Operation Desert Storm - Frank Hancock

“During Desert Storm the Air Force and the Armor forces were the thunder but the 101st was the lightning.” General Norman Schwarzkopf, April, 1991. Camp Eagle II, Saudi ArabiaOperation Desert Storm chronicles perhaps the most incredible story of the Gulf War that has never been told. It describes two young soldiers from the intelligence section of 1-327 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, Captain Jose Delgado and Sergeant Jesus Gonzalez, who unlocked an intelligence puzzle none of their higher headquarters recognized. This pivotal discovery occurred after the finalization of the 101st Airborne’s plans for attacking into Iraq and altered the direction of Desert Storm. 1-327 Infantry was also the lead unit of what became the largest air assault (by helicopter) in US history. The 101st Airborne was a unique army division because of the 300+ helicopters in its arsenal. General Schwarzkopf's "Hail Mary" plan, to use the 101st to air assault deep into Iraq and cut the Euphrates Valley, was the boldest operational maneuver for the US Military since the Inchon landing in Korea in 1950. Schwarzkopf's plan stretched the division’s capabilities to their limits and demonstrated the 101st Airborne’s strengths and weaknesses. CPT Jose Delgado and SGT Jesus Gonzalez discovered the fatal intelligence flaw, an enemy battalion’s bunker-trench complex in 1-327 Infantry’s lead company's landing zone. Their discovery, 48 hours before the air assault
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