212                                  U.S. MARINES IN TllE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991

imminent armed conflict to place much priority on media access. As a result,
media access to Marines was somewhat limited during the first few days our
forces were in Saudi Arabia.  Many Americans following the crisis through the
media at the time wondered: Where are our Marines? One of the people asking
that question was Gen A. M. Gray.
   LtGen Boomer released a message to his subordinate commanders on 21
August to encourage more news media access to Marines participating in DE-
SERT SHIELD.    It read, in part:

           Operation DESERT SHIELD and related current events
           have captured worldwide attention and are the subject of
           intense news media scrutiny.  CMC desires maximum
           media coverage of USMC (Marine Corps) participation
           within the bounds of opsec.  This operation can dem-
           onstrate to Americans the flexibility, deployability, sus-
           tainability, and combat power of the Marine Corps and
           our combined arms capabilities.
             The long-term success of DESERT SHIELD depends
           in great measure on support of the American people.
           The news media are the tools through which we can tell
           Americans about the dedication, motivation, and sacri-
           fices of their Marines.  Commanders should include
           public affairs requirements in their operational planning
           to ensure that the accomplishments of our Marines are
           reported to the public.

   Though DESERT SHIELD was only a couple of weeks old at the time, the
message articulated the public affairs themes that persisted throughout our
deployment:

   Public support is vital to the success of the operation.

   We gain and maintain that suppOrt by showing the public what their Ma-
rines are accomplishing.

   The only way to show Marines to the American public is through the news
media.

   Public affairs should be incorporated into operational planning.

   With these themes as a foundation, we began setting up as many news me-
dia visits as were feasible without interfering with operations and training. Our
philosophy was simple.  We were proud of our Marines and what they were
doing in DESERT SHIELD, and we wanted to show them off.    As long as we
could give reporters the opportunity to spend time with our hard-charging
Marines, who were the best advertisements for the Corps, the more likely we