January 16, 1991 marked the start of the Gulf War, an armed campaign waged by a 39-country coalition in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Within hours, coalition forces began to dismantle Iraq's air defense network and military communications infrastructure. Iraq’s Air Force, at the time the sixth largest in the world, was quickly thrown into disarray. The Iraqi Air Force fought sporadic and disorganized engagements against coalition aircraft, resulting in the loss of dozens of Iraqi jets. On the ground, hundreds more Iraqi aircraft were destroyed in airstrikes. With Iraq’s air force being quickly eliminated, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered his air force to evacuate many of their aircraft to neighboring Iran, to preserve them for future strikes against coalition forces. In response, the United States Air Force established air patrols along the Iranian border consisting of F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft.