On the night of January 17, 1991, there was no Moon, only pitch-black darkness. Eight
Apache helicopters and two Pave Low IIIs from Task Force Normandy were on their way to destroy
Iraqi radar sites near the border, flying 50 feet above the ground to avoid detection.
The odds were high. If the task force did not eradicate the targets, the Iraqis could
launch their jets and intercept the upcoming allied aircraft.
Footage taken directly from the Apaches shows the rotorcraft approaching their objectives
with night vision goggles and the exact moment they saw the radar sites over the horizon.
A pilot then broke radio silence, saying: (QUOTE) “Party in ten.”
Seconds later, the helicopters launched their missiles…
Preparing for Desert Storm
On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait with four elite Republican Guard divisions and
some special operations commandos. Saudi Arabia quickly reacted and asked President George
H. W. Bush for help. The United States then launched Operation Desert Shield and organized
a coalition of 35 nations.
Soon, General Schwarzkopf and his commanders began studying Iraq’s early warning and
ground-control intercept sites close to the border with Kuwait. The objective was to create
a corridor from which allied aircraft could penetrate enemy territory without being detected.
The top officials envisioned three options for removing Iraq’s Soviet-supplied ground-control
intercept sites. One plan involved using special operations forces to insert and remove the
radar sites with missiles. The second one called for special operators to approach the
radar sites and use handheld laser designators to mark the spots, followed by an attack from
Apache helicopters. And the final option was to use conventional fighter jets to destroy
the intended targets.
The strategic planners from the United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, knew that jet
aircraft or cruise missiles would get the job done, but they also wanted to ensure the
objectives were entirely destroyed.
There needed to be proof of the damage to the targets, preferably from actual witnesses.
However, the options involving special forces were deemed too risky, as they could be detected
before the Allied aircraft arrived.
Consequently, CENTCOM came up with a hybrid idea: a helicopter task force.
Colonel Cody
The American planners concluded that helicopter pilots would also be able to accomplish the
mission with their vast and lethal arsenal of missiles, but most importantly, assess
the damage they had done.
If the objectives were not destroyed during the first attack, the pilots could continue
engaging the targets until the task was completed.
In September of 1990, CENTCOM approved a helicopter assault package and began looking for a high-quality
unit to get the job done. The 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division,
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dick Cody, was a natural choice.
From the moment the first American units arrived in Saudi Arabia, Colonel Cody and his men
had stood out for being the finest of the 14 Apache units stationed in the Gulf.
On the 25th, Cody was summoned by Colonel Jessie Johnson to the US Special Operations
Command Central headquarters in King Fahd Airport, where he provided an outline of CENTCOM’s
plan, adding that he was hand-picked for a classified operation still in the works.
One Hundred Percent
Cody was tasked to lead a strike force comprising 12 helicopters: nine AH-64 Apaches, two Air
Force MH-553J Enhanced Pave Low IIIs, and one UH-60A Black Hawk. They would venture
into hostile territory to knock out Iraqi radar and ground-control interception sites,
as the coalition needed to destroy them before launching a large-scale attack.
In addition, Cody and his unit had to open a straight path into Baghdad for the coalition’s
aircraft. If they failed, air operations would become more complex, and Iraqi fighters would
gain intelligence on American and allied fighters. Once the briefing ended, Colonel Johnson got
to the point and told Cody: (QUOTE) “If we can get it conceptually approved, do you
think you can do that?”
Cody, who knew his Apache pilots very well, laconically replied with a simple yes. According
to Richard Mackenzie’s article ‘Apache Attack from October of 1991,’ Colonel Johnson
added: (QUOTE) “If we get the go-ahead even to train for this, it will be based on you
saying you can take it out 100 percent.” Like a stoic warrior, Cody replied: (QUOTE)
“That’s not a problem, sir.”
Task Force Normandy
Colonel Cody hand-picked eight of his 24 men, and the pilots began training immediately.
However, no one was told the true nature of the secret mission.
Task Force Normandy practiced special operations raids in the desert during nighttime, conducted
several live-fire exercises, and even infiltrated enemy airspace, among other activities. They
trained hard but were not given much information about the targets they would destroy or when
the war would begin.
The plan called for the Pave Lows from the Air Force to be the eyes of the Apaches, as
the available maps were unreliable, and the task force would have to rely on these aircraft's
state-of-the-art Global Positioning System or GPS.
The Pave Lows would enhance the Doppler system of the Apaches to give them extreme accuracy
in locking into targets located as far as 15 kilometers away.
Once Task Force Normandy was ready and their Apaches, with their powerful 30-millimeter
chain guns, Hellfire missiles, and 2.75-inch rockets, were inspected, it was only a matter
of time before launching the first coalition attack of the Gulf War.
Before Christmas of 1990, General Colin Powell, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, and Dick
Cheney, the Secretary of Defense, approved the secret operation. And less than three
weeks later, Colonel Johnson ordered Task Force Normandy to relocate to Al Jouf, an
outpost near Iraq's border. Things were about to go down…
Party in Ten
H-Hour came during the morning of January 17.
Colonel Cody split his force into two teams. He led the White team, and Captain Newman
Shufflebarger led the Red one, which would follow ten minutes later.
The radar sites were separated by over 70 miles, and the two teams had to strike simultaneously.
Cody explained: (QUOTE) “It would do no good to hit one radar site and, two minutes
later, to hit another one. We had to do it in such a way that we took down critical elements
of those radar sites simultaneously so that Baghdad was not alerted to get its MiG-29s
and ground-control intercept systems up.”
The Pave Lows led the way in the pitch-black darkness, and footage taken directly from
the Apaches shows how they made their way into enemy airspace with night vision goggles.
Both teams flew at altitudes 50 feet above the ground to avoid being detected. Some 30
miles close to the radar sites, the Pave Lows gave their last position update and then turned
back.
Then, at almost 2:38am, Lieutenant Tom Drew finally gave the order to attack.
The First Coalition Attack
The eight AH-64 Apaches unleashed all the firepower they were carrying into the enemy
installations, with their cameras showing the radar stations on the horizon being torn
apart by the Hellfire missile explosions.
The rockets from other Apaches are also seen making their way to the clouds of flames and
debris. Concrete, metal, glass, and enemy personnel were consumed by the explosions.
The helicopters kept flying for over four minutes, ensuring every communications facility,
generator, and other structures were 100 percent destroyed. It took 27 missiles, 70 rockets,
and over 4,000 rounds of 30-millimeter rounds to achieve total destruction.
Task Force Normandy then turned and never looked back. Colonel Cody sent a radio signal
indicating the radar sites were destroyed and a 20-mile-wide strip for coalition aircraft
to venture into Iraqi territory was now open.
About five minutes into the flight back, Cody and his men saw jets flying over their heads.
They were F-117As on their way to drop the first bomb of the war.
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