Desert Storm

The Navy-Marine Corps team lived up to its tradition of mobility and flexibility while deploying forces for DESERT SHIELD/STORM. While attention focused on Kuwait, Navy and Marine Corps units were evacuating civilians from two other hotspots on opposite coasts of Africa.

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On 5 August, Marines from a U.S. Task Force off the coast of Liberia began an evacuation operation which eventually rescued 2,690 people, including 330 U.S. citizens, from the war-torn capital city of Monrovia. Operation SHARP EDGE began with a pre-dawn meeting in the wardroom of USS Saipan (LHA 2) to finalize a plan that had been in the works for nearly two months. During that time, Saipan and her Amphibious Ready Group, consisting of USS Ponce (LPD 15), USS Sumter (LST 1181), Fleet Surgical Team TWO and the destroyer USS Peterson (DD 969), waited off the coast for orders to begin evacuation.

Since December 1989, civil war had raged between rival Liberian factions, and the safety of American citizens could no longer be guaranteed. Tension grew as rebel leader Prince Johnson said he would begin rounding up foreigners to force foreign intervention in his fight against Liberian President Samuel Doe. Johnson threatened to attack U. S. Marines at the embassy if the United States did not intervene on the rebel side.

As dawn broke, more than 200 Marines from HOTEL Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines climbed into CH-46 Sea Knight and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters for the 20-mile ride to the U.S. embassy compound in Monrovia and commenced the non-combatant evacuation operation. They evacuated not only Americans, but also Liberian, Italian, Canadian and French nationals during an operation which lasted until 30 November, when opposing forces agreed to a cease-fire. Sailors and Marines from the task force also provided humanitarian assistance, airlifting food, water, fuel and medical supplies to the ravaged city.

Navy support for the operation, the longest-running non-combatant evacuation operation in recent naval history, ended 9 January, when the amphibious transport dock USS Nashville (LPD 13), Helicopter Combat Support Squadron FOUR (HCS 4) and elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit departed the Liberian coastal area known during the operation as "Mamba Station."

Just a few days before SHARP EDGE ended, another civil war threatened American lives. USS Guam (LPH 9) and USS Trenton (LPD 14) with Marines from the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade embarked, raced from their DESERT SHIELD stations in the North Arabian Sea to rescue Americans and foreign nationals threatened by war in Somalia.

The rescue, Operation EASTERN EXlT, was implemented within hours of an urgent plea from the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Indeed, from the time the U.S. Ambassador in Somalia sent his first message, "I really view this with concern, we've got to get out of here. ..," to the time the execute order was given, less than 48 hours had elapsed.

Marine Corps helicopters took off while the ships were still 460 miles from the Somali coast. They twice refueled in-flight courtesy of Marine Corps KC-130 tankers which took off from Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. The helicopters reached the Embassy, dropped off the Marines and brought back 62 evacuees. The first wave of Marines ashore set up defensive positions around the Embassy, while other waves conducted the evacuations. In all, 260 citizens from 30 nations, including 51 Americans, and the diplomatic contingent from the Soviet Union, were shuttled aboard the two waiting ships. A group of U.S. officials and the Kenyan ambassador were trapped by gunfire in an office two blocks from the U.S. Embassy. The Marines had to escort them through fierce firefights between the rival factions. Once all evacuees were safely aboard, the ships steamed back to the North Arabian Sea to rejoin DESERT SHIELD.

Marines and sailors have been perfecting non-combatant evacuation operations for many years. Since 1980, naval forces have responded to more than 50 international and regional crises. The capability to mount such operations-- even while simultaneously responding to a major crisis elsewhere-- is vital to protecting American interests and citizens around the globe.