HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

Major Operations: 1987 to 2001
Since 1987, SOF have participated in a wide
range of military operations—from peacetime
engagement, to a major theater war, contingencies,
and a global war on terrorism. USSOCOM
has worked steadily to enhance SOF support to
theater Commanders and American
Ambassadors. Providing this support was not
always easy, as it involved doing military operations
in different ways. In some cases, the GCC
commanders had to be convinced that SOF
offered specialized capabilities. USSOCOM had
just been established when SOF faced an operational
challenge in the Persian Gulf, what the
Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command
(CINCCENT) called “guerrilla warfare on the
high seas.”
Persian Gulf
Operation EARNEST WILL
1987-1989
During Operation EARNEST WILL, the
United States ensured that neutral oil tankers
and other merchant ships could safely transit
the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War.
Iranian attacks on tankers prompted Kuwait to
ask the United States in December 1986 to register
11 Kuwaiti tankers as American ships so
that they could be escorted by the U.S. Navy
(USN). President Reagan agreed to the Kuwaiti
request on 10 March 1987, hoping it would deter
Iranian attacks. Operation EARNEST WILL
was planned by CENTCOM under General
George B. Crist.
The protection offered by U.S. naval vessels,
however, did not stop Iran, which used mines
and small boats to harass the convoys steaming
to and from Kuwait. To stop these attacks, the
U.S. needed surveillance and patrol forces in the
northern Persian Gulf and bases for these patrol
forces. SOF, including Army helicopters and
Navy SEALs and Special Boat Units, had the
best trained personnel and most capable equipment
for monitoring hostile activity, particularly
at night when the Iranians conducted their
missions. The Army’s special operations helicopter
crews trained to fly and fight at night. These
helicopters were difficult to spot on radar and
relatively quiet, allowing them to get close to a
target. Shallow-draft NSW patrol boats could
ply waters that had not been swept for mines.
In late July 1987, Rear Admiral Harold J.
Bernsen, commander of the Middle East Force,
requested NSW assets. Six Mark III patrol
boats, other special boat assets, and two SEAL
platoons deployed in August. At the same time,
two MH-6 and four AH-6 Army special operations
helicopters and 39 men received orders to
the region in a deployment called Operation
PRIME CHANCE I.
The Middle East Force decided to convert
two oil servicing barges, Hercules and
Wimbrown VII, into mobile sea bases. Besides
obviating the need to ask for land bases, the
mobile sea bases allowed SOF in the northern
Persian Gulf to thwart clandestine Iranian mining
and small boat attacks. Each mobile sea
base housed ten small boats, 3 helicopters, fuel,
ammunition, equipment, and workshops to support
operations, and more than 150 men. In
October, the mobile sea bases became operational.
In the interim, SOF operated from various
surface vessels. On 8 August, the helicopters,
designated SEABATs, escorted the third
Army and Navy SOF used the oil servicing barge Hercules as an operating base.
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