AF RESERVE MONOGRAPH OPERATION DESERT SHIELD RESERVISTS AT SHARJAH:

File: aabqn_11.txt
Page: 11
Total Pages: 25
           




            		Back at Alconbury, three more C-130Hs were permitted to depart for
            Sharjah on 26 August. The remaining ten aircraft were tasked to airlift
            equipment in support of the deployment of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing
            from its base at RAF Lakenheath to a base in Saudi Arabia.20
           
            		At Sharjah, those in positions of authority were learning to deal with
            the UAE-established cap of 800 personnel. Along with the 400 from the five
            C-130H units comprising the 94th Provisional Wing, some 240 active duty
            Air Force personnel in the 9th Command and Control Squadron (ACCS)
            were assigned to Sharjah. The 94th provided host base support for the
            airborne battlefield command and control (ABCCC) personnel as well as
            parking space for the unit's three EC-1 30E aircraft. Host base support was
            also provided for 23 personnel of the Mobile Air Readiness Center (MARC)
            and combat communications, 12 personnel from a tactical medical evac-
            uation unit, and 110 base operations support personnel. 21'
           
            		Base population figures had to be provided each evening to the local
            shiek who monitored the US forces at Sharjah. Personnel arriving at the
            base were denied permission to deplane if their addition to the base
            population caused the cap to be exceeded. Some personnel arriving by
            aircraft had to be refused entry several times because the CENTCOM staff
            in Riyadh (which had dispatched them) could not be convinced that the cap
            was not negotiable or flexible.22
           
            		The UAE also imposed a cap on aircraft remaining overnight (RON)
            at any one time at Sharjah. There were times following the arrival of aircraft
            assigned to the 9 ACCS when 94th aircraft had to RON on the island of
            Masirah, off the coast of Oman and the site of a major prepositioning
            installation, because the cap at Sharjah would have been exceeded if they
            had remained there.23
           
            		Because of the necessity to establish the base at Sharjah before
            concluding the coordination of the host country agreements, issues such
            as the maximum number of personnel and aircraft to be assigned to the
           
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               20 Cameron Intvw.
           
               21 Host/Tenant Support Agreement, 94 TAW/7 ACCS, 11 Sep 90.
           
               22  Msg, 94 TAW/CC to 4 AF/CC, "Manning Update/General Info," (Msg
            2).
           
              23 Blair Intvw.
           
                   

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