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AV-8B Ready for a Sortie Lieutenant Colonel Keith A. McConnell, USMCR Acquisition Number: 2012.1057.106 Medium: Polymer / Acrylic A Marine Corps ground crew prepares a McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II for a sortie during Operation Desert Storm in early 1991. Aircraft were fueled, armed, and checked mechanically before each mission. Harrier vertical/short take-off and landing attack aircraft first entered service with the Marine Corps in 1971. Operation Desert Storm—also known as the Gulf War—was a multi-national response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraqi troops were quickly driven from Kuwait, and the oil fields resumed production. Other aircraft flown by Marines during the War included F/A-18 Hornets, AH-1W Super Cobras, A-6E Intruders, and OV-10 Broncos—for a total of 18,000 sorties.