30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 23

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Feb. 23:

  • B-52s pound Iraqi positions.
  • Iraqis set 100 more Kuwaiti oil wells on fire.
  • The total number of coalition attack sorties flown during the air war reaches 94,000.
  • U.S. Central Command boss Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. determines the attrition of Iraqi combat effectiveness is sufficient for a successful ground offensive with few casualties.

Check out our complete chronology of the Gulf War, starting with Iraq’s July 1990 invasion of Kuwait and running through Iraq’s April 1991 acceptance of peace terms.