Day 29: 14 Feb 1991

14 February 1991 (Thursday): DAY 29

GENERAL:

v Spain calls for the US to stop bombing Iraqi Cities

v The Saudi King grant permission for US troops to Armed Forces Radio & TV

broadcasted at their resident bases

v Iraqi Losses are Totaled as:

- 1300 tanks

- 800 armoured vehicles

- 1100 artillery pieces

v 1st CAV Division fired it first MRLS salvos

v USS America moves into the Persian Gulf, becomes the 4th Carrier in the Gulf

AIR WAR:

v 2800 sorties

- 800 in the KTO

- 200 against the Republican Guards

- 190 against SCUD's

v half of Iraq's 594 x hardened shelters are destroyed or damaged beyond use

v 138 x Iraqi Aircraft are now considered in Iran

v USN A-6's sunk an Osa boat off of Kuwait

F-117 HIGHLIGHTS (14Feb/Day 29):

v Day 29/Wave Three: 8 x F-117's from the 416th TFS

6 x F-117's from the 415th TFS

- takeoff during the p.m. of Day 28/13th to hit targets on Day 29/14th

- Scored 17 hits with 20 PGM attempts (85%)

- Iraqi Military Barracks at Dibdibba & Garrison Compound at Al Abrad

- Communications Sites at Al Qashaniyah, Tall Af Lahm, Hsiu Az Zabi, Dibdibba,

Bagdad, Jenoub, Maidan Square, Shemal, & Al Hillah

- Airfield bunkers at Kirkuk

- Iraqi Central Intelligence Agency

- Abu Ghurayb Command, Control, and Communications Bunker

- The Ministry of Information and Culture in Bagdad

v Day 29/Wave Three: 4 x F-117's from the 416th TFS

6 x F-117's from the 415th TFS

- takeoff before sunset on Day 28/13th to hit targets on Day 29/14th

- Scored 13 direct hits with 18 PGM attempts (72%)

- Military Targets assigned at North Taji Airfield Complex

- The Iraqi Air Force Headquarters Building in Bagdad

- An Arab Conference Center in Bagdad

- The Ministry of Defense Building in Bagdad

v Day 30/Wave One: 6 x F-117's from the 416th TFS

4 x F-117's from the 415th TFS

- takeoff before sunset on Day 29/14th to hit targets on Day 30/15th

- Scored 15 direct hits with 18 PGM attempts (92%)

- Hardened Aircraft Shelters at Al Asad & Shayka Mazhar Airfields

- SAM sites at Shayka Mazhar Airfields know to be active

- SCUD Rocket Motor Test facility at Al Mushayyib

v Day 30/Wave Two: 7 x F-117's from the 416th TFS

7 x F-117's from the 415th TFS

- takeoff before sunset on Day 29/14th to hit targets on Day 30/15th

- Scored 22 direct hits with 25 PGM attempts (88%)

- Possible Nuclear Facility at Tarmiya

- Ammunition Depots & Storage Areas at Rasheed Airfield, Karbala, & Kaji

- Dibdibba Command Post

- Communication Sites at Al Basrah, Tall Af Lahm, Jalibah, & Sayyidaat

KILLS:

v1 x F-15E kills a hovering helo with an LGB on Valentine's Day

... 4th TFW/335th TFS/89-0487

... Pilot: Capt Richard T. Bennett, WSO: Capt Daniel B. Bakke

... Bennett had 4 x GBU-10's (2000 lbs LGB's), 4 x AIM-9's, 2 x Tanks

... Wingman had 12 x Mk-82's and 4 x AIM-9's with 2 x Tanks

... Journal of Military Aviation, Vol 1/ No 2, Jan/Feb 92, pg 26

... Air Force Magazine, Jan 93, pg37.

... original mission SCUD CAP in Northwestern Iraq 01:00 to 03:00 am

... patrol area from Al Qaim, near the Syrian border, to halfway to Bagdad

just beyond H-2 Airfield, then back to the Syrian border.

... cloud deck 4,000 to 18,000 feet, orbiting above the weather

... 10 to 15 Special Forces Teams were on the ground looking for SCUD's

... one team was in trouble, 300 miles across the border

... 5 x Iraqi Helicopters were in the area, 50 nm to the west of the F-15E's

... put formation in 4 nm trail and did a FLIR let down below the weather

... FLIR got contacts, confirmed AWACS calls (AWACS call sign "COUGAR")

... AWACS gave "Cleared-to-Fire", confirmed no friendlies

... Let down to 2500 ft, below the weather, and at 15 to 20 nm, WSO had FLIR

contact with Lead chopper in a wedge or "vic" formation

... ID'ed as HIND Attack Helicopters, dropping off troops against Special Forces

... planned to hit the Lead Helicopter with GBU-10 while he was on the ground

... ran-in at 600 to 700 knots, low and started lasing the Helo at 4 nm

... at bomb release the helo lifted off and climbed, bomb killed helo

... hit in lift-off from hover at about 100 kts..... KILL

... instructed Wingman to put 3 x Mk-82's in same area to kill troops

... momentary scare that they might have hit friendly helo

... went back down to et remaining helo's but had bombs dropping around them

... Special Forces Teram was extracted

... continued CAP and dropped on 1 x SCUD launchpad

LOSSES:

v1 x EF-111A "Raven" lost in a SAM break after clearing the Saudi border.

Aircraft was at low altitude and eviently hit the ground. Was eventually

considered to be a Combat Loss. Both crewmembers were lost.

- 42nd ECS / 66th ECW, based art Incirlik, Turkey

- 66-0023 (ex-Combat Lancer aircraft serving in 1968 in Vietnam)

- Capt Douglas L. Bradt (29) pilot, of Houston, Texas....KIA

- Capt Paul R. Eichenlaub II (29) WSO, of Bentonville, Arkansas...KIA

- Based at Mountain Home AFB, became the 19th US Combat Loss

- Just come off of a tanker, original report stated that he was hit while over Iraq with some sort of missile, wingman was reported as stating that the lost aircraft was on a low altitude Iraq, and they had both just crossed the

Iraqi-Saudi border.

- pilot suddenly started to "pop" flares and executed a hard break

turn which ended in him flying into the ground at high speed

- reports indicate that an ejection was attempted

- considered an acccident since both aircraft were in Saudi territory

- seemed clear that pilot thought he was being attacked

- later it was realized that an on-station F-15C could have attacked the

EF-111 after identifying it as a possible hostile

- this may be the only EF-111 ever lost to an accident or combat

v 1 x UK GR-1 Tornado downed by SAM-3 near Fallouja, the crew is MIA

- last Tornado lost for Gulf War, flying daylight medium alt PGM attack

mission with Buccaneer's with Pave Spike against Al Taqaddum Airfield

- so much chatter on the radio SAM calls not heard

- lost both engines, on fire, NAV dead, ejected after short glide

- Flight International (4Jun91, pg38) mentioned that the "...the crew of the

Tornado lost at medium altitude was so overloaded that they did not hear the

warning of an incoming SAM attack given by an RAF Buccaneer flying in

company. Tapes of the incident indicated that there was considerable

radio traffic at the time, the Tornado crew was using its own intercom and

there were many alarms from the radar warning receiver. Under these

conditions the crew failed to hear the last minute voice warning of the

missile attack."

- Flt Lt Rupert Clark, Pilot and captured POW

- FltLt Steve Hicks, NAV was KIA on impact

- hit by 2 x SA-3 (GOA) missiles, pilot saw both impact

- pilot landed, was captured, and experienced severe torture in the breaking

of his finger, hand, toe, and foot bones.

- spent two weeks as a POW in Bagdad area with 15-20 others in the same

building that at one time was attacked by Tornado's

- Rupert talk about his experiences at the 1993 Tiger Meet at Kleine Brogel AB,

Belgium with an assembled audience of NATO aircrew. He related to the changes

in tactics done by the Tornado's as they progressed in the War. His ECM Pod was inoperative at the time of his engagement with the SA-3 site. Both he and his wingman saw the missile launch, directly up from underneath them, almost straight up, as it were with sparks coming out of the back of the rocket. They did not see booster separation. The failed Pod was being recycled but it required several minutes to fully come back on line again, if it would have worked. Rupert's Tornado was loaded with tanks, bombs, and pods which made it barely a 2.5 G aircraft at 22,000 feet, where it was flying. He maneuvered against the missile but did not break beyond aircraft limits. Whatever, his ability to maneuver was so weak that the SA-3 Goa was able to reach its outer altitude limits and hit him. He considers that his Navigator died on missile impact. His wingman photographed the impact sequence.

SCUDS:

v (2) fired at Hafr al Batan, but broke up in flight (King Kahlid Military City)

Gulf War 1991 Chronology

Day 29: 14 Feb 1991