Sea Power and Maritime
Affairs
Lesson 5.16: The U.S. Navy from the
Maritime Strategy to 9/11, 1981-2001
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.
The U.S. Navy Under Ronald
Reagan, 1980-1988
• Soviets bent on world domination. We must
build our military to combat communists and
terrorists.
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 Clausewitz’s
“On War”
Revamping U.S. Naval Strategy
•
SECNAV John Lehman, 19811987
–
–
–
•
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.
Interventionism-Peacekeeping
and Responses to Terrorism
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Grenada
Beirut Bombing
Gulf of Sidra attacks
Operation “Eldorado Canyon”
Tanker Wars
Operation “Praying Mantis”
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.
U.S. Tangles with Libya, 1981
• 1973: Gaddafi proclaims a
12NM extension zone off it’s
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.
U.S. Tangles with Libya…Again
• 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.
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
• America’s willingness to
retaliate for acts of terrorism.
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.
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 shorebased Silkworms
everywhere)
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
Battle History Video
• Chapter 4 “Second
to None”
• Part a: Time 10:04 22:40
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.
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.
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
U.S. National Policy Objectives:
1. Withdrawal of Iraqi forces
from Kuwait
2. Restoration of Kuwait’s
legitimate government
3. Security and stability of Saudi
Arabia and the Persian Gulf
4. Safety and protection of the
lives of American citizens
abroad
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
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.
20
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.
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.
23
24
25
26
27
28
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
Battle History Video
• Chapter 4 “Second
to None”
• Part b. 22:40 - 34:06
Battle History Video
• Chapter 4 “Second
to None”
• Part c. 34:06 - 44:34
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.
Questions?
Next time: Lesson 5.17 The US Navy Since 2001