Airmen remember Gulf War

  • Published
  • By By Staff Sgt. Nestor Cruz
  • 944 Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  It's been 25 years since the world's nations rallied together in support of the Gulf War. Operation Desert Shield saw the buildup of troops in the Persian Gulf in defense of Saudi Arabia which led to the combat phase known as Operation Desert Storm.

Several 944th Fighter Wing Airmen remember seeing that conflict unfold early in their careers. These are their stories.

The buck sergeant

Senior Master Sgt. Stephen Brook, 944th Logistics Readiness Squadron transportation manager, was a young buck sergeant stationed at Loring AFB, Maine. He deployed to Camp Nacirema ("American" spelled backwards) in Seeb, Oman, as a vehicle operator to provide crew support. Not much was known about his deployed location back then, so getting his team there was half the battle.

"We had tickets to Dover AFB, Delaware, and when we arrived, we reported to the troop movement center," Brook said. "They asked us where we wanted to go. I was the ranking NCO at the time, so I handed a copy of my orders and the guy asked 'Where is this?'"

The Dover Airman told the group they were flying only to Riyadh or Dhahran, so Brook made the command decision to go to Dhahran. Once there, it took a visit to that location's command post to find out exactly where the team was travelling to.

"I went in there and I said 'Hey, you gotta tell me where this place is because I can't get my guys there,'" Brook recalled. The officer on duty at the time looked at his orders and asked him to wait as he went to the classified safe. The officer pulled out a document and said "Oh, you need to go to Seeb."
Brook remembers the high operations tempo both at home and abroad.

"At the time, Dover was insane, moving massive amounts of people and cargo into the theater in preparation for Desert Storm," he said. "When we got to Dhahran, [the tempo there] was surreal."

In spite of the busy lifestyle, Brook stayed focused on the mission and kept in touch with his family with a weekly 10-minute phone call. He went home after four months in theater.

The Marine

Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Mahan, 944th LRS fuels superintendent, was a student at Northern Arizona University when he decided he needed a change in his life. After a year of college, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in February 1989.

Lance Cpl. Mahan was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, when he was deployed to the Port of Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, on temporary duty receiving maritime prepositioning ships and taking inventory of the offloaded resources.

"I was part of an air combat element and we secured the resources that were spread out to Saudi Arabia," Mahan said.
Eventually his group completed the mission and each member went their separate ways. Mahan went on to Bahrain working as a postal worker for two months before returning to Saudi Arabia in December 1990.

"One of the duties I had then which was very enlightening was accounting for those who were either missing in action, killed in action, or were present and accounted for," Mahan said. "It was enlightening because the sudden reality of what happens to people. Anytime we had access to television, we would actually see these people we were keeping numbers about."
Up to now, Mahan recalls many names from those lists.

When he returned home from supporting Operation Desert Storm, Mahan noticed a distinct difference in how veterans were welcomed back.

"Coming home, I think [the Gulf War] closed the whole stigma of the Vietnam War," he said. "The Gulf War sort of put a spotlight back on the way we treated Vietnam veterans because we treated Gulf War veterans so well when they came back. There was pizza at the terminal when I got off the plane and that was unlike what the Vietnam vets experienced.

"So I've always had that connection with Vietnam vets," Mahan added. "It was a really defining thing."

The daughter

Chief Master Sgt. Rhonda Hutson, 944th Fighter Wing command chief, remembers her days as young Airman 1st Class Rhonda Daniels stationed at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan.

"It was an interesting time then because we hadn't been in a conflict for a while," she said. "At the time, at all the B-52 bases, they either came over and dropped off stuff and we'd store it or they would pick up and just go, so we were a stopping point."

Hutson's unit received notification in December 1990 that all Wurtsmith jets were deploying. She remembers the days prior to her deployment.

"I was leaving and my parents showed up and they were freaked out," Hutson said.

Her parents reaction to Hutson's impending deployment may have bordered on premonition as the harsh reality of the conflict reared its head.

"We left home January 1991 and we were on the ground a day before the air war officially kicked off," Hutson said. "We stayed in a hotel downtown for three or four nights because our compound wasn't ready. The air war kicked off and we moved to our compound and everything was good even while the buses were picking up people and moving stuff.

"Then there was a terrorist attack on one of the buses," she continued. "It was interesting because we knew now the bad guys were watching what we were doing."
Hutson witnessed more danger during daily operations in theater.

"I remember our wing commander deployed with us and he wasn't support to be flying because they wanted him to run the wing," Hutson said. "For whatever reason, he decided he was going to fly. His jet got shot up and we could see from the munitions storage area as he made his approach. He was being escorted by a pair of F-16s and the tail of his B-52 was shot off.  We were all wondering 'Is he gonna make it?' It was crazy."

The young munitions Airman worked with a close-knit group who supported and protected each other, especially in a foreign country.

"The first part of my career, females were relatively new to the military," Hutson said. "When we first got there, the local leaders wanted our women to wear 'abayas' but our wing commander said "No, we are Americans and we're not wearing them."

Looking back, Hutson has watched her beloved Air Force transform over the years.

"Back then, we did things that were regarded as acceptable norm then but would not be today," Hutson said. "I watched our Air Force go from how it was then to what we are today and it was a huge shift. It needed to happen and I'm very proud to be part of it."