Operation Desert Focus
Operation DESERT FOCUS was initiated in August 1996,
reflecting an agreement between Secretary of Defense, Dr.
William Perry, and Saudi Minister of Defense and Aviation,
Prince Sultan. Through deliberate planning and phased
activities, this massive reshaping of forces affected thousands
of DoD personnel on the Arabian Peninsula.
US air assets in Saudi Arabia relocated from Dhahran and from
Riyadh to the remote Prince Sultan Air Base during Operation
Desert Focus. The move's purpose was force protection, and came
in the wake of the 25 June 1996 terrorist bombing at Khobar
Towers which killed 19 airman, and wounded many more. U.S. and
Saudi Arabian officials agreed to split the $200 million cost of
relocating more than 4,000 US troops.
Khobar Towers is a compound built by the Saudi government
near Dhahran that housed the residential quarters of almost
3,000 U. S. military personnel of the 4404th Air Wing
(Provisional), along with military personnel from the United
Kingdom, France and Saudi Arabia. U.S. military personnel first
occupied this compound in 1991 during the coalition force
buildup before the Gulf War. Shortly before 10 p.m. local time
on Tuesday, June 25, 1996, a fuel truck parked next to the
northern perimeter fence at the Khobar Towers complex, and a
tremendous explosion occurred. The highly sophisticated attack
on Khobar Towers used a bomb estimated at between 5,000 and
20,000 pounds. The blast completely destroyed the northern face
of the building, blew out windows from surrounding buildings and
was heard for miles. Nineteen American service members were
killed, and hundreds more were seriously injured. Many Saudis
and other nationals were also injured.
The Khobar bombing prompted a major realignment of the US
force posture in Saudi Arabia, an effort known as Operation
Desert Focus. This new posture was intended to greatly enhance
force protection, while still permitting the US to accomplish
SOUTHER WATCH missions.
US Central Command implemented five primary measures to
create a more secure posture for its forces deployed throughout
the region: relocation, footprint reduction, hardening, reducing
transportation vulnerability, and institutionalizing
anti-terrorist programs.
- Initial relocation of
personnel enhanced force protection through consolidation
and movement to more defensible and secure locations. The
majority of operations and support function for Operation
SOUTHERN WATCH, previously located in urban areas, has been
moved to the more defensible Eskan Village and Prince Sultan
Air Base, south of Riyadh. The Command's security assistance
organizations in Saudi Arabia, OPM-SANG and USMTM, have
collocated their headquarters and some support functions
within existing, secure facilities in Eskan Village.
Elsewhere, similar programs have relocated personnel in
Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.
- The Defense Department
re-examined its personnel assignment policies for Saudi
Arabia. After comprehensive review, the Command eliminated
non-essential personnel billets throughout the region. Early
return of DoD families and non-essential civilian employees
further reduced the Command's vulnerability to terrorist
action. While the majority of the operational forces with
the 4404th Air Wing are on temporary duty and deploy on
rotational assignments for up to 179 days at a time before
returning to their home bases, many of the DoD personnel
permanently assigned to Saudi Arabia with OPM/SANG and USMTM
were on multiyear tours accompanied by their family members.
At the time of the Khobar Towers bombing, DOD sponsored
nearly 800 military dependents in Saudi Arabia alone.
Subsequently, the Department of State implemented an
"authorized departure" of all U.S. government
dependents from Saudi Arabia in July 1996, which provides
monetary entitlements to any families who wish to leave. In
addition, DoD has withdrew command sponsorship for
dependents of most permanently assigned military members,
which had the practical effect of an orderly, mandatory
return. Nearly 300 dependents arrived by charter aircraft in
Charleston, SC, on 18 August 1996. Subsequently, nearly all
permanent assignments in Saudi Arabia were one-year,
unaccompanied tours.
- Some of the units in Saudi
Arabia cannot be relocated without degrading their
effectiveness. USMTM and OPM/SANG security assistance
personnel who train and advise the Saudi military must be in
close proximity to their Saudi counterparts in the capital
and at various bases. Patriot missile battery crews must be
located near the urban areas and air bases that they defend.
While these units must continue to work where they are now,
steps were taken to improve their security by consolidating
them and moving them to more secure housing areas, providing
more guards and barriers, and taking other steps to enhance
their protection and lessen the impact of any future
attacks. Throughout the region, the Command is hardening
existing sites and facilities, from the smallest and most
remote field training sites to Prince Sultan Air Base and
Camp Doha. Commanders are integrating physical, procedural,
and operational security enhancements. Fortified perimeters,
surveillance and patrolling techniques, and strictly
enforced entry control procedures are in place and enforced
by military policemen. They work closely with host-nation
military and police forces, creating interlocking and
overlapping defenses.
- With the cooperation and
support of the Saudi Arabian government, the US began
immediately to relocate deployed air forces (the 4404th Air
Wing) from the Saudi air bases located in urban
concentrations at Riyadh and Dhahran to an isolated location
at the uncompleted Prince Sultan Air Base near Al Kharj,
where many coalition forces were located during the Gulf
War. At Prince Sultan Air Base, security measures include a
more than adequate perimeter standoff distance, internal
patrols by US security forces, entry control, route
reconnaissance, and internal checkpoints. US security forces
have been reinforced, host nation security forces have been
energized, and specialty units - military working dogs, EOD,
and Counter Intelligence - have been provided to commanders
in the region. While personnel were living in tents
initially, the facility offered a very effective defenses
against terrorist attacks. This relocation effort required
over 1,400 truck loads to accomplish. More than 500 tents,
most of them air-conditioned, were erected to house more
than 4,000 troops and provide dining and recreation
facilities, communications sites, and maintenance and
operations facilities. The refueling tankers and
reconnaissance aircraft from Riyadh were the first to
arrive, followed by the move of the fighters and other
aircraft from Dhahran. More than 2,000 additional military
personnel were deployed to Saudi Arabia temporarily to
assist in this effort to provide security for the moves,
erect facilities and provide services at the base until
permanent arrangements are in place. The Saudi Arabian
government assumed responsibility for constructing permanent
facilities. The isolated location and large size of the
Prince Sultan Air Base allows for extensive perimeters and
avoids intense concentrations of troops.
- When and where Command
personnel must leave the confines of these secure locations,
their vulnerability during transit has been reduced.
Techniques to reduce vulnerability include measures to make
US personnel less conspicuous, including less use of buses
and government vehicles, greater use of civilian vehicles
and civilian clothing during transit, and physical security
measures that include armor kits for vehicles and body armor
for people. During transit, travelers vary routes and
schedules, reducing predictability. When warranted, armed
escort is provided for movement.
The I Marine Expeditionary Force provided counterintelligence
team support to Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) in the
aftermath of the Khobar Towers bombing in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Effective route survey and counterintelligence ensured
protection of JTF-SWA movements in Riyadh, to include the U.S.
Air Force 4409th Operational Group aircrew relocation to and
from the airfield. The deployment was extended into FY [fiscal
year] 97 in light of a continued terrorist threat.
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