Direct proof of use
The M198 155 mm howitzer is directly documented in U.S. Marine Corps service during the 1990 Gulf War. Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow identifies an M198 nicknamed Damn Yankee as the howitzer operated by Battery F, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines, and says field historians documented it as the weapon that fired the opening shot in support of Marine and coalition forces near the Saudi border.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps gives the dated firing context for the same Battery F action: early on 21 January 1991, Marines from F Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines fired on an Iraqi military formation, reporting rounds complete at 0320 after firing 12 rounds per howitzer. The museum account describes the action as the first ground-oriented U.S. offensive combat action of Operation Desert Storm.
Sources: Marine Corps Barstow Damn Yankee, National Museum Damn Yankees
Timeline
Operation Desert Storm opened with coalition air and missile operations on 17 January 1991. Four days later, Battery F's M198 raid near the Kuwaiti border added a ground-based Marine artillery component to the campaign before the main coalition ground offensive.
M198 use continued in the border fighting around al-Khafji. The Marine Corps History Division's battle study states that Marines of 1st Battalion, 12th Marines prepared M198 155 mm howitzers and that the battalion fired numerous missions in support of Saudi and U.S. Marine forces during the Battle of al-Khafji. It also records Batteries A and C, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines firing an improved conventional munitions mission into al-Khafji on 31 January under the control of Marine reconnaissance teams inside the town.
Sources: U.S. Army War in the Persian Gulf, National Museum Damn Yankees, Marine Corps Battle of al-Khafji
Operational role
The documented Gulf War operator was the U.S. Marine Corps on the coalition side. In the January 21 raid, Battery F, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines used M198 towed howitzers in a fast artillery raid against an Iraqi formation near the Kuwait-Saudi border, part of a series of pre-ground-offensive Marine artillery raids intended to counter Iraqi fire and pressure Iraqi units in Kuwait.
During the Battle of al-Khafji, M198-equipped Marine artillery supported Saudi and U.S. Marine forces fighting Iraqi units around the Saudi border city. The available public record supports coalition field-artillery fire support, including preparatory fire and a 31 January mission directed by Marine reconnaissance teams, but it does not provide a complete gun-by-gun firing chronology for every M198 battery in the campaign.
Sources: Marine Corps Barstow Damn Yankee, National Museum Damn Yankees, Marine Corps Battle of al-Khafji
