August 2nd 1990, Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, sweep aside its army and occupy the nation.   

To deter further aggression, President George HW Bush deploys the Marines to Saudi Arabia. Some of the forces board amphibious ships, which will arrive in the Persian Gulf over 5 weeks later. But the 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade deploys using a novel approach never before tested in wartime. Just 12 days later the unit’s 15,000 Marines, flanked by their tanks, helicopters and artillery are in position and ready for combat.

On this episode of Analysis in Combat, Bill Morgan and Mark Geis discuss how the Maritime Prepositioning Forces made such this rapid deployment possible.

For more information about CNA’s analysis in Desert Storm please visit our Analysis in Combat page.