ANTHOLOGY AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY                                     231


               Persian Gulf War Chronology
                  August      1990 - June           1991


                                   1990
7 August--President Bush ordered U.S. military aircraft and troops to Saudi
Arabia as part of a multinational force to defend that country against possible
Iraqi invasion. The Persian Gulf crisis was triggered on 2 August when Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait with overwhelming
forces and subsequently positioned assault elements on the Saudi-Kuwait border.
On 6 August, the United Nations Security Council approved a total trade ban
against Iraq.  A major deployment, the largest since the Vietnam War, was
started for Operation Desert Shield that included major units from all four
services.

8 August--Major General Walter E. Boomer was promoted to the grade of
lieutenant general and assigned as Commanding General of I Marine Expedi-
tionary Force.

15 August--Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps announced the commitment of
45,000 troops to the Persian Gulf area.  This deployment consisted of elements
of the I Marine Expeditionary Force including units from 1st Marine Division
and 1st Force Service Support Group (FSSG),        3d Marine Aircraft Wing
(MAW), and 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB).        Also en route were
elements of the 4th MEB including units from 2d Marine Division, 2d FSSG,
and 2d MAW.       On arrival in Saudi Arabia, the 7th MEB linked up with
Maritime Pre-Positioning Ship Squadron 2 (MPS-2), dispatched from its normal
anchorage at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.        The five-ship squadron
contained 7th MEB's equipment and enough supplies to sustain the 16,500-
person force for 30 days.

22 August--President Bush ordered the first mobilization of U.S.     military
reserves in 20 years and declared the call-up    "essential to completing our
mission" of thwarting Iraqi aggression in the Persian Gulf.   Most of those
summoned to active duty in the initial mobilization were Army reservists.

24 August--The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait was ordered closed.     Marine security
guards were with the approximately 100 U.S. officials and citizens transferred
to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad by the Iraqi government.     They were among
an estimated 1,000 Americans being held hostage in Iraq.