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Earlier scrapes, including a repulsed Iraqi raid into the Saudi coastal town of Khafji, left coalition forces confident. Their 30-day air campaign had chipped away at Iraqi ground forces and crippled Iraq’s air force, making reconnaissance all but impossible. The capabilities of the Republican Guards were unknown and their Soviet-made T-72 tanks were intimidating. To the west, the logistical challenges of supporting hundreds of gas-guzzling Army M1 Abrams tanks as they raced through the desert was daunting. Two defensive belts, laced with minefields, were meant to slow progress and trap Americans in a kill zone. Iraqi forces were thickest on the Kuwait border across from the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions, where they were prepared to defend the roads to Kuwait city. military had not faced such a major enemy force since the Vietnam War.

Iraq’s ranks were filled with battle-hardened veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, which had ended less than four years before. Schwarzkopf’s plan faced significant challenges: Iraq, which at the time boasted the world’s fourth largest army, had deployed an estimated 650,000 troops with about one million in reserve. Saudi and Egyptian forces would join the invading forces from the south.

French and American paratroopers would secure the far western flank and establish forward operating bases early in the assault. Norman Schwarzkopf’s assault plan depended on two main actions, a Marine-led invasion of Iraq-occupied Kuwait from the south and an attack to the rear by Army tankers-the famed “left hook” that would cut off Iraqi retreat and confront elite Republican Guard forces. “It was only a couple of days, but they didn’t get much sleep.”Īrmy Gen. “It was very, very hard for them,” said Tom Carhart, who wrote about the 1st Armored Division’s role in the war.