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The Dragon Lady Meets the Challenge The U-2 in Desert Storm

Chronology

19 June 1961 	Kuwait declared free and independent.
March 1973 	Iraqi troops occupied As Samitah, a border town in
			northeast Kuwait. 
February 1979 	Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini
			overthrows the shah and takes control of Iran.
16 July 1979 	Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq and
			commander of the military.
22 Sept 1980	 Without warning, Iraqi jet fighters strike Iranian
			airfields near Teheran and other bases throughout
			the country. This begins the Iraq-Iran war.
August 1988 	End of Iraq-Iran war.
1990
July 		Saddam accuses Kuwait of ruining Iraq's economy
			demands Kuwait lease 8ubiyan and Warbah to Iraq and
			forgive the billions in war loans. To emphasize
			his demands, Saddam moved about 100,000 troops to
			the Kuwaiti border.
2 August 		Iraqi Republican Guard divisions cross the border
			and captures Kuwait. JCS alerts CENTCOM, TAC, MAC,
			and SAC to prepare to deploy forces.
4 August 		President Bush meets with General H. Norman
			Schwarzkopf and Lieutenant General Charles A.
			Horner to discuss the Iraqi invasion.
6 August 		UN Resolution 661 calls for restoration of Kuwaiti
			sovereignty, independence, and territorial
			integrity, and for an embargo on Iraq. Secretary
			of Defense Cheney, General Schwarzkopf, and General
			Homer arrive in Saudi Arabia to talk with King
			Fahd.
6 August 		King Fahd asks the United States to send forces to
			Saudi Arabia to help defend his nation from
			possible attack.
6 August 		The 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB,
			California has been alerted for possible deployment
			to the Middle East.
7 August 		President Bush orders U.S. forces to deploy to
			Saudi Arabia. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
			Staff orders two U-2s deploy ASAP.
8 August 		An eight-person advance U-2 site survey team, led
			by Lieutenant Colonel Bruce L. Liebman, departed
			for Saudi Arabia.
11 August 		Advance U-2 element arrives at Jeddah.
11 August 		MAC C-5s, supplemented by SAC KC-lOs, arrived at
			Beale to carry U-2s and related people and
			equipment to Saudi Arabia. 
13 August 		The site survey team arrives at Taif, in time to
			meet the first KC-10 carrying a load of people and
			equipment from Beale.
13 August 		The SENIOR BLADE van arrives at Riyahd, Saudi
			Arabia.
17 			August First two U-2s arrive at Taif.
19 August 		Lieutenant Colonel Lafferty arrived at CENTAF
			Headquarters at Riyadh.
19 August 		OL-CH launched its first two OLYMPIC FLARE sorties.
22 August 		48th Tactical Fighter Wing's F-llls arrived at
			Taif.
23 August 		First two TR-ls arrive at Taif.
29 August 		First operation ASARS mission in theater.
September 		The Defense Intelligence Agency and the Air Force
			Intelligence Directorate asked if the MIPE could
			deploy to Southwest Asia.
14 September 	The first incident of Iraqi fighters harassing U-2.
October 		17th SRW at RAF Alconbury begins phase inspections
			for 1704RS aircraft.
18 October 		UN announces that military action to free Kuwait
			would be legitimate if sanctions fail.
1 November 	The buildup of coalition forces reached 243,000.
8 November 	President Bush orders another 200,000 troops to the
			Persian Gulf.
29 November 	UN votes to use force against Iraq unless that
			country complies with all previous UN resolutions
			by 15 January 1991.
19 December 	The mobile intelligence processing element (MIPE)
			moved to Riyadh.
31 December 	The first U-2 IRIS-III mission. MIPE personnel
			processed the film on 1 January 1991.
			1991
2 January 		Lieutenant Colonel Spencer deployed from the
			Pentagon's Joint Reconnaissance Center to the
			CENTCOM/J-2 in Riyadh.
9 January 		Talks between Secretary of State Baker and Iraqi
			Foreign Minister Aziz fail to reach a peace
			solution to Persian Gulf crisis.
15 January 		Deadline for Iraqi compliance with all UN
			resolutions.
15 January 		1704RS personnel moved into tents on base to
			prevent possible terrorist attacks.
15 January 		President Bush authorizes military action against
			Iraq.
16 January 		Military action begins at 2339Z.
17 January 		Flying aircraft 1076 with a SYERS sensor on-board,
			Major B. L. Bachus flies the first U-2 "border-
			crossing" mission into Iraq.
18 January		The "Great Scud Hunt" begins.
19 January 		General Horner makes finding and destroying Scuds
			his primary target.
22 January 		Iraqi forces set fires at Ruwaiti refineries and at
			the al-Wafra oilfields.
25 January 		Iraq releases millions of gallons of crude oil into
			the Persian Gulf.
February 		A second Senior Blade van (dubbed son-of-Blade)
			deploys to King Khalid Military City.
24 February 	The coalition invasion of Kuwait and Iraq begins at
			0100Z.
27 February 	President Bush declares "Kuwait is liberated" and
			"Iraq's Army is defeated."
28 February 	The cease-fire goes into effect at 0500Z.
October 1991 	The TR-1 was redesignated U-2R.

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The Dragon Lady Meets the Challenge The U-2 in Desert Storm