Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm (F-16 Combat History)

J.J. · by **J.J.** » 17 May 2006, 22:02

Hi all! In the next couple of days I will establish a brand-new topic releated to Desert Shield / Desert Storm Vipers as a further preview and discussion board for F-16.net´s upcomming new section "F-16 Combat History". So I think, I´m well prepared for this job. But before I will launch this topic, I have some important questions to the entire F-16 community: According to different sources, at this time (1990/91) active F-16 Tactical Fighter Squadrons (TFS´s) of the Tactical Air Command (TAC) and of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) had 24 assigned aircraft. Were there any double-seat trainers in their inventory? Also at this time, who many F-16s were assigned to Air National Guard units (currently probably only 15 jets)? For Desert Shield / Desert Storm, from the ANG only the 138th TFS, 174th TFW (New York ANG) and the 157th TFS, 169th TFG (South Carolina ANG) were deployed. Last question: During Desert Shield / Desert Storm had the 157th TFS still the tail code "SC" - later replaced by a tail blazer "SOUTH CAROLINA"? Last note: Anyone who will post any further related deployment details, please await my upcomming topic. That should be the right place for your postings. Thanks!

Henrik · by **Henrik** » 17 May 2006, 22:36

Hello J.J,

Great, great! About time that we have a "Desert Shield/Storm" thread!! :applause:

.

The TAC/USAFE F-16 units had 24+ aircraft in their squadrons at the time - most having 2-3 two-seaters. The same for the ANG units with F-16A/Bs. The South Carolina ANG only had the tail-blazer "South Carolina" across their tails - not the "SC" tail code. It was only used for a shorter period of time after receiving the F-16 in 1983.

As of 1989 for the "Gunsmoke" competition (in which the "Swamp Foxes" became world champs in their Block-10 Vipers) the "SC" tail code had been replaced by the tail-blazer version.

Only the "NY" and "South Carolina" ANG were deployed for "Desert Shield/Storm". The Alabama ANG´s 187 TFW/160 TFS had some of their Vipers (also Block-10s) in Syracuse, NY, for spares for the "NY" deployment. They were fitted with all three tanks and live Sidewinders and I believe they made the "crossing" all the way to Spain along with the rest of the deploying ANG Vipers.

Many greetings,

Henrik.

Henrik · by **Henrik** » 18 May 2006, 01:22

Hello J.J.,

Here is the tail of the "South Carolina" Vipers during "Desert Shield/Storm".

http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/Assets/1991 ... 03289.JPEG

Greetings,

Henrik.

J.J. · by **J.J.** » 18 May 2006, 19:16

Thank you, Henrik! I must have overlooked that single pic. Last week, I checked all related Desert Shield / Desert Storm F-16 photos at www.dodmedia.osd.mil. And I will post the most interesting pics in my upcomming topic.
Two further questions: During Desert Shield / Desert Storm which aircraft of the deployed 138th TFS "The Boys of Syracuse", 174th TFW (New York ANG), Hancock Field, Syracuse, New York (tailcode "NY"), was special marked as the wing commander´s "boss bird" ("174 TFW" marking)? I need the verified serial number. Second question: According to the very informative book "Gulf Air War Debrief" (presented by the formerly magnificent "World Airpower Journal"), the deployed 69th TFS, 347th TFW (TAC), Moody AFB, Georgia (tailcode "MY"), was located briefly at King Fahd before she teamed up with other deployed F-16 units of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) at Al Minhad, UAE. Anyone who can and will tell me a little bit more about this moving?

Henrik · by **Henrik** » 18 May 2006, 20:54

Hello my friend J.J.,

I have these serials noted. Not complete, but hopefully better than nothing.

174 TFW / 138 TFS:79-0337 "138 TFS", 79-0339 (more than 70 missions), 79-0351, 79-0352, 79-0382, 79-0388, 79-0391, 79-0399, 79-0401, 79-0403 "174 TFW", 79-0404.

169 TFG / 157 TFS: 79-0288, 79-0289, 79-0292, 79-0293, 79-0295, 79-0296, 79-0305 "157 TFS", 79-0320, 79-0321 "169 TFG".

347 TFW / 69 TFS: 88-0468 "69 TFS", 88-0516, 88-0522, 88-0526, 88-0546, 88-0547, 89-2024.

Greetings,

Henrik.

Henrik · by **Henrik** » 19 May 2006, 10:02

Hello J.J.,

I have here a shot of the Al Karj flight line woth both the "NY" and "South Carolina" Vipers visible. Note that some of them have the AN/ALQ-119 jammers under the wings - sta. 3 - indicating that this picture must have been taken in connection with their arrival.

http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/Assets/1992 ... 07622.JPEG

Greetings,

Henrik.

J.J. · by **J.J.** » 19 May 2006, 19:19

Thank you, Henrik!

I´m nearly sure that I checked all related pics in the online archives of dodmedia.osd.mil. Not only the pics which are part of DVIC´s "U.S. Forces in DESERT STORM" CD-ROM collection.

Additionally, I found some more deployment pics by typing in related search words. In my upcomming topic "Desert Shield / Desert Storm Vipers (`F-16 Combat History´)" I will post all of that photo stuff, as usual with hi-res links. After reading a very hot official USAF document at Mike Kopack´s www.lucky-devils.net website and cross-checking with F-16.net´s Aircraft Database, today I finished the listing of all 401st TFW aircraft which were deployed to the military section of Doha IAP, Qatar. Not only aircraft from the deployed 614th TFS "Lucky Devils", also a spare from the 612th TFS and two replacements from the 613th TFS. At this time, both of these squadrons were also assigned to the 401st TFW (USAFE), Torrejon AB, Spain.

Also at this time the 612th TFS with possibly 24 aircraft was deployed to Incirlik AB, Turkey, as part of a so-called F-16 Division of the 7740th Composite Wing (Provisional), activated for Operation Proven Force.
For Operation Desert Shield, originally 24 aircraft from the 401st TFW were deployed to Doha (including the spare from the 612th TFS). Also deployed with the originally aircraft package was an F-16D (86-0047 Block 30D) - according to F-16.net, the only two-seater in Desert Shield / Desert Storm. After the combat losses of three assigned jets during Operation Desert Storm, by late January 1991 four replacements were deployed to Doha (including both aircraft from the 613th TFS). I will contact Mike for further verifications and fine-tuning of my upcomming 614th TFS chapter.

Question: One of the deployed aircraft was marked as 614 AMU (614th Aircraft Maintenance Unit). Anyone who can and will tell me the verified serial number?

MKopack · by **MKopack** » 19 May 2006, 19:35

J.J. wrote:Question: One of the deployed aircraft was marked as 614 AMU (614th Aircraft Maintenance Unit). Anyone who can and will tell me the verified serial number?

I believe that <a href="f-16_fighting_falcon_airframe-2247.html">87-0221</a> was marked 614TFS on the left side of the tail and 614AMU on the right. http://www.lucky-devils.net/7182.html

Mike

J.J. · by **J.J.** » 19 May 2006, 20:57

Thank you very much, Mike! It´s cool to hear from you. If you still on the forum, so I think, I can place further deployment questions to you via F-16.net. Is that O.K.? At first: Can you remember the 614th TFS deployment date for Desert Shield and the re-deployment date from Desert Storm? (Some details were given by the 614th TFS commander at your website, but without dates.)

Henrik · by **Henrik** » 19 May 2006, 22:56

Hello J.J.,

Thanks for Your great information!! In my records from that time the 612 TFS brought their F-16D - 86-0044 - along to Incirlik AB, making the total of 23 F-16Cs and this F-16D. 86-0047 from the 614 TFS is by far the most "famous" F-16 twin-seater of "Desert Storm", as there is a well known video sequence taken from the back-seat of this Viper during a bombing run in Iraq.

Although deployed the two-seat F-16s mainly served as back-up planes and even spare resources, as their decreased internal fuel capacity made a different mission profile related to air refelling times and so on.

And 87-0221 carried 614 TFS on the left side of the tail and 614 AMU on the right.

Regarding the 612 TFS at Incirlik AB in the 7740 CW they had 86-0289 as "612 TFS/AMU", 87-0337 "16 Air Force" and 88-0401 as "401 TFW".

Greetings,

Henrik.

MKopack · by **MKopack** » 22 May 2006, 16:56

J.J. wrote:Thank you very much, Mike! It´s cool to hear from you. If you still on the forum, so I think, I can place further deployment questions to you via F-16.net. Is that O.K.? At first: Can you remember the 614th TFS deployment date for Desert Shield and the re-deployment date from Desert Storm? (Some details were given by the 614th TFS commander at your website, but without dates.)

Absolutely, if there is anything that I can answer, please let me know. If I don't have an answer, I'll do my best to find out. I can confirm, from Mike Hare (her Crew Chief), that 87-0221 (56 combat missions, 35 Code-1, 3 Code-2, 16 Code-3) did in fact carry the 614TFS on one side of the tail and 614AMU on the other. The 614th deployed to the Qatar Emiri Air Force Base at the Doha International Airport on 28 August 1990, the first Air Force unit to deploy to that country. I followed the unit down about three weeks later (19 Sept) as a 'replacement'. (For more details see: http://www.lucky-devils.net/index-2.html)

The 612th did deploy with 86-0044 to 'The Lik' although I believe that our own 86-0047 was the only two-seat F-16 to fly combat missions prior to the ceasefire on 28 Feb. After being put back together from CANN status Balls 47 flew 13 combat missions (6 Code-1, 1 Code-2, 6 Code-3) with our combat cameramen (F. Lee Corkran that I know of, possibly others as well) in the back seat. I volunteered, no dice. It flew each of these missions with a right LEF that was ABDR repaired from an earlier incident with a C and CANNed over to 047. The repair held up well through the missions, only to require replacement after incentive flights after the war.

During the war we lost three aircraft, two, 87-0228 and 87-0257 during Package Q on 19 January (well documented on other threads on F-16.net) and 87-0224 to a prematurely exploding Mk.84. The replacement aircraft that we aquired from Torrejon were 86-0370, 87-0225, 87-0241 and 86-0343. At least early in the war the 87's were perfered to the 86's due to the extra chaff/flare dispensers built in under the tail.

Our redeployment back to Torrejon isn't as easy to pin down. Our aircraft flew home on a single day (not sure, I'll find out) but due to airlift and the 'dismantling' of our desert home our personnel redeployed in small groups over a period of weeks, with some staying behind for several months (breaking down the bomb dump, for example). In general our redeployment worked as 'first-in / first-out', so as a replacement I got to stick around at least a couple of days later than some others. Our last few days in the Gulf were a bit more comfortable than the others, staying at the Sheraton Doha (http://www.sheraton.com/doha). The Sheraton was great and they'd treated us well during our entire deployment - of course staying anywhere where the walls didn't move when the wind blew was a plus. I redeployed to Torrejon AB on 05 April, arriving after midnight, just hours after the 'Welcome Home' hangar party held in our Phase Hangar. I ended up with 198 days in the Gulf. Ended up getting a short tour (>180 days) while still earning credit for my long...

Our C-5 hadn't been in chocks for more than a minute or two when our deployment Commander Col. Jerry Nelson (http://www.lucky-devils.net/nelson.html) who had redeployed a few weeks earlier, walked up the steps into the PAX compartment. I understand that he met every aircraft on the ramp that had one of his troops onboard, no matter what time of the day or night. Col Nelson told us he didn't want to see any of us on base, or at work, for a week and if anyone had a problem with that "Give them this phone number" and he would straighten them out. Best damn Commander I ever had. Sure beat our EMS Major who flew down to Qatar to 'see his troops' (stayed for an hour) and wouldn't even leave the hangar to walk up to tent city...

3.7 million pounds of ordinance, 1303 sorties, 42 days, 24 aircraft.
Visit the Lucky Devils in the Gulf War at:
http://www.lucky-devils.net

Mike Kopack

Henrik · by **Henrik** » 22 May 2006, 20:00

Hello Mike,

THANK YOU for some AWESOME information!!!! Fantastic to hear/see these "old" stories once more. I remember as a teen I read every single item covering this first Gulf War and the Torrejon-units were some of my absolute favorites - sad they are all gone now!!

I was lucky to see some of the 612th Vipers "for real" at Spangdahlem AB during the summer of 1991, just prior to the unit´s disbandment - glorious times.

Many greetings,

Henrik.

J.J. · by **J.J.** » 22 May 2006, 20:45

Thank you very, very much for your extensive first-hand account, Mike! It´s great! As I read in the official USAF document, posted on your website, there were CD-1, CD-2 and CD-3 flights, disclosed as Code-1 to Code-3 in your latest reply. Some questions: What means CD-1, CD-2 and CD-3? Were the associated numbers to each deployed aircraft either sorties or missions which were flown? Or were, at least in this case, sorties and missions numbers identically? Last but not least: A message to all other interested F-16.net users: Today, I was very bussy again with checking F-16.net´s Aircraft Database for F-16 Desert Shield / Desert Storm deployments. In the next couple of days I will post a very well resarched "Order of Battle", compared with "Gulf Air War Debrief", F-16.net´s Aircraft Database and other own researches.

MKopack · by **MKopack** » 22 May 2006, 21:38

Here's the skinny from AFI 21-101 (many thanks to JoeSambor on the thread: http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-5219.html):

Code 0 - Ground abort.
Code 1 - Aircraft mission capable with no additional discrepancies.
Code 2 - Aircraft or system has minor discrepancies but is capable of further mission assignment within normal turnaround times.
Code 3 - Aircraft or system has major discrepancies in mission essential
equipment that may require extensive repair or replacement prior to further mission assignment. The discrepancy may not affect safety-of-flight and the aircraft may be Not Mission Capable (NMC) flyable.
Code 4 - Aircraft or system has suspected or known radiological, chemical, or biological contamination.
Code 5 - Aircraft or system has suspected or known battle damage.

Our jets flew very well during the war with a high percentage of Code 1's. The largest number of Code 3's we had were either quick fixes or were more intensive fixes that weren't the aircraft's fault (heavy scratches inside the canopies caused by pilots looking for missiles - who could blame them?!?) The only engine that we changed during the war was a time change, and any way you look at it, you can't beat that. Luckily, being the NCOIC of Decon, we had no Code 4's and the aircraft that we did have damaged called in Code 3 (which was good, because if he'd had called in Code 5 I don't think anyone would have known what that was...)

A couple of days/weeks (who could tell by that point) after the ceasefire I was up inspecting the tip of the vertical fin during a phase and found a hole - something, roughly the diameter of a pencil, had passed right through. It happened to be in the black area of the Lucky Devils red and black checkerboard, so it would have been difficult, at best, to see from the ground. By that time the war was over and no one was really interested, so I patched it and went on, but it makes me thing of what our guys flew through when we sent them up north every day... Of course ET's HUD video from the 19th showed that very, very well.

Mike Kopack

J.J. · by **J.J.** » 23 May 2006, 08:55

Thank you very, very much again for another first-hand insight from an involved people, Mike! And, since your latest post, so I think, I better knew why Lockheed Martin called their magazine "Code One" ("aircraft mission capable", according to your latest post). As a civilian freelance military aviation journalist, I´m very happy to learning from you. For further details, related to the Desert Shield / Desert Storm deployment of the 614th TFS "Lucky Devils" I will contact you directly via PM.