Operations & Exercises
Region: Southwest Asia
Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan
Major Deployments
Operation Anaconda
Operation Anaconda began on March 1, 2002, in eastern Afghanistan to destroy all Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in and around the Shahi Khot region. Operation Anaconda was a force of about 2,000 U.S. soldiers composed of both conventional and special operating forces. This operation concluded in about two weeks.
Operation Enduring Freedom
After the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, U.S. military forces began Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, 2001, to defeat the Al Qaeda network of terrorists and their Taliban supporters in Afghanistan. Today, U.S. forces continue to conduct full spectrum operations against Al Qaeda and associated movements to establish an enduring Afghan security structure and the conditions for long-term stability in Afghanistan.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq's noncompliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding weapons of mass destruction resulted in a U.S.-led, coalition attack on Iraq starting March 19, 2003. Under Operation Iraqi Freedom, coalition forces remain in Iraq to help restore Iraq's degraded infrastructure, deliver humanitarian support, and to create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government for the Iraqi people.
Operations Desert Shield/ Desert Storm
On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and U.S. and coalition forces launched Operation Desert Shield to protect Saudi Arabia. Because Iraq refused to withdraw its forces from Kuwait, coalition forces, led by the U.S., began Operation Desert Storm on January 16, 1991, to forcibly remove Iraq from Kuwait. The war ended on March 3, 1991, when Iraq accepted cease-fire terms. By the time hostilities concluded, 697,000 American service-members had served in these operations.
Past Deployments
On December 16, 1998, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) military forces launched cruise missile attacks against military targets in Iraq. These strikes were ordered by the President of the United States and were undertaken in response to Iraq's continued failure to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions as well as their interference with United Nations Special Commission inspectors.
On August 2, 1990, Iraqi armed forces invaded Kuwait. Within days the U.S. deployed troops to Southeast Asia for Operations Desert Shield. The air war began on began on January 16, 1991, and opened a phase of the conflict known as Operation Desert Storm. The actual ground war began on began on February 24, and by February 28,1991, the war was over. The last troops to participate in the ground war returned home on June 13, 1991. In all, approximately 697,000 U.S. troops had been deployed to the Persian Gulf area during the conflict.
The Combined Task Force of Operation Northern Watch conducted air operations in northern Iraq. The mission entailed enforcing the No-Fly Zone in northern Iraq and monitoring Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) performs the Operation Southern Watch mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of the 33rd parallel in Iraq. Operation Southern Watch includes forces from the United States, France, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia.
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