6                             HUMANITARIAN OP~RATION5 IN NORTHERN IRAQ, 1991:


    The first humanitarian relief air operations were conducted on 8 April 1991.
Six  Lockheed    C-i 30 two-seat, four-turboprop, medium-lift cargo aircraft
departed Incirlik carrying food (dehydrated combat rations called MREs, an
acronym for the designation Meals, Ready-to-Eat), blankets, and water.5 This
first flight delivered 27 tons of supplies using container delivery system bundles
weighing about 1,000 pounds each. Support sorties were flown by KC-135 aerial
refuelers, RC-135 reconnaissance "snoopers," EC-130 electronic jammers, and
E-3 AWACS command planes. General Jamerson reported that 3,022 people
from four American services supported these drops: 687 from the task force; 399
Desert Storm personnel, and 1,936 permanent party personnel. These first air
drops took place within 36 hours of JTF Provide Comfort's formation.6
    Doctor Marcel Bonnot from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs observed
the first airdrop while visiting a refugee camp near Uludere, Turkey. He noted
that there were desperate shortages of food and water, that sanitation and
personal hygiene were practically non-existent, and that diarrhea, skin diseases,
and infections were common. The arrival of the first aircraft was a dramatic and
emotional scene. The noisy camp hushed when the sound of arriving airplanes
was heard. At first, many refugees rushed for cover, thinking the humming
engines heralded a reappearance of Saddam's air force. However, when no
bombs began falling, eyes focused upward and followed a lumbering C-i 30 as
it slowly circled the camp.
    A roll of toilet paper thrown from the plane tested wind direction. Suddenly,
a series of large objects dropped from the plane's tail section. The fearful Kurds
were astounded when gigantic white parachutes blossomed and bundles of food
floated toward earth. The hungry people they mobbed the drop zone and each
scrambled to capture one of the small brown plastic MRE packets. Despite the
confusion   on  the ground,  the lack of a  distribution system, and poor
understanding about the proper use of MRE rations, the Kurds in the camp
realized that someone was helping them.7
    British and French aircraft joined the American airlift the second day.
Australia,  New   Zealand, and  Italy flew supplies to Incirlik. Denmark,
Luxembourg, Japan,    Spain, and Belgium flew supplies into Diyarbakir. A
German composite helicopter force commanded by Brigadier General Frederick
W.  Ehmann conducted independent relief operations from Diyarbakir using
Sikorsky CH-53D Sea Stallion heavy-lift helicopters. Aircrews bringing these
gifts of life flew in marginal weather conditions--low clouds, thunderstorms, and
snow flurries--while navigating through narrow valleys to deliver their payloads
to drop zones on the sides of steep mountains. Operations became more efficient
as time passed and by the sixth day the daily delivery rose from 27 tons to 284.6
tons.
    The initial phase of Operation Provide Comfort was underway, but it was
apparent much more needed to be done. Joint Task Force Provide Comfort
identified 12 major camps near the Iraqi border. Each camp had at least 40,000
people! Every camp suffered food and medical shortages. Official estimates
placed the number of dead at about 600 each day, but observers on the scene