Three OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters are behind the Apaches. It is the immediacy of the report gathering that provides this initial post-war offering with such a wealth of valuable lessons regarding critical land warfare and land warfare support systems like the Abrams tank, Bradley fighting vehicle, multiple launch rocket system, Hellfire missile system, army tactical missile system, Copperhead artillery projectile, Patriot missile system, helicopter aircraft survivability equipment (ASE), AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Blackhawk, CH-47 Chinook, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, and the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS).ĪH-64A Apache advanced attack helicopters of the 101st Airborne Division stand ready at a forward operating base during Operation Desert Storm. This budgetary consideration was highlighted by Army representatives in a Madocument titled “Army Weapons Systems-Performance in Southwest Asia.” Citing as its purpose the relaying of “initial, emerging feedback on the performance of key Army systems in Southwest Asia,” the authors of the six-page paper go on to acknowledge that “As the Army and Congress work together to finalize the fiscal year 1992 budget, and future budgets, it is important to consider how well our systems actually performed in the most realistic, comprehensive operational test conducted to date – Operation Desert Storm.”

Moreover, the rapid dissemination of these lessons took on added importance for the Army and all armed service participants as the cessation of hostilities happened to coincide with finalization of the FY92 defense budget by defense and Congressional representatives. The immediacy of lesson assessment continued throughout both Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Within a month, for example, CALL had released Winning in the Desert II (Number 90-8, Special Edition, September 1990), which began to supplement many of the operational and regional generalities with specifics on “The Iraqi Threat” and including vehicle bumper markings for some Republican Guard elements. The first publication was based on the concept that “the principles and fundamentals of combat do not change in the desert.”īy necessity, the first “lessons learned” product tended to focus on broad generalities – from “You can’t drink too much water” to “Don’t play with snakes” – but served to pave the way for the extensive “harvesting” of lessons that would continue for months and years. Titled “Winning in the Desert,” the document was being printed for distribution within days of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Army Combined Arms Training Activity (CATA), Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The “Special Edition” newsletter was prepared and released by the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL), U.S. DoD photo.Īt the tactical level, many of these critical lessons were actually recorded and reported at the start of land combat operations.Ī case in point can be found in a newsletter dated August 1990 (No. The importance of civilian contractors’ efforts should not be underestimated. Army has created entirely new Brigade Combat Team forces and is preparing to equip those elements with new “medium weight” classes of combat vehicle systems.Ī civilian worker spraying the finishing touches of desert camouflage on the Abrams. In fact, regional conflicts are now considered so likely by senior U.S. More recent conflicts in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo have only served to reinforce that regional and coalition focus.

In fact, one of the latest examples of that new philosophy can be found in a growing 21st century interest in creating regional response forces in Europe and elsewhere. The unmistakable success of the coalition process has led to changes in strategic thinking around the world. The initial pursuit of that new strategy focused on development of a powerful coalition force that extended its ties far beyond regional borders. The changes allowed the development of a new American strategy, one focused more on regional threats than bi-polar global conflicts. As such, positive lessons stemmed in no small part from the enormous changes that were taking place in Eastern Europe and the collapsing Soviet Union. In terms of lessons learned, the land war operations associated with Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm represent one of the most thoroughly studied military actions in history.Īt the strategic level, ODS marked the first major international conflict of the post-Cold War era.

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