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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Related Content
Topic
  • Organizations and Offices
  • Operations
  • Medicine
  • Cruises, Deployments, and Exercises
Document Type
  • Finding Aids Glossaries Guides
Wars & Conflicts
  • Persian Gulf War 1990-1991
  • Operation Desert Storm
File Formats
Location of Archival Materials

Records of the Naval History Documentation Team Relating to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm

Date: 1990-1991

Collection Number: COLL/103

Finding aid (Word)

Scope and Content Note

Captain Michael D. Roberts was sent to the Gulf theater of operations in January 1991 to observe Navy medical facilities in operation under combat conditions. He remained in the Middle East until 11 March, acquiring documentation relating to the Navy's medical role in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. This collection of files is an excellent source for information on the Fleet Hospital Program, the First and Second Medical Battalions, and other medical aspects of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The diary/trip report and trip notes of Captain Roberts are especially valuable because they add a personal dimension to the official records.

COLL/55

Finding aid (Word)

Scope and Content Note

Captain Larry Douglas, a member of the Naval Reserve Naval Historical Center 0615 Volunteer Training Unit, was recalled by the Naval Historical Center in September 1990. He was assigned temporary duty with the History Office, Headquarters, U.S. Central Command (HQ USCENTCOMICCHO), MacDill Air Force Base, FL.

Captain Douglas gathered a sampling of the extensive collection of operating files that were in use by USCENTCOM. This source material was transferred to the Center's Operational Archives Branch in March of 1991 for retention.

The collection comprises documentation primarily from the period August-October 1990. It is an excellent source for information on the early deployment phase of Operation DESERT SHIELD, maritime interception operations, and sealift. The USCENTCOM files compiled by Captain Douglas are arranged alphabetically by subject and identified as Series I.

COLL/56

Finding aid (Word)

Scope and Content Note

Captain William R. McClintock, SC, USNR,  a member of the NR Naval Historical Center 0615 Volunteer Training Unit, was recalled by the Naval Historical Center in September 1990.  He was in the Middle East theater from 28 September to 18 November 1990, assigned in a temporary duty status to the staff of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT).  His mission was to record the Navy's support of Operation DESERT SHIELD and to preserve historically important records.  
 
Captain McClintock traveled over 5,000 miles, visiting seven shore activities on both the east and west coasts of Saudi Arabia and fifteen ships in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea.  He obtained taped interviews with fifty-seven key personnel, including six flag officers, and he interviewed another thirty-two individuals to get their impressions of the operations.  He also gathered a sampling of the extensive collection of operating files that were in use aboard the ships and shore activities.  This source material was transferred to the Archives Branch for retention.       
 
The collection comprises 0.5 feet of material and is an excellent source for information on the creation of COMUSNAVCENT,  naval operations in support of DESERT SHIELD,  maritime interception force operations, multinational characteristics of DESERT SHIELD, logistics support, and the Navy's medical support.    
 
The collection is classified SECRET and the COMUSNAVCENT files compiled by Captain McClintock are arranged alphabetically by subject.   
 
Note: An excellent source that can be used in conjunction with this collection is Captain McClintock's trip report of 24 January 1991.  The trip report (79 pp./ extensive footnotes) discusses in detail the organization of Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander Task Force 150, the decision to bring carriers and battleships into the Persian Gulf, the multinational nature of the maritime interception operations which was set during the Bahrain Naval Coordination Conference on 9-10 September 1990, the role of the Administrative Support Unit in Bahrain in logistics support, and the Navy's medical support.  
 
The oral histories conducted by Captain McClintock are held in the Archives Branch, ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION.  The Oral History Checklist contains a description of those interviews.

 

 

 

 

Published: Mon Oct 18 11:41:27 EDT 2021