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Subject = HISTORY SLIDES FOR 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION                      

Folder Title = DRAFT COPY OF 101ST ABN DIV AALT OPERATIONS DS-S                                                

Parent Organization = XVIII CORPS 

Unit  = 101ST ID    

Box ID = BX001611

File Cabinet = Week-48 

File Room = sep96_classified    












             Sergeant First Class Williams was on duty as the shift

       noncommissioned officer at the 101st Airborne Division (Air

       Assault) main command post at Camp Eagle II, King Fahd

       International Airport, Saudi Arabia. He received a phone call

       3ust before 0200 on the 17th of January. The call was from Major

       Martin of the XVIII Airborne Corps G-3 staff, who informed

       Sergeant First Class Williams that the US Navy had launched 100

       Tomahawk cruise missiles toward Iraqi targets at 0152 that

       morning. He also passed a verbal order from ARCENT that stated

       "OPERATION DESERT STORM is in effect."78

             With this order, over five months of waiting had come to an

       end. The Command Group and Staff were notified, as were all

       units assigned or attached. The defense of Saudi Arabia from

       Iraqi aggression, OPERATION DESERT SHIELD, had been completed.

       The division immediately began implementing its role in the

       liberation of Kuwait, OPERATION DESERT STORM.79

             The 101st was already playing an active role in that first

       night of attacks into Iraq. Task Force Normandy, with its two

       teams of four Apaches and two Air Force helicopters was in Iraq

       preparing to make the first kills of Operation Desert Storm. it

       was to be an exciting night.80

             Red Team had departed the staging base just prior to 0100.

       Team White followed seven minutes later. Flying at high speed,

       with the assistance of night vision goggles and forward looking


                                        24

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Document 96 f:/Week-48/BX001611/DRAFT COPY OF 101ST ABN DIV AALT OPERATIONS DS-S/history slides for 101st airborne division:03069709501938
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-48
Box ID = BX001611
Unit = 101ST ID
Parent Organization = XVIII CORPS
Folder Title = DRAFT COPY OF 101ST ABN DIV AALT OPERATIONS DS-S
Folder Seq # = 127
Subject = HISTORY SLIDES FOR 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 06-MAR-1997