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y the M1 tank–equipped Tiger Brigade of the Army’s 2d ArmoredDivision and beefed up by additional M1 tanks rotated into their inventoryby the Army, had lined up on the most direct approach from theelbow of Kuwait into Kuwait City. Suitable but independent missionswere designed for Arab allies to their left and right. These, the largelySaudi and Gulf Coalition Joint Forces Command–East (JFC-E) andthe largely Egyptian, Syrian, and Saudi Joint Forces Command–North(JFC-N), were each assigned the mission of conducting a supportingattack as well.Attack on KhafjiWhile the VII Corps completed its movement and planning was underway for ground combat operations, the Iraqis surprised the coalition forcesby making a dramatic “lunge” down the coast from Kuwait against Saudiand coalition forces near the small town of Khafji in Saudi Arabia. AnIraqi mechanized division penetrated coalition lines on 30 January andbriefly occupied Khafji, some seven miles inside the Saudi border. Indoing so, it lost 80 percent of its strength and was quickly driven back.Weakened by the forward screen of security—including marines firingTOWs from light armored vehicles—and pummeled from the air, theIraqis achieved little, lost much, and were chased back across the borderby the Saudis in a day and a half. Nevertheless, the unexpected natureof the attack led to soul searching as to the nature and timing of the fullcoalition ground offensive.The 100-hour Ground WarOn 24 February, when ground operations started in earnest, coalitionforces were poised along a line that stretched from the Persian Gulfwestward three hundred miles into the desert. The XVIII Airborne Corps,under General Luck, held the left, or western, flank and consisted of the82d Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), the French 6th Light ArmoredDivision, the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, and the 12th and 18thAviation Brigades. The VII Corps was deployed to the right of the XVIIIAirborne Corps and consisted of the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized),the 1st Cavalry Division (Armored), the 1st and 3d Armored Divisions,the British 1st Armoured Division, the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment,and the 11th Aviation Brigade. These two corps covered about two-thirdsof the line occupied by the larger multinational force.Three commands held the eastern one-third of the front. JointForces Command–North, made up of formations from Egypt, Syria,34