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			Preparations for War

	As the 15 January l991 deadline for Iraq to remove its
occupying forces from Kuwait approached, the level of activity for
the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) increased. Thus,-most
of the early activities for the period beginning on 13 January and
ending on l9 January centered on final actions to prepare King
Fahad Air Base and the 48 TFWP for the war against Iraq that seemed
more probable as the UN deadline approached. While the buildup and
preparation of forces at the base had begun in August l990, the
likelihood of war increased, so the wing worked to increase its
state of readiness to the highest level possible.

	One of the most important of the preparations involved
increasing the security posture of the base. The base continued at
a higher than normal state of security which had been enacted prior
to the Christmas and New Year holidays in order to decrease the
threat of terrorist attacks during the American holiday period.
These previously instituted measures included adding checkpoints at
places where vehicles entered the USAF portion of the flightline
area, stopping MWR trips to Taif and Jeddab, and ensuring closer
checks of identification by security police personnel. While the
MWR trips restarted again briefly after the New Year holiday, they
were again stopped as the deadline approached. A few day before
the 15 January deadline, even more additional security measures
were added. To decrease the chance of attack on USAF personnel

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