HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

was directed
PSYOP “messages”
toward individual
among
units
sports and music
and soldiers,
programs.
and stressed a
The Combined
single theme:
Civil Affairs Task
the coalition’s
Force (CCATF)
quarrel was
was created in
with Saddam
February 1991 to
Hussein and
provide emergency
not with the
services
Iraqi people or
for Kuwait City
its army. In
once it was liberated.
Relief
the early phases,
the PSYOP
o p e r a t i o n s
General Schwarzkopf thanks SCUD hunters at Ar Ar.
themes emphasized “peace and brotherhood;” it began on 28 February 1991 when the first convoy
later evolved to stronger themes, and finally
rolled into the city. The CCATF stayed in
turned to surrender appeals and threats. Once
begun, the PSYOP campaign (in conjunction
with sustained air attacks) steadily eroded Iraqi
morale. Resistance crumbled quickly when the
Kuwait City for two months before turning the
relief effort over to the Army Corps of Engineers.
During that time, it distributed 12.8 million
liters of water, 12,500 tons of food, 1,250 tons of
coalition ground forces attacked. A total of medicine, 750 vehicles, and 245 electrical generators.
86,743 Iraqis were taken prisoner, and most of
them possessed surrender leaflets when they Flexibility best describes Special Operations
capitulated. Some 29 million leaflets were Forces’ contribution to the DESERT STORM victory.
dropped from a variety of aircraft, with a few
Initially tasked with providing CSAR,
more distributed by artillery shells and balloons.
Three AM and two FM ground stations transmitted
“Voice of the Gulf” broadcasts for 72 days,
which interspersed 3,200 news items and 189
SOCCENT steadily expanded its missions as
conventional commanders gained confidence in
SOF’s unique abilities and resources. The coalition
support mission became an important new
SOF capability,
used later in
operations in
Somalia and
Bosnia; the new
g e o p o l i t i c a l
e n v i r o n m e n t
had made SOF
more relevant.
The SCUD
hunting mission
demonstrated
SOF’s ability to
deploy rapidly
and start operations
with little
delay, and to
execute missions
of the
gravest national
Civil Affairs soldiers distribute food and supplies to hungry, displaced people.
importance.
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