Posted on 02/14/2020 10:26:42 AM PST by Ben Mugged
“we didn’t go into Iraq during the first gulf war...”
That isn’t the way I remember it, and it’s also not what Wikipedia reports:
The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991, continuing for five weeks. This was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a decisive victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait and advanced into Iraqi territory. The coalition ceased its advance and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the ground campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas on Saudi Arabia’s border. Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War
I wasn’t in Iraq myself. My unit ran the air war, and were based in Riyadh.
“That is curious. We went to full MOPP for every SCUD attack.”
As did we. Maybe his unit was far enough forward to be inside the presumed minimum attack range. My unit was near the outside of maximum range. It was reported that the Iraqis were stripping the metal guidance fins off the Scuds and replacing them with wooden fins to lighten them enough to get to us, and the Israeli cities they were also targeting. Or maybe they just didn’t get the word in time. We had, usually, from 15 to 30 minutes of warning time before stuff started falling. A Scud falling short wouldn’t have allowed as much warning time.
There is something to be said about honor.
Something humbling, with a grit of determination and respect.
Respect for those that stood tall in the face of adversity and never compromised their principles of Duty, Honor and Country.
God bless these Men.
A good time was had by all :)
thank you for your grace......I have no idea why that was in my head...see my posts 8 & 16 & 18...
next time I’ll check before I rely on what’s in my head.
I checked first, myself, before posting what I did. The First Gulf War/Desert Storm was a long time ago. My oldest child was born nearly a year after I got home from Desert Storm, and we will celebrate his 28th birthday later this week. My memory is not what it was, and it’s never been all that good on events. I didn’t expect to live to age 30, so I lived like there was no tomorrow. Woke up one day, and realized that tomorrow had been years ago! I was 43, retiring from the USAF, and had three kids to take care of. That makes remembering stuff harder, too!
6th RSAF HQ, in downtown Riyadh. Only fire we took was badly aimed Scuds, and one night one of the Saudi guards went nuts and started shooting at shadows! No casualties or damage to our equipment, though. Our only casualty of the war was our logistics guy back home. Had a heart attack while he was cleaning his swimming pool, fell in and drowned, IIRC.
Yeah, except for that, it was a good time. Afterwards, it was good for a while. Our commander got promoted to full Colonel. While he was waiting to wear it, we got Friday afternoons off unless there was a HHQ-scheduled exercise. He said he knew who got him promoted, and he appreciated us. When he left, the unit was disbanded and our assets scattered all around the world.
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