30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 24

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. 24:

  • G-Day. Coalition ground forces embark on what turns out to be an 100-hour campaign.
  • Tanks fitted with bulldozer blades punch holes in Iraqi defenses.
  • Air war enters final phase—support for coalition ground forces.
  • U.S. Central Command boss Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. throws 100,000 troops into assault on Iraqi forces, which surrender in large numbers. Coalition attack sorties total 97,000.

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.