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.