Thirty-two years ago today, the US and its Gulf War coalition were enjoying our first day of ceasefire after vanquishing the Iraqi Army. It was a remarkable accomplishment that was the result of building the most capable military the world had ever seen.
Certainly, the building of that coalition by then President George H.W. Bush was both skillful and impressive. I’m quite certain few others could have done this as well as he did.
Nonetheless, the ultimate credit goes to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of our coalition. They were superb. And to this day, I recall those that we lost. That our losses were minor compared to other wars does not make those we lost less painful. But without a doubt, our training, superior equipment, sound doctrine, and mission-focused troops contributed in large measure to our good fortune.
I will have more to say about this later today at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois when I deliver a lecture on that war, one I wrote about in my book Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War.
I hope that you will join me by viewing the lecture online at Date with History: Desert Redleg – First Division Museum (fdmuseum.org) at no cost. In this presentation—which will start at 7:00 PM Central Time (8:00 PM Eastern Time)—I will also discuss what the artillery did in 1991 to support the 1 st Infantry Division (the “Big Red One”) during the First Gulf War and contrast that with what we are observing concerning the employment of artillery in the Ukrainian conflict.
There are lessons to learn from both.
I hope you will tune in and join me as we discuss the importance of the Gulf War, to include the lessons we must heed as we reform and modernize our Army of today.
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