2                                 U.S. MARINES iN THE PERSIAN GULF, 199O~199I


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 Armed and comhat-loaded ~a~mes of the 7th MEB hoard a charter 747 bound for Saudi
 Arabia, August 1990.

    First to depart were  143 Marines  of the   surveillance,   liaison, and
 reconnaissance party (SLRP). A group of offload preparation personnel departed
 shortly afterwards with the mission to join MPS 2 before it sailed and prepare
 the equipment for use upon arrival at Jubayl. MPs 2, stationed at the island of
 Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, immediately set sail.3
    The squadron departed so quickly that it left before 7th MEB's offload
 preparation personnel arrived. This set the stage for a sequence of delays getting
 M60A1   tanks, LVT-P7At     and  LVT-C7Ai   assault amphibian     vehicles,
 HMMWVs, trucks, and l55mm M198 guns into the field.4 in addition, because
 of the initial belief that the brigade might be going into a w)n-permissive
 environment--the port of Jubayl was within 12 hours of the border of Kuwait
 and might soon be under direct enemy attack--General Hopkins decided to stage
 the combat units before the service support units arrived. This put too few
 service support personnel at the port, which complicated the process of preparing
 and issuing equipment. Nevertheless, by 17 August 1990, General Hopkins
 reported all of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, at Jubayl, and he expected
 elements  of d~e 1st Battalion, 7th Marines; the 3d Tank Battalion; the 3d
 Assault Amphibian Battalion; the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion;    and the
 headquarters of the 7th Marine Regiment (referred to as Regimental Combat
 Team 7 [RCT 7] in 7th MEB messages) within the fi)llowing 24 hours.5