European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                If l@c1 vv4 an f-15c Eagle out of Pitburg a Germany Rolls on the runway at Al Harjab saudi Arabia during the persian Gulf War. Desert storm from the cover an f-16 fighter Squadron during the War and is now 86th operations group commander at Ramstein a Germany. They were stopped in their place and then it be came a matter of who could outlast who Wright adds. We just had the Money and resources to sus Tain a level of Effort that Iraq could t match. At the persian Gulf War s Onset the Aerial Pound ing punctuated by precision laser guided bombs enabled the allies to gain air superiority de stroy Iraq s strategic capability and disrupt com Mand and control operations a wide array of ., British French and saudi arabian aircraft took part in the initial Waves with the  Shouldering most of the Load. . Aircraft used in the attack included the air Force s f-117 stealth fighter f-15c eagles f-15e strike eagles f-16 fighting Falcons Al 11 aardvarks b-52 Strat fortresses ef-111 Ravens and the f-4g phantom us More commonly known As the wild weasel. The Navy employed f-14 tomcats f/a-18 hornets a-6e intruders and a 6b prowlers. The six week air Campaign worked to near Perfec Tion. By All standards of modern warfare coalition aircraft losses were astoundingly Low Given that the allies flew 110,000 attack sorties. The allies lost 31 fixed Wing aircraft in combat with another eight lost in noncombat mishaps. Twenty seven of the losses , aircraft. The air Campaign ushered in a new Era in warfare. The number of casualties was considerably reduced by american technology that made it possible to drop so called smart bombs with pinpoint Preci Sion Down air shafts underground bunkers and into populated areas. The bombs minimized civilian casualties and damage while crippling Saddam s War machine prior to the rapid and successful ground offensive. In interviews with sever european based pilots Bruce Wright o v is John Bomor f-15 Pilot Dean Powell says that leading up to de Sert storm we were All excited in an Odd. Way and aircraft maintainers most figured that at some Point during desert shield Saddam would pull out of Kuwait. The airmen had been sent to the Gulf in reaction to Iraq s aug. 2,1990, invasion of Kuwait and they knew All about the United nations dead Lin for Iraq s withdrawal Jan. 1 5. Saddam did t Budge so president Bush turned desert shield into desert storm. When War broke out emotions of american air men on the scene ran the Gamut from enthusiasm to exhaustion to fear. I do think about it says capt. Bruce Benyshek an f-4g Pilot stationed at Span Dahlem a Ger Many. For me i Learned a lot. I Learned a lot about flying about tactics but most of All i Learned a lot about myself. I Learned How to overcome fear for Benyshek 35, and other f-4g personnel As signed to the 81st fighter so the commitment to the persian Gulf Region continued Long after the War. F 4gs, which Hunt and destroy enemy radar and anti aircraft defences stayed behind in support of other operations such As provide Comfort and Southern watch. Crews and aircraft would rotate in and out of is John Bohme while Bruce Benyshek Waits Paul Gregory leaves their f-4g at Span Dahlem a Germany. The Region every couple of months. The deployment ended a couple of weeks ago when the last of Span Dahlem s f-4gs landed on a wind swept runway. Benyshek of san Lorenzo Calif and maj Paul Gregory an electronic warfare officer from Kingsport tenn., were in one of the planes. Both had deployed to Shaikh Isaab Bahrain for the War. Their most indelible War memories Are of the first Day. There was a weird feeling in the pit of my Stom Ach and it intensified the closer we got to the first combat Mission recalls Gregory. Gregory Benyshek and the other f-4g Crew Mem Bers Learned during a 2 . Briefing on Jan. 16 that they would Fly into Battle. Three years later upon being greeted at Span Dahlem by his wife Kather Ine and 15-year-old son Paul Gregory recalls How he looked around the briefing room and into the faces of his comrades. Their expressions varied but All were silent. Some hands Shook with anxiety. We knew something was going to happen Greg page4 sunday january 16, 1994