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EXCERPT:
As the United States Navy enforces a full blockade of Iranian ports and conducts minesweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz, the lessons of 1987 and 1988 are once again proving their worth. I know, because I participated in the Pentagon basement war games that shaped Operation Praying Mantis in 1988, which became America’s largest Navy surface engagement since World War II.
In March 1987, as Iran attacked shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Tanker War, Kuwait sought U.S. protection for its oil tankers. President Ronald Reagan ordered them reflagged under Operation Earnest Will.
Before the first convoy sailed, two-week-long war games tested responses to Iranian provocations. I served on the Green team as a young Reagan appointee, modeling a robust, military-centric reaction. The Blue team pursued a restrained, “proportional response” approach favored by the foreign policy “Blob.”
The outcomes were clear: The Green team’s decisive posture resulted in roughly 50 American dead, wounded, or captured. The Blue team’s tentative path allowed Iran to control escalation, producing some 1,500 American casualties.