35th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) History
The world watched in horror August 2, 1990 as troops under the guidance of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein invaded its neighboring country Kuwait. In a few short hours, the Kuwaiti government was toppled and headed for exile as Iraqi troops began their reign of occupation and terror.
Soon after the invasion, countries around the world joined together in a multinational coalition aimed at halting the invasion and driving the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. Forces from the United States led the coalition in what would become one of the largest and most successful multinational campaigns in military history - Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
Thousands of American forces massed in the Middle East for what Hussein would call "the mother of all battles." They looked on, wondering if this war was the beginning of the end.
The forces came from all branches of the service including reserve and guard units from many states. The Americans stood side by side with troops from Saudi Arabia (100,000), Britain (45,400), Egypt (33,600), France (14,600), Syria (14,500), Morocco (13,000), Kuwait (9,900), Bahrain (400), and many more, for a total of approximately 801,100 coalition troops.
As the world wondered the fate of the Middle East, the troops began hardening and reinforcing the desert shield. It was a difficult task.
The temperatures were as varied as the coalition forces themselves. The mercury would rise to a temperature in excess of 130 degrees on the flightline during the day and then drop to a bone-chilling 30 degrees at night.
It wasn't easy in these conditions filling sand bags for the bunkers that had to be built. If it wasn't the temperature making the work hard, it was the sand itself. The fine grains seeped out almost as fast as they were shoveled in.
Underneath the sand lay sedimentary rock that proved to be an engineering challenge for just about everything -- from driving tent stakes to leveling areas for aircraft revetments.
From the first days of the invasion there was little doubt that Wild Weasels and Recces from the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) would join other Air Force units as part of the shield. The "Weasels" flying the McDonnell Douglas F-4G "Advanced Wild Weasel" and their "SAM Killer" abilities, paired with the "eyes" of both the active duty and Air National Guard RF-4C Recces seemed the perfect answer. The Iraqi defenses were top-of-the-line Soviet-made surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft artillery batteries. The "Weasels" would be needed to go in ahead of the strike packages and put their abilities and armament against these defenses. It would be the Weasels and 800,000 other coalition personnel against what was the fourth largest army and the sixth largest air force in the world. The people of the world watched and waited.
On August 7, 1990, President George Bush ordered U.S. troops into action against the Iraqi threat. For members of the 35th TFW, George Air Force Base, California, this would soon become a massive mobility undertaking. It would also be, for many, the first time mobility training would be put to war-time use since the Vietnam War.
The initial deployment went smoothly. Hundreds of peacetime deployments and exercises had honed the Weasels into a formidable deployment team -- ready to stand the line in the Middle East.
Members from many fields soon became part of the mobility package. For those deploying, loose ends had to be tightened up. There were wills to be drawn up, mobility gear to be readied, and families to be taken care of. For all -- aircrews, maintainers, and support personnel -- these were trying times. No one knew how long they would be gone or even if they would be coming home. The people of George Air Force Base stood back and watched. They hoped for peace, but packed for war.
Soon aircraft and equipment were beginning to pour into the Middle East from all over the U.S. It was just a matter of time before it was the Weasel's turn. On August 12, 1990, the tasking order was filled and the 35th was on its way.
By August 17, 1990, 24 F-4G Advanced Wild Weasels from the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron and more than 1,062 personnel from George AFB had been deployed to the small island-nation of Bahrain just off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
As the deployment continued, the need for personnel and equipment grew. Soon the 561st was joined by another 24 Weasels from the 81st TFS (52nd TFW, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany), to form the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional).
The 35th TFW(P) had become part of a coalition of forces that was growing day by day. Also included was a 28-country coalition force which included forces from the Middle East. A situation that would pit Arab against Arab if fighting broke out.
Hussein also continued to reinforce his positions in southern Iraq and Kuwait. He claimed Arabs would not fight against Arabs, and that they would turn against the western forces in the "mother of all battles."
The world continued to watch as Iraq made promises to withdraw from Kuwait. Theses promises never materialized so the coalition and the 35th TFW(P) prepared for war, but still hoped for peace.
The shock of being deployed began to wear off after about 20 hours into the flight. Of course it may have lasted more or less depending on the person, but for many, deployment shock soon turned into "going to war" shock. When the 35th TFW reached their deployed location on the island-nation of Bahrain, it was soon realized how much work needed to be done to prepare for war.
Saddam's army had proved its swiftness when it invaded Kuwait. The American war machine also had to be swift to avoid becoming a casualty. Buildings had to be built, bunkers had to be dug, and chemical training had to be reviewed. The Iraqi threat was very real.
In the swiftness to counter the Iraqi blitz of Kuwait, American airmen and Marines (3rd Marine Air Wing) flooded into the small Bahraini air base (Shaihk Isa AB, but was classified at the time). Hundreds of troops landed at the base every few minutes. Soon, every room, hallway, or free floor space was filled with someone trying to rest or sleep after the long flight. For some, luck handed them an air-conditioned place to sleep inside. For many, the open streets and sidewalks were their home for the next few days. Because of this, there was the definite danger of being stepped on while you slept, or worse, being run over by any number of vehicles. Finally, tents, air-conditioners, and building materials began to arrive. It was time to get off the street and build a home for the next few months.
Everyone joined in the building effort. PRIME Base Emergency Engineering Force (BEEF) team members worked side by side with jet mechanics, admin specialists, cooks, and others to build up a tent city. It was a tough job. The desert was hot, ruthless, and unforgiving. It was also solid rock covered by a few inches of powdery sand. A new way of building had to be performed by the Civil Engineers. It was easier to spread out than to dig down. Many tent stakes made it to the junk pile after being bent beyond recognition from the sledge hammers trying to drive them into the rock.
The team worked day and night. When the tents were up and the people were off the streets a new project was started. Portable toilets -- dubbed splinters -- were put up. Shower tents, movie tents, and other morale, welfare, and recreation facilities were also built. Soon Tent City had all the "comforts" of any bare-base deployed location. It became home.
With the people's basic needs cared for, attention focused on the aircraft. The Weasels were parked wingtip to wingtip along with the RF-4C Recces, the Marine F/A-18 Hornets, and Navy EA-6B Prowlers, A-6E Intruders, and other aircraft. The maintainers and their equipment were packed into just a few buildings. As a result, work began to prepare the base's South Loop area to move the Weasels and Recces out of the congested flight line area. The area was solid rock. To carve aircraft parking ramps and maintenance facilities out of it would be a major challenge.
The "Desert Rats," lacking in heavy equipment and operators, rented the big rigs and turned carpenters, electricians, and plumbers loose on them in the desert. In a few days, the "Rats" had mastered the equipment and began building the aircraft revetments and maintenance facilities.
The buildup was a challenge that was made more difficult with the desert heat. 120 degree temperatures were common. The personnel deployed from George AFB were somewhat used to the heat as George is located in the Mojave Desert in Southern California. However, they were not used to the humidity of Bahrain. In addition to the high temperatures, humidity levels of 70 to 100 percent were not uncommon. Working became a chore, and innovation a blessing.
The troops devised everything possible to beat the sweltering heat and stifling humidity. From bandannas made from T-shirts to fans made from wood strips driven by electric motors and bungee cords, the GIs were beginning to make it happen. Desert Shield was taking shape.
When Operation Desert Shield began, very few people knew how big the operation would be or how many people it would involve. This was true for members of the 35th TFW(P). When it started in the first few weeks in August there were 1,062 personnel deployed from George AFB. In the next few weeks another 434 would be added from Spangdahlem AB, Germany. Soon another 492 would be added from Bergstrom AFB, Texas, and then more from the Nevada Air National Guard located at Reno, Nevada and the Alabama Air National Guard from Birmingham, Alabama.
By the time Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, the numbers assigned to the 35th had jumped to more than 2,600 personnel representing 86 different Air Force bases around the globe.
Although from different bases, the folks soon became the 35th TFW(P) team, settled in, and prepared for war. There was plenty to keep them busy as the January 15th deadline drew closer. More tents had to be put up, and there were plenty of sand bags to fill, but that wasn't all. There was also the Bob Hope USO show, the Brooke Shields, Jay Leno, and Steve Martin visits, and of course the holiday season to think about. The war was near, but there was plenty of things to keep them busy. Teamwork was the name of the game and the rule, if the wing was going to make it once the war started.
Deadlines had been met, promises broken, and lines in the sand crossed as the January 16th final deadline for Hussein to withdraw troops drew near. The Iraqi army still held fast to the tiny country of Kuwait since the August 2, 1990 invasion. The 35th TFW(P) was ready, sandbag bunkers were built, camouflage netting shrouded sensitive areas vulnerable to terrorist attack, and the Wild Weasels and Recces stood ready for the hunt. Armed with AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) and high-speed cameras, the F-4Gs and RF-4Cs had been flying throughout the theater in preparation for hostilities.
As the final hour of the deadline grew near, the troops knew the war would start soon. Hussein made no moves to pull his troops out of Kuwait. The folks of the 35th TFW(P) and the rest of the world could feel it in the air. Everyone watched and waited.
The time had finally come, 0300L 17 Jan 1991 (1900 16 Jan 1991 Eastern Standard Time). The Weasels would be among the first to go. The end-of-runway crews hustled around the aircraft, arming the weapons mounted on each. After the ground crews gave the aircraft a final inspection, the pilots gave the crews a "thumbs-up" signal and started their final preparations. The Weasels would soon be at war. They would lead the large strike packages into the heart of Iraq locating, destroying or suppressing enemy surface-to-air missile sites, antiaircraft artillery, and surveillance radar.
The night was dark -- the darkest night of the month. The Weasels were partially hidden from view by the blackness as they slowly taxied past the lines of cheering, but nervous maintainers. A six-member, quick response international-media team documented the historic event on film and in print for the entire world.
One by one, each aircraft followed the other onto the runway. The first Weasel pilot scanned the instruments and gauges on the panel before him then pushed the engine throttles forward. In a few seconds, the after-burners ignited and the 58,000 pound Phantom began it's roll down the runway. Twenty seconds later the second Weasel followed. The third and fourth also followed at 20-second intervals. The first four were followed by another four and they in turn were followed by four more until all the jets were airborne. Soon, only the white light of the after-burners could be seen as the aircraft rose away from the base and quickly headed north into the inky blackness.
After the aircraft took off, they soon joined up high over the Middle Eastern desert and began their Weasel mission. They started by making contact with a nearby E-3 Sentry (AWACS) and then linking up with a refueling tanker.
During the first few minutes after takeoff the crews were pretty busy. The equipment inside and outside the jet was double-checked. Everything had to be ready when the jets slipped into Iraqi airspace.
After the checks and double-checks had been made, the crews got down to what they do best -- Weaseling.
The Wild Weasel mission was not used for the first time in Operation Desert Storm. The mission was created using specially modified F-100 Super Sabres, and F-105 Thunderchiefs or "Thuds,", and later the F-4 during the Vietnam conflict. The early Weasel was the only answer to the Soviet SAMs supplied to the North Vietnamese.
The Weasel crews were not going into Kuwait and Iraq blind. They had received plenty of training on the Iraqi threats. The crews had also received up-to-date photo reconnaissance support from the RF-4Cs of the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (TRW) from Bergstrom AFB, Texas and the ANG's 152nd TRW from Reno, Nevada and the 117th TRW from Birmingham, Alabama.
Desert Storm would begin with a well-coordinated assault by Air Force F-117 Stealth fighters, F-4G Wild Weasels, and Navy EA-6B Prowlers using precision munitions and HARMs which destroyed command, control and communications, and radar networks. U.S. Army helicopters also destroyed some key early warning sites. EF-111s and other electronic warfare systems blinded Iraq's radar and surface-to-air missiles and cut their planes off from ground control. By the third day, the command and control and detection systems of Iraq's defenses were in shambles. This enabled coalition aircraft to operate with increasing impunity.
Even with a rich Weasel history, state-of-the-art training and up-to-date recon, the crews still had to face a gauntlet of Iraqi air defenses. The Weasels would face one of the world's most formidable air defense systems: modern Soviet and Western aircraft, hardened command centers, airfields with multiple runways and taxiways, aircraft shelters designed to withstand all but direct hits with nuclear warheads, an impressive air defense system including 10 kinds of surface-to-air missiles (17,000 total SAMs), and around 9,000 antiaircraft guns -- all supported by a redundant command and control system. These defenses would later be described on the news and throughout the world when Lt. Col. George W. "John Boy" Walton, 561st TFS commander and one of the first crews over Baghdad, said "Baghdad was lit up like a Christmas tree." This sight, although a spectacular show of light seen around the world on national television, was extremely dangerous. It contained thousands of rounds of high-explosive projectiles geared at destroying the Weasels and any other coalition aircraft that got in its way.
Part of the "light show" was also made up of streaking Iraqi SAMs. When the Weasel crews returned to the base, there were plenty of stories about how two, three or as many as six SAMs locked onto a weasel that first night. One F-4G crew, evaded five SA-2 SAMs, the F-4's old Vietnam nemesis, while hunting down and destroying a Fan Song radar. Fortunately, the Weasel training and equipment would prove superior over the Iraqi defenses. Not a single F-4G or RF-4C was lost as a result of enemy fire. Over the course of the war, the F-4Gs fired a total of more than 200 Texas Instruments "HARM" missiles to suppress enemy radars.
The first night of the war also had a chilling effect on the troops left at the base. Shortly after the attacks began over Iraq and Kuwait, Iraqi troops launched SCUD missiles at targets in the south. The sounds of "SCUD ALARM, SCUD ALARM, SCUD ALARM. Don your mask, gloves, and take cover," blasted over the base public address system. the 35th was at war. It was time to put the years of training to the test. It was also a time to wait.
In the first few days of the war, the waiting game turned out to be a more formidable enemy than Saddam. The crews would listen to the maintenance radios for any small bit of information concerning their jets. Did the aircrews get in and out of enemy territory without problems? Did they launch on any SAM sites? Did we lose any jets? There were many unanswered questions -- and many long waits.
The days were long as the troops anticipated nightfall. Night brought a pattern of attacks that Hussein would follow throughout the war. The darkness brought SCUD attacks -- and the possibility of chemical disaster. The routine became tiring and nerve-wracking.
As the war continued, it became clear that the chemical threat was reduced. The reasons for the reduction are still unclear. What was clear, though, was the fact that Saddam's war machine was no match for the coalition forces. The world's fourth largest army and sixth largest air force was being pounded around the clock by the world's largest air armada.
The Weasels were flying with every strike package, providing coverage against SAMs and "Triple-A." Another thing was clear, the Weasels were coming across less targets. Photos from the Recces were confirming this. The picture was clear for the 35th TFW(P) and the coalition forces -- the Iraqi forces were no match.
The 35th TFW(P) had done the job they had trained and practiced for. Iraqi SAM sites had been either destroyed or forced to shut-down in fear of being destroyed and RF-4Cs were getting into the target areas for top-quality aerial recon photography. There was no stopping the coalition air forces.
Saddam waited, his one last gamble was the ground war. His troops were dug in and ready. They were seasoned from eight years of ground and trench warfare in their war with Iran.
Hussein hoped that a ground war would bring thousands of American casualties. With so many killed or wounded, he hoped world opinion would end the war and his reputation. But it never happened.
On February 24, 1991 the ground war began. Some said "the mother of all battles" would take place on the ground. What happened shocked the world and brought the fourth largest army in the world to it knees.
Coalition forces attacked Iraqi forces from many different fronts. Aided with lightening speed and the latest in deceptive tactics, the forces quickly overpowered Hussein's troops. The numbers were staggering, but they were not coalition fatalities. The numbers were of those surrendering. Thousands of Iraqi troops surrendered as coalition troops advanced on their positions. The forces advanced with such speed that what was expected to take weeks ended in days. After 100 hours of ground fighting, a cease fire was declared. The Gulf War was over.
After the cease fire, coalition forces moved into Kuwait City including a four-member combat and public-affairs team from the 35th TFW(P). The country was liberated after more than seven months of Iraqi occupation. Although the Kuwaiti people were free, there was still lots of work to do. The country had been looted of almost everything that could be taken back to Iraq. More than 800 oil wells had been set ablaze as the Iraqi troops retreated. Many buildings were turned into defensive fighting positions and the international airport was completely destroyed. The people were free, but the horror of the invasion still lingers. It will be hard for them to forget the many friends and family who were raped and murdered.
The war was over and on the morning of February 27, 1991 going home was the one thought on just about everyone's mind. The President put an end to the ground war after 100 hours, informally ending Operation Desert Storm. Although a formal cease fire would not be declared until April 11, 1991, the people knew the end was in sight. They would be going home after more than seven months in the Middle East.
A few individuals managed to catch a hop here and there, but for the most part, most members of the 35th TFW(P) began arriving home March 23, 1991. The fanfare was unbelievable. The American people had joined together in a patriotic mood that hasn't been seen in this country since the end of World War II. The Desert Storm troops arrived home to a heroes welcome from Bangor to Fort Wayne to Los Angeles.
When the troops arrived at George, the sight was unbelievable. It was a red carpet treatment fit for a king. The music was playing, camera flashes were going off, but most importantly, friends, spouses, and relatives were there. It was a time of reunion and a time for tears of joy. The wing had gone to war and had made it through without a casualty. Now they were coming home. The separation had been hard for everyone involved on both sides of the ocean, but the sight of the American flags, thousands of yellow ribbons, and cheering people made it all the more bearable.
A grateful nation welcomed home it's military members with acknowledgments of the threat they faced and the hardship they endured. All across the country members of the deployed wing stepped off of aircraft to a hero's welcome. Sometimes a plane simply stopped at another base or airport on the way home and the results were always the same. There were people waving flags, wearing yellow ribbons and being patriotic. Sometimes the people cheering were the same one that received jeers after coming back from Vietnam. They too had reason to be proud. America and the coalition forces had won the war, and the warriors were home again.