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

as ship tiedowns, a deep water fording capability, and position locating and
reporting system capability. The tank replaced the aging M6OA 1. The 2d Tank
Battalion based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, used the new tank in the
Persian Gulf while other tank battalions operated M60Als.

22 December--Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney visited the 1st Marine
Division combat operations center in Saudi Arabia.  He and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin L. Powell, were on a five-day trip to the
Middle East where they met with deployed commanders, sailors, soldiers,
airmen and Marines aboard ship and in the sands of Saudi Arabia.        They
expressed their support for the 300,000 men and women serving in the Persian
Gulf area.

27 December--Company A from Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., the oldest
post of the Marine Corps, departed for Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to join
elements of the 2d Marine Division deploying for Operation Desert Shield.
Marines from the barracks were last deployed in 1906 when a detachment was
assigned to the expeditionary battalions sent to Cuba for pacification duty.

                                    1991

1 January--The strength of active duty U.S. Armed Forces was 2,340,354 of
which 197,764 were Marines.  By mid-month, almost half of the Corps' active
duty strength in the Persian Gulf area.

12 January--After three days of solemn, often eloquent debate, Congress voted
President Bush the authority to go to war against Iraq.  The Authorization for
Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution allowed the U.S. to use all
necessary means against Iraq if it did not withdraw from Kuwait by midnight,
January 15th.   It was the first time since August 7, 1964, when the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution was adopted, that Congress had voted directly for offensive
military action.

15 January--The V Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) was activated to assume
missions and tasks assigned to I MEF prior to its deployment to Southwest Asia.
V MEF was to form, train, and deploy unitS to reinforce and replace those
employed in the Persian Gulf area.

16 January--Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as forces
of the allied coalition launched an all-out air assault against targets in Iraq and
occupied Kuwait in an effort to liberate Kuwait and enforce the resolutions of
the United Nations Security Council.  Overall, in the theater of operation there
were more than 415,000 U.S. troops and over 265,000 allied troops in the
coalition.