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In this paper we discuss the ultrashort pulse high gradient inverse free electron laser accelerator experiment carried out at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory which demonstrated gradients exceeding 200  MV/m using a 4 TW 100 fs long 800 nm Ti:Sa laser pulse. Due to the short laser and electron pulse lengths, synchronization was determined to be one of the main challenges in this experiment. This made necessary the implementation of a single-shot, nondestructive, electro-optic sampling based diagnostics to enable time-stamping of each laser accelerator shot with <100  fs accuracy. The results of this experiment are expected to pave the way towards the development of future GeV-class IFEL accelerators.