a world police, I don’t think there is a better choice.
I was in one of those sand storms and it will rip your hide raw but, when there are no showers , it can be like a chinchilla bath.
There is a video floating around where General Norman Schwarzkopf gives about an hour-long press conference. I would recommend giving it a watch.
We went there to help Kuwait. However, in the process, the Arab world saw us come to the aid of one of their own, and the oil producing countries were probably a little more sympathetic to our petroleum needs.
I have a friend who was part of General Schwartzkopf's staff at the time. The general should be immortalized by having a base named after him. General Schwartzkopf's father was the head of the New Jersey State Police at the time and was part of the investigation of the Lindberg baby case. Google it. It was big news back in the early 1900s.
Kabir, there's lots of thought on why the Gulf War happened. The surface answer was that Saddam invaded Kuwait and was using horrible gas and other weapons on the basically defenseless Kuwaitis (and Kuwait had lots of oil). My Canadian vets were also there on the ground in the air and on the sea. Though the coalition freed Kuwait, Saddam was not defeated and went back to rule with an iron fist in Iraq. THIS is what sets up Desert Storm after 9/11. GW Bush goes back to finish what his father Bush senior couldn't and that was the capture of Saddam. It was all crouched in revenge for 9/11 and the world backed the US. The search for non-existent weapons of mass destruction and all the following events seem to begin with the invasion of Kuwait...
Desert Storm was in 1991. The later war in Iraq was in 2003.
Not defeated?
His military was wiped into near nonexistence and forced out of the country they invaded.
It as an overwhelming defeat for the world's third largest military at the time.
Saddam used gas on his own citizens prior to this invasion.
You're also watching a video of Desert Storm... yet have no idea of when and where it occurred.
How is that even possible?
@@outdoorsman7324 I think what he's pointing out was Saddam Hussain stayed in power until the 2003 Iraq war and wasn't a kind person to the people under his control and was still a destabilizing force in the region. He is also confusing the Gulf War with the Iraq war which is something I've seen a lot lately with people.
@@MotoroidARFC , he wasn't destabilizing in the least after the Gulf War... he was literally devastated.
@@outdoorsman7324 he did kept the US coming back and bombing him during the no fly zone era.
The reasons for entry into Kuwait was two fold; the United Nations passed resolution 678 because Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The second was self explanatory IMHO, they interrupted the international supply chain of oil much like Russia today. The difference in the scenario between Ukraine and Kuwait is that Kuwait was a member of the United Nations and OPEC. Which we had a mutual protection pact (we being 190 nations).
Sortie mean one plane, one flight. If I recall correctly (which I probably don't) it was 35 nations involved in some way in Desert Sheild/Storm. The reason we fought to liberate Kuwait was to toss out a brutal regime that had just invaded it. The same reason we are helping Ukraine now (which incidentally has no oil to speak of). From Iraq's point of view, it was for the riches of the country. So in a round about way, it was for oil. Just not from the Coalition's point of view. Schwarzkopf had to adhere to a schedule pretty closely or risk more troops later on. He wasn't just getting them to jump when he said frog.
If part of the advance is slower than the rest, that gives the enemy a way to penetrate the line there and flank the friendlies ahead of them from the side. You want to keep the advance in sync across the field of battle.
Honestly I think the Western countries were itching for a chance to see how well our militaries would fair. This was a large scale of enough of a conflict against a enemy that's relatively obsolete in equipment but still poses enough of a danger not to be a complete cake walk. Basically Iraq had one of the largest conventional armies in the world, even if obsolete. It would be a great test bed to see how well the Western Armies would do against say China at the time who was even worse equipped at the time, or vs the bulk of the Soviet Military which wouldn't have the best the USSR had to offer them. It was an absolute slaughter. Confidence in western technology, military strategy and air power few off the charts after the Gulf War. It was predicted we would suffer considerably higher loses than we actually suffered, which made many question Soviet technology for man years afterwards.
It also shattered the belief that many countries like China had at the time that they could win a war by numbers alone. It was a rude wakeup call for Commiboos as well, who didn't realize just how much superior western militaries had gotten in the past twenty years as the USSR was in a huge down turn at this time. Meaning despite having some good equipment the bulk of the Soviet Military was just as bad as the Iraqi military.
It's also ignored that a lot of western forces involved were also using obsolete equipment. For example the US Marines in the Gulf War were mainly using M60 Tanks, which were just as old if not older than some of the models being used by the Iraqi Military. Our Armored Personnel Carriers like the M113 made up the bulk of APCs deployed by the US Military as well despite dating back to the 1960s. A lot of American Vehicle crews were using M3 Submachineguns which date back to WWII.
The American general in charge is sounding like Patton.
14:34 Why do the Iraqi Formations look like a demonic version of Darth Vader. Two eyes and the mouthpiece.
General "Stormin Norman" Schwarzkopf was the mastermind behind the war and emerged a national hero from it.
The Iraqi regime set the old fields in Kuwait on fire before retreating. All off that had to be dealt with, which is no easy task. Not to mention the environmental disaster it created.
I was deployed usaf security police for this, and was proud to serve under Stormin Norman!!
The coalition wasn't just all armament. They provided support rules as well.
A sortie is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint.
Weird how the air operation took careful consideration of friendly fire by using AWACS but the ground operation had none of that.
@16:28 to be fair when you know you have someone on the back foot you push them and they fall
The M-2 Bradley fighting vehicle is taller than Abrams tank because it carries a troop of 8 soldiers to the battle area. The Bradleys actually killed more Iraqi tanks than the Abrams did.
A sortie is a mission. iIf7 PLANES FLY ON A BOMBING, THAT IS 7 SORTIES.
Hey Kabir, I wonder if you would interested in reacting to another band "U2 - Moment Of Surrender (Live at the Rose Bowl)" U2 is an Irish rock band that formed in 1976 and has sold over 170 million records. The band consists of Bono the lead singer, Edge the lead guitarist and backup vocals, Adam Clayton on bass guitar, and Larry Mullen Jr. drums. U2's lyric's often address social and political issues such as war, human rights, spirituality and love and reflect the bands personal as well as, collective experiences. I really enjoy your content Kabir👍
Hussein was so outgunned that there were two Gulf War jokes. One was, "Q: How do you stop an Iraqi tank advance? A: Shoot the guy pushing the tank." The other was, "Did you hear about the new Saddam Hussein condoms? They're for pricks who just won't pull out."
Great reaction! I hope you watch General Schwarzkopf's press conference outlining the ground assault.
You want to advance quickly to prevent the enemy from falling back to defensive positions and reforming their command structure. If they can do that it makes penetrating their defenses more difficult and costly.