Post-Cold War USAF Operations

Post-Cold War USAF Operations

Lesson Objectives/SOBs OBJECTIVE: Know the major conflicts involving the USAF after the Persian Gulf War Samples of Behavior Identify the key events leading up to Operation Provide Comfort/Northern Watch, Operation Southern Watch, the crisis in Somalia, and Operation Deny Flight List key lessons learned from Operation Provide Comfort/Northern Watch, Operation Southern Watch, the crisis in Somalia, and Operation Deny Flight The 90 s s Had More Operations than ER

Overview Background / Lessons Learned Operations Provide Comfort / Northern Watch Operation Southern Watch Operations Provide Relief / Restore Hope Operation Deny Flight Starting with where we left off

The Crisis in Iraq A weakened Hussein prompted rebellion in Northern Iraq by ethnic Kurds in 1991 put down Kurds fled homes in fear of Iraqi reprisals Massive refugee problem UN Security Council established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq Based out of Incirlik Turkey

OPC/ONW Operation Provide Comfort (OPC) Began Apr 91 as a humanitarian relief effort Delivered food, clothing, and supplies to Iraq s Kurdish refugees Lasted almost 6 years replaced by Operation Northern Watch (ONW) in Jan 97 ONW focus was on intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance

The Crisis in Iraq Lessons Learned - ONW The need to avoid Fratricide F-15 shootdown The limitations of airdrops Host-country tensions The need for alternate bases Lack of an exit strategy ONW and OSW continued until after Iraqi War

Operation Southern Watch OSW Iraqi Army put down Shiite Moslem rebellion in south UN resolution to protect Shiite s from severe repression US announced no-fly zone in Aug 1992 Combined task force US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait Operate out of Saudi Arabia the sandbox

OSW Not an aggression against Iraq strikes executed as a self-defense measure More than 850 Iraqi SAM and AAA fire directed at coalition aircraft Iraq violated the no-fly zone more than 160 times Can t t afford to get complacent

The Crisis in Iraq Lessons Learned - OSW Became a test for USAF AEF concept in Oct 1995 High Ops-Tempo focus on Quality of Life 25-30K USAF sorties/yr Reorganized Security Forces

Impact of Airpower (on Iraq) What we ve effectively done since 1992 is conduct an air occupation of a country -Gen Fogleman, Jul 1995 In 91 and 92, besides Kurds and Shiites

The Crisis in Somalia By mid-1992, drought & civil war devastated Somalia huge famine Food supplies a weapon of war Operation Provide Relief Aug 1992 Mar 1993 Delivered food to starving Somali refugees Military and civilian aircraft used Over 2,000 sorties, 48,162 metric tons of food Humanitarian efforts can be dangerous

The Crisis in Somalia Danger of failure due to warlord interference Operation Restore Hope (Dec 92 May 93) Coalition peacekeeping operation First test of Rapid Global Mobility from CONUS 44 American soldiers killed 175 injured or wounded

The Crisis in Somalia Lessons Learned First large scale test of newly formed AMC and the Tanker Airlift Control Center (TACC) Difficulties evolved in the planning, coordinating and managing of the operation Austere infrastructure of Somalia added to the lack of adequate bases for strategic airlift aircraft Meanwhile back in Europe

Crisis in Bosnia

A Brief Background After World War II, Tito ruled Yugoslavia with iron hand When Tito died in 1980 fragile nature of federation became apparent With Soviet collapse, Serbian Slobodan Milosevic took control Stability of Yugoslavia began to fracture along ethnic lines

Three Ethnic Groups Fell into Conflict Serbs - dominant in Yugoslavia's politics and army, orthodox Christianity makes them natural allies of Russia Croats - Roman Catholics, closer to the West than Serbs and exposed to Western influences Muslims - living mainly in ethnically mixed towns and cities in Bosnia -Herzegovina

Background With dissolution of Soviet Union, ethnic and religious loyalties became strongest bonds in the Republics Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia declared independence Opposed by Serb dominated government of Yugoslavia Heavily armed Serb minority in Bosnia terrorized Croats and Muslims with ethnic cleansing to force them to flee Millions left homeless Provide Promise kept Sarajevo fed (Jul 92 Jan 96) But the UN had to stop the fighting

The Crisis in Bosnia NATO objectives Bosnian Serb compliance to cease attacks on Sarajevo and other safe areas Withdrawal of Bosnian Serb heavy weapons from the total exclusion zone around Sarajevo Complete freedom of movement for U.N. Forces and personnel, and non-government officials Unrestricted use of Sarajevo airport UN Resolutions 781/816 established a no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina called

Operation Deny Flight Operation Deny Flight Enforced the no-fly zone Close air support for UN troops Air strikes under a "dual-key command arrangement with UN Lasted from Apr 93 Dec 95 Included approximately 100,000 sorties A formal closure ceremony was held in Vicenza, Italy Historical footnote: Feb 94, NATO aircraft downed four warplanes violating the no-fly zone First NATO military engagement ever in 45 years

The Crisis in Bosnia Lessons Learned Lack of doctrine (UN NATO) Tactical air and space power problems SEAD, lack of communication, predictability Bases weren t large enough to accept the contingency surges Aviano Coalition/Joint problems Officers F-117 basing Technological problems Electronic/communications infrastructure

Iraq Summary Operations Provide Comfort / Northern Watch Operation Southern Watch Somalia Operations Provide Relief / Restore Hope Bosnia Operation Deny Flight Next lesson we ll look at Kosovo a milestone in Airpower