Desert Storm 25th Anniversary: Part 3 – Operation Desert Storm Published Jan. 19, 2016 By Senior Airman Sean D. Smith Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Though some controversy surrounds the American justification for direct military intervention, the U.S. coalition in support of Saudi Arabia made its opening moves on Jan. 17, 1991. In the earliest moments of Desert Storm, the focus was on airstrikes, largely under the command of Air Force General Chuck Horner. Sorties were flown from Saudi Arabia and from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. The goal was to reduce Iraq's military capabilities to soften it for a ground attack. The air campaign prioritized the Iraqi Air Force, and more than 80,000 tons of bombs were used destroying Iraq's infrastructure. The air component of the operation had three phases. First, Iraq's Air Force and anti-aircraft weapons were targeted, then key targets were destroyed to inhibit communications, disrupting the Iraqi military response. Finally, coalition air forces searched out and destroyed strategically meaningful weapons, such as R-series ballistic missiles, a powerful Soviet weapon system best-known as "Scud," which Saddam Hussein used to great effect. Ground attack aircraft such as the A-10 Warthog and F-117 Nighthawk played a large role during the air campaign, and Iraqi defenses were relatively ineffective. Coalition losses were small, but Saddam threatened to launch missile attacks if Iraq was invaded -- and now it was being invaded. Saddam made good on his promise. The war lasted about seven weeks, and Iraq launched ballistic missiles at targets in Saudi Arabia and Israel the whole time, hoping to force Israel to join the fight, reasoning that many coalition members would walk away rather than work alongside Israel. The plan might have worked, but the United States pressured Israel to back down. Though the Israelis had agreed not to attack, they were still getting hit with missiles, and it had become the coalition's responsibility, or that of the United States, to make the missile attacks stop. Otherwise Israel would retaliate, and the coalition would fall apart. To protect Israel, the United States provided Patriot missiles and artillery defenses. Though at the time the Patriot missile was widely-praised, it was not actually effective, and succeeded in intercepting only a small number of attacks. To compensate, coalition forces dedicated considerable aircraft to searching out and destroying Scud missiles. One Scud attack hit an American Army barracks in Saudi Arabia, killing 28 soldiers. Solid strategy and general military superiority made the ground campaign relatively easy. Coalition air forces had already eliminated much of Iraq's resistance, and coalition forces used GPS technology, then relatively new, to outmaneuver enemy forces. The Kuwaiti military liberated Kuwait City, and after several days of fighting, Iraqi forces were in retreat, heading back for the Iraqi border. Next time: Operation Desert Saber