170                                   U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 199~1991

Captain Padilla served as a weapons and sensors officer with Marine All
Weather Fighter Aaack Squadron 121, which flew the F/A -181) Hornet during
Desert Storm.   In this brief article, Captain Padilla describes his squadron `5
preparations for war and the techniques used in combat.

F/A-i 8Ds Go to War

by Captain Rueben A. Padilla, USMC

U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, August 1991


    Marine All-Weather Fighter-Attack Squadron 121 began trading in its A~Es
for two-seat night-attack F/A-i8Ds on 27 April 1990 at home base in California,
and left for Saudi Arabia on 7 January 1991--five days later, six aircraft and 118
Marines were at Shaik Isa air base in Bahrain.
    By the end of January the whole squadron was there--12 F/A-l8Ds and 204
Marines, including 34 pilots and WSOs (weapons and sensors officers).
    A lot happened before we got to the Middle East.   The new aircraft arrived
at a rate of two per month and we trained constantly.    The aircraft has many
capabilities and missions, some of which are:

     > Air-to-air
     > Air-to-ground
     > Night attack
     > Combined arms control and coordination
     > Reconnaissance

    In July 1990, the squadron was preparing to send a six-plane detachment to
Turkey to participate in Exercise Display Determination and was scheduled to
send a detachment to Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, in early August to
prepare for the exercise.  On 2 August Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait; two
days latter the detachment flew up to Fallon--and on 9 August was recalled to
El Toro.
    Aircrew training became paramount as small detachments deployed to MCAS
Yuma, Arizona, to take advantage of the desert terrain.  Crews began intensive
night  operations, with   lunar illumination cycles    determining deployment
schedules.  The squadron trained 18 pilots and WSOs to employ the nightattack
Hornet's weapons systems, and the crews concentrated on deep air support
missions, flying low-level routes, and attacking targets throughout the desert.
    Target tactics varied  from low-level weapons   deliveries to  the Hornet
high-popup maneuver--a low-level run-in, an afterburrier climb to roll-in altitude,
and a 45 degrees dive attack.   All of these missions were conducted using
Catseye night-vision goggles, and--when they were avail able--forward-looking