Direct proof of use
The Remington M870 appears in 1990 Gulf War records through U.S. Navy and National Archives image metadata from Desert Storm maritime-interdiction activity. A February 1, 1991 record identifies a SEAL Team 8 member with a 12-gauge M-870 shotgun aboard USNS Joshua Humphreys during a training mission for ships enforcing U.N. sanctions against Iraq.
A separate March 1, 1991 record identifies Marine detachment members from USS Theodore Roosevelt armed with M-870 12-gauge shotguns and M9 pistols during boarding-team training aboard the same fleet oiler. The caption states that SEAL Team 8 trained the Marines and provided boarding teams for sanctions enforcement during Operation Desert Storm.
Sources: NARA SEAL M-870 Boarding Team, NARA Marine M-870 Boarding Team
Timeline
U.S. maritime interdiction began during Operation Desert Shield, before the January 1991 combat phase. The Coast Guard Historian's Office states that U.S. forces initiated maritime interdiction operations consistent with U.N. sanctions on August 16, 1990.
The documented M870 appearances fall inside that maritime-interdiction setting. The February 1 image places a SEAL Team 8 operator with an M-870 during a training mission, and the March 1 image places Marine boarding-team personnel with M-870 shotguns immediately after the coalition combat ceasefire while the Desert Storm sanctions-enforcement mission continued.
Sources: USCG Desert Shield and Desert Storm, NARA SEAL M-870 Boarding Team, NARA Marine M-870 Boarding Team
Narrative
The available public evidence supports a close-quarters maritime-security role rather than a broad land-combat claim. In the cited records, the M870 is carried by SEAL and Marine personnel associated with visit, board, search, and seizure-style enforcement of U.N. trade sanctions against Iraq.
The photographs place the shotgun in the Red Sea aboard USNS Joshua Humphreys, a fleet oiler used for boarding-team training. They do not establish a specific vessel boarding in which the M870 was fired; they document the weapon as fielded by U.S. boarding personnel during the Desert Storm maritime-interdiction mission.
Sources: NARA SEAL M-870 Boarding Team, NARA Marine M-870 Boarding Team, USCG Desert Shield and Desert Storm
