President Jimmy Carter proclaims the Carter Doctrine. “An attempt by an outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including force,” he says.
The Carter Doctrine is a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution and leads not just to the creation of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (which will eventually become U.S. Central Command) but also a steady build-up of U.S. capabilities in the Gulf.