160th SOAR In
DESERT STORM / DESERT SHIELD

On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied Kuwait. Initial plans called for the deployment of sixteen MH-47s from the 2nd Battalion. 2nd Battalion was only able to provide twelve and this prevented them from providing any aircraft in CONUS for other missions. Therefore, their commitment was reduced to eight. 3rd Battalion was tasked to provide four MH-47s and eight MH-60s which brought the total to sixteen MH-47 equivalents. After finding out they were going to get MH-60s, SOCCENT modified the requirement to four MH-47s and eight MH-60s. TF 3/160 was comprised of Headquarters, two MH-47s, and eight MH-60s from 3rd Battalion and two MH-47s from 2nd Battalion. Deployment began on 3 September 1990 and the unit was based at King Khalid International Airport.

For the start of the air war, TF 3/160 had two missions. First, they had to provide MH-47s to support the pre-H hour attack of Iraqi air defense ground control intercept sites. They provided fuel bladder aircraft to refuel AH-64 attack helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT). The operation was successful. The second mission was to forward deploy to Rafha and conduct Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) missions into Iraq to pick up downed allied pilots. TF 3/160 retained the CSAR mission throughout the war, but moved from Rafha back to KKMC when it was realized that the potential for allied shootdowns was slight.

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