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Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, January 17, 1991
A KC-135E
tanker from the Kansas Air National Guard's 190th Air Refueling
Group returns to King Abdul Aziz International Airport at Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia on January 17, 1991, the opening day of the air campaign
against Iraq.
Tankers played
crucial roles in three different aspects of Operations Desert
Shield and Desert Storm: the rapid deployment of large coalition
military forces to the region, the sustained readiness of the
forces, and the use of forces in large and complex combat operations.
Elements
of the 190th had been the first tankers to arrive at Jeddah in
August 1990. They played a lead role in the 1709th Air Refueling
Wing (Provisional). That composite organization represented a
new way of doing business by temporarily blending the three major
organizational components of the Total Air Force for the duration
of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf crisis.
The wing
consisted of Air Guard tankers from several states as well as
those from the Air Force Reserve and the active Air Force. The
1709th was one of the largest aerial tanker task forces ever assembled.
Its intense tanker operations were conducted around-the-clock.
Elements of all 13 tanker units then in the Air Guard's force
structure participated in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf crisis.
The critical
support which Air National Guard tankers provided during operations
Desert Shield and Desert Storm was one of the keys to the Allied
air campaign. Those tankers carried on a long Air National Guard
tradition of dedicated service to the states and nation.
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and 190th Air Refueling Wing, Kansas Air National Guard.
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