The Gulf War

3 Pages 825 Words

BACKROUND PAPER
ON
THE ROLL THE US AIR FORCE HAD IN THE GULF WAR
1. “To Those Who Fell In Desert Storm”
“…they are marked out not merely by the inscription over a grave in their own country but in other lands also by an unwritten memory, recording their spirit more than their actions, which lives on in the minds of men. Emulate them, in your own lives…” -- from the funeral oration of Pericles, during the Peloponnesian War
January 17, 1991, 3:00 a.m. Baghdad time, the first of 100,000 air strikes began. Can you
Think back and remember what you were doing then. I do, and I know where my father was too. As a jet engine mechanic for the F-15 Eagles, he was knee deep in the sand of Saudi Arabia. With the wealth of information out there, it’s hard to cover everything. Right now I’m going to try and give you some information, on the roll we, the US Air Force, had in the Gulf War. I’m also going to explain a little bit of what our job is in Operation Northern/Southern Watch. First, I would like to start with the Gulf War, the Air Superiority and the people that made it happen.
2. When Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, the Air Force went in to action. Within 5 days, 5 fighter squadrons of F-15C Eagles were on the ground in Saudi Arabia. After having flown nonstop fully armed over 8,000 miles in fifteen hours they were ready to go to war. With over 1500 Air Force aircraft in the area, everything from KC-135’s and KC-10’s to the strike fighters and rescue planes. Let not forget our cargo planes, with the help of C-5’s, C-141’s and C-130’s almost 90% of the Air Forces fleet, we delivered over 482,000 passengers and well over 500,000 tons of cargo to the area. When the war started, we hit hard and didn’t stop for 42 days. During the war, American F-15’s shot down all 39 of Iraq’s aircraft. Now none of this could have been possible without the help of some 55,000 Air Force personnel, the men and women ...