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A little bonus for all you TLW fans out there.

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Saddam's anger, as his Presidential Secretary noted to Allied interrogators after the war, was intense. In a fury, he demanded that the Iraqi AF attempt another strike on the ships east of Kuwait Bay, as the Iraqis referred to the North SAR Station. Saddam also ordered his Defense Minister to draw up a plan for a renewed ground offensive in Kuwait, as the original offensive by the Army and Republican Guard had stalled, mainly due to Allied air interdiction of Iraqi lines of communication and dropping of a number of key bridges. The Iraqi dictator also ordered a renewed missile attack on Kuwait City, as well as Dhahran and Ad Damman in Saudi Arabia, but without chemical weapons. A meeting with the Soviet Ambassador that evening had been a tense one, as the Soviets informed Saddam that, should he strike again with chemical weapons, they had already notified the Americans that if there were additional chemical strikes, the Americans would be fully justified in a nuclear response. And that there would be no Soviet counteraction if that happened. The Iraqi leader paused, and gave the necessary orders that rescinded chemical weapons release authority, and stated that any further use would be in the hands of the Revolutionary Command Council, or RCC. The Soviet Ambassador then announced that "for reasons of safety," the Ambassador and several senior staff members were leaving by road for neutral Iran on 29 April, leaving a Charge d' Affaires to run the Embassy. The Soviet Military Advisory Group would remain in-country, and both the GRU and KGB stations would remain operational and would continue to pass on intelligence to their Iraqi counterparts. What this would mean to CVW-5 and the ships of TF-77 was that 29 April would be a very eventful day.

RADM Freeman and VADM Stan Neal, Commander of 5^th FLT in Bahrain, expected that Saddam would retaliate and made their plans accordingly. The destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) left Kitty Hawk and moved north to reinforce the SAR station, and CAP was increased from two F-14s to four at night. The close escort for the carrier would be taken over by HMS Despatch (D-43), while the frigate USS Reuben James (FFG-57) took station between the SAR station and the carrier group, along with the French frigate Surcouf (F-711). By 0300 on 29 April, every ship was in place and ready. By 0600, CVW-5 had its first strike packages on the cats, and began sending aircraft over the beach. And the Iraqis began to respond.

The initial strikes were from SCUD and FROG missiles into Kuwait City and several coastal towns south of the capital. While the SCUD launchers were in Iraq and largely untouchable (for now), the FROGs and the Iraqi derivative, the Al-Sammoud, were just behind the front lines, and ground radars in Kuwait, along with AWACS, E-2, and even AEGIS, picked up the missiles and it was easy for aircraft to be vectored in on them. The initial package, four VA-185 A-6s and four Dambuster Hornets, with the usual Prowler in support, was originally tasked to hit a newly-discovered ammo dump west of Safwan, but was retasked in the air to go after several FROG launchers north of the original target. VA-185's XO, CDR Yoshida, led the package, and found the FROG crews in the middle of reloading for a second salvo. While the Hornets went after several nearby flak batteries and an SA-13 battery, the A-6s went down on the missile trucks and reload vehicles. The Knighthawk A-6s each dumped a dozen Mark-82s on the FROG battalion, wrecking several launchers and reload vehicles, and inflicted numerous casualties. Coming off the target, a ground FAC asked if they had additional ordnance, and getting an affirmative response (each Intruder still had a pair of AGM-65s), tasked the A-6s on a tank battalion spotted moving south from Safwan. Each Intruder took their shots, and seven of eight tanks engaged ate Mavericks. The Hornets, having shed their Rockeyes against the flak sites and SA-13 vehicles, also took AGM-65 shots, killing a half dozen T-72s. This package then returned to CV-63 at 0745.

The second strike from Kitty Hawk went after a bridge west of An Nasiriyah, and again it was VA-185 that went after it. They launched at 0630, and took advantage of the already airborne Prowler from VAQ-136 and its EW support. Four A-6s, led by the Skipper, CDR Lowry, and four Dambuster Hornets, went for the bridge.

All four Intruders each had a pair of GBU-24s, and a pair of HARMs, as on BAGHDAD THUNDER, with a single AIM-9R and AIM-120 for self-defense. The four Hornets, led by the Dambusters Skipper, CDR Runyan, had flak and SAM-suppression as their tasking, and they expected to be busy. And the Dambusters were right.

Coming out of the morning sun, 185's Skipper in Knighthawk 531, with LT Dana Verell again in the right seat, led Knighthawk 535 (LT Paul Mason/LT Melissa Daniels) down on the bridge. Both A-6s targeted the northern spans of the bridge, and again, GBU-24s rained down, dropping the two northern spans. Only when the bombs hit did the Iraqi defenders realize the bridge was under attack, and the flak sites south of the bridge began sending up "heavy barrage AAA", and a nearby SA-3 site (part of Tallil AB's defenses) came up. CDR Runyan led his element down on the SAM site, putting a HARM in the air. This time, the SA-3 crew shut down, but a nearby Army-manned SA-6 battery came up almost at once. Though the HARM did explode near the SA-3's Low Blow radar, the site wasn't fully taken out, and Dambuster 408 (LTJG Craig Newsom) went down to hit it with Rockeyes. Just as he did that, the SA-6 battery came up, and launched against 408. LTJG Newsom had just released his CBUs when the SAM came up on his threat receiver, and he attempted evasive action. However, it was too late, and Dambuster 408 exploded in a fireball. No chute was seen, and this time, no SAR mission was requested. Later on, as American and Allied ground forces moved to the Euphrates, the U.S. Army's 278^th Armored Cavalry Regiment (TN NG) came across 408's wreck, and the body of LTJG Newsom was found in the wreckage.

Angry at losing another of their own, 195's Skipper led the remaining Hornets down on the SA-6 battery, and two Hornets put HARMs in the air. Both missiles struck the SA-6's Straight Flush radar track, killing it, and all three Hornets each dumped eight Rockeye CBUs onto the battery site, killing the SAM tracks, several trucks carrying reloads, and blasting the command track for good measure.

While the Hornets were busy, the two other A-6s went down on the bridge. Knighthawk 533 (LT John Collett/LT Joe Meredith) and Knighthawk 540 (LTJG Darlene Wilson/LCDR Trina Regan) went after the southern end of the bridge. Again, GBU-24s landed on the bridge, with the southernmost span going down, and the remaining spans badly damaged. After hitting the bridge, and regrouping, the A-6s and Hornets prepared to head back to the carrier and were advised to head south to Saudi and meet up with USAF tankers over the border. When they asked why, they were advised "Bandits inbound North SAR." After diverting into Saudi airspace, the package met up with the KC-135s, and after refueling, returned to CV-63. When they landed shortly after 1100, several of their fellow aviators kidded them for "missing all the excitement."

At 0830, AWACS picked up sixteen radar contacts headed for the North SAR station. This was the retaliation the IrAF had promised Saddam, although several officers, including Lt. Col. Mustafa al-Raif, CO of the 8^th Strike-Bomber Squadron and Iraq's main anti-shipping specialists, privately felt the end result would be valuable planes and crews lost for no reason. Major General Rashid Hadi, who commanded the 4^th Composite Bomber Wing, said after the war that newly-promoted General Said al-Ubadi, the new Commander of the IrAF, was so eager to please Saddam that he didn't consult with the 4^th Wing's Operations and Intelligence people, relying only on the HQ staff in Baghdad. Despite several political hacks being appointed to replace those who had been executed after the Baghdad raid, at least the mission planning had been done professionally at Air Force HQ. The problem was that the planners hadn't taken into account that the strike plan was essentially the same as that flown on the first day of the war. And both General Hadi and Colonel Raif were proven correct in their doubts.

The Iraqi package consisted of four Su-24s from the 8^th SBS, four Su-22s from the

44^th FS, and four Mirage F-1s from the 102^nd FS. The Fencers were each armed with two AS-20 Kayak ASMs, while the Fitters packed four 1100-lb bombs. The four Mirages were flying escort, and each packed two Magic and two Super 530 AAMs. Backing up the Mirages were four MiG-23MLs from the 39^th FS, with two AA-7 Apex and four AA-8 Aphid AAMs. Colonel Raif was in overall command, and he led the lead Su-24 element on the mission.

At 0835, the incoming package was picked up by both E-2 and AEGIS. This time, the Yokouska-based Fitzgerald had taken over AAW command from Mustin, as Fitzgerald's VLS launchers were full. Again, the Iraqis came in, and AEGIS, taking in the picture from both AWACS and E-2, saw the incoming strike clearly. And the CAP was coming into play.

Again, the Black Knights had the CAP this morning, with a twist: both elements were led by ace teams. The first element in Knight 106 was led by the redoubtable pair of LTs Jacqui Patterson and Debbie Bradley, with their usual wingmates in 110, Conway and Freeman. The second pair was led by Knight 111, with now-LT Paula Mobley and LT Kara Wade leading Knight 112 (flown this day by LTJG Patrick O'Gara and LTJG Darrel Simmons). And the AAW team vectored the CAP in on the intercept.

Acquiring their targets at 65 miles, Patterson and Bradley picked out the strike birds thanks to NCTR, and locked the Fencers up at 55 miles. Seeing the Iraqis continue to close in, they called "Fox 3" right after lock-on, and again, AIM-54Ds went after targets. They had targeted no. 2 and no. 4 in the Su-24 flight, and watched on TCS as the Phoenixes flew to the targets.

Colonel Raif was about to call the strike in hot when his threat warning receivers lit up with APG-71 radars, and he ordered the break. He and his WSO watched as two Phoenixes came down on his wingman and the fourth Fencer, and the strike lead was horrified to see his wingman's Su-24 be blown in half by the missile impact and slam into the Gulf. He asked the second element lead if they had seen any parachutes, and not only did they get a negative reply, but the No. 3 said that his wingman had been hit, blowing the tail off that aircraft, and the crew had ejected. Still, Colonel Raif called in hot, just as the second pair of Phoenixes came in.

Knight 110, Conway and Freeman, launched their Phoenixes at 45 miles, and they were aimed at the Su-22s. Two Fitters blew apart and fell into the Gulf, and then the MiGs and Mirages turned into the Tomcats. This cleared the way for 111 and 112 to take their shots at the strikers. Mobley and Wade in 111 took their shots at 45 miles, and they targeted the Su-22s. One Fitter took a hit and crashed, and the remaining Su-22, though damaged by a near-miss, was forced to jettison his ordnance and abort. But the two remaining Su-24s continued in, and it was time for AEGIS to take over.

Fitzgerald's AAW officer put AEGIS into Full-Auto mode at 0845, and SM-2s began coming out of the VLS launcher almost immediately. Thanks to the datalinks, Mustin, Chandler, and Ballarat were able to contribute as threats developed. Two SM-2s from Fitzgerald slammed into the second Su-24, sending him into the Gulf, and everyone in the various CICs expected the remaining Fencer to abort. To their surprise, he didn't, and two AS-20s came off the Fencer, just before two SM-2s took that plane apart.

Again, the Vampire call went out, and SM-2s took care of one missile, while the other AS-20 was overwhelmed by the massive blast of ECM from all four ships. The missile staggered away to the Southeast, and unfortunately for the Iraqis, the Indian tanker Star of Mumbai had just left Iran's main tanker terminal at Kharg Island when the Iraqi missile came in and slammed into the tanker's superstructure, killing seven crewmen and injuring six others. The Indians protested loudly, via their Ambassador in Baghdad, and when the Iraqi response was deemed lacking, the Indians pulled all but a token staff out of Baghdad. The Iranians also protested, and put their 61^st TFW at Bushehr AB on an increased alert status.

While AEGIS was taking on the Su-24s, the Tomcats were in a fight with the Mirage and MiG-23 escort birds. Knight 112 still had Phoenixes, and they took their shots at the Mirages at 35 miles. Again, two AIM-54Ds went after targets, and both Mirages were blown apart. While that was happening, Patterson and Bradley in 106 locked up two MiG-23s at 25 miles with AIM-120s and sent two Slammers out after the Floggers. Both connected, and the two MiGs fireballed and fell into the Gulf. Their wingmates in 110, Conway and Freeman, locked up the other pair of Mirages at 22 miles, killing one, and shooting their last Slammer at 17 miles, watching as the AIM-120 slammed into the Mirage's cockpit and blew it clear of the rest of the aircraft. Their four kills this morning made them officially aces, giving the Black Knights their third ace team. As for the final pair of MiG-23s, Mobley and Wade in 111 were locking them up at 20 miles when the two Floggers turned and ran for Iraqi Airspace on afterburner. As the CAP was starting to run low on fuel, they did not pursue, and they were relieved by four F-14s from VF-21.

While waiting for their relief, the Black Knights covered the SH-60s from Mustin and Chandler that went out to search for any downed Iraqi airmen. Only one live survivor was found, though four bodies were also recovered. The survivor was a prize catch: Lt. Colonel Mustafa Raif of the 8^th SBS. The Colonel was flown to Mustin, where he was checked for any injuries, and then choppered over to Kitty Hawk for what CDR Rendino, TF-77's Intelligence Officer, put it, "an extended Q&A session." While initially angry about being questioned by a woman, Colonel Raif was more angry with the IrAF leadership, and with Saddam himself. He asked CDR Rendino how many Iraqi aircraft had been destroyed that morning, and when she told him, he replied, "All those pilots are dead because of one man and his zeal for revenge," meaning Saddam. Colonel Raif was also asked about the reaction to both the H-2 strike and the Baghdad mission. He blasted the Iraqi leadership for not considering the possibility that there would be retaliation for Iraq's use of chemical weapons, and those who told the leadership that there would be no consequences for such use. As for BAGHDAD THUNDER, while feeling that the Iraqi AF and ADC could've done more to make the raid more costly, he praised the bravery of the aircrews who had flown the mission, and regretted that he hadn't been able to fly a similar mission-over Tehran. The four bodies recovered along with Colonel Raif were checked over for any items of intelligence value, and accorded honors burial at sea.

The morning had been as what RADM Freeman had expected, and the Iraqis hadn't disappointed him. The ground offensive demanded by Saddam had kicked off again, with III Corps sending two mechanized divisions and an armored brigade to try and take Ali Al Salem AB in Central Kuwait. Fortunately for the Allies, the various Kuwaiti and USAF squadrons based there had redeployed to Kuwait IAP after the base came within range of Iraqi artillery and MRL fire, and the defenders of the base, the 35^th Armored Brigade, had priority of air and artillery support, and the 2^nd Brigade of the 40^th ID(M) had just become operational, and tied in with 1^st Brigade on the Kuwaiti left. The Kuwaiti 35^th had been honored to go to the U.S. Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA the previous year, and had learned just exactly how to take on Soviet-style armored forces, and win. The Iraqi III Corps attack ran into a hornet's nest of dug-in infantry, M-1A2 Abrams tanks, and a swarm of Allied aircraft, waiting to pounce on the Iraqis as they came towards the base in full attack formation.

CVW-5 sent several packages in support of the 35^th, guided in by U.S, British, and Kuwaiti FACs on the ground, along with USAF OA-10s in the air. The first package, led by VFA-192's CO, CDR Phil Hutton., consisted of four Golden Dragon Hornets and four VA-115 Intruders, led by the XO, LCDR Wiser. They arrived on-scene shortly after 1030, just as the Kuwaitis made their first air support requests. The package had been originally tasked to go north towards Safwan, but was redirected west towards the air base. Seeing a brigade of the Iraqi 1^st Mechanized Division in attack formation was too good a target to pass up, and the Hornets and Intruders went down on the armor. While the Dragon Hornets went after the SA-9s and ZSU-23s of the brigade's ADA, the A-6s came down on a mechanized battalion as it was approaching the Northwest side of the base. All four Intruders dumped sixteen Rockeyes on the BTR-60 APCs and T-62 tanks, and were rewarded with numerous fireballs as the submunitions impacted the thin top armor of the tanks and APCs. Other vehicles were disabled by the Rockeyes, and became easy targets for the Kuwaiti tankers on the ground, who picked off disabled tanks and APCs with ease. Coming off target, a U.S. Army Green Beret called in and asked if the aircraft still had any remaining ordnance. The Intruders were Winchester, but two Hornets still had AGM-65s remaining. Both Hornets went down at the Green Beret's request on where several command tracks appeared to be parked, and the two Hornets each fired their remaining Maverick into a command vehicle, killing them in oily fireballs. This package recovered at 1130 without losses, and the crews wondering who had been in the command tracks. Later on, a captured Iraqi officer revealed that the brigade's CO and his staff had been in those tracks, and while the CO had escaped, two of the staff tracks did not, and their occupants had all been killed. This did disorganize the attackers, and while a battalion of T-62s did penetrate the north side of the base, a company of Kuwaiti M-1A2s counterattacked, and the American-trained Kuwaitis annihilated the attackers in ten furious minutes.

In between CVW-5's strikes, the hapless Iraqis were being pounced upon by USAF and Kuwaiti AF aircraft, and by Kuwaiti AH-64D Apaches. While most packages came in and off target without loss, a late afternoon mission was one that VFA-192 would rather forget, as it resulted in the first squadron CO to die in the war for CVW-5.

This final package of the afternoon was tasked against divisional artillery northwest of the air base, and CDR Hutton led four 192 Hornets and four Eagle Intruders after the guns. This time, there were SA-6s in the area, and a VAQ-136 Prowler accompanied the strikers in to jam, and if necessary HARM, the Iraqi radars. CDR Hutton in Dragon 301 led his Hornets down on the SA-6s, while LCDR Wiser led the A-6s down on the SO-152 SP guns and their ammo tracks.

As CDR Hutton went down on a SA-6 battery, the 192 Skipper heard a SAM call, and his wingman, LT Eric Blair in 306, saw the SA-6 come up after the Skipper's bird. He called for the Skipper to break right, while he (and as it turned out, the Prowler) fired a HARM at the SA-6 radar. However, it was too late, and Dragon 401 took a hit and exploded. The Hornet fireballed, and crashed into the desert floor. There was no chute and no beeper, and in any event, the threat was too high to call in the CSAR people. After the Allied counterattack, Kuwaiti troops found 301's wreckage, and after USAF personnel arrived to assist, found CDR Hutton's body.

This time, it was the Golden Dragons who were angry, and LT Brad Whitfield led the remaining Hornets down on the SA-6 battery. The HARMs had killed the Straight Flush radar just after 301 was hit, and the Dragons followed up with Rockeye CBUs and Mark-82 500-lb bombs, wrecking the battery. As the 192 flight was dealing with the SAM site, LCDR Wiser led the four Eagle Intruders in on the SP guns and their ammo tracks, with AGM-65s being employed on the first pass to kill six guns and two battery command tracks, while on the second pass the Rockeyes exploded a number of ammo trucks and several additional SO-122s.

After the package returned to CV-63 at 1750, CDR Hutton was officially declared MIA, and CDR Colleen "ChinaB" McMurphy, the Golden Dragons' XO, assumed command of the squadron.

That night, the USAF handled CENTAF's night schedule, but there were still SUCAP flights by both Eagle and Knighthawk A-6s. RADM Freeman and CDR Rendino expected the Iraqi Navy to try again for the North SAR Station, and both of them were proven correct at 2130, when a Hawkeye detected two surface contacts coming out of the Shatt al-Arab waterway and headed for the SAR station. All four ships on the station picked up the Hawkeye datalink, and went to General Quarters as soon as the contacts appeared. Knighthawk 540 (LTJG Darlene Wilson/LCDR Trina Regan) was vectored in on the contacts, and discovered on their FLIR an Osa-II class FAC, and a Tarrantul-I FAC inbound to the SAR station.

Pulling up and away, Wilson moved into an attack position, while Regan locked the Osa, which happened to be the closest vessel, on the TRAM's laser designator, and fired an AGM-123 Skipper-II laser missile. The Skipper-II guided straight and true, and the Osa "went up like Mount St. Helens", in a cloud of smoke, fire, and debris. Ignoring the demise of its companion FAC, the Tarrantul continued to close in on the ships. This led the SAR station's Antisurface Warfare Commander on Mustin to order the helos spooled up, but Chandler and Ballarat jumped the gun, with both ships launching a pair of Harpoons at the FAC at 2140. Four Harpoons went after the hapless FAC, and the Iraqis tried spraying 76-mm and 30-mm gunfire at the incoming missiles, while firing their own SS-N-2s back down the bearing of the incoming weapons. Three of the four Harpoons slammed into the Tarrantul, ripping it apart in a huge explosion, and eventually sending her to the bottom. The four Styx missiles were engaged by both Fitzgerald and Mustin AEGIS systems, and none found a target. Both Chandler and Ballarat launched their helos to search for any survivors, but both returned empty-handed. Some sixty Iraqi sailors died that night, as the Iraqis demonstrated again that they could lose ships and men to no gain against much more capable surface ships, backed up by naval aircraft.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and aircrew were awakened at 0400 as usual on the morning of 30 April. Another busy day over Kuwait and Southern Iraq was on the agenda, but some were getting the feeling that the Iraqis had passed their high-water mark, but another two days would pass before that feeling would become common in the Gulf Region.

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