86                                   U.s. MARINES IN THE PERSiAN GULF, 1990-1991


Lieutenant General Boomer, as the Commanding General, I Marine Expedi-
tionary Force, led all Marine Forces in Saudi Arabia.  In this interview, he
discusses tense moments at the beginning of the buildup, the planning and
conduct of the ground war, and his relations with the media.

Special Trust and Confidence
Among the Trail-Breakers

interview with Lieutenant General Walter IS. Boomer, USMC

U.& Naval Institute Proceedings, November 1991


Proceedings: When did you plan to make your own move into the theater of
operations?

Boomer: I wanted to give John Hopkins time to get the 7th MEB in, and get his
feet on the ground--then I would come in quickly, right on his heels.  Having
Jim Brabham there early was very important to us, because Jim knew the lay of
the land.
    Before leaving, for Riyadh, five days after the 7th MEB began deploying,
I saw that the buildup on the aviation side was occurring very rapidly--but not
for us. John Hopkins and I were concerned, because the ground elements of the
brigade were virtually in position but the aviation component was lagging,
through no fault of its own. We had to fight for in-flight refueling support, and
I eventually had to ask CinCCent to intervene.  He did, and we got the Air
Force tanker support we needed to get our Marine aviation into the theater.
There didn't seem to be a great deal of discipline in determining where various
aviation units would bed down.   It seemed to be "first come, first served" in
acquiring airfields.   So we needed to move very quickly, and Jim Brabham
helped us do that.   With his experience, he swiftly identified the airfields that
would be the most useful to us and the improvements each field would require.
    When I arrived in Saudi Arabia, it was evident that John Hopkins had things
under control along the coast, so I went to Riyadh in order to establish myself
with the Central Command.     The commander-in-chief, General Schwarzkopf,
had  not arrived,   and Lieutenant General] Chuck Homer,    the Air Force
component commander, was in charge.    I spent about ten days in Riyadh, to get
the lay of the land and to see how the CentCom staff would operate. They were
very thin at the time, still coming together.
    Next, I went to Al Jubayl to establish the I MEF headquarters. There were
no major problems at the outset.  John Hopkins had shown a lot of finesse in
making  arrangements    with the Saudis  to use port facilities,  warehouses,