Operation Allied Force: Kosovo 1999

Just over 20 years ago, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conducted the first major military action against a sovereign country in the 50-year history of the alliance. Led by the United States, and the U.S. Air Force in particular, the operation relied exclusively on air power to stop Slobodan Miloševic, then-President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, from continuing his ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kosovo Liberation Army and Albanian civilians. Although not without controversy, the role of USAF included remarkable achievements in a variety of areas, from combat operations to humanitarian airlifts and rescue missions for two of our pilots.

Months of negotiations with the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council preceded the air war, but China and Russia refused to endorse a U.N. intervention, and the Yugoslavian leader refused to cease his campaign of genocide and forced evictions. In the 12 months leading to the NATO campaign, approximately half a million people had been displaced from their homes.

Operation Allied Force began on March 24, 1999, and it continued until the end of hostilities on June 10, 1999, after 78 days of continuous airstrikes. Miloševic finally agreed to terms. Although some postwar critics point to a high rate of unintended civilian casualties (primarily due to a NATO mandate restricting bombers from flying below 15,000 feet), the mission ultimately met the humanitarian goal of rescuing the displaced civilians forced to flee to neighboring countries. Statistical comparisons suggest that fewer civilian casualties occurred than in other major air campaigns.

The U.S. portion of the campaign was dubbed Operation Noble Anvil, with USAF Lt Gen Michael Short commanding from the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Vicenza, Italy. On the first night, NATO flew 214 strike aircraft, including 112 from U.S. forces. Precision cruise missiles were launched from B-52 bombers flying out of Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in the United Kingdom, and, in their first combat operation, B-2 bombers of the 509th Bombardment Wing flew round-trip sorties from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Yugoslavia. This mission entailed a 29-hour journey that required multiple aerial refuelings, enabling the B-2 bombers to strike with the new Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). Other aircraft struck from Italy and Germany.

The Serbs launched at least a dozen MiG-29 fighters against the NATO forces during the first days of the campaign, but they were detected by NATO’s airborne warning and control system (AWACS). Using AIM 120 missiles, two USAF F-15 pilots from the 493d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron each shot down one MiG-29 on the first day, and two days later, another F-15 pilot, Capt Jeffery G.J. Hwang, shot down two more MiGs. A Dutch F-16 pilot also scored a hit during the first day. There were no NATO losses due to aerial combat. All the allied victories were achieved beyond visual range by using radar and long-range missiles. NATO forces also destroyed an estimated 65 Serb aircraft on the ground by attacking Serb air bases, inflicting additional damage to enemy runways and air control facilities.

Aside from their MiG fighters and other combat aircraft, the Serbs fielded nearly 1,000 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and more than 400 pieces of anti-aircraft artillery. On the fourth night of combat operations, two SAMs took aim at a USAF F-117 Nighthawk. One of the missiles missed its target, but the second one hit the aircraft. Lt Gen Short had expected at least some air losses, but this one was unexpected because the F-117 was usually able to avoid enemy radar detection.

Fortunately, the F-117 pilot, Lt Col Dale Zelko of the 8th Fighter Squadron, was able to eject safely, leading to a rescue operation that involved the pilots and crews of A-10, MC-130, MH-53, and MH-60 aircraft, who circled overhead until they were able to locate him. Some of those aircraft flew more than 400 miles during a 9-hour period, supported by KC-135 tankers while F-16s protected them. Finally, an A-10 pilot, Capt John A. “Buster” Cherry from the USAF 81st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, located Zelko on the ground, allowing Capt Chad Franks to navigate his MH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter to retrieve the downed pilot. Both Franks and Cherry, along with Capt James L. Cardoso, who flew the leading MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, were awarded the Silver Star for their successful rescue mission.

Just after ejecting from his plane, Zelko recalled, “As I was tumbling through the air, myriad thoughts went through my mind: ‘Nuts, isn’t this inconvenient. My mom’s not going to be happy with me, and I might not be able to call my daughter tomorrow on her birthday,’ who would be turning 10. The good news is that I was able to call her. I estimate I was between 8 and 9 thousand feet when I first got under canopy. It was 19:40 Zulu, 20:40 local time. From pulling the handles to a fully inflated parachute, it takes 1.4 seconds. To me, it seemed like hours. I instantly went from this extreme violence and chaos to absolute calm when the canopy inflated.”

Breaking protocol, Zelko radioed for help while descending under his parachute. As he later explained, “We were adamantly not supposed to do anything other than take basic care of ourselves right after ejection. But all I had was a basic radio with no secure voice and no over-the-horizon capability. I knew that the best chance to get two-way contact was at altitude. I also felt it very likely that I could be quickly captured after hitting the ground, with no chance to get on the radio. I wanted to deny Yugoslavia the huge exploitation potential of having an alive-and-well F-117 pilot and our forces having no knowledge of my status.”

Only one other pilot, Lt Col David Goldfein (who went on to become the 21st Chief of Staff of the Air Force), was shot down while flying an F-16 in May. He was also rescued, but enemy fire hit the helicopter as he was lifted off to safety, taking five bullets in the fuselage. “We never know when some young Airman is going to risk everything to come pull us out,” Goldfein said. “You become extremely humble. They get a bottle of scotch from me every year—a single-malt, good quality.”

Even while combat missions were still underway, a USAF C-17 airlifted humanitarian relief supplies to refugees. This assignment was part of an ongoing operation involving up to 400 daily takeoffs and landings called Joint Task Force Shining Hope, involving 930 Airmen from the 86th Contingency Response Group deployed to Tirana, Albania. Allied transports, including USAF C-5s, C-17s, and C-130s, airlifted more than 3,000 tons of food, medicine, tents, and other cargo to camps outside Kosovo. Ultimately, Air Mobility Command (AMC) flew 2,130 airlift missions between February and July of 1999, carrying more than 32,000 passengers and 52,645 short tons of cargo. During the same period, AMC executed 9,000 refueling operations with 175 tankers based at 12 different locations. The KC-10s and KC-135s delivered 348.5 million pounds of fuel to receiving fighters, bombers, and transports, including aircraft from NATO allies. April 10, 1999, NATO approved Operation Allied Harbor, an additional humanitarian effort to aid refugees from Kosovo.

At the end of the air war, Slobodan Miloševiccapitulated, and he was eventually tried for war crimes at The Hague in The Netherlands. His trial went on for four years, but he died while awaiting a verdict. Thanks to the USAF, along with the Navy and our NATO allies, a grave humanitarian crisis had successfully been resolved, exclusively through airpower, with no U.S. casualties. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were saved. Mission accomplished.