Gulf War

Operation Desert Storm Jan. 16 - Feb. 28, 1991

Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm on January 16 (17 Gulf time), followed by six weeks of intense air and ground attacks. The strategic objective was to force Saddam out of Kuwait and defuse his military capability.  An intensive air campaign came first, involving armed helicopters, cruise missiles and at least 18 types of land- and sea-based aircraft. Electronic jammers, sophisticated sensors, night vision devices and precision bombing technology wreaked hovoc and astounded TV audiences. Complete air superiority was achieved by the third week, when the campaign was redirected against Iraqi ground forces, particularly the vaunted Republican Guards.

General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the Allied coalition forces, initially massed his forces directly south of Kuwait. Then, as the air war deprived Saddam of the ability to see, two full corps (over 200,000 men and mountains of supplies and equipment) were moved westward to the undefended Saudi-Iraq border. Meanwhile, a feigned amphibious assault kept Saddam's men pinned down to the east. On February 24, the ground offensive began. Across a 300-mile front, allied forces rolled into Kuwait and Iraq in a massive assault which outflanked the enemy and "slammed the door" on any retreat. On February 28, 100 hours later, the ground war was halted.

Victory and Aftermath

Iraq's army started to disintegrate as soon as the allied ground offensive began. Iraq's air force and navy had already been knocked out. On April 3, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution spelling out the conditions of a permanent cease-fire agreement. The conditions were accepted by Iraq but, unfortunately, Saddam was not toppled from power asPresident Bush expected. Sporadic fighting continued as Kurdish rebels and Islamic fundamentalists rose up in revolt, turning a million people in refugees. Some 13,000 coalition military personnel, including 9,000 US troops, turned their attention to giving food, shelter and medical care to the refugees.

The Allies also had to contend with a wanton ecological disaster caused by 600 blazing Kuwaiti oil wells which Saddam's men had blown up, and the pumping of terminal and tanker oil into the sea.

American troops soon began heading for home to a heroes' welcome. A celebration of pride and patriotism, unlike anything seen since the end of World War Two, gripped the nation for months as the victors returned to their hometowns.

Over 541,000 American servicemen and women provided the thunder and lightning for Desert Storm. Miraculously, only 90 were killed in action.