13Feb At D+ 28, DOD announces that the 24-hour air campaign continues with 67,000 sorties flown (2,800 today) focusing on battlefield preparation (700+ sorties), the Republican Guards (200 sorties), counter-SCUD strikes (170 sorties), and restrikes on selected strategic targets (missile propellant plants, storage facitlities, air fields, and command and control facilities). Navy and Marine Corps aircraft have flown over 15,000 combat sorties during OPERA~ON DESERT STORM. USS AMERICA (CV-66) Carrier Battle Group transits Strait of Hormuz enroute Arabian Gulf redeployment. U.S. aircraft fire 2 laser-guided bombs on a Baghdad target in the residential al-Amerieh district, labeled a camouflaged fortified command and control bunker ("a legitimate military target") by DOD. Iraq claims site was a bomb shelter inhabited by civilians, claims hundreds were killed during the 0400 (local time) strike. Naval aircraft destroyed an Exocet missile-capable Frelon helicopter on the ground. U.S. aircraft destroy 4 Iraqi transport aircraft on the ground. Navy aircraft are assisting in the Arabian Gulf oil clean-up by providing information on the extent and movement of the spill. Air campaign in Kuwait is complicated by smoke from over 50 oil field fires, mainly in Al-Wafra area. DOD suspects Iraq is placing charges on many wells to cloud battlefield and mask troop movements. Marines again exchange sporadic border fire, continue patrols and counter- reconnaissance deployments. To-date, there have been 40 U.S. fatalities: 12 KIA, 28 Non-Combat Fatali- ties; 10 Wia; 26 MIA (7 Navy, 2 USMC); 2 Missing; 8 POW. U.S. troop strength is over 510,000(80,000+ Navy, 90,000+ USMC), other coalition forces exceed 205,000. U.S. has lost 28 aircraft (18 fixed-wing in combat, 3 fixed-wing in non-combat mishaps, 7 helicopters lost in non-combat). Coalition has lost 10 aircraft. 40 Iraqi aircraft and 4 helos have been shot down in air-to- air engagements with no U.S. losses. 136 Iraqi aircraft flown to Iran. DOD announces 1,300 Iraqi tanks, 800 armored vehicles and 1,100 artillery pieces have been destroyed in verified bomb dfamage assessments (approximately one-third of the initial Iraqi inventory of 4,280 tanks, 1,870 APCs and 3,110 artillery pieces). Also, 25 Iraqi naval craft have been sunk or damaged, and 66 mines destroyed. 14 Feb DOD announces that 70,000 sorties have been flown (2,800 today). Air campaign objectives remain unchanged with 24-hour focus on Repub- lican Guards (200 sorties) and strikes in the KTO (800 sorties). USN A-6s attacked and sank an Iraqi Osa patrol boat in Kuwait City Bay. Naval forces continue mine countermeasures and maritime' intercep- tion operations. U.S. aircraft destroy 2 SCUDs/equipment. USS AMERICA Carrier Battle Group arrives in Arabian Gulf. DOD states Iraq's "military situation is precarious." A-32
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