Persian Gulf War: Fort Bliss’ Role

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Persian Gulf War.

ABC-7 will take a look back beginning with the role Fort Bliss played.

Chances are you remember where you where when you saw that grainy video of a city at night, illuminated in green.

A little more than 25 years after Vietnam, war made a return to America.

Coalition forces, led by the U.S. unleashed bombs on Iraq, live on television.

And when Saddam Hussein struck back, he watched as, one by one, his SCUD missiles were taken down by Fort Bliss soldiers.

“I was on the first plane that was deploying into Saudi Arabia,” said Col. Joseph De Antona.

He said when Saddam invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, the army turned to Fort Bliss and the 11th Air Defense Artillery for a solution.

“The solution was, ‘Well, we don’t have a formal solution but there’s this thing called the Patriot Missile System that we’re testing out at White Sands’,” De Antona said.

Patriot testing was canceled, and within two weeks the first brigade was deployed to the Saudi border — with their fingers crossed.

“We were loading on the back of the C-5 aircraft and I distinctly remember getting two large notebooks…which basically said, ‘Here’s how we think you do it,'” explained De Antona amid laughter.

ABC-7 asked the Colonel, “Was there worry or confidence that this was gonna work?” The Colonel responded, “Both,” again, followed with laughter.

But the Patriots did work. Knocking enemy SCUD missiles out of the sky, like bullets hitting bullets.

Soon, nearly all of Fort Bliss was in Saudi Arabia. “Everybody went,” De Antona said.

Our men and women endured temperatures that often reached 130 degrees.

“At least the Fort Bliss soldiers were somewhat acclimated to a desert climate. The big difference is, you know how in El Paso we talk about the dry heat. There is no dry heat in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It’s right next to the gulf,” explained De Antona.

The war lasted about 8 months and when the Fort Bliss heroes came home, they got a hero’s welcome.

As he prepares for a new assignment at West Point, De Antona called his time in the Gulf the defining moment of his military career.

“Desert Storm and our ability to execute that ballistic missile defense defined the air defense role for the next 20 years of my career — which is where we’re at right now — and I will tell you, it is alive and well and growing into the 21st century,” he said.

ABC-7’s three part series will continue Monday and Tuesday.

Tuesday: A look at Fort Bliss back then compared to now.

Monday: The media coverage surrounding the war, including a look back at the ABC-7 crew sent to Saudi Arabia.