All American Week Interpretive Plan

Major Education Goals:

Causes and general history of the Invasion of Grenada, specifically the role
the 82nd played in holding Point Salines International Airport
Troops general background and the recent (past 15 years) history of the 82 nd
prior to invasion
How troops perceived the invasion and its after effects

Causes and general history of the Invasion of Grenada

Operation: Urgent Fury
October 25th December 15th 1983
Nineteen Americans were killed during the fighting, including eight Army
Rangers, three paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne, one Army aviator of the
160th SOAR, four Navy SEALs, and three Marines
o Epps, Gary Lynn, Staff Sgt.,
o Luketina, Sean Patrick, Sgt., SP4 radio operator,
o Ritz, Michael Francis, Capt.,
The invasion, occupation, relief, and reconstruction force included not only
the United State but also the members of the Caribbean Peace Force
o Barbados
o Jamaica
o Antigua and Barbuda
o Dominca
o Saint Kitts and Nevis
o Saint Lucia
o Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
President Reagan was elected in November 1980 term started January of
1981. We are approaching the final year of the first Reagan term and his re-
elect.
o Republicans lost, very marginally in the 1982 mid-term
o Since January of 1982, the Presidents approval rating hovered near
40% due to a weak economy and unemployment
Grenada gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1974
o Civil and political strife gripped the fledgling nation
o Street violence between paramilitary gangs and political mobs was not
unusual
o The results of a 1976 election placed Sir Eric Gairy as national leader
results were not recognized by communists and other leftists (New
Jewel Movement)
Members of the communist faction began to receive military
training outside of Grenada, either in East German or in Cuba
following this election
In 1979 NJM seized power in a military coup backed by DDR and
Cuba
Peoples Revolutionary Government established
 Communist government begins to build Port Salines Airport with help of Cuba,
Libya, and other communist countries
o The airport was abnormally large for the small island and was capable
of supporting Soviet military transport and combat aircraft that were
funneling arms and equipment to other revolutionary movements in
Central and South America
o In March of 1983, President Reagan begins to warn about "Soviet-
Cuban militarization" and the clear military purpose of the airfield
October 1983
o On 16 October a party faction led by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard
Coard seized power. Former leader, Maurice Bishop was placed under
house arrest. Mass protests against the action led to Bishop's escaping
detention and reasserting his authority as the head of the government.
Bishop was eventually captured and murdered, along with his pregnant
partner, and several government officials and union leaders loyal to
him. The army then stepped in and formed a military council to rule
the country. The governor-general, a UK government official, Paul
Scoon, was placed under house arrest. The army announced a four-day
total curfew where anyone seen on the streets would be subject to
summary execution.
o The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Governor-
General Scoon, as well as the nations of Barbados and Jamaica,
appealed to the United States for assistance.
o Invasion launched 0500 on 25 October.
82nd Airbornes job was to serve as follow-on troops to the 75th
Rangers who air assaulted and seized Port Salines Airport
Eventually 5,000 troopers from the 82nd would join the fray
o Day 1:
First elements of 82nd land at Port Salines under-fire at 2PM to
reinforce the Rangers who air dropped in early that morning
These forces help to drive off a motorized counter assault by 3
BTR-60s of the Grenadian Army Motorized Company
These troops then push out from Port Salines to secure the
surrounding towns and rescue the trapped students from St.
Georges Medical School
One of two medical school campuses was liberated on the
first day
o Day 2:
Fighting a combined Cuban and Grenadian foe, the 82 nd
continues to fight to hold the airfield while pushing to secure the
surrounding towns and build a forward fire base at Port Salines
82nd units were tasked with ferreting out units of Cubans and
arms cashes hidden in the surrounding area
Among the nearly five hundred tons of weaponry that
would be seized on the island were 16,000 AK-47S; 5
million rifle rounds; 86,000 rounds of antiaircraft ammo;
and nearly 2,000 grenades.
 With intelligence failing to understand the dispersed medical
student housing situation, elements of the 82 nd were dispatched
to Lance aux Epines, a boot shaped peninsula to secure and
evac students from there.
The 82nd would spend the rest of the short conflict rounding up
and crushing pockets of Cuban and Grenada resistance,
evacuating students, and providing perimeter and area security.
In all 740 Americans would be evacuated from the island.

Troops General Background and the Recent History of the 82nd prior to
Invasion
The men who found themselves invading Grenada in October of 1983 were
much like the Army in which they served:
o Many of the enlisted men had joined in recent years through the public
outreach of the Be All You Can Be campaign
o Senior enlisted men and officers were a mix of young newcomers and
older hands who had seen action or at least rotations in Vietnam,
which had ended in 1975
For the preceding decade, the 82nd had acted, much as it does today, as part
of the nations elite fast-reaction force.
o Units were deployed to Vietnam and fought in Hue, the Iron Triangle,
Mekong Delta, and the Cambodian border
o The division was deployed domestically in 1967 Detroit Riots
o In May 1971 they were used to help national guard and Washington DC
police to round up and arrest protestors.
o In November 1979, the division was alerted for a possible operation to
rescue the American hostages in Iran. The division formed the nucleus
of the newly created Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF), a mobile force at
a permanently high state of readiness.
o Grenada was the first deployment of the 82nd in this RDF role
At this time, the Army was undergoing a modernization period which, among
other things, included the development of Personnel Armor System for
Ground Troops or PASGT.
o Having learned a great many lessons in Vietnam, the Army was
attempting to modernize its force, its equipment, and remain ready for
the very real possibility of hostile action in Europe

How troops perceived the invasion and its after effects

It is generally understood that the Invasion of Grenada sold well with the
American public and those who were informed in the military
While the operation was fraught with frustration and intelligence failures, the
troops on the ground arrived in high spirits and left the islands with an even
higher esprit de corps
It was and is regarded as an operation that helped break the military out of
its post-Vietnam malaise regardless of the finer points of the mission
Interpretive Layout:
Phase 1: Checkpoint (light 1st person)
o One two interpreters will operate the forward Communism Stops
Here checkpoint.
o The interpretive mission of this group will be to greet visitors to
October 26 (Day 2) of the Grenada Invasion with special emphasis on:
Where we specifically are (perimeter of Point Salines Airfield)
Why the US has invaded Grenada
The general role and esprit of the 82nd troops at this time
Phase 2: Command tent (light 1st person and 3rd person)
o One interpreter will be on the radio struggling to coordinate with navy
gunfire and combat air support while utilizing maps that have different
grid squares
The emphasis of this interpreter will be to display the courage of
troops despite the intelligence failures of the higher operation
Attention should also be paid to the sudden discovery of
additional groups of students or the discovery of a large arms
cache nearby
o Another interpreter will be more dominant (rotate roles with radio
interpreter) and will lay out the role of the 82 nd in the operation, its
overall combat experiences, the results and follow on of the operation,
the modernization of the US Army in this period and make specific note
of the 3 KIA the division suffered during the fighting
This interpreter should feel free to easily flow in and out of light
1st person and a more academic 3rd person interpretation
Vietnam / Grenada cross-over
o It would make more interpretive sense for days where this cross over is
occurring to have Phase 1 be of a late-war Vietnam interpretation while
Phase 2 is of Grenada, showing the progression of US forces in the
decade or so since the end of the conflict in SE Asia