What all of the above makes clear is that, while Navy pilots may have played a smaller role in one-on-one combat than pilots from other service branches, naval support was critical to the victory in Gulf War I.
Personal stories
While it is easier to view war as a collection of nameless, faceless soldiers, the reality is that a war is really a collection of personal stories. On January 22, 1991, a downed American Navy pilot was rescued by an Air Force team. It was "the first successful such mission over hostile territory in the war with Iraq."
The pilot "had ejected after being hit by Iraqi ground fire, and had parachuted into a bleak, empty stretch of the Iraqi desert."
The operation to rescue him took eight hours, four of them in Iraqi territory. To rescue the downed pilot, members of the rescue crew had to destroy an Iraqi truck. After they destroyed the truck, a rescue helicopter came down for the rescue. "The downed Navy pilot jumped from his desert hiding place and ran toward the helicopter, climbing aboard hurriedly."
That story reveals that, despite the relatively small number of Navy casualties during the war, Navy pilots were at tremendous risk during Gulf War I.
Conclusion
Gulf War I was an interesting war, with a foretold conclusion. The continuous U.S. military presence in the Gulf, which had begun following World War II and escalated during the Cold War, ensured that the U.S. military would be able to intervene in any conflicts between countries in the Middle East. Furthermore, the strong Navy presence, which was largely dictated by Muslim customs forbidding substantial foreign intervention in Muslim countries, gave the United States a strategic advantage, because it largely controlled the Persian Gulf even before the beginning of the war. All of these factors combined to establish a cease fire on February 28, 1991; approximately six weeks after the war began.
However, the United States has not seen the same kind of success in the current Gulf War, making one wonder if it has failed to use its Navy forces in the efficient manner it did in the first Gulf War.
References
Atkinson, R. (1993). Crusade: the untold story of the Persian Gulf War: Chronology.
Retrieved October 3, 2009 from Frontline
Web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
McIntyre, J. (2001). Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back. Retrieved October 3,
2009 from CNN
Web site: http://web.archive.org/web/19960101-re_/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/U.S./01/16/gulf.anniversary/index.html
(1991). War in the Gulf: Rescue; Navy pilot is plucked from Iraqi desert. Retrieved October 3, 2009 from the New York Times
Web site: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/22/world/war-in-the-gulf-rescue-navy-pilot-is-plucked-from-iraqi-desert.html
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
McIntyre, J. (2001). Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back. Retrieved October 3,
2009 from CNN
Web site: http://web.archive.org/web/19960101-re_/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/U.S./01/16/gulf.anniversary/index.html
McIntyre, J. (2001). Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back. Retrieved October 3,
2009 from CNN
Web site: http://web.archive.org/web/19960101-re_/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/U.S./01/16/gulf.anniversary/index.html
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Marolda, E. (2001). The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf. Retrieved October 3, 2009
from the Naval Historical Center
Web site: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/sword-shield.htm
Shenon, P. (1991). War in the Gulf: Rescue; Navy pilot is plucked from Iraqi desert.
Retrieved October 3, 2009 from the New York Times
Web site: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/22/world/war-in-the-gulf-rescue-navy-pilot-is-plucked-from-iraqi-desert.html
Shenon, P. (1991). War in the Gulf: Rescue; Navy pilot is plucked from Iraqi desert.
Retrieved October 3, 2009 from the New York Times
Web site: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/22/world/war-in-the-gulf-rescue-navy-pilot-is-plucked-from-iraqi-desert.html
Shenon, P. (1991). War in the Gulf: Rescue; Navy pilot is plucked from Iraqi desert.
Retrieved October 3, 2009 from the New York Times
Web site: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/22/world/war-in-the-gulf-rescue-navy-pilot-is-plucked-from-iraqi-desert.html
Atkinson, R. (1993). Crusade: the untold story of the Persian Gulf War: Chronology.
Retrieved October 3, 2009 from Frontline
Web site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/
