1 - The Black Vault

Chapter 13
Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990–91)
We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live
on our knees.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
The decade of the 1980s began with Combat
Talon crews attempting to rescue American hostages
from Iran. Because the attempt failed, Congress
forced the services to revitalize SOF and to
build a capability that would deter the rising terrorist
threat to US citizens around the world. In
1983, in response to threats to US medical students
in Grenada, Combat Talons led the initial
assault on Point Salines. In 1989 Combat Talons
lead the airland assault on Rio Hato AB during
Operation Just Cause. During most of the decade,
the new Combat Talon II was under development
and was within a year of initial delivery by 1990.
As the 1990s began to unfold, USSOCOM moved
to formally establish Twenty-Third AF as the Air
Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), and
on 22 May 1990, AFSOC was officially established.
The new command would serve as the air component
for USSOCOM and would be designated as a
major command within the USAF. It would no
longer be a part of MAC, but rather it would be a
separate stand-alone command. The 1980s had
been one of revitalization for SOF and one spent
fighting terrorism around the globe. The 1990s
would be characterized as a period of SOF employment
in “operations other than war.” But, in the
summer of 1990, a conventional conflict in the
Middle East would test the mettle of the new AF-
SOC and see Combat Talon once again at war in
service to its country.
The Calm before the Storm
Operation Just Cause validated the many improvements
made by SOF during the 1980s. For
Combat Talon and the entire special operations
community, capabilities had been developed that
brought the services from a Vietnam War-era posture
to a viable SOF presence for the 1990s. The
8th SOS had been heavily involved in Operation
Just Cause, and the lessons learned and tactics
employed by the squadron were incorporated into
all three Talon squadrons. At Clark AB, as the 8th
SOS prepared for Just Cause, Silvester led the 1st
SOS through a transition period as the 353d SOW
matured and gained its full complement of assigned
personnel. After Foal Eagle was completed in November
1989, the squadron returned to Clark AB
to prepare for the coming year. During the first
six months of 1990, the 1st SOS deployed to Thailand
and Singapore for JCS exercises and for joint/
combined exchange training events. To ensure that
the squadron maintained the perishable skills required
for the demanding joint mission, the
squadron deployed one Combat Talon to Southeast
Asia in February for a one-week, no-notice
JCS/PACOM contingency exercise known as
Fringe Keeper 90. The exercise was unique in
that the crew was alerted and deployed to its forward
operating location and was then isolated
with other participating SOF forces during mission
preparation. The execution phase of the exercise
went without a hitch, again demonstrating
the unit’s ability to perform at a high level of
proficiency in the most difficult mission assigned
to Combat Talon. 1
From 15 to 23 April, the Headquarters MAC Aircrew
Standardization/Evaluation Team (ASET) inspected
the 1st SOS during local training operations
in the Philippines. The 353d SOW received an
overall outstanding rating for the evaluation, while
the 1st SOS was graded a perfect Q-1 on 34 flight
evaluations. The aircrew written portion of the
evaluation was equally impressive for the squadron,
with all 66 exams receiving a passing score.
The grades reflected the high standards and quality
personnel found in the Pacific Talon unit. 2
To improve working conditions for assigned
personnel, construction on a new squadron operations
building began in 1989. In May 1990 building
7288 was completed, and the squadron began
moving into the facility the following month.
Problems surfaced with telephone lines and firedetection
systems and delayed the full occupation
of the building until September. 3 Regardless, the
facility was the best squadron operations building
on the base and reflected the level of commitment to
SOF from MAC and PACAF.
On 11 July 1990, Lieutenant Colonel Douglas
assumed command of the 1st SOS from Silvester.
Colonel Nance, commander of the 353d SOW, officiated
at the ceremony held at Clark AB in the
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