1991-Continued
16 January President George H. W. Bush addressed
the nation at 9:00 p.m. EST and announced that the
liberation of Kuwait from Iraq, Operation Desert
Storm, had begun.
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A P-3C over the Arabian desert dwjng Operation Desert Storm.
17 January Over 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles
were launched at preprogrammed targets by nine U.S.
Navy ships in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and
Red Sea. This was the start of Operation Desert Storm
and the first combat launch of the Tomahawk missile.
The Navy launched 228 combat sorties from John F
Kennedy, Saratoga, and America in the Red Sea;
Midway and Ranger in the Persian Gulf; and
Theordore Roosevelt en route to the Persian Gulf.
17 January An F/A-18C from Saratoga's VFA-81 was
shot down by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile. Pilot
Lieutenant Commander Michael Speicher became the
first American casualty of the Persian Gulf War.
17 January At 7:15 p.m. EST (2: 15 a.m. local time),
an estimated eight Iraqi Scud missiles attacked the
Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, causing property
damage. The Pentagon announced that stationary Scud
sites in Iraq had been destroyed and the mobile sites
were being sought out. The U.S. was also preparing to
send additional Patriot antimissile batteries to Israel.
17 January F/ A-18Cs piloted by Lieutenant
Commander Mark Fox and Lieutenant Nick Mongillo
of VFA-81, assigned to Saratoga, each shot down a
MiG-21. They were the first-ever aerial victories for
the Hornet.
18 January Navy lost two additional aircraft, both A-
6s. The crewmen, Lieutenants Jeffrey Zaun and Robert
Wetzel of Saratoga's VA-35 and Lieutenants Charles
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
371
Turner and William Costen of Ranger's VA-155 were
first reported missing and later as announced as being
prisoners of war.
18 January A Marine Corps OV-lOA observation air-
craft was shot down by Iraqi forces. Lieutenant Colonel
William R. Acree and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Guy
Hunter of VMO-2 were both captured.
18 January Nicholas' HSL-44 (Det 8) SH-60Bs pro-
vided air targeting while a Kuwaiti patrol boat, two
Army helicopter gunships, and Nicholas (FFG 47) en-
gaged and neutralized Iraqi forces on nine oil plat-
forms in the Durrah oil field. The Iraqi forces were
manning antiaircraft artillery sites on the platforms.
This was the first combined helicopter, missile, and
surface ship gun engagement of the war and resulted
in the destruction of the positions and capture of the
first Iraqi prisoners of wars.
19 January Theodore Roosevelt and her battle group
transited the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian
Gulf.
19 January The first combat use of SLAM occurred
when launched from A-6 Intruders and A-7 Corsair IIs
based aboard John F Kennedy and Saratoga.
20 January Iraqi television broadcast ran what it
claimed were interviews with three U.S. and four Allied
military airmen shot down in the war in the Persian
Gulf. The U.S. State Department called the Iraqi charge
d'affaires in Washington to protest that the broadcast
was contrary to the Third Geneva Convention govern-
ing treatment of prisoners of war and to demand that
any prisoners be given immediate access to representa-
tives of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
the internationally recognized overseer of the conven-
tion. The tapes were shown on U.S. television the fol-
lowing day.
20 January Department of Defense announced that
an Iraqi artillery battery was destroyed by a Navy A-6
and an Air Force A-lO aircraft.
21 January President George H. W. Bush signed an
executive order designating the Arabian Peninsula
areas, airspace, and adjacent waters as a combat zone.
21 January An F-14 was downed by a surface-to-air
missile over Iraq. Pilot Lieutenant Devon Jones and
Radar Intercept Officer Lieutenant Lawrence Slade of
Saratoga's VF-103 were reported missing. Lieutenant
Jones was recovered the following day, but Slade was
captured as a prisoner of war.
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