384

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1992-Contin ued

3 November The Presidential Commission on the

Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces recom-

mended against allowing military women to fly in

combat, but for allowing women to serve in some

combat ships.

7 November In support of Operation Provide

Promise, an ARG centered on Guam with HMM-261

(reinforced) embarked, relieved Iwo Jima ARG, with

HMM-365 (reinforced) aboard, in the Adriatic.

14 November The Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM)

System was installed on Peleliu. RAM is a lightweight,

quick reaction, high-firepower weapon system.

14 November Lexington, the Navy's unsinkable

"Blue Ghost" of World War II was officially turned over

to the city of Corpus Christi, Tex., during a ceremony.

Lexington, a memorial/museum ship, was opened for

public tours.

7 December The Navy and McDonnell Douglas

Aerospace finalized the $3.715 billion development

contract for the advanced F/ A-18E/F. The cost-plus in-

centive contract covers 7.5 years of engineering and

support activities, including the manufacturing and

testing of seven flight test aircraft and three ground test

airframes.

7 December Ranger and her task force, diverted

from the Persian Gulf, sailed off the coast of Somalia in

support of Operation Restore Hope, the UN-authorized

effort to relieve mass starvation amid factional fighting

in Somalia.

9 December Under the leadership of U.S. Armed

Forces, Operation Restore Hope began in the early

morning darkness. The preannounced landing of U.S.

Marines was witnessed by millions of U.S. primetime

television viewers. Initially HMM-I64 (reinforced from

Tripol1) provided all of the Marine helicopter support

to ground forces in Somalia.

16 December Five air traffic controllers from Kitty

Hawk were sent aboard Leahy (CG 53) to establish

approach control services in and out of Mogadishu in

support of Operation Restore Hope. Approaching air-

craft were picked up from a VAW-114 E-2C Hawkeye,

which tracked flights and issued advisories from

about 200 miles out. Once the flights were within 50

miles, the Leahy team took over and led them to

within visual range of the airport, about 10 miles

away.

19 December Relieving Ranger off Somalia, aircraft

off Kitty Hawk assumed the missions of photo-recon-

naissance, armed reconnaissance, and show of force to

discourage opposition to Operation Restore Hope.

27 December Iraqi jets violated the "no-fly zone"

below the 32nd Parallel resulting in the loss of a MiG-

25 to an AIM-120 AAMRAM missile fired by a U.S. Air

Force F-16D. Kitty Hawk, diverted from relief efforts

off the coast of Somalia to the Persian Gulf, dispatched

F-14A and F/A-18A fighters in support of Operation

Southern Watch.

1993

1 January In a reorganization of the OPNAV Staff,

the position of ACNO (Air Warfare)/(OP-05), held by

Rear Admiral Riley D. Mixon, became Director, Air

Warfare (N88) reporting to the DCNO (Resources,

Warfare Requirements and Assessment)/(N8). N88 was

reduced from a three-star to a two-star billet.

13 January Squadrons from CVW-15, embarked on

Kitty Hawk in the Persian Gulf, launched 35 aircraft to

lead a coalition strike on Iraqi missile sites. Kitty Hawk

had been in the Indian Ocean in support of Operation

Restore Hope, but was ordered into the Persian Gulf

after an Iraqi MiG-25 violated the UN-imposed no-fly

zone in southern Iraq on 27 December 1992.

17 January Four U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf

and Red Sea launched Tomahawk cruise missiles at the

Zaafaraniyah Nuclear Fabrication Facility located in the

Baghdad area. The facility made nuclear weapons

parts.

18 January John F Kennedy battle group moved on

station in the eastern Mediterranean in response to

Iraqi violation of the UN imposed "no-fly zone".

23 January An A-6E of VA-52 launched a laser-

guided bomb at an Iraqi anti-aircraft site after the crew

thought it was being fired on.

4 February Commander, Amphibious Squadron 43

embarked on Tripoli was relieved as Commander, Naval

Forces Somalia (COMNAVFOR SOMALIA) by DES RON

17 embarked on William H. Standley (CG 32). COM-

NAVFOR SOMALIA was charged with providing direct

support for Operation Restore Hope, the UN embargo

directed by Security Council Resolution 733. Tripoli am-

phibious task unit was the first U.S. military presence on

station near the Horn of Africa. It set the base of opera-

tions for Operation Restore Hope, the largest peacetime

humanitarian mission ever undertaken.