USAF Patch Cmd USAFE AWACS ELF ONE Saudi Arabia E 3 Gulf Patrol c

USAF ELF 1 AWACS Patch AWACS USAFE ELF 1 European Liaison Force One Saudi Arabia 1980 Riyadh AB Gulf Patrol Fully embroidered merrowed edge 78mm three and one sixteenth inches diameter

USAF ELF 1 AWACS Patch USAFE Saudi Arabia E 3 Gulf Patrol

USAFE Command

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History USAF ELF 1 AWACS

Following increasing tensions in North and South Yemen and the declaration of war between Iran and Iraq on 22 September 1980 552 Airborne Warning and Control Wing immediately deployed E 3 AWACS aircraft aircrew and support personnel with a compliment of KC 135 Tankers and ground based Tactical Air Control Systems to Riyadh Royal Saudi Air Force Base Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Elf One European Liaison Force One to provide around the clock airborne radar coverage of the Gulf and to augment Saudi Arabian air defences during the war. A Detachment was established at Dhahran Air Base on the Persian Gulf.

The deployment was Initially under USAFE control supporting USAFE TAC REDCOM AFCC EUCOM SAC and USN and was reassigned to USCENTAF following its formation on 1 Jan 1983. 963 Airborne Air Control Squadron provided crew members and support personnel on 30 day temporary duty TDY assignments and the European Tanker Task Force 11 Strategic Group RAF Fairford rotated KC 135 tankers from Iceland Zaragoza and the UK.

Saudi Elf 1 Operations ended with the termination of hostilities between Iran and Iraq. The last Elf One E 3 AWACS and KC 135 Tankers left Saudi Arabia on 15 April 1989 leaving a small element that later became the Elf One Control Team EOCT. During its deployment Elf 1 AWACS aircraft carried out more than 6000 sorties with over 87000 hours to protect the airspace of neutral countries during the Iran Iraq War.

This patch dates from 1980.