Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 Civilian Involvement in the 1990-91 Gulf War Through the Civil Reserve Air Fleet Charles Imbriani Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact lib-ir@fsu.edu THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE CIVILIAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE 1990-91 GULF WAR THROUGH THE CIVIL RESERVE AIR FLEET By CHARLES IMBRIANI A Dissertation submitted to the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2012 Charles Imbriani defended this dissertation on October 4, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Peter Garretson Professor Directing Dissertation Jonathan Grant University Representative Dennis Moore Committee Member Irene Zanini-Cordi Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to Fred (Freddie) Bissert 1935-2012.
I first met Freddie over forty years ago when I stared working for Pan American World Airways in New York. It was twenty-two year later, still with Pan Am, when I took a position as ramp operations trainer; and Freddie was assigned to teach me the tools of the trade. In 1989 while in Berlin for training, Freddie and I witnessed the abandoning of the guard towers along the Berlin Wall by the East Germans. We didn’t realize it then, but we were witnessing the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
It wasn’t long after, on August 2, 1990 that Saddam Hussein the Iraqi dictator invaded Kuwait in a brazen act of aggression. The world, elated with the end of the Cold War, was shocked out of it reverie. Soon after, the U. Department of Defense activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet along with its twenty-seven member U.
Pan Am began its call for volunteer crews. Freddie and I were asked if we would be willing to take “off line” assignments to work the Pan Am flights picking up U.S troops for deployments to the Persian Gulf. As a team, we worked Pan Am’s CRAF flights at: Fort Hood, Fort Campbell, Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, Langley Field, Charleston, Volks Field, San Antonio, and Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. On January 20th shortly after the war began to expel the Iraqis from Kuwait, Freddie and I were asked if we would be willing to fly into the war theater on board Pan Am’s flights.
We flew numerous troop and cargo flights out of Rome, the U. air base in Ramstein and the NATO air station in Sigonella Sicily. Our destinations into the desert were: Riyadh, Dhahran, Al Jubail, and Bahrain; all during the height of the war. We would remain to fly our troops home on the redeployment.
Twenty years after those events, when I told Freddie that I was writing a dissertation on the Civil Reserve Air Fleet’s participation in that war, he couldn’t do enough to assist me. He made several important contacts for me to interview, and provided me some useful written accounts. In January 2012, I asked Freddie if he would share his personal recollections of those events for inclusion into my dissertation. He was elated, and began setting them down.
Freddie passed away unexpectedly that month and was not able to get anything to me. I hope this dedication pays proper tribute to Freddie for his professional and dedicated service to his country, to the experiences we shared, and to our longtime friendship. Freddie remains part of this work. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincerest appreciation goes to Dr.
Peter Garretson, my major professor. First and foremost, Peter has always encouraged me during those frustrating and difficult times that invariably popup when taking on a research project of this size. Peter has spent many hours going over numerous drafts of my work and has always been positive and constructive in his critiques. I am not sure if I would have reached this point without the support and time that Peter has so generously afforded me.
I remain indebted to him. My appreciation and thanks also extends to my committee members: Dr. Jonathan Grant, Dr. Dennis Moore and Dr.
Irene Zanini- Cordi for their encouragement, support, and time they take out of their busy schedules to serve on my committee. They have always been professional, gracious, and understanding in all of our dealings. There are of course, many others, within and without of academia, who have encouraged me and supported my research efforts. A special thanks is due to all those who volunteered to be interviewed for this project; and to the many who contributed written and oral accounts of their experiences flying the CRAF missions into the Persian Gulf during Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
It is to them that this work owes a true debt. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………….xi CHAPTER ONE – THE CIVIL RESERVE AIR FLEET .1 Importance of This Study .10 Getting to War, Ships and the Merchant Fleet .13 CHAPTER TWO – HISTORY AND BACKGROUND .17 The Beginning of a Relationship .20 World War II Airlift .22 A Case Study: Pan Am and Its People, WW II in the Pacific Theater .27 The Context at the Outbreak of War .29 War in the Pacific .31 Across the Pacific .39 Flying the Himalayas, India to China, aka Flying the “Hump” .47 Testimony from a Pan Am Radio Operator .51 CHAPTER THREE – HISTORY AND BACKGROUND II - BERLIN TO 1990 .54 The Berlin Airlift (June 1949 - July 1949) .54 The Korean Airlift (June 1950 – July 1953) .56 The Vietnam Airlift (1961 – 1975) .57 v The CRAF from Conception to Reality .58 The Composition of the CRAF 1950-1959 .63 The Military’s Organic Aircraft and the CRAF .66 The Yom Kippur War 1973 .67 The CRAF in the 1980s .70 The Structure and Makeup of the CRAF .72 CHAPTER FOUR - CONTEXT: DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM 1990 – 1991 .74 The Context Leading up to War .76 Diplomatic and Political Initiatives .81 Cultural – Religious Influences .93 Road to War - CRAF Stage II - The Buildup Continues .94 Summary and Conclusion .96 CHAPTER FIVE - THE CRAF IN THE PERSIAN GULF WAR 1990-1991 .102 The CRAF at the Outbreak of War .111 Phase II Deployment .115 vi The Achievements of the CRAF .116 A Case Study of an Airline MOBREP, Lucio Petroccione, Pan Am .118 Summary and Conclusion .119 CHAPTER SIX - THE CIVILIANS WHO MADE THE CRAF HAPPEN .128 Introducing the Individuals .131 Wally Alvarezayuso, Sandra Gean, et al .132 Tania Anderson, Pan Am Purser .137 Claire Graham, Pan Am Purser .140 Sherman (Sherm) Carr, Pan Am 747 Captain .142 Denise Fogel, Pan Am Flight Attendant .144 Ken McAdams, Pan Am 747 Captain .147 Beverly McKay, Pan Am Flight Attendant .149 John Marshall, Pan Am 747 Captain .151 Harald Hoffman, Pan Am Operations Representative, Frankfurt .156 Richard (Dick) Vitale, Pan Am 747 Check Captain .157 CHAPTER SEVEN - COMPARISONS AND IRAQI FREEDOM – 2003 .168 Putting Troops First .169 Summary and Conclusion .199 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AFB Air Force Base ALCE Airlift Control Element AMC Air Mobility Command AOA American Oversea Airways APOE Airport of Embarkation APOD Airport of Debarkation ARINC Aeronautical Radio Inc. ASC Air Services Command ATA Air Transport Association ATC Air Transport Command ATC Air Traffic Control AVG American Volunteer Group - Flying Tigers AWTI Airline War Training Institute BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics BLT Battalion Landing Team – U. Marine Corps CAT Crisis Action Team CBI China Burma India Theater – WW II CENTCOM Central Command CINC Commander-in-Chief CLIPPER Pan Am Aircraft - Official Designation CMMS Congressionally Mandated Mobility Study - 1980 CNAC China National Aviation Corporation CRAF Civil Reserve Air Fleet DOC U.S Department of Commerce DOD U.
Department of Defense DOT U. Department of Transportation FAA Federal Aviation Administration FOIA Freedom of Information Act GAO General Accounting Office GDSS Global decision Support System HUMP Flying over the Himalayas from India – China WW II ix JCS Joint Chiefs-of-Staff MAC Military Air Command MATS Military Air Transport Service MEB Marine Expeditionary Brigade MRE Meals Ready to Eat MEU Marine Expeditionary Unit MTM/D Million Ton Miles per Day NATO North Atlantic Treaty organization NATS Naval Air transport Service NCO Non-Commissioned Officer NSRB National Security Resources Board NSDD National Security Decision Directive PAN AM – PAA Pan American World Airways RAF Royal (British) Air Force RDF Rapid Deployment Force SCATDA Acronym for South American Airline bought Pan Am 1931 SEATO South East Asia Treaty Organization SCUD Russian made Surface-to-Air Missile TWA Trans World Airlines UN United Nations UNSC United Nations Security Council UNSC RES United Nations Security Council Resolution USAF United States Air Force USTRANSCOM U. Transportation Command WOA World Airways WW I World War One WW II World War Two x ABSTRACT This dissertation is about the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and its role in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, with a special emphasis on the men and women who manned and operated the civilian aircraft. This is the first time the history of that war has been told from the standpoint of the CRAF and its crew members.
Relying heavily on interviews – firsthand accounts – with the crew members who participated, and to primary and secondary sources, the historical context is recreated in which the events unfolded. Instead, however, of following the history from the political, diplomatic, and military perspectives, we approach it from the perspective of the nation’s civil air carriers and through the words of its civilian crew members. We begin with a description of ‘airlift’ and the responsibilities of commercial aviation to the nation’s defense and security through the National Airlift Policy. The history of commercial aviation and its relationship with the U.S military began just before the outbreak of WW II, and continued through the Berlin Crisis of 1948-49, the Korean War, and the War in Vietnam.
That relationship led to the creation of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). Activated for the first time in its 38 year history on August 17, 1990, the CRAF played a major role in the Persian Gulf War. Over 5000 CRAF flights operated into the war theater from August of 1990 through May of 1991. The war could not have been won by the United States and its coalition partners – within the timeframe dictated by events – without the active participation of the CRAF.
The CRAF could not have fulfilled its commitments to the nation without the voluntary participation of its crew members. The civilian crew members responded overwhelmingly to the nation’s call. They served with enthusiasm, commitment, and determination. Over 11,000 civilian crew members participated in those events.
Their story is told here for the first time. This dissertation fills a significant historical omission; and adds to the history of America’s first major military involvement in the Middle East. xi CHAPTER ONE THE CIVILIAN RESERVE AIR FLEET In every conflict since World War II the American military has relied on aircraft to move its troops and cargo, but it’s never had enough of its own planes to do the job. In 1951, President Truman signed an executive order that created the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, or CRAF.
It’s an arrangement that allows the Pentagon to call on commercial aircraft to help boost the military’s airlift capability while keeping its costs down…Jackie Northam NPR1 Introduction In August of 1990, as Iraqi troops were consolidating their sweep through Kuwait, they began massing along the border of Saudi Arabia. Intelligence sources determined they were poised to attack.2 The United States’ response was swift. Within days the U. began a major deployment of troops and material to Saudi Arabia to thwart a possible Iraqi invasion.
Within two weeks – August 17, 1990 – the U. government called on the nation’s airlines to support the airlift into the Arabian Peninsula. 3 In just four months the U.