34                                   U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991

By the end of the ground war, over 90 per cent of the Fleet Marine Force was
in the Persian Gulf   In less than sir months, Marine logisticians created an
infrastructure that supported over 90,000 Marines, a larger Marine force than
that present in Vietnam at the height of that conflict.   Brigadier General
Brabham commanded the 1st Force Service Support Group, the senior Marine
logistical headquarters in the Persian Gulf  In this interview he describes the
efforts of the Marines in his command both in preparation for and during the
war.

Training, Education Were the Keys

interview with Brigadier General James A. Brabham, USMC

U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, November 1991


Proceedings: Let's go at it chronologically. Where were you when you got your
warning order about deploying to the Gulf? And how did you go about setting
up an FSSG-sized operation in Saudi Arabia?

Brahham: The initial warning came very quickly after the Iraqi assault into
Kuwait, which began on 2 August.    Lieutenant General [Walter E.] Boomer,
then in process of taking command of I MEF [Marine Expeditionary Force] at
Camp Pendleton,   California, began holding meetings with his subordinate
commanders. It soon became evident that out first move would be to establish
a presence in the Central Command headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as
CentCom's Marine Corps component--MarCent.       Since I had served earlier on
the CentCom staff, General Boomer dispatched me to Riyadh on 10 August-
-not as an FSSG commander but as his personal representative, in charge of
MarCent (Forward).     My first task was to become involved in the initial
planning for introduction of forces into Saudi Arabia--which involved real estate,
transportation, and other things to be sorted out at the CinC's level. I took along
a few Marines--technical experts--directly to Riyadh, and checked in with the
senior representative of the Central Command,     Lieutenant General Chuck
Homer, who also served as the commander of CentCom's Air Force forces, or
CentAF.   Many of the CinC's staff, including the J-4 [logistics officer], Major
General Dane Starling, U.S. Army, had already deployed to Riyadh.
    Besides setting up MarCent (Forward), I had to work with the CinC's staff
to prepare for the early introduction of the 7th MEB Marine Expeditionary
Brigade], and to establish a direct link back to General Boomer at Camp
Pendleton, California, to keep him posted in near-real time about the situation
developing in the Gulf region.