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Thread: 25th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm

  1. #11
    Thank you for sharing the stories. Fascinating history and I can't thank you enough for sharing it here!

  2. #12
    Mayhemxpc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rwanttaja View Post



    When Desert Storm erupted, I was reminded of my offer. You see, what I did on active duty was use satellites to detect missile launches. As in "Here come the SCUDs....."

    Ron "Confidence High" Wanttaja
    Ron, being on the receiving end, I am not sure that made any difference to the guys the SCUDs were aimed at. Generally, the first notice we got of incoming SCUDs were the sound of the Patriot Batteries firing off. That was usually followed by the sound of airborne detonations (awesome sight -- especially at night.) There was minor concern that all of those parts and pieces might fall on you. (It probably should have been greater concern, but I was younger then.) THEN, "Giant Voice" would come on and announce "Take Cover" with the famous air raid siren sound.

    13-15 years later it wasn't a whole lot different, it just wasn't Scuds but other rockets and mortars. Nonetheless, Giant Voice still insisted on coming on after the fact to tell you what you already knew.
    Chris Mayer
    N424AF
    www.o2cricket.com

  3. #13
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mayhemxpc View Post
    Ron, being on the receiving end, I am not sure that made any difference to the guys the SCUDs were aimed at.
    When I think about it now, I'm sure you're right. The system's reaction times were designed for flushing the bombers from the Dakotas before sub-launched missiles could arrive from off the coast...SCUDs have shorter flight times. They probably tried to tighten the cycle, but the addition of additional comm links to get the warnings to the Mideast (vs. primarily Cheyenne Mountain and Omaha) undoubtedly added more latency. The other aspect is that the system was designed for detecting larger missiles. One of my few regrets about *not* being there was helping use some of the tricks that would have made it possible.

    Ron Wanttaja

  4. #14

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    I crewed an F-15 from the 58th TFS, 33rd TFW Eglin AFB. We deployed to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia August 1990. Interesting time in my career and hard to believe it's been 25 years already.

  5. #15
    Chris In Marshfield's Avatar
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    I went to the Persian Gulf twice, once for Operation Desert Shield on the USS Midway CV-41, and also toward the end of Desert Storm on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. I was an F/A-18 Avionics type back in the day, and when the "big one" broke out, I was on shore duty teaching avionics at the Navy's "A Schools" in Memphis (Millington), TN. My view on the war was a bit different, because I was training the young folks coming out of boot camp and sending them over there to participate. Both times I was over there was pretty sedate compared to what things were during the height of operations.
    Christopher Owens (EAA #808438, VAA #723276)
    Germantown, WI
    Bearhawk Plans #991, Bearhawk Patrol Plans #P313

  6. #16

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    My 20 was coming up, we were required to put in papers one year early. Before the time the storm started I already had the club booked for the retirement party. I called my detailer. my q, "Do I cancel and get my money back, or have the party?" his response, "let me check - your warfare specialty is antisubmarine, so, how many subs does Iraq have?" my a, "zero" and he said "great job, do you speak Farsi?" and my a, "what's Farsi?" So his advice was retire on time, beat the rush. Six months later they were dumping people short of retirement. Wow. Not like I didn't volunteer but it was a reality check to be told 20 years of experience was worthless.

  7. #17

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    I was just your average Artillery Forward Observer serving with the Infantry in the 101st.

    Loads of little stories of life in the World's Biggest Ashtray, but nothing heroic.

    Here's me back at tent city between rotations into the desert:



    135 degrees and I'm drinking coffee. Some things never change.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

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