Operation Iraqi Freedom
Introduction
On March 19, 2003, the United States and its coalition partners began Operation Iraqi Freedom, the multinational effort to liberate the people of Iraq from the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. After nearly a dozen years of Hussein’s non-compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions, the “coalition of the willing” joined together after months of diplomatic solutions failed. Together, the coalition fought to:
-Find and eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction;
-Capture terrorists and disestablish suspected terrorist cells;
-Secure Iraqi oil fields and offshore oil terminals to preserve the environment and guard the Iraqi economy from sabotage;
-End UN sanctions and provide immediate humanitarian assistance;
-End Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship; and
-Help the Iraqi people transition to a non-threatening, representative form of self-government.
Power Projection: Just the Right Amount of Concentrated Naval Forces
During OIF, five carrier strike groups, three amphibious ready groups, and two amphibious task forces totaling more than 200 coalition ships and nearly 81,000 Sailors and 15,500 embarked Marines were assigned to Commander, Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet. Never in history has the U.S. projected such a concentrated amount of firepower and technology in such a small geographic area. The advancements in communications, strike warfare and the introduction of the Navy’s new F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, combined with our use of special forces and Tomahawk land-attack missile strikes, allowed the coalition to take Baghdad within three weeks.
More than 780 Navy and Marine Corps aircraft were among the 1,800 total coalition aircraft used in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Naval aircraft from aircraft carriers and large deck amphibious ships flew nearly 14,000 sorties in support of OIF, averaging 1,500 sorties per day. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS Constellation (CV 64) and USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) carrier strike groups (CSG) conducted operations from the Arabian Gulf while USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) operated from the U.S. 6th Fleet’s waters in the Mediterranean. All five CSGs were under the operational control of COMUSNAVCENT/COMFIFTHFLT.
Airborne Analysis: OIF Sortie Statistics
- Total Navy combatant sorties: 5,568
- Total Navy tanker sorties: 2,058
- Total Navy command and control sorties: 442
- Total Navy surveillance sorties: 357
- Total Navy support sorties: 520
- Total Navy sorties overall: 8,945
OIF Sortie Statistics From March 19 – April 21, 2003
- Average number of Navy combatant sorties per day (34 days): 152
- Average number of Navy combatant sorties per week (4.9 weeks): 1,055
- Average number of Navy support sorties per day (34 days): 82
- Average number of Navy support sorties per week (4.9 weeks): 565
- Average number of Navy sorties per day (34 days): 234
- Average number of Navy sorties per week (4.9 weeks): 1620
- Highest number of Navy sorties: 425 -- 269 [63%] combatant and 156 [37%] support on April 2.
A New F/A-18: The Super Hornet Adds More Sting During Combat
F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets, with sophisticated electronic, payload and range improvements, were deployed in combat for the first time aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68). The inaugural Super Hornet squadron, VFA-115, was deployed aboard Lincoln, while VFA-14 and VFA-41 were part of Carrier Air Wing 11 on Nimitz. In early April, two F/A-18E’s from VFA-14 and two F/A-18Fs from VFA-41 flew 4,000 miles ahead of Nimitz, landing aboard Lincoln to augment Carrier Air Wing 14.
The addition of four Super Hornets aboard Lincoln provided a flexible mix of fighter support and tanker capability to support coalition forces on the ground in Iraq. A unique aspect of OIF was the mid-mission adaptability of carrier-based strike aircraft. Traditionally, pilots would take off with a pre-scripted set of targets and return to the carrier once their ordnance was expended. During OIF, the process of determining targets, from mission planning to target engagement, was measured in hours instead of days or weeks. This ability, combined with the Super Hornet’s ability to carry more ordnance and stay in the air longer, allowed for the mid-mission exploitation of pop-up targets. Fewer flights were required, putting fewer pilots in harm’s way, and overall leading to a more decisive air campaign.
Advanced Weaponry: Technology Aids Flexibility and Accuracy
More than 800 Tomahawk land-attack missiles (TLAMs) were fired from 35 coalition ships, one-third of which were submarines, between March 19 and April 3, 2003. With new technological advancements in the TLAM program, there was a dramatic reduction in the time required from acquiring a target to launching a missile. Missions used to take days to plan, but now they take just a few hours, allowing TLAMs to be programmed with the freshest intelligence and mitigating unintended collateral damage.
More than 75% of Navy aircraft used in OIF employed Joint-Directed Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are essentially traditional “dumb-bombs” outfitted with a satellite-guided navigation system, which automatically corrects its flight path during deployment for maximum accuracy. With JDAMs aboard naval aircraft, pilots were able to attack many more “targets of opportunity” during their missions with unparalleled accuracy and without wasting ordnance.
On March 21, the night of “shock and awe,” 30 U.S. Navy and coalition warships launched more than 380 TLAMs against significant, real-time military targets of interest. The U.S. ships which launched Tomahawks were USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), USS San Jacinto (CG 56), USS Cowpens (CG 63), USS Shiloh (CG 67), USS Briscoe (DD 977), USS Deyo (DD 989), USS Fletcher (DD 992), USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), USS Milius (DDG 69), USS Higgins (DDG 71), USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), USS O’Kane (DDG 77), USS Porter (DDG 78), USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79), USS Augusta (SSN 710), USS Providence (SSN 719), USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720), USS Key West (SSN 722), USS Louisville (SSN 724), USS Newport News (SSN 750), USS San Juan (SSN 751), USS Boise (SSN 764), USS Montpelier (SSN 765), USS Toledo (SSN 769), USS Columbia (SSN 771), USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) and two Royal Navy submarines, HMS Splendid and HMS Turbulent.
Aegis Weapons System: A New Use For The Fleet’s Shield
In addition to their strike, surface, sub-surface, electronic and air warfare capabilities, certain Aegis-equipped U.S. Navy guided-missile cruisers and destroyers performed the ballistic missile defense role with their highly sensitive phased-array radar suite. This defense system allowed naval units to provide early warning and detection, and transmit real-time data with the land-based Patriot missile batteries for engagement. The ballistic missile defense system successfully engaged 13 missiles, with naval units providing early warning and detection in 12 of those engagements.
Submarine Force: Silent Flexibility Leads to Unprecedented Successes
COMUSNAVCENT/COMFIFTHFLT more than doubled the record of submarines operating in this area of responsibility during OIF, by overseeing an unprecedented 15 submarines in the AOR simultaneously. The previous record was set during Operation Enduring Freedom, when the maximum number of submarines allocated to the region was six. The 15 subs included 12 U.S., two British Tomahawk shooters and one Danish submarine that provided information and warning capabilities.
The submarine force’s ability to reposition at high speed proved to be invaluable. Within days of Turkey’s denial of overland flight privileges for coalition air assets, submarines surged from the Mediterranean Sea expeditiously to the 5th Fleet region. The submarine assets were seamlessly integrated and resupplied at sea with ships from Commander, Task Force 53.
Naval Special Warfare: Stealth and Flexibility
In the first hours of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Navy SEALs, joined by British Royal Marines, raided two massive gas and oil platforms (GOPLATs) in the Arabian Gulf, just off the Iraqi coast. Fifteen Iraqi soldiers were captured, along with a cache of grenade launchers, AK-47s and surface-to-air missiles.
Securing the platforms from Iraqi enemy forces was a priority for the coalition. Before the war, 80 percent of Iraq’s oil flowed through the two 48-inch pipelines from the al-Faw peninsula, to the platforms and directly into the holds of supertankers. If enemy forces had succeeded in destroying these two platforms (Khor al-Amaya and Mina al-Bakr), not only would the Iraqi people have lost significant oil revenues, but the potential environmental damage would have been catastrophic. The amount of oil that could have been spilled from the terminals would have equaled an Exxon Valdez every two hours.
Using RHIBs and Mark 5 boats, U.S. Navy SEALs cleared, surveyed and provided security for both the Khawr Abd Allah (KAA) and Khaw al Zubayr (KAZ) waterways, as well as the entire al-Faw peninsula in southern Iraq. Securing the KAA was especially important in facilitating later delivery of humanitarian supplies to the people of Umm Qasr and Basrah in southern Iraq.
The SEALs used the HSV-X1 Joint Venture, an aluminum-hulled catamaran ferry modified to carry gunboats, amphibious landing craft, helicopters and marine platoons, as their forward operating base while operating in the vicinity of Umm Qasr. Joint Venture provided supplies, shelter and spare parts for more than a dozen SEAL boats operating in the KAA and KAZ waterway. Without the Joint Venture, SEALs would have had to travel hundreds of miles to reach bases in Kuwait for fuel and supplies, greatly reducing time on station, as well as the waiting time for humanitarian supplies.
Future conflicts will most likely involve smaller, faster and stealthier forces that will need to stage heavy equipment closer to a battle than in the past conflicts. Ships similar to Joint Venture will enable the SEALs and other coalition maritime special forces to execute larger and more complicated missions, and is part of the U.S. Navy’s continuing focus on littoral warfare.
Military Sealift Command: Support Through Supply
Military Sealift Command ships transported more than 90 percent of all combat gear and supplies used during OIF, and continue to transport desperately needed supplies for Iraqi reconstruction efforts. During normal peacetime operations, MSC has approximately 120 ships operated by commercial or federal civil service mariners.
During the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom, MSC had 167 of its 214 active ships directly supporting the war. Of these ships, 26 were operated by federally employed mariners and 141, or 84 percent, were crewed by merchant mariners employed by commercial companies under contract with MSC. Of the 141 ships, 127 ships were carrying combat equipment and cargo from the U.S. or Europe into the theater of operations, or were en route to load cargo for the operation. An additional 12 were pre-positioned ships loaded with essential military cargo awaiting the call for their cargo or services. A majority of these ships are still in the AOR back-loading the same gear they brought here in early 2003.
Hospital Ship: Comforting More Than Just Soldiers
One of the MSC ships, USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), arrived on station mid-March, and provided hospital-quality medical care for coalition forces, freedom fighters, Iraqi civilians, and Iraqi enemy prisoners of war. Under the Geneva Convention, the hospital ship treated all patients solely on their medical needs.
The first combat casualties arrived aboard Comfort March 20, and by the time the ship departed the AOR, it provided trauma care to more than 196 Iraqi EPWs and civilians. To put the surgical response of OIF in perspective, 337 surgical procedures were performed in about eight months during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. During the first five weeks of OIF, Comfort performed more than 590 surgeries. Throughout the entire span of OIF, there were more than 2,400 radiographic studies producing more than 8,500 exposures, as well as more than 600 units of blood transfused in support of the 50-bed trauma area and 12-room surgical complex.
The Expeditionary Medical Facility: Flexibility ashore for Navy Medicine
During OIF, the debut of a smaller, more flexible Navy Fleet Hospital platform was employed. Dubbed an Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF), and smaller than the traditional 500-bed Fleet Hospital, this shore-based facility offered hospital-quality medical care ashore. Staffed mostly from Naval Hospital Pensacola, nearly 300 personnel from 12 commands, comprised the unit called “Fleet Hospital Care Three.” Off-loaded from a Maritime Prepositioned Squadron in mid-March and prestaged in Kuwait with all of the medicines and equipment to take care of coalition forces, the EMF was then transported and set up in a combat zone. Since the arrival of its first casualty on 01 April 2003, the EMF treated 1,100 patients, nearly half of them Iraqis, during OIF.
U.S. Coast Guard: Same Mission, Just Overseas
U.S. Coast Guard forces played a small but significant role during OIF. Although serving in support of the Department of Defense is nothing new for the Coast Guard, OIF saw the largest deployment of Coast Guard forces to a combat theater in 30 years.
Prior to the commencement of combat operations, Coast Guard cutters participated in Maritime Interception Operations (MIO). They worked in concert with coalition naval forces, enforcing U.N. sanctions which proscribed the sale of Iraqi oil, except as allowed under the “Oil-for-food” program. During MIO, the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell utilized its over-the-horizon rigid hull inflatable boat and three boarding teams to board and inspect numerous vessels bound for and departing the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.
When combat operations commenced, Coast Guard cutters provided security for the assault to seize and secure two massive Iraqi offshore oil terminals. Once the terminals were safely in coalition hands, detachments from two Coast Guard port security units, PSU 311 and PSU 313, went aboard to maintain security and protect them until combat operations were complete and the terminals could be returned to civilian control. As soon as the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr was secured by coalition forces, elements of PSU 311 deployed there as well to provide waterside security. The port security units also maintained security at two ports in Kuwait and were joined in that effort by PSU 309.
The Coast Guard Cutter Aquidneck, a 110-foot patrol boat, was the first coalition vessel to arrive on scene following the tragic mid-air collision of two coalition helicopters and assumed the role of on-scene commander.
Coast Guard 110-foot patrol boats also played significant roles during operations on the Khor Abd Allah (KAA) waterway. After the oil terminals were secured, the patrol boats provided flank security for the amphibious assault across the waterway by British forces to seize Iraq’s Al Faw peninsula. During this operation, CGC Adak rescued three Iraqi sailors from the water and took them into custody as prisoners of war. Adak also assisted with the capture of Iraqi mine laying vessels, preventing the release of dozens of Iraqi mines.
The patrol boats also provided security for coalition warships engaged in naval gunfire support for coalition troops on Al Faw. The patrol boats then provided security for coalition mine clearing operations on the KAA, often operating ahead of minesweepers in uncleared waters. When the waterway was sufficiently cleared of mines, the patrol boats escorted vessels transporting humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people.
The Coast Guard Cutter Walnut, a 225-foot buoy tender, deployed to the Arabian Gulf along with personnel from the Coast Guard National Strike Team to fight maritime oil pollution in anticipation of environmental warfare by the Saddam Hussein regime. Fortunately, those capabilities were not needed and Walnut was pressed into service reestablishing the long-neglected system of aids to navigation on the KAA in preparation for the resumption of normal waterborne commerce.
Following combat operations, the 110-foot patrol boats continued to patrol the KAA to prevent piracy, regulate the flow of traffic and foster the resumption of normal commerce. They continue to patrol, providing safety, security and stability to help the people of Iraq reestablish maritime trade and commerce.
Mine Warfare and Explosive Ordnance Disposal:
Eliminating the Hidden Threat
The mine warfare mission was one of NAVCENT’S most innovative efforts during OIF. With a team of four U.S. and five coalition minesweepers, five mine counter measure helicopters, Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams were able to clear 913 nautical miles of water in the Khor Abd Allah and Umm Qasr waterways. More than 230 mine-like objects were detected. Ninety mines were found, 11 of which were destroyed. Five of those destroyed mines were ultra-sensitive Italian-made Manta mines uncovered at low tide. They were clearly deployed in a hasty manner by the Iraqis, and fortunately not deep enough to threaten large ships. EOD also cleared 21 berths and all land areas in new and old ports.
The Marine Mammal System’s bottlenose dolphins were absolutely invaluable to the success of mine clearance operations in the Khor Abd Allah and Umm Qasr waterways. Through teamwork and ingenuity, the mammals were airlifted to pools on the beach, and were then dispatched to clear mines in shallow and silted waterways with their superior biological sensory sonar. In another unprecedented instance, the mammals were pooled in large tanks aboard USS Gunston Hall’s (LSD 5) well deck.
Numerous “mine-like” objects were discovered by MMS and unmanned underwater vehicles, which streamlined the identification process of questionable items. Instead of wasting valuable time underwater with divers, debris such as car tires and 50-gallon drums could be identified and ignored.
The combination of MCMs, divers, marine mammals, and unmanned underwater vehicles provided the requisite flexibility to operate in drastic conditions. They were able to operate in minimal visibility, heavy silt, and strong currents. The coverage and analysis of the bottom was fast, accurate and complete, and only mine-like contacts were prosecuted.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams in the waterways near Umm Qasr cleared 21 berths in the port to ensure the safe navigation of all humanitarian aid shipments.
EOD Teams disposed of more than 4,900 items for a total net explosive weight of almost 36,000 pounds of unexploded and stockpiled ordnance. Coalition divers conducted a total of 174 dives for a total bottom time of more than 110 hours. U.S. Navy EOD teams assigned to Marine Corps Engineering Group on the ground disposed more than 800,000? items for a total net explosive weight of over 330,000 pounds of unexploded and stockpiled ordnance. Navy EOD teams on land worked together to clear 27 weapons caches, 24 neighborhoods, a train station and a hospital. They also played an integral role in the preservation of Iraqi oil wells from sabotage by the Iraqi regime. More than four hundred Iraqi oil wells were cleared, resulting in the disposal of more than 20 weapons and ammunition caches with a net explosive weight of almost 11,000 pounds.
EOD also conducted salvage and recovery operations in support of U.S. and coalition aircraft downed during OIF. They recovered two Royal Navy SH-3 helicopters and seven deceased aircrew; a Marine A/V-8B Harrier near Kuwait; and an F/A-18 and its deceased pilot near Karbala. They also scuttled two partially submerged Dhows (hazards to navigation) and salvaged two sunken patrol boats in Umm Qasr and Kor Azubahr.
EOD units continue to support OIF by identifying and destroying unexploded ordnance in Baghdad and throughout Iraq.
A Global War: Coalition of the Willing Contributions
During OIF, Coalition forces provided integral support to the NAVCENT theater. Along with the presence of U.S. and British warships, naval units from the Spanish, Danish, Polish and Australian, Emirati, Bahraini, and Kuwaiti Navies made significant contributions to the overall operation.
Naval assets from 17 nations conducted more than 5,600 ship queries and more than 1,100 boardings in support of the global war on terrorism. Additionally, more than 415 ships were safely escorted through both the Bab Al Mendeb Straits and Strait of Hormuz.
A Spanish flotilla of three ships and 900 personnel departed Spain in March and arrived in the Northern Arabian Gulf on April 8. The next day, the amphibious landing ship Galicia sailed up the Khor Abd Allah waterway to Umm Qasr, and offloaded a 40-bed Field Hospital with 53 medical personnel, a Biological and Chemical Decontamination Team, and a Construction Battalion.
SPS Galicia offloaded more than 20 tons of humanitarian aid cargo in Umm Qasr, including 29,000 Muslim rations, eight tons of bottled fresh water, 10,000 blankets, 30 large tents, and a complete desalinization plant.
The Government of Japan has contributed in excess of 86,629,675 gallons of F76 Fuel – worth more than $76 million dollars – since the inception of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Canadian Operation Enduring Freedom asset HMCS Montreal boarded a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, resulting in the detention of seven Iraqi nationals who had in their possession two gas masks, 40 vials of Atropine, a decontamination kit, and materials for making Molotov Cocktails. The suspected vessel did not have navigational materials or records of any kind.
The Gulf Cooperation Council established the Kuwaiti Defense Force/Peninsula Shield to help protect Kuwait in the event of Iraqi invasion. The maritime portion of this force was comprised of fifteen combatant vessels from Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait. These forces were instrumental in supporting Maritime Interception Operations, protecting sea ports of debarkation and providing Sea Lines of Communication and security. Never before in history has an armada of this caliber been built. The technological innovation, speed and lethality of coalition Naval forces constricted the Iraqi regime early, allowing forces to advance to Baghdad in an astonishing three weeks. Whether planning and launching TLAMs, flying sorties, diverting oil smugglers, disabling enemy ordnance, healing the wounded, or rebuilding a war-torn nation, the U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines assigned to the NAVCENT/COMFIFTHFLT theater played a vital role in world history through their training, skill and dedication to freedom for everyone.
![ロジャー&ミー [DVD]](http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/B0000A5B3H.09._SCTZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
