20 years later: Former Gulf War POW, current Ohio Air National Guard member remembers captivity

Army 1st Lt. Kimberly Snow

Ohio National Guard

COLUMBUS, Ohio (6/24/11) — The Air Force colonel in the olive drab flight suit picks up a remote control lying on his desk, aims it at the television mounted to his office wall and pushes play.

The screen flickers on to a crude black and white video overlaid with numbers and symbols — some fixed to the screen, others tilting with the horizon. A man's breathing, raspy and ragged, pours from the speakers. On the screen, from this bird's-eye view, jets careen through a morbid and magnificent fireworks display as roman candles and bottle rockets race up from below. The horizon tilts sharply as just ahead, a rocket finds its target. "Stroke One took a hit! Stroke One took a hit!" says an adrenaline-laced voice that transports the colonel in the flight suit back 20 years into the cockpit of his F-16 fighter jet. A moment later, another missile finds its mark.

"That's me getting shot," the colonel says softly, matter-of-factly. He continues watching, his tone even, his piercing glacier-blue eyes impassive and calmly describes the action unfolding on screen.

Air Force Capt. Mike Roberts arrived at his new duty station at U.S. Air Base Torrejon, near Madrid, Spain, in June 1990, with his pregnant wife and two stepchildren, 14 and 10 years old, in tow.

Assigned to the 614th Tactical Fighter Squadron there, he had been training for the unit's nuclear alert mission for about two months when on Aug. 2, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's military forces invaded Kuwait — Iraq's oil-rich neighbor to the south — and his mission abruptly changed.

By the end of August, Roberts' squadron had deployed to Qatar, and after tying up some loose ends at Torrejon, he joined them in the beginning of October.

The squadron spent the fall patrolling and defending Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq and conducting training missions to prepare for what appeared to be almost certain war with Iraq. Although the U.S. and Soviet Union were nearing the end of their Cold War, the rivalry had long shaped how the American military trained for war.

"We had always thought that the next war was going to be in Germany in the Fulda Gap and everything would be low altitude, trying to stay below the Soviet SAMs [surface-to-air missiles] and Soviet radar. That was how the Air Force was built. That was our training program," Roberts said. "When we got to the desert, we recognized that the real threat down low was going to be triple-A [anti-aircraft artillery], just a huge mass of triple-A that they had."

With a relatively short amount of time to adapt, they immediately adjusted their training to prepare for this new reality. They began incorporating high-altitude release bombs and medium-altitude ingress plans at about 20,000 feet, as opposed to the low-altitude — about 500 feet — plans they had previously trained on.

In November, two months out, the plan for the first few days of the air war was set. Although the air tasking operation document was classified secret and kept in a safe, the pilots were allowed access.

The squadron's first two days of missions were "nothing big," Roberts said—airfields in Talil and Basra. However, the plan for day three — the Republican Guard headquarters building, air defense headquarters building and an oil refinery, all in Baghdad — gave them pause.

"I remember thinking, 'Wow, day three, downtown Baghdad in the daytime. They'll change that by the time we get there,'" he said. "But sure enough, day three came and no changes. Everybody was pretty nervous about it. A lot of guys were writing the letter home to leave in their helmet box when they left. I said, 'I'm not doing that, that's bad luck to be doing that.' So I didn't write a letter."

On day three, Jan. 19, 1991, a fleet of 48 F-16 Fighting Falcons — including the 16 from Torrejon — along with eight F-4G Wild Weasels, eight F-15 Eagles and two EF-111 Ravens, pushed north into Iraq. The first 32 airplanes successfully bombed their target — a nuclear plant about 17 kilometers southeast of Baghdad — then peeled off south, while Roberts' group continued north over downtown Baghdad.

Intermittent clouds partially obscured the city, and because the rules of engagement dictated pilots could not bomb targets in cities unless they could visually identify them, they were forced to call off the mission.

Just as they received the abort order, their warning systems sounded, alerting them to the enemy SAMs racing up from below. Roberts successfully defeated the first missile when an airplane behind him called out another SAM launch. He rolled his F-16 to look for it and saw it coming up beneath him. He maneuvered to avoid it and felt a slight bump in his airplane as the missile exploded. At first, he thought he was safe.

"I remember trying to light the burner on the airplane to get some air speed back, and instead of feeling that kick in the pants from the burner lighting, I felt the motor just dying underneath me," he said. "We have what we call 'Bitching Betty' in the airplane — a voice warning system that starts talking to you when things are going bad — and Betty's bitching and lights are lighting up everywhere and the motor had quit running, the flight controls weren't responding. I was in sort of a negative-G pitch over and I couldn't pick the nose of the airplane back up. Nothing was working."

He glanced back over his left shoulder and saw smoke pouring from beneath the airplane. He tried once more to restart the motor, but nothing happened. It was time to get out.

Roberts felt all of his 195 pounds being pushed up off the seat, watched the canopy eject away, and began falling face first toward the ground. Just as he started to worry about his rapidly-decreasing altitude, his parachute deployed. As he floated down, breaking through the clouds, he saw Baghdad off to his left and a four-lane highway running south out of the city. He used the wind to maneuver away from the city, but as he got closer to the ground, he could see the tracers from rounds being fired at him.

"I'm just thinking about getting skinny, living through the next fifteen seconds at a time," Roberts said. "I could see these cars on the median and the side of the road as I got close, kind of forming up a little welcoming party for me."

After landing about 500 yards east of the highway, he dropped his parachute, grabbed his survival kit and began running away from the highway until a mob of angry AK-47 assault rifle-toting civilians blocked his path, firing off warning rounds. He surrendered and the angry mob stripped him of everything they could, leaving him with his flight suit and survival vest only because they couldn't figure out how the zippers worked.

"Fortunately, within just a few minutes, these military folks came up and they ran off the civilians," he said. "And I say 'fortunately' because the civilians were getting a little rowdy and I don't know what they were planning, but it wasn't anything good, I don't think."

The Iraqi troops loaded Roberts into the back of a station wagon and drove him to a building about a half a mile down the highway, where they blindfolded him and cuffed his hands behind his back. Inside, they began what was to be the first of many interrogations. At first, the young pilot feigned amnesia.

"That worked pretty well for about the first 7 1/2 seconds of it," Roberts said. "After that, if they felt I wasn't answering quick enough or giving the correct answers to the questions, two helpers would just start wailing with some kind of baton or something — hands, fists — you know, just add a little encouragement to the interrogation."

Over the next few days, Roberts was moved several times and interrogated again at each new stop. On the third day, his captors took him to a facility where they had begun consolidating the downed pilots now being held as prisoners of war. Although he remained blindfolded, he could feel and hear other POWs being taken past him into an interrogation room. He could also hear their screams.

When it was Roberts' turn, the Iraqi soldiers escorted him into the room, removed his blindfold and handcuffs and told him they were allowing him to make a video to show his friends and family that he was alive and well. At first, the soldier giving the instructions simply wanted him to identify himself, his unit and his aircraft.

"Then he started on this thing of 'Repeat after me. The innocent people of Iraq are being wrongfully harmed by the people in power in America,'" Roberts said. "You know, all this kind of stuff. Like everybody else in front of me, I said 'Well, I'm not going to say that.' And then the fun and games started again."

After another beating, the soldier who appeared to be running things told the others to take Roberts outside and cut off his leg. They dragged him off, blindfolded and handcuffed him again, knocked him down and beat him even more severely.

"I just remember curling up, my hands behind me, in the fetal position and everybody there just laying in with boots on me, and one guy had a baton and was beating on the back of my head and neck," he said. "For lack of anything better to say, I just said 'Why do you want me to do this? Why do you want me to do this video?' And this guy just wailed on me and said because of this! It was getting pretty serious and I said 'Ok, let's go do the video.'"

Back in the United States and on the U.S. Air Base in Torrejon, little was known about Roberts' fate. His plane had been shot down Jan. 19 and he had not been heard from since. Only one pilot that afternoon thought he might have seen Roberts eject from his airplane, and although Roberts tried to call out on his radio just before he ejected, no message was relayed.

Three days after his F-16 went down over Baghdad, an 8 ½-months-pregnant Patty Roberts sat at the hospital on U.S. Air Base Torrejon awaiting a prenatal checkup. Her fighter pilot husband, Capt. Harry "Mike" Roberts, was listed as DUSTWUN: duty status and whereabouts unknown. She watched the television, tuned to CNN, hungry for news of her husband, when suddenly, he materialized on the screen. He appeared tense and haggard, but he was alive.

"I guess that was my good fortune out of all of that," Roberts said. "Now that the bad guys had showed their hand, all of us — at least that they had videos on — now they had to account for everybody."

After the POWs recorded their videotaped messages, they were loaded onto a bus and taken to a temporary prison facility where they stayed for about a week and an half. It wasn't too bad, Roberts recalled. They were fed and the young Iraqi troops who were guarding them left in the evenings, allowing the POWs to talk among themselves and take an accurate roll call.

"They would bring around in the morning a piece of bread, and in the afternoon, a bowl of rice covered in some boiled onions or something. At nighttime, just before sunset, they would bring around a big bucket that had a bunch of boiled goat meat or something," Roberts said. "I don't know what it was, not great stuff, but enough to keep you alive."

Soon after, on Jan. 31, the prisoners were moved to a prison in the Ba'ath Party intelligence headquarters. "That was not a good place," Roberts said.

The prisoners were kept in solitary confinement and unable to communicate. They were not being fed and the interrogations and beatings began anew. Keeping track of time became a way to occupy his mind and he found a rock on his cell floor and used it to scratch a calendar on his wall and mark off the days. When he began thinking about Vietnam veterans, wondering if he, too, could be kept five, six, seven years, he forced his mind to other topics, and he did a lot of praying.

In early February, a guard told Roberts the ground war had begun and 70,000 Americans had been killed during the invasion. He knew it was a lie. For three weeks, the prisoners had listened to bombs devastating the city night after night, and as time went on, heard Iraqi counter fire less and less. "By the end, you could tell they were getting pounded and there was just nothing they could do about it," he said.

But eventually, those bombs found him. On Feb. 23, three coalition F-117 Stealth bombers dropped four 2,000-pound bombs on the headquarters building. When the first bomb hit, the Iraqis scattered, leaving the prisoners to fend for themselves. It was the first time Roberts thought he might not survive the experience. "It was like being on a boat in the ocean, the building was just rocking," he said. "I was ready to go then. I thought for sure I was done."

When the bombs stopped, the city was eerily quiet. The impact had badly damaged many of the cells, blowing the walls out of some, freeing those occupants while trapping others, including Roberts, in their cells. Miraculously, none of the prisoners was seriously hurt, Roberts said. The bombs had impacted the opposite end of the building from where they were being held.

Several prisoners made their way out into the hallways. They thought about escape, but the night was so black, they couldn't see to move through the rubble, and even if they could, their yellow prison suits and western countenances made them easy targets. They began shouting to one another, exchanging names and stories. They had been in solitary confinement for three weeks and finally had a chance to connect and find out who was there.

"A couple doors down from me I hear 'I'm Bob Simon, CBS News.' You know, the '60-Minutes' dude," Roberts said. Simon and his crew had been picked up on the Kuwait-Iraq border, accused of spying and held with the POWs.

Across the hall from Simon was downed A-10 Thunderbolt pilot Richard Dale Storr, who had been unable to get out a radio call before he ejected. Because his wingman had not seen him eject, Storr was initially categorized as killed in action and his fellow airmen even held a memorial service for him at their base in Saudi Arabia. When Storr realized a CBS correspondent was there, he got excited.

"He said 'Oh yeah! Bob Simon, CBS News, you gotta get my name! This is Dale Storr, I'm Dale Storr! You gotta get my name out, nobody knows I'm here!" Roberts said. "And Bob Simon says, 'Sorry dude, but I'm right here with you.'"

A few hours later, the guards came back and started collecting the prisoners from the rubble. Several remained pinned inside, including Roberts, and were left there until morning. When they finally walked out into the daylight, they saw just how fortunate they had been —– most of their multistory building had collapsed down on top of itself.

The ground war began just a few days later, and for the next couple of weeks the prisoners were moved frequently. Then one day, an Iraqi guard walked from cell to cell and told them the war was over and they'd be going home soon.

"I'm thinking 'Yeah, right, whatever. Just another line of B.S. that some guy's feeding me,'" Roberts said. But that night, for the first time, he heard no bombs. The next morning, the prisoners were moved one last time.

"This Iraqi opens up my cell door and kind of turns his nose up at me, you know, like a 'You stink' kind of look and threw in a new prison suit," Roberts said. "I'd been wearing the previous one for about 40 days or so."

They also finally brought the prisoners some food. Roberts, who carried a healthy 195 pounds on his 6-foot frame when the war started, had dropped to an anemic 160 pounds during his month and a half of captivity. "My only possession during most of this was my one blanket and like a Rubbermaid tub or pail that looked like some Iraqi had been soaking his feet in it for the past few years," he said. "Anytime they would bring a little bit of food or some water, they would just dump it in that thing, but this time, they bring in — on a porcelain plate — a hard-boiled egg, a slice of toast with a little pat of butter and a sprig of parsley sitting on the side."

The guards told the prisoners to clean themselves up and put them all together, allowing them to see and communicate with one another.

"They lined us all up in the hallway to get us on a bus and as we were going out the door I remember this one guy spraying us with a bottle of perfume as we were walking out," Roberts said with a laugh.

Their Iraqi captors put them on a bus, took them to a hotel in downtown Baghdad, turned them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and drove away. Their ordeal was nearly over. Because a sandstorm grounded their flight out, the prisoners spent one final night at the hotel in Baghdad. The next day, two Swissair C-9s dropped off about 300 Iraqi POWs as part of an initial prisoner exchange. "You could tell they were not real happy about being back home," Roberts said. "But they got off the airplane, we got on, and we flew out, and that was that."

Twenty year later, Roberts' thoughts turn again to Baghdad and captivity. He has just returned from Pensacola, Fla., where he attended his 20-year reunion — not a high school reunion, but a POW reunion. His group has held them at the one-, five-, 10- and now 20-year marks. Not all could make it, but about a dozen showed up this year. He enjoyed the camaraderie and bonding that formed during and as a result of the experience, but downplays the impact it had on his life afterward.

"It was only six weeks, such a short period of time," he says. "Comparing that to what guys went through in Vietnam that went before me … I mean, how much can you be changed in six weeks? We didn't go through the same absolutely brutal torture and abuse that those guys did."

Physically, he has recovered. His busted eardrums, chipped teeth, bumps, scrapes and bruises have all healed or been repaired. He doesn't suffer nightmares. He tries to look at the big picture

these days and tries not to "sweat the small stuff." He tries to remember that things could be a lot worse than they are here, free, in America.

After his release, Roberts stayed on at Torrejon until it closed down in 1992. Following three-year stints as an instructor pilot at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida and Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, he came to the Ohio Air National Guard's 178th Fighter Wing.

In 1997, he returned to southwest Asia and Iraq with the 178th, supporting Operation Northern Watch enforcing the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. "I was a little nervous, admittedly, when I first was going back into Iraq, just hoping I didn't have engine failure or something that put me back in there again," he said.

Roberts, who plans to retire this year, has been with the 178th since landing there 15 years ago, serving as wing commander since January 2008. The unit took on a new mission about a year ago. The F-16s are gone now, making way for a new high-tech mission with the MQ-1 Predator unmanned drone. Perhaps it is just as well for the man who entered the Air Force Academy at 17 and only ever wanted to fly airplanes. His retirement paperwork has been filed, the date has been set. It's time to move on.

The colonel in the olive drab flight suit turns back to the television and the grainy, black-and-white images and powers it down. Watching and remembering, he says simply, is better than being there.

Memorial Day message from the Adjutant General of Wisconsin

As our nation prepares to observe Memorial Day and remember those who died in service to our nation, it is important for us to remember as well. The Wisconsin National Guard has a proud legacy of service to our nation in times of conflict. It includes the famed "Iron Brigade" - those damn "Black Hats" - who fought with valor in the Civil War. It includes the rich heritage of the Red Arrow Division with service in WW I, WWII and most recently with the Brigade in Iraq. It includes the 115th Fighter Wing and the 128th Air Refueling Wing, who have deployed continually since Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In fact, every unit in the Wisconsin National Guard has deployed forces in support of the global war on terror - many more than once.

Our legacy as citizens willing to serve as Soldiers and Airmen and answer our nation's call is not risk free. Our formations count many who have died in service to our nation - many who gave the last full measure as President Lincoln so eloquently spoke in July of 1863. Today's service is no different. Nine soldiers of the Wisconsin National Guard have paid the ultimate price in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let us remember our fallen comrades and keep faith with their families.

Thank you for your continued selfless service. On this Memorial Day, let us remember all of our comrades, the men and women who died defending our great nation. It is right that we remember.

Sincerely,

Donald P. Dunbar

Brigadier General (WI)

Wisconsin National Guard

The Adjutant General

Nurses trusted to care for our wounded warriors

By Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs– May 11, 2011

Lt. Col. Rebecca Giese

Lead Nurse Case Manager, Wisconsin Army National Guard

Its National Nurses Week – celebrating nurses and all they do.  I’ve been a nurse for more than 20 years and while I enjoy all types of nursing, I am humbly honored to serve our wounded – the Soldiers who have given so much for our nation.

I’ve been a nurse case manager for wounded Soldiers since 2004 — first with the community-based Warrior transition unit, and then with the Wisconsin Army National Guard. There are currently six of us with Health System Services, or HSS, at Joint Force Headquarters in Madison. We work with Soldiers dealing with medical or mental health issues that affect their physical fitness, military performance and deployment status.After Soldiers are identified and assigned a case manager, we help gather medical documentation to generate military profiles that will give them the time and conditions to heal and prepare for Army physical fitness tests. We help coordinate care at VA hospitals, VA clinics and civilian health care providers covered by TRICARE, and we routinely provide emotional support and medical advice.

We’ve helped with thousands of issues and advocate for approximately 600 Soldiers on a regular basis who are having medical and/or mental health issues. We maintain contact with the Soldiers and their unit representatives to assist with their recovery. We help the state surgeon determine military retention eligibility, and we help Soldiers who no longer meet retention standards with their physical disability evaluation boards.

We do our part to ensure that our deploying Soldiers are as fit and healthy as they can be — they represent Wisconsin, and it’s our job to ensure their medical readiness. It’s gratifying to see units deploy overseas and do a great job. It’s also gratifying to see Soldiers overcome severe medical issues to deploy again. Not every Soldier succeeds in this — it’s tough when medical issues prevent a Soldier from deploying with his or her unit.

I enlisted in the National Guard at age 17, and deployed as a combat medic in Desert Storm. After coming home from that deployment, I became a licensed practical nurse and then a registered nurse. I’ve performed numerous duties in various settings as a nurse, but I get the greatest satisfaction working with Soldiers. It’s my way of helping the war effort.

Have you gotten the help you need?

This Day in Naval History - April 11

From the Navy News Service

1783 - Congress declares the end of war with Great Britain.

1900 - The Navy accepted its first submarine, USS Holland (SS 1).

1970 - Launch of Apollo 13, commanded by Capt. James A. Lovell Jr. Former naval aviator Fred W. Haise Jr. was the lunar module pilot. While 200,000 miles from Earth, there was an explosion on board which forced Apollo 13 to circle the moon without landing. Mission duration was 5 days, 22 hours and 54 minutes. Recovery was by Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4 from USS Iwo Jima (LPH 2).

1991 - A U.N. ceasefire ends the Persian Gulf War.

Chairman to Attend Desert Storm Ceremonies

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, Feb. 25, 2011 – The U.S. military’s top officer arrived here today during his swing through the Middle East to meet with Kuwaiti officials and participate in ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is slated to attend a grand military parade tomorrow featuring U.S., Kuwaiti and coalition forces. Mullen will join 22 presidents, 64 heads of state and other senior officials attending the ceremonies.

Air and maritime displays and wreath-laying activities are planned, culminating a month-long commemoration that also marks Kuwait’s 50 years of independence.

Mullen arrived to a colossal national celebration. Flags draped from skyscrapers lined the highways. Roads were choked with horn-beeping vehicles, many flying Kuwaiti flags and some even custom-painted, bumper to bumper to honor the "50-20" commemoration.

Young Kuwaits, most too young to remember their county's dark days, waved their national colors from car windows. Teenagers scampered among cars brought to a halt by the sheer volume of vehicles, playfully firing water guns at open windows. Some bystanders painted their faces, clown-style, and donned wigs with the country's red, white, green and black colors.

Kuwait City is celebrating in a big way.

U.S. Central Command and its components also are participating in the festivities, with Third Army and U.S. Army Central leading the support. The parade will feature Army soldiers, tactical vehicles and helicopters. The Washington-based 3rd U.S. Infantry, “The Old Guard,” will march and carry the colors of Operation Desert Storm units, Army Central Command officials said.

These units include CENTCOM, Third Army, 7th Corps, 1st Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 1st Armored Division, 3rd Armored Division, 18th Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, and the 24th Infantry Division.

Marines from Marine Corps Central Command Forward, based in Bahrain, also will march, officials there confirmed.

The Navy is slated to showcase three F/A-18 fighter jets and participate in a maritime demonstration off the Kuwaiti coast. In addition, the Air Force will feature numerous aircraft, ranging from a C-130 Hercules cargo plane to F-16 fighter aircraft, ARCENT officials said.

Kuwait’s commemoration kicked off Jan. 24, with Kuwaiti marines carrying the Kuwaiti colors as they ran to the center of the kingdom’s Qaruh Island. That ceremony reenacted events 20 years earlier when the island became the first land the U.S. and Kuwaiti militaries liberated from Saddam Hussein’s forces.

“We have a long-term commitment to this region, and for the past 20 years we have proved that it is a commitment of deeds and not just words, Army Lt. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., Third Army commander, said during that event.

Webster said the month-long commemoration activities “further illustrate that our partnership is that of equals who are committed to peace, prosperity and freedom throughout the region.”

Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait at Saddam Hussein’s order Aug. 2, 1990. Saddam’s goal, historians say, was to acquire Kuwait’s vast oil reserves, cancel Iraq’s debt to Kuwait and expand Iraq’s power in the region.

Kuwait suffered harsh atrocities during the Iraqi occupation.

Five days after the invasion, a U.S.-led coalition of more than 30 countries operating under a United Nations mandate launched Operation Desert Shield.

The first U.S. forces, F-15E Eagle fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base, Va., arrived in Saudi Arabia Aug. 7, 1990.

Then-President George H. W. Bush authorized the first call-up of selected reservists for 90 days by executive order Aug. 22, 1990. Another executive order issued Nov. 12 extended that period to 180 days. Ultimately, Bush authorized the call-up of up to 1 million National Guardsmen and reservists for up to two years.

When Saddam Hussein refused to comply with international demands and leave Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm’s air war phase kicked off at 3 a.m., Jan. 17, 1991. The allied ground assault began about six weeks later, on Feb. 24.

The cessation of hostilities was officially declared Feb. 28, but not before an Iraqi Scud missile destroyed the U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 U.S. soldiers.

The United States suffered 148 combat deaths and 145 non-combat deaths during the seven-month conflict. In addition, 467 U.S. service members were wounded in action.

The Defense Department announced the first troop redeployment home -– the 24th Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Ga., on March 1, 1991.

Desert Storm Veterans Join Liberation Day Celebration

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

AL-SUBIYA, Kuwait, Feb. 26, 2011 – Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Todd Simmons was a young soldier 20 years ago when his 82nd Airborne Division arrived in Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein ordered his troops to take over Kuwait.

Twenty years later, Simmons is back in Kuwait, this time as a military advisor to the Kuwaiti army that, with its 34 coalition partners, celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation during Operation Desert Storm.

Simmons was among about 300 U.S. military members of every service who participated in a massive celebration of freedom and partnership.

The Desert Storm anniversary celebration began last month, leading up to today’s “Liberation Day” activities that included a huge parade of marching troops, ground vehicles and airpower.

Simmons, now an embedded military advisor to the Kuwaiti land forces assigned to the Office of Military Cooperation Kuwait, remembered back to the day his 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment hit the ground – Aug. 7, 1990.

They became the lead in a massive coalition that would grow to nearly 1 million leading up to a coalition air campaign. After Saddam Hussein defied a U.N. mandate to withdraw his forces from Kuwait, they crossed the border into Iraq and launched the 100-day ground war that led to Kuwait’s liberation.

Like Simmons, Army Maj. Miguel Juarez recalls those dark days when Kuwaitis suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard forces.

Juarez was a young enlisted soldier and husband of just two weeks when his 343rd Air Defense Artillery unit deployed to Saudi Arabia from Fort Bliss, Texas, on Sept. 26, 1990.

Their Patriot air defense missiles were quickly put to work defending against the Iraqi army’s Scud missiles.

“I remember telling my wife back then, ‘We have to fight this fight so that my children don’t have to fight this fight,’” Juarez said.

Little did he know at the time that he and thousands of other U.S. forces ultimately would return here – this time during Operation Iraqi Freedom and now, Operation New Dawn.

He deployed to Iraq three times, from 2004 to 2005, from 2006 to 2008, then from 2009 to 2010.

Now working with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Area Support Group, based at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Juarez said he’s thrilled to help the Kuwaitis celebrate the 20th anniversary of their liberation. It’s particularly meaningful, he said, because it correlates with the year the United States will draw down all its forces in Iraq.

“For me, this is closure,” Juarez said. “I can honestly write my wife and tell her that our kids will not have to fight this fight – at least not this one, anyway.”

Army Staff Sgt. Scott Hamilton, a West Virginia National Guardsmen, was among thousands of reserve-component forces mobilized to support Operation Desert Storm.

A howitzer driver and cannon crew member with the 1st Battalion, 201st Field Artillery, he deployed with just one week’s notice in December 1990 as part of the massive military buildup here.

“I was young and kind of scared,” Hamilton admitted, facing an uncertain enemy and missing the birth of his first daughter.

But the deployment changed him forever. “It made you really appreciate what you have in the United States, and the freedom we have,” he said.

It also gave him insights into the Arab world, and understanding he said proved invaluable during later deployments to the region.

Like Juarez, Hamilton said returning here for the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm brought closure and gratification and an appreciation of the U.S.-Kuwaiti relationship forged during the campaign. “They have become a stronger and better country,” he said.

Many U.S. military participants in today’s festivities, including Army Sgt. Steve Drefke from the Washington, D.C.-based 3rd Infantry Division, were too young to experience Operation Desert Storm personally.

Drefke, among about 120 “Old Guard” soldiers here, including a color guard carrying guidons of every Army unit in the Desert Storm campaign, remembers the war from the perspective of an 11-year-old boy fascinated by events on the TV news.

“It had a huge influence on me, and a lot to do with me coming into the Army,” he said.

Twenty years later, with 12 years of Army service under his belt, Drefke said he’s happy to see the transformation that’s occurred in Kuwait and the friendship that’s endured.

“It’s really neat that we are such great partners with the Kuwaitis,” he said.

Today, Simmons and his fellow Operation Desert Storm veterans say they’re gratified to see the fruits of their labors here – in terms of Kuwaiti military capabilities, and the freedoms being celebrated today.

As a Kuwaiti army advisor, Simmons said he’s built close ties to his Kuwaiti counterparts he said are “using the good-quality equipment they have and making a good effort to do a really, really good job protecting themselves.”

As the force matures, Simmons said its members are anxious for advice as they acquire new technologies and increase their capabilities. Sometimes they take it, he said, and sometimes, increasingly self-confident, they choose their own ways of doing business.

“The important thing is, we are here for them, whatever it is they as a military want to do,” Simmons said.

Kuwaiti Troops Recall Invasion, Friendships Forged

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

AL-SUBIYA, Kuwait, Feb. 26, 2011 – Kuwaiti Capt. Adel Khubert was just a 10-year-old boy when Saddam Hussein’s Republic Guard screamed over the border from Iraq and took Kuwait by siege Aug. 2, 1990.

It was a scary time, he recalled. The images that flashed across the family’s TV screen revealed the terror unfolding throughout Kuwait. “I felt terrible because we had lost our country,” he said.

But just as clearly as those dark, uncertain days, Khubert remembered the jubilation that overtook Kuwait when the coalition freed it from Saddam’s bloody grip Feb. 26, 1991. “We were so happy,” he said. “We were liberated from a tyrant.”

Serving for the past six years in a Kuwaiti artillery unit, Khubert said he and his fellow Kuwaitis have much to celebrate today as they commemorate the 20th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation during Operation Desert Storm.

Kuwait pulled out all the stops today to commemorate three major milestones: the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s independence from Great Britain, the 20th anniversary of its liberation during Operation Desert Storm and the fifth anniversary of its ruling monarch’s reign.

“This is three celebrations, all in one,” said Sgt. Bader Abdul Aziz, a 14-year veteran of the Kuwaiti army.

Like Khubert, Aziz has vivid memories of the Iraqi invasion. He remembers the terror that gripped him as he awakened at 5 a.m. to the roar of jets screaming overhead and the rumble of tanks on the street as enemy forces filtered through the city.

“It made me crazy,” he said, grasping to comprehend all that was happening.

But 20 years later, looking back, Aziz said the experience strengthened him personally and Kuwait as a nation.

Aziz went on to join the Kuwaiti army, where he serves as an M1 tank mechanic committed to his country’s defense. He also deployed to Iraq in 2003, the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he worked as part of the coalition that ultimately brought down Saddam Hussein.

Both the United States and Kuwait have benefited from the close relationship forged 20 years ago during Operation Desert Storm, Khubert said.

Khubert said he’s gained much professionally through the two countries’ strong military-to-military relationship. He attended English language training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and the field artillery officer basic course at Fort Sill, Okla.

Training closely with U.S. forces, Khubert said he and his Kuwaiti comrades have gained technological know-how and advanced battlefield techniques.

“We have bonded together,” he said. “And it is making us stronger every day.”

That capability was on full display here today as the Kuwaitis staged a massive demonstration of military might. Fighter jets roared overhead, streaming green, red and white smoke in their wake. Tanks and artillery pieces rumbled past the official reviewing stand, and military members from every Desert Storm coalition nation marched by.

As the troops streamed by the official reviewing stand, they passed a message displayed prominently from the opposite embankment: “History does not make heroes. Yet heroes make history.”

This article was sponsored by Military Books.

Face of Defense: Guard Member Recalls Gulf War

Illinois Army National Guard

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Feb. 25, 2011 – Twenty years ago, National Guard, reserve and active duty service members began ground combat operations to liberate Kuwait, marking the beginning of the end of the first Gulf War.

U.S. and coalition partners had been building up in the region since August 1990 when the late dictator, Saddam Hussein, ordered his Iraqi army to invade Kuwait. The next six months of operations, known as Operation Desert Shield, culminated with a crushing U.S.-led air war in January 1991.

When the ground war, known as Operation Desert Storm, began Feb. 24, 1991, few could have predicted it would last only 100 hours.

Then-President George H. W. Bush authorized the mobilization of National Guard and reserve units to support combat operations in Kuwait.

With the mobilization of reserve components, the Illinois National Guard supplied 11 units and about 1,400 soldiers and airmen to support Operation Desert Storm.

Army Capt. Brad Sinkler, commander of the 1544th Transportation Company in 1990, was one of those soldiers.

“It was a surprise,” Sinkler said. “Aug. 2, [1990] Saddam [Hussein] had invaded Kuwait. We'd heard some rumblings and were following the news. My operations sergeant said we had a pretty good chance to get called up ... and a week later we got the call.”

The first Illinois National Guard unit mobilized was the 1244th Transportation Company on Sept. 20, 1990. The 1544th Transportation Company followed a week later with a stop at Fort Campbell, Ky., and arrived in Saudi Arabia by Nov. 6.

“We were nervous,” Sinkler said. “We didn't know what to expect, how long we were going to be gone. We just listened to what the people in the states were telling us, making sure our families were taken care of.”

Once in Kuwait, the soldiers of the 1544th were still uncertain of what they would do in Kuwait. They later found out they’d be transporting troops and cargo, Sinkler said.

The 1544th conducted transportation missions and moved supplies and people throughout the country. They traveled more than 750,000 miles with no accidents.

“My biggest fear was losing one of my soldiers,” Sinkler said. “I made sure we did things as safely as we could, made sure the soldiers were getting the sleep they needed and that they conducted the proper maintenance on their vehicles.”

Life in Kuwait was a drastically different experience for many of the soldiers, he said.

“We really didn't have the things the soldiers have today. We had a TV, but we couldn't pick up [American Forces Network television],” Sinkler said. “The only way we could watch anything is if we had a VHS player and VHS tapes. Nobody had a laptop or Internet. Back then, it was mainly just mail, and maybe once a week, a telephone call.”

A few of the soldiers in the 1544th were Vietnam War veterans and had the experience to take care of fellow soldiers who had never been in war, Sinkler said.

“The support we had back home was just overwhelming,” he said. “Really, our nation hadn't experienced war to that level since Vietnam. It was humbling and we knew that no matter the outcome, we were going to have the support of the American people.”

Since initial operations moved so fast, Sinkler said, specific details of the mission were hard to come by.

“We were ‘in the moment,’ we didn't know how the operation was going -- we were just doing our job,” he said. “We were calling home and talking to our families, and they were telling us what they were seeing on CNN. My wife told me about things that were going on in Kuwait that I had no idea about.”

The months culminated in ground warfare Feb. 24 with a cease fire between U.S. and Iraqi forces March 3. After roughly four months in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, combat operations halted. As quickly as it began, the soldiers returned home.

It was good to go over and help the people of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Sinkler said.

“It was being part of something that was bigger than you,” he said. “It had national importance; it was a part of history in the making and something we can look back on and say 'I was there.' It was an experience that gives you a greater appreciation for our nation and what it stands for.”

U.S., Kuwait Mark Gulf War 20th Anniversary

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2011 – This week marks 20 years since the United States, as part of a 34-nation coalition, drove Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army out of Kuwait, returning that nation to sovereignty and reshaping the U.S. military to the force it is today.

U.S. service members will join military members from dozens of other coalition countries tomorrow in a grand military parade through the streets of Kuwait City, in what the Kuwaiti government is calling its country’s “Golden Jubilee.” The event also marks the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s independence from Great Britain and, U.S. military officials say, will recognize the important strategic alliance between Kuwait and the United States.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will join 22 presidents, 64 heads of state and other senior officials attending the ceremonies.

“Twenty years ago, Kuwait and the United States formed an unbreakable alliance, which has grown into a comprehensive partnership that promotes freedom, prosperity and democracy in the Middle East region and the world,” Army Lt. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., commander of U.S. Third Army, said in a statement to the Kuwaiti people.

The celebration comes as history is being made in the Middle East where citizen uprisings in recent weeks have prompted revolutions against repressive governments that have spread from Tunisia to Egypt, Iran, Libya and elsewhere.

The Kuwaiti government on its website says Iraq’s invasion was “a critical point in modern Arab history.” It goes on to say that “the Kuwaiti government and its people will never forget all those who stood with them and supported them during the period of brutal invasion.”

The first Gulf War was sparked when then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered an invasion of Kuwait after that nation’s government defied his demands to cut oil production to allow for increased prices.

On Aug. 2, 1990, three armored divisions of Hussein’s Republican Guard crossed into Kuwait, sped toward the capital of Kuwait City and, within days, overran Kuwait, according to Army historian Richard Stewart’s “War in the Persian Gulf: Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, August 1990-March 1991,” published by the Center of Military History.

Many Kuwaitis fled to neighboring Saudi Arabia -- the largest foreign supplier of U.S. oil. Many Saudis feared Hussein would unleash his million-man army on their country next. At the urging of President George H. W. Bush, Saudi King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, on Aug. 6, 1990, approved moving U.S. military assets onto Saudi soil, opening the door to “the most concentrated and complex projection of American military power since World War II,” Stewart wrote.

Under the direction of then-Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney -- who would later serve as vice president to President George W. Bush when U.S. forces pushed into Iraq to topple Hussein in March 2003 -- and Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., then-Centcom commander, U.S. forces amassed a buildup of nearly 200,000 troops in Saudi Arabia by late September 1990 as part of Operation Desert Shield.

The U.S. commitment to drive Iraq’s army out of Kuwait would grow to 697,000 soldiers, Marines and airmen, and include the deployment of 108 Navy ships to the region, Webster noted in his anniversary message to the Kuwaitis.

America wasn’t alone during the first Gulf War. The Bush administration built a 33-member coalition that included longtime western allies such as Great Britain, France and Canada, as well as Iraq’s neighbors in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Oman, and Qatar, as well as Pakistan.

“The United States assembled an unprecedented and broad coalition to redress the strategic balance in the Middle East upset by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait,” according to a Joint Staff paper about the war. The first Gulf War “ushered in an era of coalition warfare in which the United States has generally sought the approval and support of other governments and international agencies before intervening in a regional crisis,” the paper said.

Coalition troops assembled in the region as civilian leaders worked with the United Nations to pressure Hussein to withdraw his forces from Kuwait. When embargos and other measures were exhausted, the U.N. set a Jan. 15, 1991, deadline for the Iraqi military to depart Kuwait. Hussein ignored the deadline.

“The hammer fell on Iraqi forces early in the morning of Jan. 17,” Lt. Col. Les’ Melnyk, an Army National Guard historian, wrote in “Mobilizing for the Storm: The Army National Guard in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.” In the United States, where it was still Jan. 16, he noted, “the air and missile attacks coming in over Baghdad were broadcast live as the [television] networks broke in on their evening lineup,” allowing Americans, for the first time, to watch a real-time, play-by-play of their military at war.

“It was the most stunning bombing campaign in the history of the world,” Melnyk wrote.

For 38 days, the aerial bombardment put on full display weapons and equipment that could not have been imagined when U.S. troops fought their last major war two decades earlier in Vietnam.

“There were silent airplanes that could not be tracked from the ground, bombs that could be steered to hit a target the size of a chair, missiles that could destroy other missiles in midair, and satellites that could tell a person in the middle of the trackless desert where they were,” the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission wrote of the Gulf War.

The Iraqis’ counterattack of aging Scud missiles was no match for the coalition, which dropped at least 88,500 tons of bombs during more than 100,000 sorties, destroying all significant Iraqi targets, allowing for the U.S.-led ground war, Operation Desert Storm, to begin Feb. 24.

With the Vietnam War as their previous point of reference, American broadcasters and politicians speculated that the ground war would change the coalition’s good fortunes, Melnyk noted. Hussein had used chemical weapons before and there was reason to believe he would again, he said.

That proved not to be the case. Just 100 hours after the ground war began, it was over. By Feb. 27, Iraq’s ground forces were in full retreat, and Bush declared a cease-fire and the liberation of Kuwait.

The United States suffered 148 combat deaths and 145 non-combat deaths during the seven-month conflict. In addition, 467 U.S. service members were wounded in action.

The Gulf War was a significant turning point for the U.S. military in many ways, not the least of which was proving it could fight alongside its Arab allies.

“The coalition proved that Western and Arab forces can and will stand together, and can do so with speed and precision,” Webster wrote in his letter to the Kuwaitis.

The first Gulf War also solidified confidence that National Guard and reserve members could effectively fight alongside active duty troops, Melnyk said. “We take it for granted today, but before the Gulf War, and in the 20 years since then, the [Guard and] reserves have been part of virtually every contingency operation, large or small, that the military has engaged in,” he said.

The war also vindicated changes in military training, doctrine and structure, and the investment in high-tech equipment that took place throughout the 1980s, Joint Force historians said. It further validated laws that strengthened the role of joint forces and that of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and combatant commanders, they said.

“The Gulf War marked the emergence of the United States as the dominant and continuing force for stability in the Persian Gulf region,” they wrote. “Perhaps most importantly, overwhelming victory in Operation Desert Storm reaffirmed America’s faith in its armed forces and, to some extent, in itself, its products, performance, purpose and dedication.”

This Day in Naval History - Feb. 07

From the Navy News Service

1800 - USS Essex becomes the first U.S. Navy vessel to cross the equator.

1815 - The Board of Naval Commissioners, a group of senior officers, is established to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Navy under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy.

1955 - Ships from the 7th Fleet begin the evacuation of Chinese nationalists from the Tachen Islands.

1965 - In response to a Viet Cong attack on a U.S. barracks area in Pleiku, South Vietnam, aircraft from carriers USS Coral Sea (CV 43), USS Hancock (CV 19) and USS Ranger (CV 61) attack a North Vietnamese area near Donghoi.

1991 - Using her remotely piloted vehicle for spotting, USS Wisconsin (BB 64) pounds Iraqi artillery, electronic warfare and naval sites with her 16-inch guns. Fifty rounds sink or severely damage 15 boats, and destroy piers at Khawr al-Mufattah Marina.

Face of Defense: Uganda-born Army Officer Pursues Dreams

By Vince Little

The Bayonet

FORT BENNING, Ga., Feb. 3, 2011 – As a boy growing up in Uganda, Joseph D'costa became inspired by America's role in World War II and told his teacher he wanted to go to the U.S. Military Academy someday.

"She laughed at me for my dream of going to West Point, telling me it would be impossible because I wasn't an American and Uganda had no ties to the U.S.," he recalled. "I still remember that to this day."

The 13th of 14 children raised by an Indian father and an African mother, D'costa was exiled to Austria at age 7 following Idi Amin's 1971 rise to power in Uganda. Two years later, he came to the United States and ultimately got into West Point on a third and final attempt, earning his commission in 1989.

Now a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, D’costa just completed a 10-month mobilization here as commander of 1st Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment, a Lafayette, La.-based unit activated to augment basic combat training for the 192nd Infantry Brigade on Sand Hill.

"When we talk about the diversity of soldiers across our Army, Lieutenant Colonel D'costa's life story is one that tells a great story and serves as a motivational and inspiring example for our soldiers, [Defense Department] civilians and the nation's civilian population," said Army Lt. Col. Roger O'Steen, the brigade's executive officer.

Shortly after Amin seized the Ugandan presidency in a military coup, D'costa's mother fell ill with pneumonia-like symptoms. Because of her religious faith, however, she didn't get proper treatment as Amin decreed that anyone who was not a Muslim would get sent to the back of the line for health care. She died at age 42.

"For me, it was very devastating, to realize the person I depended on so much was no longer there," said D'costa, who was 6 years old at the time. He said Amin then declared that anybody who wasn't 100 percent black had a choice: leave Uganda or face execution.

D'costa's father fled to India. A brother and sister got sent to Italy, and D’costa took exile in Austria with five other siblings. Three stayed behind.

"I was half, so I was considered impure and had to leave," he said. "Here's a black man saying, 'You are not the perfect race.' When you experience racism from your own race, … I was not expecting that.

"Idi Amin was killing so many innocent people when they weren't leaving the country fast enough,” he continued. “Books were burned. Even educated blacks got killed, because they were considered threats to Amin."

The "Butcher of Uganda," as Amin became known, ruled over the nation for eight years. The number of opponents killed, tortured or imprisoned varies from 100,000 to a half million, according to biographical accounts. The dictator was ousted in 1979 by Ugandan nationalists, and he fled into exile.

In Austria, a Catholic priest looked after D'costa, who spoke Swahili in Uganda and never learned English. In time, he learned German.

D'costa said he told the priest about his desire to attend West Point. The priest was a friend of then-U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, who arranged for 9-year-old D'costa and several siblings to go to the United States. He went to live with an older brother in Englewood, N.J.

After graduating high school in 1983, D'costa applied to West Point, but he was turned down.

"They said I'm not American and don't speak English well enough -- the very thing that teacher was telling me would happen," he said.

So he joined the Army ROTC cadet corps at Providence College in Rhode Island. Following his freshman year, the department head offered him a full scholarship, but he'd have to abandon his West Point dream and remain at Providence.

"It would've been the easy way out," he said, "but I needed to know how far I was willing to commit. I had given up on that, but [the ROTC department head] said, 'If West Point is in your heart, you need to apply again.'"

D'costa submitted a second application, but West Point was already at its 1,500-cadet limit, so he had to go to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Monmouth, N.J., for a year and then apply again. If turned down, he would have been too old for another shot, but he finally was accepted and became a 21-year-old "plebe."

D’costa served in the Gulf War as a field artillery officer. He left the Army in 1994, but joined the Army Reserve two years later. Since then, he's deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, and he has supported military relief missions following Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan earthquake.

At a ceremony in Lafayette on March 12, he’ll turn over the battalion command that he’s held since 2008. He's set to leave Fort Benning on Feb. 11.

"I credit every success I've had to my faith in Jesus Christ, because I shouldn't be alive today,” he said. “My life should've ended in Uganda. All these people I encountered along the way were put into my life to help me reach my goals. … I never looked at my skin color as a reason I did not get to West Point at first. They were looking for certain qualities and tools I needed to learn."

D'costa will return to work in the private sector, but he's expected to graduate from the U.S. Army War College by July. From there, he'll learn if the Army has any further plans for him.

The lieutenant colonel praised the U.S. military for preserving freedom around the globe and said he stays in the Army Reserve to serve his country.

"The United States could've said 'no' to me," he said. "Putting my life on the line for a country that took me in is a small price to pay. … Freedom is so priceless, and all I have to do is serve in the reserves to continue saying 'thank you.' Until the Army tells me to get out, I'll stay.

"This is the greatest country in the world,” he continued. “When I say that, I'm not just saying it because I heard it from somebody else. … The majority of Americans don't know what it's like when you have no freedom."

D'costa said he hopes ultimately to work for NASA. In the late 1990s, he spent two years with the agency in a liaison role for a civilian company.

"West Point seemed like an impossible goal, … but I kept pursuing that goal till I made it happen," he said. "You can achieve anything you want -- you just have to put a little effort into it."