Sixteen years ago – where were you?

Sixteen years ago, I was an F-16 crew chief, out at the de-arm end of the runway in Doha, Qatar, as the NCOIC of our squadron’s aircraft decontamination team.

Less than twelve hours before the President had said: “The liberation of Kuwait has begun. In conjunction with the forces of our coalition partners, the United States has moved under the code name Operation Desert Storm.”

Our F-16’s had launched out several hours before, and were due back within the hour. We were suiting up in our chem gear, ready to inspect the acft on their return, hoping that we wouldn’t find signs of chemical weapons residue. Everyone was quiet as we waited, wondering how the mission was going as we sat in the back of our truck ‘Decon 1’, listening to reports on the war from the BBC on my little SONY shortwave radio…

For more Gulf War F-16 discussion, please see the Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm (F-16 Combat History) thread at: http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-5437.html

3.7 million pounds of ordinance, 1303 sorties, 42 days. The ‘Forgotten 1000’.
Visit the Lucky Devils in the Gulf War at: http://www.lucky-devils.net

Mike Kopack
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F-16A/B/C/D GE and P&W Crew Chief and Phased Maint.
56TTW/63TFTS MacDill AFB
401TFW/614TFS Torrejon AB, Doha Qatar