The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

Chapter Chapter Chapter 5 5 5 - - - A AAviation:
A viation: F FFrom
FF
rom the the Cold Cold Cold W WWar
W ar to to Desert Desert Storm
Storm
different airfields were receiving up to 8,000 troops every day. By the end of Desert Storm, a total of
158 Civil Reserve Air Fleet had been called to active duty.
The key link to moving the cargo, troops and the all the fighter aircraft into Saudi Arabia was the
air refueling aircraft. During Desert Shield, Strategic Air Command KC-135 and KC-10 tankers flew
over 4,900 sorties to refuel over 14,500 Air Force, Navy and Marine aircraft. The advent of large scale
refueling operations had truly transformed United States Air Power into a global striking force.
Meanwhile, back home millions of Americans were watching events unfold. President Bush was
not only marshaling international support for the UN coalition effort, he was gathering support from
the families who were sending their sons and daughters to an uncertain fate. In doing so, President
Bush tried to calm American’s fears. “I’ve told the American people before that this will not be another
Vietnam. Our troops will have the best possible support in the entire world and they will not be asked
to fight with one hand tied behind their back.” Like it or not, American’s had not forgotten the pain of
Vietnam.
The The The The The Plan Plan Plan Plan Plan
In that vain, war planners went to work to try to ensure the lessons of Vietnam were taken into
consideration. One lesson learned was already being used. Unlike President Johnson during Vietnam,
President Bush let the military war planners develop and use their plans with little interference. As
Commander-in-Chief, President Bush also set clear and measurable objectives for the military to
accomplish. These were to first deter further Iraqi aggression and defend Saudi Arabia. This was called
Operation Desert Shield.
The next objective came from UN
Resolution 678. The troops were to
expel Iraq from Kuwait. Again, unlike
Vietnam, these objectives were clear
and measurable. The whole world
understood that the objective was to
restore the country of Kuwait, and that
would be done when the Iraqis were
completely out of Kuwait.
To further emphasize the air
campaign would not look like the
“gradualism” of Vietnam, planners
initially named the air campaign
“Instant Thunder.” This time air
power was going to be a forceful
C-130 H Hercules is the workhorse of several air forces.
sustained effort. There would be no pauses designed into this plan. This effort was going to knock a
target out and keep it out.
Furthermore, this effort was going to be “parallel” in scope. Previous air campaigns, like the
Combined Bomber Offensive during World War II, had attacked targets one at a time. When attention
was focused on the next target, the enemy repaired the previous target. This time air campaign planners
149