Forward Presence in Turkey: Case Study

Abstract

For more than two years the Joint U.S. Military Mission for Aid to Turkey (JUSMMAT), located in the Turkish capital city of Ankara, has provided critical preparatory and coordinative support for operations in areas adjacent to Turkey. Specifically, in August 1990 JUSMMAT began coordinating with the Turkish General Staff for the retention of U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft then in Turkey in training status, and deployment of additional aircraft to Turkey, as a show of force in support of Operation Desert Shield. These efforts continued until December 1990 when the military assistance group became actively involved in the planning and execution of Operation Proven Force -- the air combat operations conducted from the Republic of Turkey as an adjunct of Operation Desert Storm. Beginning on 6 April 1991, as Proven Force was terminating and its personnel and equipment were being redeployed, JUSMMAT became directly involved in Operation Provide Comfort -- the coalition effort to provide humanitarian relief to more than 500,000 Kurdish refugees who fled from the Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein into southeastern Turkey. Provide Comfort continues today, with the Turkish government on 26 June having approved an extension of the operation through 1992. This article focuses on the role and contributions of one military assistance group's support for Operations Proven Force and Provide Comfort. It describes the efforts made during the planning, deployment, employment, and redeployment phases of both operations, offering several considerations for future contingencies where nearby forward-deployed U.S. administrative/logistical/ technical/advisory support structures are already in existence. JUSMMAT, armed with an awareness of host-country capabilities, offered planners, operators, and logisticians the opportunity to more effectively implement contingency operations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA511022

Entities

People

  • Erwin F. Lessel Iii
  • William N. Farmen

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Case Studies
  • Civilian Personnel
  • Combat Operations
  • Deployment
  • Employment
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Logistics
  • Military Aircraft
  • Military Assistance
  • Personnel Management
  • Task Forces
  • United States
  • United States European Command

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • International Relations and European Studies
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.