The Decisive Edge: How the Defense Mapping Agency Shaped the Gulf War

Thirty-five years ago, on Feb. 24, 1991, coalition troops began the Operation Desert Storm ground offensive, seeking to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

Before the day ended, the Iraqi army was devastated — 10,000 troops were held as prisoners and a U.S. air base was set up deep within Iraq’s borders. Within 100 hours, Iraq agreed to a ceasefire and pledged to honor the peace terms.

Instrumental to this offensive — and efforts across the entirety of the Gulf War — was the Defense Mapping Agency, whose work marked a turning point for geospatial support.

Before the Gulf War, maps of Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq were largely based on data from the British colonial period. These existing products were rapidly becoming obsolete due to explosive growth in Kuwait and the surrounding areas, leaving limited or nonexistent coverage for military operations. This deficiency led to the rapid retargeting of space-based imagery platforms that mapping agency analysts used to map the region at unprecedented speed, scope and scale.

One core product was 1:50,000-scale topographic line maps, which were key to ground operations. In response to the incredible demand for these products, the mapping agency compressed its map production time from six months to six weeks.

The Defense Mapping Agency was also instrumental in providing data that fueled the targeting of precision-guided missiles. The Gulf War was one of the earliest major conflicts to see widespread use of these weapons. In past conflicts like the Vietnam War, commanders shouldered a difficult burden — the primary tools for decisive action, namely large-scale strikes and area bombing, were blunt instruments often resulting in widespread collateral damage.

Precision-strike capabilities, fueled by the mapping agency, alleviated much of this burden, significantly reducing collateral damage and allowing commanders to quickly and decisively strike Iraqi forces. The agency’s impact extended beyond precision targeting, with hydrographic and bathymetric products that proved critical to military and logistical operations.

The Navy was uncertain of its ability to conduct extended carrier battle group operations in the confined waters of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea before the war. Aided by Defense Mapping Agency marine charts, the Navy confidently deployed much closer to the Kuwait theater, boosting carrier effectiveness and increasing the range of the force’s cruise missiles. The agency’s products also supported amphibious assaults, counter-mine activities and special operations.

When Saddam Hussein sabotaged an oil tanker facility, coastal hydrographic charts were used to plot and predict the advance of the oil slick, which posed an immediate environmental impact and operational threat. Furthermore, 90% of all equipment and supplies entering the Gulf theater were delivered by sea, reliant not only on local charts but also on global Defense Mapping Agency maritime products.

The agency’s Operation Desert Storm logistics team, comprising civilian and military members, prepared and shipped over 44 million map sheets in support of the war. Because of the team’s attention to detail, dedication and teamwork, the Defense Mapping Agency was the only element that never lost a shipment during the conflict. For its work, the team was inducted into the Geospatial-Intelligence Hall of Fame in 2018.

The Gulf War demonstrated a fundamental shift in how warfare was conducted. The growing demand for satellite imagery, along with the increased sophistication of modern weapon systems, created a direct dependency on precise geographic intelligence — a need the mapping agency rose to meet, ultimately producing more than 1,900 unique maps and charts and printing more than 54 million paper maps.

The Defense Mapping Agency’s timely and detailed support for air, land and sea operations proved critical, not only for the contingency planning of Operation Desert Shield but also for the successful execution of real-time combat in Operation Desert Storm, cementing its vital role in a new era of warfare and creating a legacy that is carried on today by its successor, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.