1991: Operation DESERT FOX/PHOENIX SCORPION IV. The US and Great Britain initiated the operation against Iraq after Iraq prevented UN weapons inspectors from continuing their work. In the 4-day operation, cruise missiles and aircraft strikes hit about 100 Iraqi weapons production facilities. It was the largest air campaign against the Iraqis since DESERT STORM in 1991, and it featured the first use of the B-1B in combat. Under PHOENIX SCORPION IV, the Air Mobility Command deployed forces that were placed on alert a month earlier as a CONUS Crisis Response Force. In the 4-day deployment, Air Mobility Command aircraft flew 159 missions to airlift 2,462 passengers and 1,940 short tons of cargo. Air National Guardsmen and Air Force Reservists from five different units, plus several active duty units assigned to the Northeast Tanker Task Force in Maine, refueled Air Force aircraft deploying to the Persian Gulf. (The B-1B “Spectre” from the 28th Bomb Squadron loads its rotary launcher MK-82 bombs in preparation for Operation Desert Fox at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas on December 17,1998. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Krista M. Foeller)
