Hobby Master Archive

On 22nd December 1990 VMA-231 completed an 18,000 mile deployment from Iwakuni, Japan to the King Abdul Aziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The flight was made eastward via the United States and Europe because of the prevailing wets to east winds and the availability of logistics enroute. VMA-231 logged a record 904 flight hours in one month. 17th January 1991 was the first day of Operation Desert Storm and the Ace of Spades flew sorties against Iraqi artillery based in occupied Kuwait. As the war progressed VMA-231 continued attacks on enemy armor and other equipment. In February the Ace Of Spades flew 966.2 hours for a new Marine Corps. Harrier record. While taking part in Operation Desert Storm VMA-231 flew 987 combat sorties over 1195.8 flying hours and delivered 1,692,000 pounds of ordnance comprised of 1660 Mk-82s, 62 Mk-83s, 969 Mk-20 Rockeyes, 78 Mk-77 Firebombs, and 22,709 rounds of 25MM munitions. AV8B Harrier serial 162972 was one of 162 aircraft manufactured from 1983-1989.