As the sun steadily rose in the east, and the desert floor began to warm up after another cool night all hell broke loose in the empty streets of the border town of Khafji. Several miles away in occupied Kuwait an Iraqi artillery battery way responding to the Coalition forces' night raids on Baghdad with a steady barrage of 122 mm shells. As the light improved so did the accuracy of the fire, rounds impacting within a nearby oil refinery and peppering US Marine Corps mobile units dug in along the border. Even before the opening barrage had fallen on Khafji the Marines had radioed for air support to neutralize the artillery threat. The first aircraft on the scene was a veteran Rockwell OV-10A Bronco from VMO-1, the pilot of the twin-turboprop forward air control (FAC) machine circling the artillery at a height of 5000 ft. Taking stock of the situation in a matter of minutes, both the pilot and his observer confirmed the exact grid references of the Iraqi battery in preparation for a relatiatory air strike. Tuned in to the Bronco's radio frequency, and en route to the war zone already, was a four-ship of AV-8B Harrier lis from VMA-311 Tomcats', these aircraft having been on alert status from the moment of the first frantic radio call from Khafji.
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