Day 3: 19 Jan 1991

19 January 1991 (Saturday): DAY 3

GENERAL:

v President Bush agrees to send Patriot's to Israel after 2 hit Tel Aviv

v US Troops at 460,000, coalition has over 600,000

v Marines and Iraqi's exchange fire along border

v EPW's are to be treated according to Geneva Convention

v US deploying Patriots to Israel, Netherlands also sends one

v Bush says the public should not get "overly euphoric"

AIR WAR:

v Late in the afternoon (Washington time) the President sent the order to suppress

Iraqi SCUD launches and went directly to Al Karj for the F-15E's

v McPeak's Briefing has (6) Kills on this date, for a total of (16)

v Press reports show (10) Iraqi aircraft lost

v Iraqi Air Force flew 60 sorties, coalition passes 7400 sorties

v The weather lifts along the Kuwait-Saudi border as UK Jaguars launch five

missions of 8 x aircraft each into the KTO

v First daylight raids on Bagdad launched from Incirlik

... F-4G Weasels carried (4) HARM's each

... F-16C Weasels carried bombs

v 9 x US aircrewman are listed as missing from first attacks with

v French Jaguars again attack Ras al Qulayah ammunition dump

v A British Tornado GR-1A Reconnaissance aircraft flew the first photo-gathering

mission for the Tornado's during the War.

v Capt Mark Hasara took his KC-135 around 40 nm into Iraqi airspace to refuel

F-16C's from the 16th TFS with SAM's and AAA still active

F-117 HIGHLIGHTS (19Jan/Day 3):

v Day 3/Wave One: late afternoon T/O on 18th, 12 x F-117's from the 415th TFS

- 4 x hits on 8 x attempts (50%)

- bad weather obscured targets, going in low did not work

- comm. Sites, integrated air operations centers, a nuclear reactor, a sector HQ, the Ministry of Culture and Information, Hawk Missile Sites, and Training Centers, and the Ministry of Defense

- Umm Al Aish, Al Jahrah, Ali Al Salem, Bagdad, and Nukhayb

v Day 3/Wave Two: 10 x F-117's from the 416th TFS

- launched on the evening of the 18th and hit targets on the 19th

- 2 Hits on 18 attempts with 9 no-drops (11%)

... weather was incredibly poor

... most pilots attempted to drop both weapons on alternative

targets and most missed

- SCUD Missile Sites

- Signals Intelligence Facilities

- A Highway Bridge

- C3I Center

- Comm Facilities

- Bagdad, North Taji, Al Kut, and Al Amarah

v Day 4/Wave One: 10 x F-117's from the 415th TFS

- mission launches on Day 3/19th and strikes targets on Day 4/20th

- 7 Hits on 14 attempts (50%)

- bridges, command & control bunkers

- integrated operations centers & GCI sites

- sector HQ, sector operations centers (SOC's)

- radio transmitters, ammunition storage

- 2 x telephone exchanges

- Ash Shamiyah, Abu Ghurayb, Al Kut, Al Amarah, Ar Rutbah,

Al Zubayr, Ali Al Salem, Ad Dujayl, Al Fallujah, and Karbala

KILLS:

v 6 x Kills Recorded from one large daylight engagement

- Mentioned as the first "daylight" encounter with MiG-25 Foxbat's and

MiG-23 Flogger's reported in the area. The Foxbat's were heading for

a flight of F-16 strike aircraft. Foxbat was downed visually and

utilized Flares. Fox 2 was followed by a call for all friendlies to get out

of afterburner.

- A 4 v 6 daylight engagement for the 58th TFS of the 33rd TFW

(Eglin AFB): Pitts/Tollini/Underhill/Rodriguez flying F-15C's

- 1 x MiG-25 Foxbat by an F-15C Eagle, 33rd TFW/58th TFS

... Capt Lawrence E. Pitts

... 85-0099

... 1 x AIM-9 near miss caused ejection of pilot at over 700 kts

... 1 x AIM-7 KILL

... Tail-On Day Shot

... Kill verified by CENTCOM and Officially awarded by TAC

- 1 x MiG-25 Foxbat by an F-15C, 33rd TFW/58th TFS

... Capt Richard C. "Rick" Tollini

... (34) of Stockton, Ca.

... 85-0101

... graduate of Nellis FWS, Leader when Kelt got Kill on 17th

... AWACS alerted and ID'd the targets

... targets first tried to outrun the F-15's

... Kill verified by CENTCOM and Officially awarded by TAC

... Tollini's section claimed #5 and 6 kills for the 33rd TFW

- 1 x MiG-29 Fulcrum by an F-15C Eagle, 33rd TFW/58th TFS

... Capt Craig W. "Mole" Underhill

... 85-0122

... 1 x AIM-7 no motor fire

... 1 x AIM-7 KILL

... Head-On Day Shot

... Kill verified by CENTCOM and Officially awarded by TAC

- 1 x MiG-29 Fulcrum by an F-15C Eagle, 33rd TFW/58th TFS

... Cesar A. "Rico" Rodriguez

... 85-0114, Kill by Maneuvering Suicide

... Flying Low Cap along the Saudi-Iraqi Border at 2000 ft

... 2 x POP-UP Targets called by AWACS, 330° for 13 NM

... Rodriquez Flight Lead with Underhill as Wingman

... Turned and Locked-On to the Leader, 8NM at 10,000 ft

... By 5 NM, both are locked-up, but Rico has no RHAW Gear

... Rico "Beams" a defensive turn to counter any possible Alamo

... Mole is left in position to Fox, but it become clear that the

MiG-29's are trying to run down a flight of Navy A-7's

... AWACS calls "HOSTILE" and Mole takes a Fox 1 (AIM-7)

... As Rico turns back, he sees the fireball, calls SPLASH ONE

... The 2nd MiG comes into view and Rico begins to think that it

might be a US F-15 (twin tails), MiG starts a series of "S"

turns, working off lateral and pressing for the kill.

... In a series of turns Rico stays 3500-4000 ft behind and 40°

off its tail, intimidating him.

... MiG reverses course in a split "S", 9000 ft to 4000 ft

... continues to 1000 ft and tries another Split S which Kills Him

... Kill verified by CENTCOM and Officially awarded by TAC

- 1 x Mirage F-1 downed by 1 x F-15C, 36th TFW (Bitburg AB)

... 525th TFS

... Lt David G. Sveden

... 79-0021

... 1 x AIM-7 HIT and KILL

... Head-On Day Shot

... Kill verified by CENTCOM and Officially awarded by TAC

- 1 x Mirage F-1 downed by (1) F-15C, 36th TFW (Bitburg AB)

... 525th TFS

... Capt David S. Prather

... 79-0069

... 1 x AIM-9 HIT and KILL

... Head-On Day Shot

... Kill verified by CENTCOM and Officially awarded by TAC

LOSSES:

v 1 x UK GR-1 Tornado from 15 Squadron, missing over Iraq

- after loss on 17th, Tornado's revised tactics during attacks on H-2 and

Jallibah Airfields

- ZA396/"GE", No 617 Squadron

- mission was flown during the night of the 19th into the morning of the 20th

- attack against Tallil Air Base (see Air Force Magazine, Dec92, pg 46)

- ZA396/"GE", No 617 Squadron

- FltLt David Waddington (pilot)

- FltLt Robert Stuart (Nav)

- Crew at first considered KIA, then MIA, then reported captured (POW)

- Waddington was the leader of a "Loft Bombing" element of the attack

- Started his pop-up about 3.5 miles from the target

- Was downed by Roland that he saw fired and coming up at him,

made a left break turn but was still hit.

- since Iraqi AF was collapsing, counter runway attacks only went on one more

day for the Tornado fleet with an attack on Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Airfield

v 1 x F-4G Wild Weasel, from the 35th TFW, commanded by Col Ron Karp

- 69-7571, became 7th US Combat Loss

- stationed at Sheik Isa AB in Bahrain

- Capt Tim Burke, pilot and WSO

- Aircraft was finally reported to have gone down from fuel starvation after

small arms hits punctured fuel tanks. Original report stated that it was a

mechanical failure. Several landing attempts were made at KKMC which

was basically zero-zero at the time. On the 5th pass he ran out of gas.

v 1 x F-16C from the 401st TFW (Provisional) out of Torrejon AFB, Spain

- 87-0228, Blk 30F, 5C489, became the 8th US Combat Loss

- flown by Maj Jeffrey S. Tice (35)

- 1st F-16 combat loss during Desert STORM

- No. 4 in a flight of 4, on a strike package of 8, call sign Stroke

- was captured in an area west/northwest of Bagdad

by Iraqi Bedouins a few minutes after he landed

- F-16C package came under SA-3 attack, then SA-6's from a target area

being transited after a Hill AFB (388th TFW) strike group made an

attack, multiple SA-6's fired, assume he was hit by SA-6 that came

straight up at the aircraft from underneath.

- Tice was still configured with bombs, tanks, and CL Pod, and was turning to look for the missiles being called out by the flight. He had not

released his ordnance yet. He was considered to still be at reasonable

speed (over 400 kts) and at over 20,000 feet. Pod was on.

- Weasels and EF-111's had already Bingo'ed

- was a POW and subjected to torture until release on 05Mar91

v 1 x F-16C from the 401st TFW (Provisional) out of Torrejon AFB, Spain

- 614th TFS based out of Doha, Qatar

- 87-0257, Blk 30F, 5C518, became the 9th US Combat Loss

- flown by Capt Harry M. "Mike" Roberts (30) of Savannah, Ga.

- 2nd F-16 combat loss during Desert STORM

- No. 1 in a flight of 4, on a strike package of 8, call sign Stroke

- was captured almost immediately in an area south of Bagdad

- F-16C package came under SA-3 attack at a target SW of Bagdad

- multiple SA-6's were fired, assumed that he was hit by an SA-3

- picked up immediately by Iraqi soldiers

- released on 13 March 1991

v 1 x UH-60 Blackhawk, downed and reported in USA Today 1/22/91

- 56th Air Transportable Hospital

- suspect mechanical failure of components

- Army SSgt Garland Hailey (37), Baltimore, MD. KIA

SLCM: 19 Jan

v USS Louisville (SSN-724) fires first sub-launched Tomahawks

v 288 were totally fired from 9 x cruisers, 5 x destroyers, 2 x battleships,

and two submarines

v (50) of the first (51) Tomahawks fired hit their targets

v USS Fife (DD-991) fired 58 altogether, most by a single ship

v About 85% (245) of the missiles hit their targets

... nuclear & chemical weapon facilities

... SAM sites

... Command & Control Facilities

v The Washington Post reported that the Tomahawk and F-117A, two of the

"most celebrated weapons of the Persian Gulf War," struck far fewer targets

than military officials have asserted publicly. The Tomahawks, 288 of which

were fired from ships and submarines in the Gulf, Red Sea and Mediterranean

Sea, reportedly hit their targets about half the time, compared to the

Navy's claimed 85 percent success rate. (Washington Post)

v Some Tomahawk's were configured to drop spools of carbon fibre wire which were

unreeled over Iraqi power generation plants and expected to create massive generator

shorting and eventual ceasing of all electric motors. (AW&ST, 27Apr92)

SCUDS:

v SCUD hits Tel Aviv, 17 injured

CASUALTIES:

v (2) missing F-4G aircrewmen are rescued

Gulf War 1991 Chronology

Day 3: 19 Jan 1991