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UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

Sea. On 30 August 1995, aircraft from Theodore

Roosevelt carried out the initial early morning strikes

that began Operation Deliberate Force, action against

Serb military targets in Bosnia.

The Dayton Accords, signed in Paris in December

1995, by the Bosnian Federation and the Bosnian

Serbs, brought a hope for peace in Bosnia-

Herzegovina. Operation Joint Endeavor enforced the

military aspects of this peace by providing a stable en-

vironment in which the civil aspects could proceed.

Operation Deny Flight, begun in 1993, then came to

an end. President Bill Clinton called up reserves to

participate in Operation Joint Endeavor.

The initial half of the 1990s marked a first for women

in the Navy. In April 1993, Secretary of Defense Les

Aspin dropped most of the restrictions that prohibited

women from engaging in aerial and naval combat. Later

in the year, Congress supported the secretary's decision

to allow women in combat by repealing the Combat

Exclusion Law. In October 1994, Dwight D. Eisenhower

became the first aircraft carrier to deploy with women

permanently assigned on board.

In the first half of the 1990s, Naval Aviation contin-

ued to adjust to changing world events, the develop-

ment of new technology and new strategies in order

to serve the Nation in peace and war.

1991

1 January HC-4 relocated its detachment from

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Hurghada, Egypt, constructed

an airhead operating site within 48 hours, and began

transporting passengers, cargo, and mail to the Red

Sea battle groups during Operation Desert Shield.

2-5 January CH-53E helicopters from Guam helped

insert Marines into the U.S. Embassy compound in

Mogadishu, Somalia, during Operation Eastern Exit,

which rescued U.S. Ambassador James K. Bishop, the

Soviet ambassador, and other foreign nationals caught

in the Somali civil war.

6 January Saratoga transited the Suez Canal en route

to the Red Sea to participate in Operation Desert Shield.

7 January Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney can-

celed the A-12 Avenger carrier-based aircraft program.

The action was based on the inability of the contrac-

tors-General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas-to

design, develop, fabricate, assemble, and test A-12 air-

craft within the contract schedule and to deliver an air-

craft that met contract requirements. This was the

largest weapons contract cancellation ever by the

Pentagon.

9 January America transited the Strait of Gibraltar

and arrived in the Mediterranean Sea, and then pre-

pared for participation in Operation Desert Shield.

12 January Congress voted 52 to 47 in the Senate

and 250 to 183 in the House on a joint resolution that

gave President George H. W. Bush the support he

sought for military action against Iraq.

12 January Ranger battle group arrived on station in

the northern Arabian Sea and participated in Operation

Desert Shield.

12 January Amphibious Group Three (with the Fifth

Marine Expeditionary Brigade embarked) arrived on

station in the Arabian Sea. Eighteen ships, including

Okinawa, Tarawa, Tripoli and New Orleans were to

join the 13-ship Amphibious Group Three, to com-

prise the largest amphibious task force since the

Korean War.

12 January Midway battle group reentered the

Persian Gulf and participated in Operation Desert

Shield.

14 January Theodore Roosevelt battle group passed

through the Suez Canal and assumed battle station in

the Red Sea.

15 January America battle group transited the Suez

Canal and arrived on station in the Red Sea.

15 January Ranger with CVW-2 on board, and her

battle group transited the Strait of Hormuz to station in

the Persian Gulf.

16 January Theodore Roosevelt transited the Bab el-

Mandeb Strait from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

16 January At 4:50 p.m. EST, a squadron of

fighter-bombers took off from an air base in central

Saudi Arabia. Targets in Iraq and Kuwait began being

hit before 7:00 p.m. EST. (It was the night of 17

January in the Middle East.) At the time, six Navy

battle groups, two battleships, and a 31-ship am-

phibious task force were operating in the Red Sea,

Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea areas. The Navy had

more than 100 ships in the area and 75,000 Navy

personnel afloat and ashore, while more than 67,000

Marines ashore comprised a Marine Expeditionary

Force and nearly 18,000 Marines embarked aboard

naval vessels brought the Marine Corps presence to

nearly 85,000.