European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 17, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3a last Hurrah Worth remembering401st in Spain notched Niche in War history by David Tarrant staff writer Torrejon a Spain a six months ago maj. Gary Scott climbed into the cockpit of his f-16 at in Ciurlik a Turkey and flew More than 500 Miles to drop bombs on enemy targets in Northern Iraq. To the South at an air base in Qatar maj. Emmett Tullia gave the thumbs up sign to his Crew chief and streaked off in his Jet fighter to attack enemy targets in Southern Iraq. Whether in the mountains of Turkey or the deserts of the Mideast these officers and other personnel from Torrejon a were in the thick of the persian Gulf War. But in the summer of 1990, War  have been further from their minds. As August began the biggest Issue at Torrejon a was the pending departure of the 401st tac fighter Wing from Spain in 1992 As part of a joint  agreement. The Wing was gearing Down for the deactivation of its three fighter squadrons when Iraq invaded the tiny Oil Rich nation of Kuwait on aug. 2. Soon Torrejon was gearing up for the biggest Mission in its history. From that Day and on through March in searing conditions and choking dust of Turkey and the arabian Peninsula Torrejon based units were heavily involved in operations desert shield and storm from the North and South. When president Bush decided to Send a Force to saudi Arabia it did no to take Long for the 401st and its Force of f-16s to get a Call. It soon became the 401st tac fighter Wing deployed with the deployment of the 614th tac fighter so to the tiny Arab emirate of Qatar in late August As part of a counter strike Force. Shortly afterwards the 401st�?Ts 612th tac fighter so went to Turkey a at first merely in support of display determination a nato exercise in the Mediterranean. For a while it All seemed to the f-16 fighter pilots like a Good training Mission. Based on the outskirts of Doha the capital of Qatar the 614th flew with Canadian Cf-18s, As Well As the qatari air Force whose French made Mirage of is were the same models used by the iraqis. A we were just getting better prepared. It was like Maple Flag and red Flag rolled into one a said Tullia referring to two major training exercises. Occasionally they would talk about War. But it still seemed a Remote possibility. A we thought that with All of the expense and time involved in the operation that something might happen a Tullia said. A but for the time being we were just having fun  the 612th, which was supporting the nato exercise in Turkey had its deployment extended again and again. Tif quota Quot Wea ways said wifi Fht like we train and that s whal. Is  this time when they were shooting triple a. You to Tom see it a maj Emmett Tullia but in Ciurlik a in Turkey is one of the designated Forward operating locations for the 401st, and eventually it became Clear that a Short stint of temporary duty would soon turn into operation proven Force. With the Start of the War the goals of the Turkey based talk Force were to freeze iraqi air and ground forces in the North so they could not turn them against coalition forces to the South and also to deny a Safe Haven for iraqi forces in the North. A we wanted to keep the pressure up and not let them feel they had a place to hide a said it. Col. Don Jones operations officer with the 612th during the War and currently Squadron commander. Flying in Large formations the primary targets of proven Force included air defense systems and chemical weapons production plants. Eventually they were sent to take out several suspected scud missile Sites. Operation proven Force was operation Surprise to the iraqis. A i done to think they were expecting an attack from that direction a Jones said. The iraqis however were More than prepared for the coalitions air forces in the South. Still Tulliao a first impression of combat was How similar it was to training. A we always said we fight like we train and that a what we did a he said. A except this time when they were shooting triple Ayou could see it a lie said referring to anti aircraft artillery. There Wasny to much resistance from the iraqis until they went into Baghdad during a daytime bombing Mission Jan. 19. There were so Many surface to air missile Sam Sites around the iraqi capital they  All be listed on a map. As the pilots rolled into Baghdad they saw a thick carpet of anti aircraft artillery smoke at 11,000 feet Tullia said. That Day the iraqis shot Down two pilots from the 614th. Maj. Jeff Tice and capt. Mike Roberts were both captured. Tullia earned his nickname a a Dodge by narrowly avoiding a similar Fate. Just after dropping his bomb on an Oil refinery Tullia saw a Sam coming toward him. A Pooh boy a he recalled thinking. A this is going to be a close  Tullia did a barrel Roll and watched the Sam shoot past the Point where he had just been. A that Shook me up a Little a Tullia said. A but there was another one right behind me so i  realty Ponder the meaning of life at that  Sams were also the primary threat facing the pilots from the North. A i never saw any iraqi planes a said capt Thomas Moore the Mission commander on several raids. A your biggest threat ended up being triple a from  so if the iraqis  come out they would just have to Root them out Moore said. The coalition began systematically destroying the airfields anti aircraft artillery Sites ammunition dumps and hardened bunkers sheltering iraqi jets. By Jan. 30, two weeks after the air War began Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf declared Allied air supremacy. The overpowering air Victory still amazes Moore. Even More amazing was the fact that the 612th lost no planes in combat and Only one to engine failure. A i thought wed have losses. That there Wasny to was just great a he said. Scott of the 612th, said the pilots could not figure out Why the iraqi air Force did no to come out to fight. A a lot of us we re saying a come on. Come on. Give me your Best shot a a he said. The two fighter squadrons returned to Torrejon in March. Once again the base i preparing for the deactivation of its fighter squadrons. The 613th deactivated in june. The 6.12lh is scheduled for deactivation in september and the 614th in december. Both units arc up for outstanding unit awards for their performances during the War. In the meantime the training that paid off in the War has taken on a new significance Jones said. A from a supervisors standpoint there is a big concern about mental letdown. You be survived the War so you think you re invincible. Our big Job now is to reorient everybody a he said. A the threats not gone. In some cases its increased. We have to think about attention to  but the memory of the War that began six months ago still lingers like a Trail of exhaust from a departing Jet. A life goes on a Scott said. A once we got Hack there was a Little bit of a mental letdown at first. Here nobody a shooting at you  seeks Arab War against West in Gulf Beirut Lebanon up a Libya has called on arabs to wage a War against the Western presence in the persian Gulf in retaliation for . Warnings that Washington would strike iraqis nuclear Sites unless it cooperated More closely with . Inspectors. A the arabs should resort to the last option waging a popular War against the foreign forces occupying their land to retain their dignity and restore their rights a said a lengthy editorial carried by the official libyan news Agency Jana monitored in Beirut. A threats to launch a military operation against Iraq on the pretext that it conceals nuclear weapons would constitute a hostile aggression against All the arabs in order to terrorize humiliate and oppress them a said the news Agency which reflects the thinking of the libyan leadership. Libyan Leader col. Moa mar Qadhafi last week threatened to Cut off diplomatic ties if Ankara allowed . Bombers to strike at Iraq from turkish soil. The statement from Libya which five years ago was the target of a . Bombing raid for allegedly supporting ant Western terrorism was the strongest yet made by an Arab state in support of Iraq. Even Libya had condemned iraqis aug. 2,1990, invasion of Kuwait. The Call for a popular War came weeks after both the United states and Britain rebuffed the libyan leaders overtures to restore ties. The Tripoli government needs Western technology to exploit its Oil resources. Both Washington and London have however expressed reluctance to Deal with Qadhafi while there is still evidence that he supports terrorism. Jana said that despite the period of time that has passed since the liberation of Kuwait Allied warships were still patrolling the Gulf. A Iraq on sunday officially petitioned the Cairo based Arab league to hold an emergency session of foreign ministers to discuss what it described As the renewed . Threats. But the 21-member organization which condemned the iraqi invasion of Kuwait refrained from giving Iraq an immediate  prime minister Calls . Attack a probability by the new York times Baghdad Iraq a iraqis prime minister declared monday that a new . Attack on his country was a a probability despite what he called Baghdad a full compliance with . Terms for ending the persian Gulf War. Speaking a Day after president Bush and president Francois Mitterrand of France threatened military action should Iraq persist in developing nuclear arms the prime minister Saadoun Hamadi said Iraq was ready to provide the United nations with whatever additional information it wants about the country a Clandestine nuclear weapons program. But at a Baghdad news conference he avoided any firm Assurance that the new list of secret nuclear installations that Iraq gave to the United nations on sunday covers All undisclosed nuclear operations left in the country. Instead he said the reason Iraq has now submitted three inventories of its secret nuclear installations Over the last four months is that the government misunderstood what the Security Council was asking it to declare. A we answered their demands As we understood them and when the differences were explained we gave More information a he said. As he spoke the iraqi press Agency reported that president Saddam Hussein had asked the Arab league or Egypt to Send a team to verify that Iraq has disclosed All its weapons of mass destruction As required by the Security councils terms for ending the War. Saddam issued this invitation after receiving a letter from president Hosni Mubarak of Egypt delivered three Days ago by Yasser Arafat chairman of the Palestine liberation organization. Mubarak warned Saddam of growing Western anger Over his failure to declare All his nuclear installations to the United nations promptly and accurately