The night of January 29, 1991, seemed like just another mission for the Air Force E8 Joint STARS crew. This advanced surveillance aircraft, recently introduced to the American arsenal, had been tasked with scouring western Iraq for Scud missile sites and keeping a watchful eye on the territory ahead of the US Army VII Corps.

Twelve days into Operation Desert Storm, the crew had grown accustomed to the routine of monitoring the vast expanse of the KuwaitiSaudi border area.

As the hours ticked by, the Joint STARS crew directed their stateoftheart sensors toward southern Kuwait. Unusual activity had been detected in the previous days, stirring in the depths behind enemy lines.

But tonight, the moving target indicators painted an alarming picture. The crew watched in disbelief as elements of Iraq's 5th Mechanized Division and 3rd Armored Division surged southward, poised to breach the border near the abandoned Saudi town of Khafji.

The realization hit the crew like a thunderbolt Iraq was about to unleash its own ground offensive and invade Saudi Arabia.



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