a The Persiqn Gulf Wqr An Air Stotf Chronology of Dssrnr Surrro/Drsenr Sronu o Compll€d by Steven B. Michoel, Coptoin USAF Cenler for Air Force Hislory Woshingfon, D.C. t994 a PROPERTYOFAIRMru IIISTORYUBRARY Prefoce Whereas the media dates the start of the Persian Gulf War from Iraq's 2 August 1990 mi[tary invasion of Kuwait, the crisis actually unfolded some two weeks earlier. On 77 lttly 7990, in his National Day speech, Iraq's President Saddam Hussein made ominous theats against Kuwait. The initial American nesponse came on 7 August (C-day!-just thirty-four hours after the order was issued-with the deployment of two squadrons of U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters and a Headquarters CENTAF contingent. Called Operation DESERT SHIELD this first phase of the deployment wit- nessed a gradual buildup to 236,000 American trooPs and 723 USAF ahcraft in the area of responsibility (AOR), primarily in Saudi Arabia. The second phase started on 8 November 1990 when President Bush ordered additional American troops to the Persian Culf area and directed that they prepare to carqr out "an adequate olfensirc rntlitary option." Phase [I of DESERT SFIELD lasted through 16 January 1991. U.S. forces in the AOR increased to more than 425,000 personnel and aircraft deployed by USAI totaled 1,131. Op' erahon DESERT STonv began when U.S. and coalition air forces launched the air campaign against Iraq and Iraqi forces in Kuwait in the early moming hours of 17 January (Dday). Land and naval forces ioined the air assault on 24 February, and 100 hours later President Bush declared Kuwait liberated and ordered a cessation of hostilities. On 3 April, the UN Security Council outlined cease-fire terms and voted to end the Persian GulJ War. For ease of refermce, events in this chronology are presented under separate political and military headings for specific dates listed. Political events, providing the domestic and foreign policy backdrop, were drawn from leading newspapers. including The Nat York Tines ar:.d The Washing' ton Post. Military events and statistics were derived frorn documents used by Ak Staff personnel to support the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff. The docummts came from such Pentagon offices as the Air Force Contingency Support Staff. Air Force Logistics Readiness Center. Air Staffs Drectorate of Plans and its Force Assessm€nt Dvision, and Air Force Intelligence Agency's Middle East Dvision. The documents cited include briefings given to the S€setary and the Chief of Staff. point paPers written and used by the Air Staff, intelligence reports written by Middle Gulf Wot Chrcnology East analysts who briefed the Air Staff, and USCENTCOM message traffic that came to the Pentagon. Two explanations are in order regarding source documents and the data used in preparing this chronology. First, while CENTAF situation rePorts were used occasionally for specific detailed information, CENTCOM situ- ation reports, along with Air Staff briefings and Point papers, were the primary sources for this chronology. Besides giving a more general and complete account of USAF activity in the AOR, the CENTCOM messages listed all component command sofies throughout the crisis and provided summaries of activity by Iraqi armed forces. Moreover, AL Staff action officers, by their own account, relied more on the CENTCOM rePorts when preparing daily briefings for the Secretary and the Chief. Air Staff briefings and point papers were a more useful source for the chronology ihan the CENTAF documents because they served as a guideline to information that was presented directly to Pentagon officials. Secondly, the composition of CENTAF changed as the Persian Gulf Crisis evolved from DESERT STIELD through DESERT SToRM. For DESERT SHmD, the data for fixed-wing flight activity were given by CENTAF (ISA-F with some USMC assets), MAR- CENT, and NAVCENT. CENTAF activity was divided inio iactical,/suP- port, tarker refueling and intratheater airlift sorties. For DESERT SToRM, an overall CENTAF sortie total was given from a recapihrlation of the air tasking order; USAI sorties were listed by tyPe and totals were given for MARCENT, NAVCENT, and alled ah activity. The Center for Air Force History published this work as a Secret docu- rnent in 1992. While deletions were made from that chronology to Produce this unclassified version, the product as a whole was not severely affected. Everv enFv has been annotated as to its source. o Acknowledgemenls Several individuals on the Air Staff reviewed this chronology and of- fered useful comments on how to improve it. Special thanls are owed to the following: Col. Leonard Walls, the Deputy Director for Contingenry Operatioru and Exercises, who provided access to individuals and docu- mmts in the Air Force Operations Center; Dr. Wayne W. Thompson, a historian temporarily assigned to the Directorate of Plans, Force Assess- ment Division, throughout the Persian Gulf crisis. who helped expedite the collection of documents; SMSgt Steven Ward, Superintendent for Contin- gency Operations and Exercise, who dispensed invaluable advice on con- ducting research in the Operations Center; Capt. David Sysma, Middle East analyst, who fumished advice on intelligence documents coverhg the early days of the crisis; and the staff of the logistics Readiness Center, which shated copies of their daily summary package. The declassification of the first version of the chronology was painlessly accomplished with the advice and expertise of the Secretary of the Air Force Reserve Declassification and Review Team and Ms. June Forte, Chief of the Air Force Office for Security Review. Several members of the Center for Air Force History made special contributions to this project: Ms. Karen Fleming-Michael performed invalu- able service in the chronology's creation by making critical conkibutions to the research and organization of the text, searching out and preparing the photo essay, and editing the entire &aft; Dr. Janet Bednarek and Dr. Charles J. Gross assisted with portions of the research used in the DESERT SToFr,r section; and Mrs. Barbara Wittig performed a copy edit on the DESERT Sruno portion. Also, useful suggestions were made by Col. David A. Tretler, Mr. Herman S. Wolk, Mr. Robert J. Smith, Mr. Bernard C. Nalty, Dr. Richard G. Davis, Dr. Perry Jamieson, and Mr. William T. Y'Blood. Numer- ous outher individuals throughout the Air Force History pro$am also contributed many helpful comments. Captain Steven B. Michael Center for Air Force History This page intentionally left blank. Toble of Contents Prefoce iii Acknowledg€monts v Ust of lllusfrolions vll Summory of Key Events ix Op€rotlon DgsEfl SHET.D I Operolion Desrpr Sroru 23y' "1 Epllogu€ 423 Glosssry 427 Appendic€s United Naiions Security Council Resolutions 433 '1991 USAF Aircroft Deployed to ihe AOR, 16 Jonuory 435 Allied Aircroft Deploved to the AOR 436 koqi Ak Order of Bcrttle 437 koqi Militory Equipment in ihe KIO 437 DESERT SroRM Cumulqtive Sorties 438 CENTAF Doily Sorties. I September ]990-28 Februory 1991 438 Cumulotive Aircroft Attrition 441 Mobilizotion qnd Demobilizotion of U.S. Forces 443 Operoiion DGSERT SHTELD Strotegic Ai.lift Deployment, Mission Summory By Akcroft Type, 7 August 1990-10 Morch 19p1 444 Miliiory Airlift Commond C-130s In Operotion DESER|I SHIELD DESERTSToRM 444 lndex 445 lllustrotions Pe|sion Gult R€gion Mop xiv Wodd nme Zon€s 13 Mulfinotionol Force Commcnd Relotionshlps 2O CENTAF-lroqi Flight Activity dudng DESERT SH|EI' E2 USAF Forc€s, 9 Novomb€r 1990 134 USAF Forcos, 16 Jonuory l99l 2U DelEcled hoqi Flights lo hsn 262 ScudLounches 268 Coolilion Fix€d-Wing Kills (Ail-to-Alr) 307 DISEFI SroRM Sodie Tolols 377 viii Summory of Key Evenfs 2 August90 Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait. 5 August 90 The United Nations flJN) imposed economic sanc- tions against Iraq. 7 August 90 [C-day] With Saudi wilingness to host multi-na- tional forces, President George Bush ordered U.S. military aircraft and troops to deploy. 8 August 90 [C plus 1] The first USAF combat aircraft arrived in Saudi Arabia approximately thirty-four hours after the deploynent order. 31 August 90 [C plus 24] More than 500 USAF aircraft were de ployed to the area of responsibility (AOR) along with more than 20,000 CENTAF personnel and more than 90,000 total U.S. persorurel. The person- nel total included more than 2,000 women. 8 November 90 [C plus 94] President Bush ordered more than 150,000 additional American ground, sea, and air forces to the Persiar Gulf area. He said they were needed to achieve "an adequate offensive mittary option" to drive lraqi troops from Kuwait. The to. tal U.S. mi-litary personnel deployed to the AOR ex- ceeded 235,000, including nearly 13,000 women. 22 November 90 [C plus 1071 President Bush was in Saudi Arabia on a Thanksgiving "tour of the toops." 29 November 90 [C plus 1 14] By a vofe of twelve to fra'o, with China abstaining foreign ministers of the UN Secwity Councii adopted the U.S.-sponsored resolution that stated that, unless Iraq withdrew from Kuwait by 15 January 1991, member states could "use all nec- essary means . to restore intemational peace and security in the arca." iX Gulf Wor Chtonology 6 December 90 [C plus 121] Saddam Hussein said that all the 2,000 or more foreigners b€ing held hostage in Iraq and Kuwaii would be released promptly. More than 950 foreigners, including about 153 Americans, left Iraq on 9 December. 30 December 90 [C plus 145] At the request of Germany and France, the foreign ministers of the 12 European Com-rnunity nations plarmed to meet in Luxem- bourg in a lastditch attemPt to avert war.