16/17 January 1991-What were you doing?

[threeputt]

Is it really the 16th anniversary of that momentus day already? Me and my "rectangular" mate were soon to depart eastern Saudi Arabia on the roller coaster sortie of a lifetime. Are there any (exciting or otherwise) "first night" moments that PPrUNers would be willing to share with us, that haven't already been mentioned in the numerous books already written on the subject?

I took my clubs with me!

[matkat]

Earning £1000 a week building F100s in Amsterdam.

[splitbrain]

Nailing Hercs together at Lyneham as fast as my little cold-numbed fingers could fettle them.

[BEagle]

Leading 3 x VC10Ks plus 8 x Tornados on the first attack mission against (I think) Talil.

Whilst avoiding inbound Scud embuggeration!

[AlanM]

Sat with the SH Force in Al Jubail, I think. I am sure it was the next day I drove my first ever 4 tonner (no HGV licence to this day!) for 23 hrs up the MSR.

Still better than getting in a twin tub though.....!!! (JOKE!)

[London Mil]

Wondering how to make best use of the three condoms that the SMO Shawbury had given me some two weeks earlier.

[glum]

Double shifting on the VC10 minor team to get the jet out sharpish!

[Bo Nalls]

No 2 of a 4-ball carrying JP 233 into Al Taqaddum. Waste of time as the sodding thing failed to work and we ended up ditching it 2-3 miles off target!! Very interesting 200ft egress with no nav-kit and manual e-scoping from the pilot. If he's reading this, bloody well done mate :ok: :ok:

[Skidkid]

Also at Al Jubail -

Training 33 Field Hospital on loading and unloading stretchers from my helo.

Then hour after hour flying up and down that b****y MSR!

[Exrigger]

As Alanm, allthough I thought we had allready deployed the Chinooks to the site between KMC and the Iraqi border by the time war was officially declared.
I know the kite I was supposed to fly on had an aft transmission change before a few of us could join the rest in the desert. SENGO accused us of being cowards and not wanting to leave Al Jubail, but when EFDC had analysed the bits of bearing on the chip plugs they informed him that the gearbox would have failed aproximately 15 - 30 minutes into flight.

[brickhistory]

Sitting 90 feet under North Dakota monitoring 10 of America's big sticks and watching CNN.

Not exactly a player..................................

[jayteeto]

Just finished a night sortie in NI, the execs were having a dinner night in the mess. I walked in and told them what was showing on Sky News and the dinner night ended there and then...

[animo et fide]

I was locked out of my room in Gibraltar in just my pants, when the block NCO with the spare key told me the war had started



:D

[clicker]

Watching TV in a police control room on a night shift hoping all you folks would get back safely.

[vortex.ring]

watching it all on CNN in my bedroom....:cool:

[ARINC]

Sitting in a wagon on the downwind end of Dhahran Military having dispatched 4 CAP aircraft (F2's) watching overloaded Kuwaiti skyhawks only JUST get airborne.

[ianp]

Bobbing around the persian gulf on the back of a Dutch auxillary wondering what the hell was going on.

[brit bus driver]

Watching it on the telly in the Mess at Finnigley thinking I'd missed my chance by a matter of weeks........oh how that thought has come back to haunt me!

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Watching it hit the fan on CNN while fielding calls from a mad Australian ex SF bloke wondering how to make some money out of it.:ugh:

[GasFitter]

Stood in the Mess at Odiham when the 3-ringed Padre came in, took one look at the telly, and said after a short silence: "We should nuke the f**king lot of them!":= :D :* :ouch:

[L1A2 discharged]

In the westcountry on 40 minutes notice to move, pink rover and kit packed.

New wife of 1 day not impressed, Saddams fault we got married on the Friday by special licence.

Didn't go eventually, scaled down to 4 hours notice after 6 weeks.

[What Limits]

Burning a Gazelle-sized hole in the sky somewhere between Bielefeld, Soltau and Emden.

[Dan Gerous]

Remember coming into work at Khamis on the morning of the 17th and watching 20 odd F117's coming in one after the other. BAe had (so they say) NBC suits for us all, but as we were well south they said they didn't really need to issue them. First day of the war and we had two glow in the dark F111's divert in, as Taif was fogged in. They were parked wayyyyy over the other side. Got some pics but a bit dark so not that good. Did get a shot of an F117 who's bomb door failed to close after dropping, and I think it got published in a mag somewhere.

[4fitter]

Sitting under a table with RM maj, RN Lt and Postie Capt in full IPE as the scuds came into Riyadh. Long night but thoughts were with the boys going sausage side.

[pma 32dd]

BFTS deciding GR1 wasn't a good dreamsheet choice idea after all

[Melchett01]

Doing my GCSEs ! :}

[detgnome]

Watching it all from my student house in the toon, still wondering if applying to and being in the RAF was such a good idea (it was).

[November4]

Must have been with near you 4fitter....

Sat in the terminal in Riyadh wearing full IPE wondering when the Tristar would be departing and what to do with the pax who should have gone home that night. At that stage we didn't know what was going on. Later we were told that we had been put into IPE in case a Scud was launched in retalitation. IIRC the pax got away about 3 days later.....and for once the delay wasn't the Movers fault!!

That night we got a message from HKG movers asking us what was going on....but they knew more than we did as they were watching CNN and watching it near enough live.

The RM officer......was ex RAF supply (Movs qual) left and joined the RM reserve. He was recalled to Movs but wore his Lt RM rank - didn't half confuse everyone!

[ZOFO]

Trying to distribute a Flash signal received in the Commcen I was in at the time telling us what had been on CNN 20 Minutes before !!

[Fire 'n' Forget]

Down the Falklands ironing my OG's listening to world service, got told next day that we were down there until further notice as all Timmys were going east :ooh: and we could all be extended to 6 months plus.

All I can say is thank goodness we had a breather between the Bush's I could still be there !!:eek:

[Rionart]

Stranded in Goose Bay watching it all unfold on CNN and wondering how much the civvy ticket home via Toronto was going to cost me!!:{

[FCWhippingBoy]

Getting a shortwave radio confiscated at school for listening to the progress of a lot of you guys on BBC World Service whilst in English Class :}

[Mr Teatime]

About 2 weeks out of IOT holding at Lyneham wondering where to get some greens for the 'dress of the day' in the morning.

[blodwyn]

In full IPE in a basement as the scuds came into Riyadh, while waiting for crabair to take me somewhere to top up my tan....well thats what i was promised !

[45 before POL]

halfway through a 13hr shift in Brize ops.! Shifts were 4on, sleep off, 1 off. HOw i miss having no life:eek:

[ShyTorque]

Ruminating over the fact that my short respite teaching on a UAS was now definitely over, having been told that my GWAN number had been called. I was an SH pilot once again.

[MAD Boom]

Watching the news and asking my parents:

"Will the gulf war still be going if I join the RAF?",

only to be told:

"Don't be so stupid boy"

Well done mum.

[threeputt]

I phoned the rectangular front seater, this evening, to wish him well. Mum answered the phone, son and daughter-in law off on a well deserved long week-end and probable birthday B**k. GW1 started on rectangular mans's wife's birthday and finished on his GIB's wife's birthday (28th feb 91).

Put probe in the basket then waggle it about a bit!

putts 3

[dum_my]

Locked inside an SSA in sw England with a few dozen US Marines. It was raining very hard. They were armed to the teeth. And every one of them wanted personally to invade Iraq.

[insty66]

At Finningley, trying to work out how to get stretchers in and out of Jetstreams:\

Always been thankful our efforts were not properly required.

[brickhistory]

And every one of them wanted personally to invade Iraq.

"When you wish upon a star........"

[Wycombe]

In between night shifts I think I was that night, followed by bouts of sleeping, loading things, drinking, sleeping, loading things, sleeping, loading things, drinking.....and so on, at BZZ.

Was a cold Winter as I recall. Lots of snow and ice on the Waterfront at times.

[The Gorilla]

Flying in Hercules Mk3 XV202 as Air Eng, over the heel of Italy heading for Akrotiri and then onto Riyadh. First we knew was when the Italian ATC started talking to all the MAC aircraft telling them that Egyptian airspace was closed and that they would have to choose an alternate in Europe. That was a lot of aircraft to turn back that night!
:)

[diginagain]

Stuck in Detmold as part of the rear-party, wishing I wasn't.

[Roadster280]

Similar to Insty66. I was manning a commcen that serviced an Army Manning and Records Office, hoping not to receive any CASREPs (which I didn't, thankfully).

[StbdD]

Leading 3 x VC10Ks plus 8 x Tornados on the first attack mission against (I think) Talil.

Gee, I hope the strikers you were LEADING knew where they were going. Bet those scuds worried you at your altitude being the tac wizard you profess to be.

Did you give those Tornadoes as much gas as you give here? Do you bomb here as often as you bombed there?

[lampeterexile]

In the Diplomat bar in Bahrain, until called into work:{ :{

[spectre150]

On my way to Oman to pick up bits of Tonka that had gone in on a trg sortie a couple of days before. Will never forget being in the Detco's office in Dharhan when a highly stressed and sweaty SAC rushed in with a rather important FLASH signal. Needless to say I was hurriedly asked to leave as something important had come up.

Too bad that the 2 guys in the jet died on a trg mission before the big match ....

[Wyler]

I had been given 30 minutes to vacate my apartment in Amman, Jordan and report to the British Embassy. Mrs Wyler had already gone via Cyprus. I was then spirited away to an air base where I was put on Douglas Hurds VC10 and flown to Turkey, where I enjoyed an all expenses paid night in the Hilton. Then it was on to Brussels where we were all put into a Hotel for 6 hours and then back to the VIP terminal at Heathrow where I was taken to the Mess at West Drayton. I was due in the MOD the following day for a 'debrief' which was a bit of a waste of time as it all kicked off overnight.

[London Mil]

Twelve and a bit years later I had managed to use two of the three condoms the SMO had given me and was fishing similar grains of sand out of my shreddies. :confused:

Plus ca change.

[Clockwork Mouse]

90 feet underneath High Wycombe, watching it happen on CNN, waiting for the first reports to come in over ASMA, hoping the boys would be OK.

[Gainesy]

Watching on CNN and thinking it was a bit dumb of Iraq to let CNN have a F off big transmitter in a known location.

[Gaz ED]

In sunny Tabuk, in full IPE, ruminating on the fact that my planned R&R in Bahrain on the 18th might not be going ahead!

And counting them all out, hoping to count them all in...

[neilmac]

I was just ending the delights of GST 1 at Hereford, sat in the NAAFI to watching the news unfold.

NM

[Maple 01]

Sitting on the Devil's Hill in Berlin reading the unclas progress reports, wishing the boys going sausage-side safe return and wondering where the peace had gone, having just won the Cold War and all....

Oh yes, and slagging off CNN/Sky for being about as accurate as a weather forecast and employing the most useless bunch of 'specialists' to pontificate about stuff they knew f***-all about

[Spikey T]

In Tabuk, watching the JP233 line shorten and waiting for safe returns to the HAS.

[N Joe]

On IOT, taking advantage of the sudden disappearance of all our Regt instructors.

A few weeks later deployed forward....... holding at Swanton Morely, helping input all the fatigue data for the bits bolted on to the GR1s at the last minute.

N Joe

[Toddington Ted]

At CFS Scampton as the Blunty Gnd School Instructor. It was blooming cold and snowed a lot! CFS trg continued but the TV was on all the time. Scampton's population rapidly swelled by arrival of loads of US Reserve Docs and dentists - most of whom weren't needed in the end fortunately - it still seems surreal even now!

[munichexpress]

Walking around a certain UK C in C's residence wondering why a strange car is pulling up the drive at 22:30 hours???....Occupant is stopped and I'm handed a small sealed envelope. C in C somewhat disturbed when I handed him the envelope.....2 hours later the penny drops...:hmm:

[engoal]

On nights on TWCU playing musical engines between UK-based GR1s with Mk101 donks and RAFG jets with Mk103s. Got an early stack at 0300ish, then got home and was advised by SWMBO to put the telly on. Did so and remember seeing Ian Long describing exactly how scared he had been!

[Army Mover]

In Münster (home of 4 Armoured Brigade at the time), listening to BFBS rebroadcasting the live feed from what must have been Radio 4 in the UK. A worrying time for the 3 of us left behind, but not half as worrying as for the rest of the Brigade who had deployed :uhoh:

[deltahotel]

C130 en route Nellis to get an important load from a sick C130, spent most of the pond crossing listening to BBC World Service and hoping the pointy end were going to be ok. Brill nite out downtown, though!!

[Weezer]

Sat at Gutersloh in a snow storm with the last vaguely airworthy Chinook in Germany, wondering how we were going to get the rotortune of 6 'rogue blades' complete in time for the ac to be ready to move to Odiham for Granby mods on the 18th Jan, without continuing to upset a well known UTP of the day!

Feeling very 'left behind' and hoping that my mates & troops were OK.

[navbag]

Counting them out and counting them in with the groundcrew and ops team on the det at Bahrain whilst waiting for our 4-ship's turn to fly. My turn soon came round and then continued to come round for many, many more years! 1991 was a great team effort though and I was proud to be a part of it.

[Belle and Sebastian]

I was on the line at Dhahran. Watched them leave, then a few hours later was in a shelter listening to patriots and scuds having a mid-air scuffle.

[haltonapp]

Sitting in the flight deck of a Vickers Funbus tanker looking at bright orange mode 4 failure light, concerned that a Patriot missile firer would be trigger happy as we returned to KKI!
Flew back there a few months ago, not much has changed.

[GPMG]

Drinking under age in a snooker hall watching the TV in awe. Wondering if it would last long enough so that after my upcoming basic training was over I'd get shipped out there. Joined up in Sept, passed out in Apr 92....you could say that I missed that one by a fair bit.

[Widger]

Sat bobbin around on a grey funnel line in the SWAPPS on JMC 911, with no air assets. The Buccaneers had all been withdrawn some days earlier and we thought "We know where they are going".

Just about to deploy to the Gulf when the war finished, we sailed west and marched down Broadway as Gulf War heroes as the only RN asset in the Western Atlantic....Bloomin great 5 days....Cheers Easy!!!!

[Smudger552]

Loading Hercs like there was no tomorrow, 12 on 12 off....I was cream crackered, jogging about 20 miles a night (at least it felt like that!) Flt ops, Load Control, office, Hangar, aircraft, Flt Ops, Load Control, Office, Hangar, aircraft ad nausiam.....

Smudge

[BattlerBritain]

Stood on the balcony to my flat in Cheltenham listening to B-52s going into Fairford wondering if the bits of EH-101 I was building in a large aerospace establishment up the road would ever get used.

And wondering if an old school chum who was flying Jags at the time would be counted back in.

He was - CNN showed him wiping the sweat from his brow as he taxiied back in and then shoved a mike under his nose as he clambered out to tell of how they had all hit the target and then "Run away bravely".

Cue his picture in the Sun next day.

Oh what a loverlee war.

[Green Flash]

Sat in a learning emporium near Reading thinking 'It has come and I havn't gone. Ah well, won't be going somewhere sandy, then ' .......:uhoh:

[BeefyBoy]

Down the bunker at HQSTC talking technical stuff in relation to "engine bits", mainly along the lines of - where the hell did that go then?

[greenhaven]

RAF Flying Scholarship Interview at OASC Biggin Hill. At least the current affairs bit of the interview was easy to anticipate - Managed to pass as well!!

[Mr Blake]

Prepping, delivering and organising first load of JPs for the mud movers at Murahhaq, and then watching them depart on the first run, from my excellent observation position, atop a hastily built air raid shelter.

[yoyonow]

left at home with the wives...... but very proud watching CNN.
We trained to fight the Russian hordes from our HASs in Germany and were sudenly presented with a new threat. The guys that crossed the border on night one will always have my complete admiration.....

[FrogPrince]

On my TA CMS at Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall, listening to the radio broadcasts from Baghdad.

The Kings Div recruits on guard were more than a little jumpy - our instructors kept reminding us to keep to well-lit areas when walking around the barracks at night !!

[West Coast]

Flew from Manifa bay to the FARP at lonesome dove. Then the helo broke. Damndamndamn...

Gawd, its hard to believe how long ago it was. Seems so recent. At least I then had Somalia to look forward to.

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Had spent the prev 2-3 days with 2 groundcrew helping prep our FOB in N Saudi for the arrival of the rest of the Flt. Saw several AH64 arrive to join the ANG A10s and the massive US casualty reception unit. Heard the Apaches leave, then saw masses of lights heading N which all used to extinguish not long after they'd passed overhead.

Next morning, we'd been joined by a broken GR1 and a holey F14. Chatted to the Tonka crew for a bit, but was then made busy again as our aircraft were due to arrive. Apaches had long gone, but the A10s stayed for the duration.

Have just ditched a whole load of old kit, including a lot of the stuff I had during GW1. Did manage to find my long-lost Crew 2 pic (taken by Keith Ifould) after we came back from our first cross-border job a few days after all the above.

[brakedwell]

Drinking in the bar of the Holiday Inn Odlin Road, Bangor Maine with the seven girls on my crew, watching the firework display on the TV's. The whoops and yells of the locals suddenly stopped when someone suggested Bangor might get Nuked by an off course Scud meant for the new over the horizon radar in Northern Maine. It took a few pitchers of beer before noise level returned to normal,

[RETDPI]

Sitting on 24hr shift in MOD main watching a bunch of Walts trying to convince themselves and anybody who would listen that they were actually participating in a war.

[Doctor Cruces]

Relaxing in the bowling alley at Lyneham having spent the day in Ops preparing for what we knew was going to be soon.

The cheer that went up when someone announced that it had started had to be heard to be believed.

Doc C

[scroggs]

In the UAS bar at Finningley, having completed night SCT, wishing that the RAF hadn't told me I was 'essential personnel' in the training biz, and couldn't go back to Albert. Later, after several beers, trying to defend myself having told the new wife that I was going to try and get that decision reversed!

I managed to get back to Albert, but not until the November, long after the war was over.

[Low Ball]

MaroonMan4,

I was sharing your piece of desert in RHQ colocated with 659. The whole advance by 1(UK) Div called fwd 24hours 'cos the leading troops - spams and 7 Bde - were doing so well. The weather was on the rotten side of poor with high winds low cloud and rain. Sharing the Ops panzer with me that night were 2 other watchkeepers when in walked an attached Flt Lt from the FAC trg place who was there to train us on a new FAC computer, Psion IIRC. Anyway he produced a half bottle of Scotland's finest which for interests sake fits into an army orange beaker. The four of us drained the beaker and we didn't feel a thing the amber nectar must have been neutralised by adrenaline. Next into the panzer was the Ops Officer who was teetotal. He sniffed the air and said he could swear he could smell whisky and if he didn't know better (ie there was no booze) he would assume normal night stags rules applied. The four of us replied as one 'Silly Boy'

Happy days - we didnt loose anyone.

LB

[Widger]

A year later sat in Deci, looking at all the F3 prints with arrows pointing to Iraq the other way!

[MightyGem]

With 661 Squadron Group, parked up in the Forward Assembly Area about to go over the berm. Dressed in IPE (less masks) eating chocolate hob nobs in the nearest trench with some Armoured Engineers that were the first Brits through the the berm. Watching B 52 contrails (thinking of Fairford/Home) and the noise of the Daisy Cutter.

MM4 and Low Ball, don't anticipate the movement! On 16/17 Jan you were probably listening to "PEARL BEACH, PEARL BEACH, AIR RAID WARNING RED" along with me in Al Jubayil, and watching everyone one running around in IPE trying do get into those palatial underground havens that most people wanted to dig. Oh how we laughed.

[Low Ball]

Mighty GEM,

True got the wrong month we wuz in Al Jubyal.

'Steady in the butts - wait for the word of command'

LB

[biddedout]

Watching it in a Bar in Newquay feeling really sad :D that our JMC had just been cancelled.

[mad eng]

Sat in a compound in Riyad (having been given the nod things could get busy soon) absolutly hammered, with one of the best poker hands I've ever had, rials and empty bottles littering the floor and some pongo bursts in, in full IPE and weapon shouting for us to get our weapons and get outside 'coz the war had started.........he didn't take too kindly to our polite suggestion he go f*** himself. The rest of that night is a blur but I am sure it involved more bottles and I had more rials than I could spend by morning.

[Sven Sixtoo]

Sat in the pitch black back of an extremely crowded LWB Landrover in the middle of lots of sand giving a lesson to the most attentive audience I have ever had - I had just admitted to being an NBC instructor and surprise surprise EVERYBODY wanted a refresher course.

Sven

[In Tor Wot]

Sitting on the second floor of the hole at High Wycombe waiting for the MISREPs/BDA for the targets we'd selected/been given, watching CNN and praying quietly for safe returns.

[AllTrimDoubt]

Strapped in at AL5 on the a*se end of HM's finest thinking.."******!"

Great fun!

(Especially when it got light!)

[threeputt]

Please check your PM's

threeputt

[Loopdeloop]

Lying on my bed at Chivenor, I remember listening to the first reports of action coming over the radio waves and thinking "I could have landed Orderly Officer on a better night"

[Brian Dixon]

I went to meet up with Thud and Blunder.

Didn't do much apart from admire the true professionalism of everyone else. :D

[Elanman]

90 feet underneath High Wycombe, watching it happen on CNN, waiting for the first reports to come in over ASMA, hoping the boys would be OK.

Ditto, seem to recall that after we had been watching it for 20 mins or so Dick Johns who was duty grown up that night tannoyed that he could confirm hostilities had commenced against Iraqui forces.

[AngloPepper]

At Yeovilton testing a UOR that turned out to be neither very urgent nor particularly operational !

[sarsteph]

Sitting at home after a long shift in the night-club I worked in at the time, watching the sound-and-light show over Baghdad on BBC. Was sweating buckets for my dad who was deployed with the TA to Riyadh. Heard about all the Scud coming down near where he was working.

Co-incedentally I deployed with the RAF into SE Iraq exactly 15 years to the day after my dad went to Riyadh. History repeating itself...

[Tonkenna]

I was flying off the coast of Kuwait in the Mighty Hunter....

Even ended up with my pic in the book Thunder and Lightning when they followed our crew for a sortie... fame at last:rolleyes:

Unbelievable we are still out there:ugh:


Tonks:hmm:

[WasNaeMe]

Remember it like yesterday.... Downtown Khobar, was ironing a shirt listening to CNN (about 01:00 if'n I remember correctly), when the heavens were rent asunder by the sound of freedom.... F15's, A4's & the best her Maj could muster....departing Dhahran for point's NW.... (Must have heard Beags too come to think of it).
Spent the next god know's how long hoping the NBC gear I'd practised with for the last 17 years would work.....

Thanks very much B' Liair.....

[pulse1]

Sitting in a board meeting trying to save our business, When we heard the news, we thought that would finish us. And it did, on the day the ground war ended.

Strangely, I was just about to announce some redundancies on September 11, 2001 when someone came in and said that two airliners had crashed into the WTC.

Perhaps someone should employ me to hide bad news under more momentous events. My timing is impeccable.

[6Z3]

Watched it unfold on the tele in the Navigator's shack in the mighty ARK steaming full speed through th Med to sit in a box 30 miles south of Cyprus for the duration. Apparently we're entitled to a medal for that!

[helo425]

Watching at Uni, never thinking that I would be in PSAB for the second attempt let alone twice since then:cool:

[XFTroop]

On the floor of the female schoolies lounge in block 32? :) adjacent to the OM Akronelli, trying to catch a few Z's, accompanied by the rest of 6 Albert crews:(
Part of a 6 crew/2 aircraft reinforcement of Herc Det Riyhad ( for the hauling of bullets, bombs'n bodies???).
Departed Wiltshires finest secret airbase pm on 16th hoping to make it ( augmented crew rules???) in 2 hops with quick refuel on Kebab Island. However!! the noisey bit started whilst we were en-route and by the time we arrived at Akronelli AirOps hoping for a superfast refuel/turnround/int-update/greasy breakfast/DF upload, the first of Saddoes Cruds had impacted Telaviv!!!! As most people thought that our twitchy IAF buddies would react with Buckets of Sunshine (all be it small ones??), the "sitch" was a little uncertain. Anyway the only Int that AkroAirOps had was what they were getting from CNN and, as they couldn't provide us with the latest Modes/ Codes(IFF stuff) to get us past "RedCrown", (USS "Something big withlotsa Firepower" acting as sort of Red Sea bouncer) , further progress was rather limited.
So they said gotabed/getsome sleep/we'll call you.
So we said, OK where sleep??
They said, err, standby one!!
While they sorted that out, we debussed at the OM en masse,commandeered the BBC2 room and watched the early bits of the war on CNN whilst eating whats left of our rather stale AH boxes (provided by our secret home base!!)
Eventually they announced that the only accom they could provide at short notice (there is a war on you know!!) was on the floor in the Lady Schoolies block??? WAY-HEY!! there is a god!!
However, a couple of hours after getting our heads down (in the sleeping sense,honest), duty gremlin from AirOps woke us gently and said "Orl Sorted".
They had managed to come up with some numbers for us to blagg our way past the Spams riding herd on the Red Sea, and more importantly, the I's had been talked out of using Instant Sunshine.
So off we set for the delights of downtown Riyhad. We arrived at the half finished International Airport in early darkness to be greeted by wailing tannoy noise (call to prayer for locals??).Nope! Crud Alert!!!
Rapid deplane from Alberts, goonsuit/mask clad, rushed for cover through lots of dangly bits of plastic curtain and powdery Fullers Earth trays, and hid under nearest table; bravely.
The rest is another story, (or several actually!!)
XFT
:cool:

[jumpseater]

Sitting on a night shift in civvy ATC in the UK, watching the initial kick off on CNN. We then put the radar out to max and could see the trails heading out of the US/UK bases in the early morning, very sobering realising that this was not an 'exercise'

[MrBernoulli]

Wave 2 of the opening gambit - in a pair of Victor K2s leading 4 Tornados towards their ingress runs. Only 3 Tornados come back. The other one? Peters and Nicholls, already scurrying around like scorpions in the sand.

[camlobe]

Remember feeling a lot pi$$ed off a little bit earlier when the Lossie Staish flew down to St M to breif the Bucc guys and then left again less than an hour later (IIRC) without coming to brief us. Our boss had the unenviable task of giving us the brief. Buccs back immediately for pink paint jobs. We to remain for a couple of days. The JMC is cancelled. Oh, and it has been decided that the U.S. will provide the airbourne early warning coverage. So sorry guys. All those years of training and effort, and unique skills are appreciated but...

The Buccs started departing North within the hour. Base told us that our hangar was now a spray shop. Everything going in green and coming out pink. Aircraft, bowsers, GPU's ladders etc. Oh, and we wern't required to deploy. Damn, damn, damn. Maybe 'they' might change their minds.

Night of the wife's birthday, we're still South when the balloon goes up. Everybody glued to any telly they can find. Cheering our boys on while wishing them all the best of British and hoping for safe returns.

Finally back North. Still not required. Like everyone else who wasn't 'there' we did all we could to try and do our bit. 8 Sqn apron became a huge VASS for more Fat Alberts than I realised we had. We all became equipment movers and loaders, getting the turn around times down as fast as possible knowing there were a bunch of our friends/mates/fellow RAF types needing all this stuff now. Bowsers into a Heavylift Belslow, Bucc GE into Hercs. All a bit of a blur now. Those Herc crews never got the official recognition they deserved. Still going with major unservicabilities including the worst flowing fuel leak I have ever seen in a wing. Salute them all.

Selfish feelings of dissapointment rapidly changed to immense pride for our boys and girls in light blue doing their stuff, and sadness for those who didn't return and their families.

Sixteen years ago? Naw, It really was only yesterday. And 'they' never did change their minds. And the inside of the hangar had a pink tinge to it for a long time afterwards.

camlobe

[Bigt]

Duty barman - Sgts Mess RAF Upavon - stunned silence when I announced to the gathered drinkers - a toast for those far away from home - closed the bar much to the disgust of the civies present - blue jobs had work to go to at 0200 in the morning - seem to recall the duty clerk was `socially confused`

[ARINC]

I was on the line at Dhahran. Watched them leave, then a few hours later was in a shelter listening to patriots and scuds having a mid-air scuffle.

Sounds like we were there together, I was on Saudi F2's, you ? Feel free to PM

[threeputt]

I am really absolutley delighted at the number of replies from people who were, in general, in different areas/continents/commands etc but, as involved in the war as we were.

However, despite that, the adulation/press attention at the time suggested that we were considered to be the best etc. Not correct, if it wasn't for the support/eng, ops, nbc and admin personnel, et al, who ensured that we, and our aircraft, were on the line on time and that our safety was guanteed, we could not have contributed what we did:ok: .

The jet is only servicable if the "ginger's" say it is!

Ex 31 sqn nav (threeputts)

[360BakTrak]

At school nearing my GCSE's thinking........blimey, this is a real war on telly! What the f00k is going on!! All a bit odd as the last major televised skirmish was the Falklands and I couldn't really remember much of that.

[saudipc-9]

Nearing the end of pilot training and watching the war on the tele in the snake pit of the O'mess in Moose Jaw.

[Dan Winterland]

CFS groundschool. It was hell!

[Vasco Sodcat]

On Olive Trail.

[Cumbrian Fell]

In a boat yard in Lymington, Hants, working on an Admirals' Cup boat. The RAF had cheerfully released me and about 10 colleagues to race for a year in spite of Op Granby. Like other posters, I felt a bit left out. Made up for it since - the Balkans, Saudi, (post 9/11) and off to the Stan shortly. Plus ca change, as others have said.

[Gainesy]

I worked for Flight International then. When the Buccs deployed I received a Telex from 24Sqn, South African Air Force, the Bucc mates at Waterkloof. They asked me to forward it to the RAF Bucc force, which I did,sending it on to 12 at Lossie. I can't remember the exact words but it said something like: "God speed and Good Luck, wish we could be with you".

Maybe in 12's Line Book?

[Akrotiri bad boy]

Polishing Sea Kings at Finningley, oooops Robin Hood Intl.

[teeteringhead]

Working as an augmentee in the SF Cell at PWHQ at High Wycombe. We'd just got a couple of further augmentees from R Sqn as watchkeepers, so the SO1 decides to take his regular SO2s (two brown, two or three light blue) out for a meal as it's the first time we could all escape together.

Check in by 'phone when we get back from the fleshpots of High Wycombe, "to see if all is quiet".

"Very quiet in the office ...." says very laid-back watchkeeper, "....but we appear to be bombing Baghdad!"

Instant sobriety, back down the hole and a long time 'til the next evening off .......

[Blind Bob]

Flying a Gazelle around on goggles trying to avoid dead camels and sand dunes.:eek: