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 Too Big For C-17
We carried equipment that wouldn't fit in a C-17, items like radar and communications equipment. With the items we brought in, Baghdad went from a beat-up base to an international airport again, particularly in terms of radar coverage, in just one or two weeks. After the initial set of seven missions, the airport had radar for air operations. We had no approaches to fly on the first mission. We had a validated instrument approach by the last mission. We flew one or two missions a day and were done in four days.
— Lt. Col. Don Gresham
Better With Time
We were flying our P-3Cs 24/7 for about two weeks prior to the war to provide battlespace assessment of the Iraqi border. We had one aircraft on station with the battle group in the Arabian Gulf and one flying the Kuwait/Iraq border. The planes held up very well. The more you fly them, the better they work.
— Lt. Cmdr. Chris Saindon
 Well-Timed Display
I saw a bomb explode in the distance on the ground to my left. I checked my time-on-target card and counted down from three. Consistent with the card, a bomb exploded on a target off to the left. Being able to tell exactly when bombs would go off was a wild and amazing display of what this country and our allies can do.
— Lt. (j.g.) Thomas Louden
Getting There And Back
F-117s went from Holloman to Langley [AFB, Virginia] to Moron [Spain] to al Ueidid Air Base in Qatar. I was part of the ADVON team that left on 30 January about two or three weeks before the jets showed up. This was my first time to deploy with the F-117. We took several C-17s and C-141s to get material over. Seven C-5s were needed to get everything back to the United States.
— Amn. Brandon Wannarka
Changing Weapons
The conflict progressed quickly. The Army moved north fast. The changing nature of the threats determined what we carried. We substituted CBU-103s for HARMs on the third day of fighting.
— Maj. Boris Armstrong
Chicken Transport
We tried to help the Army guys and Marines on the ground. We crammed as much mail and meals in as we could. We take these things for granted, but they are critical to the guys on the ground. We bought them buckets of fried chicken from Popeye's or steaks from the base exchange. Those guys were so thankful.
— Capt. Paul Szweda
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