That evening I was on shift in the Air Force Ops Room [AFOps] in Whitehall, wearing my Suit, Pinstripe, Whitehall Warrior
The "War Appointment" of "CAS's Briefer" was held by a colleague in DAFSD. However, when the buildup started, it was realised that [as "Mr Aviation Fuels"] he was better placed remaining at his normal desk. Thus it was that I was catapulted, un-briefed and completely ignorant, into the centre of AFOps ... and spent the next few weeks on permanent 7-day night shifts. Eventually, as things started to settle down, and the build-up became a sort of routine, I was stood down to resume normal office duties.
It must have been the morning of Wed, 16 Jan 91 when I turned up in the office as normal. My DD said "What are you doing here? You're on watch in AFOps tonight!" Instead of saying "Thanks for letting me know in advance", I just reversed course and took the Tube home to grab a bit of extra sleep before retracing my steps back to MB in the evening. So it's starting tonight!!
The next 6 weeks were spent back on a permanent 12-hour/7-day[night] shift pattern. CNN permanently playing on the TV on the end wall, my own personal ASMA console with 'extra access' codes, and bits of paper flying around the room. It was on ASMA that I was able to log in to the live HOTREPs from returning missions, flown/led by several mates from Staff College - quite a spooky sensation, as they braved SAM and AAA while I enhanced the shine on the seat of my trousers in a comfy chair in a Whitehall office building.