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The Cold War: The Iranian Hostage Crisis

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America had a vision, a way of fighting wars. The first and second World Wars followed this vision. Massive amounts of young men were conscripted by the draft to enter compulsory service, trained, and shipped off to the warzones. Upon winning both Wars these fighting men were demobilized and sent on their way. The United States historically had a certain disdain for a standing Army. From the very humble beginnings in the Revolutionary War men were only signed to a one-year campaign in the Continental Army. The remainder of troops were brought in from local and state Militias. Something changed after the second World War. The Cold War started in earnest in 1947 and the American fighting force now occupied bases in countries in Europe …show more content…

They were held captive for 444 days in the Embassy as a game of political chess played out between the radical Ayatollahs of Iran and President Jimmy Carter. America needed a strong response and Carter gave the go ahead to allow the newly minted Delta Force to mount a rescue operation. Extensive training took place by the raiders for the execution phase of the operation. Shooting, close quarters battle, breaching, and mobility training was all undertaken countless times until the men felt they had it down. There was one issue that seemed minor at the time, Delta Force did not own any airframes or means of transport to the target area. Introducing other military services into the operation proved disastrous. Having Marine and Navy pilots for fixed and rotary wing aircraft on loan to the raiding force proved to be a landmark undertaking in inter-service operations. The pilots did not have to go through the strenuous selection and vetting the Delta operators did as well, the pilots were not used to operating at that high of a tempo. This all came to a head in the middle of a desert landing and staging area inside Iran. Three helicopter pilots and crews did not even make the initial infiltration into country because of their inability to fly in the dusty environment and mechanical issues. Being short of assaulters the Delta ground force commander canceled the operation and on the exfiltration a EC-130 Cargo plane collided with an RH53 Sea Stallion killing eight servicemen. Having been publicly embarrassed and vowing to never allow such a failure to happen again military planners pushed for a new command structure that made permanent special operations units outside of the normal military chain of command. Thus, the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was born on 1987 out of the Desert One failed hostage

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To fulfill their selfish goals, the United States initiated Operation Ajax in 1953. Operation Ajax was a plan created by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddiq, a popular Iranian prime minister at the time. The plan was for an American general to take his place after the Shah (Mohammad Rezi Pahlavi) signed a royal decree which would rid him of Mosaddiq and appoint the American general. This change in leadership would allow the United States to be able to have greater influence in Iran and have greater access to Iranian oil. However, Mosaddiq publicly announced that there was a coup and had the American general arrested.

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Ever since the dawn of Republic, the American public grappled with the issue of the military draft. During the American Revolution, the Continental Army struggled to recruit men and enticed the potential soldiers with the lure of the free land or cash incentives. George Washington proposed to institute the draft, however, the Congress rejected his idea. The Civil War, the deadliest of the American armed conflicts, compelled the both warring sides to enact the conscription. The South instituted their draft in 1892, and the North followed with The Draft Act of 1863.

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At first America did not want to enter the war; they wanted to stay neutral. President Wilson, soon realized the serenity of this war however the U.S. was intimidated. The Selective Service Act was a direct way of gathering troops when the other options were out of the picture. Document 1 shows a WW1 draft registration card. This card is sure to be very eye-catching and motivating for any U.S citizen observing it.

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Therefore, orders from the government were a reaction of how the people reacted toward how the government was using conscription while there was a declared war, undeclared war, during times of peace. The way America views conscription is derived from countries such as France. The system in France allowed the country to increase the military force by having a mandatory military

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Americans drew the last straw and built stronger nationalism to fight even though the United States was severely unprepared for war. The Americans were willing to go to war to proudly defeat

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The American army was very big, with 16 million people fighting in the army during the war. There was 13 million soldiers in the German army and 3.5 million soldiers in the British Army. In 1941, when America joined World War 2, the army wasn’t what people had hoped it would be. The German army had more training and better equipment than the American army. However, as the war

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The men that enlisted were very scared. Some of them were so scared that they would leave after their enlistment was up. Then Congress authorized the implementation of the Continental Army. This was an attempt to solve some of the problems the military was having during this time.

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In the early 1900’s European countries began competing and with that they were also building strong army’s and navy’s. After a while, the United States got involved and were in need of the people’s support. It took convincing but once people got on board with the idea of going to war, war fever in the United States was at an all-time high. The United Nations had not yet been established which meant conflicts were not getting resolved. This was unlike anything the U.S. had done before.

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The United States did not want to take part in World War I, the U.S simply wanted to stay neutral but then the war started to interfere with the U.S financial state. President Wilson did not want to declare war right away, instead he stated that the United States needed to prepare their army to ensure them victory. With both sides in the war running low on supplies Wilson believed it was better to be safe than sorry since the Unites States military lacked supplies, support and unity from Americans. Why is that? The U.S military around the time of the 1900’s was considered to be one of the smallest and weakest in the world because of this there was no chance against a German army of 4.5 million men.

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During World War II, during the period of 9 July 1943 through 17 August 1943, the United States and their Allies embarked on the largest combined combat operation to date with the Sicilian Campaign or “Operation HUSKY”. The magnitude of this operation spanned approximately 2600 vessels and over a half a million Allied Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen. Even with the end result of the Axis losing a portion of their homeland and an Allied victory, the Allied senior leadership encountered many obstacles that impeded or impaired some of their preparation efforts for this mission. As a result, analysis reveals that there are many lessons learned about Command and Control and Joint Operations that are relevant today; which can be applied in today’s complex

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From the beginning of the United States’ history, conflict has always been prevalent. The need for armed forces continually grows, especially in times of war, as the fight for freedom becomes more challenging. Conscription, better known as the draft, was first introduced during the Civil War as a way to get more individuals involved in the military to fill vacant positions. The practice of the draft was finally discontinued in favor of an all-volunteer military system, when the need for troops was no longer necessary. After almost two decades of being involved overseas, the demand for armed troops is imperative once again.

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As RL Kugler, M Baranick, and H Binnendijk note in their 2009 article, this operation was the first major U.S. military operation since the invasion of Afghanistan and demonstrated

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World War One economically and socially impacted American, mostly workers, women, and children through the Selective Service Act, the CPI, and women’s suffrage. President Woodrow Wilson was giving the Allies all the United States’ material resources, however the Allies need troops, which is the one thing the United States were unable to provide at the time. As a result, Wilson tried to improve military preparedness and pushed congress to create military conscription, which he argued was the most democratic form of enlistment. According to Eric Fonder, “Under the Selective Service Act of May 1917, 24 million men were required to register with the draft” (726).

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Additionally, the Task Force was responsible for infiltrating and exfiltrating various special forces elements inside Iraq. On one notable mission occurred one day prior to the start of Operation Desert Storm, on 23 February 1991. During this mission a special forces team almost 200 miles into Iraqi territory had been compromised by local villagers. The team radioed for emergency extraction as the villagers were beginning to attack their position.

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“The Draft,” as it is commonly referred to, was enacted in September of 1940. Even though the United States was not yet involved in World War II when the act was passed, President Roosevelt regarded it as a vital method of training American men for military service. By 1940, tensions between the United States and Germany were rising as the Nazis had invaded numerous European countries and the news of concentration camps was spreading. Throughout July of 1940, England was the next country to face Nazi aggression, as they faced attacks from the German airforce and navy. With fears that America would be the next country to face a German invasion, Roosevelt signed into law the Selective Training and Service Act, also proclaiming, “America stands

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