Grenada Military Strategy

On October 23, 1983, United States President Ronald Reagan’s administration issued National Security Directive 110A, authorizing the landing of U.S. and allied Caribbean troops on the small island nation of Grenada. The document’s stated purpose for the invasion was threefold: Assure safety of American nationals, eliminate and prevent further Cuban influence, and restore democratic government. Reagan, in public speeches and as a justification for the conflict, cited 800 American citizens held at St. George’s Medical school as the main impetus for invasion. The President claimed apprehension at the possibility of these students becoming hostages in the midst nation’s deteriorating political situation. However, the decision to intervene militarily in Grenada had more complex political, strategic, and military dimensions beyond the President’s given pretexts. The invasion shared historic overtones with former Latin American interventions and containment doctrine. In addition, as America’s first military excursion since the Vietnam War, Grenada served as a testing stage for a new doctrine of military strategy, one of increasingly technologically dependent and operationally limited postindustrial …show more content…
Traditionally, the Monroe Doctrine strategy had dissuaded outside interference of the Caribbean and Central America, which the United States considered as a part of its sphere of influence. At the onset of the Cold War, this doctrine fused with containment policy, which was meant to prevent the spread of communism throughout the third world. These policies were deeply unpopular in much of Latin America, as they had been used as pretext for US political intervention and control since the Banana Wars of the early 20th century. Nonetheless, communism was non-negotiable, off the table in the eyes of US foreign policy