Death From Above: Air Against Terror

The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon was President Ronald Reagan's response to Libya’s challenge of US warships off the Libyan coast and the bombing of a German night club in West Berlin killing a U.S. soldier and wounding several hundred people. The U.S. government claimed it had ‘exact, precise and irrefutable’ evidence of Libyan involvement in the attack in Germany. The Ouadi Doum air raid was carried out by the French Air Force in February 1986 against the Libyan airbase of Ouadi Doum in northern Chad controlled by Libya during the Chadian-Libyan conflict.

Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by NATO, in concert with the United Nations Protective Force (UNPROFOR) ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), which had threatened and attacked UN-designated "safe areas" during the Bosnian War. The air campaign ran from August 30th to September 20th 1995 resulting in the lifting of the siege of Sarajevo and returning the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating table that eventually led to a peace agreement, the Dayton Agreement, in November 1995.

Operation Instant Thunder was the preliminary name given to planned air strikes by the United States during the Gulf War. It was planned to be an overwhelming strike which would devastate the Iraqi military. The plan had three phases: Phase One was to concentrate on defense suppression and establish control over the Iraq and Kuwait air space. Phase Two targeted the Iraqi military and the country’s infrastructure. Phase Three would be to engage the Iraqis in direct combat. The operation began on August 5, 1990 and consolidated into the overall Desert Storm operation.

Examines the United States military operations to destroy Iraq's Scud missiles. Intelligence analysts' speculated that Iraq's President Saddam Hussein may use Scud missiles, along with chemical and biological warfare, if he feels that his position is threatened. Scud missiles were fired from mobile launchers during the Gulf War into Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Scud attacks on Israel, it was feared, would provoke an Israeli military response that would make it difficult for Arab states to remain a part of the anti-Iraq coalition. Coalition air force and ground forces made a concentrated effort to locate and destroy the mobile launchers and effectively neutralized the threat.

The U.S. military air operations in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Operation Active Endeavour is a NATO plan in the Mediterranean Sea designed to prevent the movement of terrorists and weapons. It was initiated in support of the United States immediately after 9/11. It aims to demonstrate NATO's solidarity and resolve in the fight against terrorism and to help deter and disrupt terrorist activity in the Mediterranean.

Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003 with the initial phase constructed around the military doctrine of rapid dominance that includes the concept of imposing a level of Shock and Awe against an adversary. Coalition ground forces and air forces unleashed the initial attacks based on Shock and Awe. Initial large scale air operations against Iraq began on March 21st with Coalition Air Forces flying over 1,700 sorties in one day. Combat aircraft came from the United States (Air Force, Navy, and Marine pilots) and the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia delivering mostly guided munitions. In all, during the air phase, over 41,000 sorties were flown by Coalition Air Forces.

The main combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 began March 19th and ended with the capture of Baghdad in early April. This ended the invasion and conventional phase of the war. Iraqi insurgency operations began shortly thereafter. Coalition forces mounted several anti-insurgency campaign across the country and this episode covers the air war during the Iraqi insurgency.

The air war against the Taliban and the SEAL and Night Stalker “kill-or-capture mission" against Osama bin Laden. The official code name for the operation against bin Laden was Operation Neptune Spear, a reference to the trident in the SEAL insignia. The Night Stalkers refers to 160th Special Operation’s Regiment that provided the helicopters and air crew for the mission.