August 5th 1995-August 13th 1995

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Georgia has grown to become a mini super power in the Caucasus region. Georgia has put together a reasonably powerful military and has refused to align to any alliance, even going as far as threatening NATO. Over the past months aggression from Georgia has facilitated NATO Response in the region. NATO quickly signed to become protectorates of Adjara, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. In early July, Georgia blocked the black sea in an attempt to legitimize what they claim to be territorial waters. This left dozens of cargo ships blocked from entering or leaving. The Georgian Air Force enforced this by flying flights over the waters, even strafing and destroying civillian cargo ships. In response, the US Navy established a No Fly Zone enforced by F14A Tomcats of the VF111 sundowners. The Georgians violated the No Fly Zone on numerous occasions and as a result lost over 10 aircraft in engagements with the sundowners. Within a week, the Black Sea reopened and the No Fly Zone was respected. On July 15th, the No Fly Zone was lifted. However, 10 days later on the 25th, Georgia began a land invasion of Adjara claiming the country and destroying its military. Operation Adjari Freedom launched on August 5th to free Adjara from Georgia. This was a joint operation including the USAF, US Navy, the French AirForce and the Turkish Air Force. VF69 and VFA192 aboard the George Washington replaced VF111 as the main naval force in the region. Abkhazia fearing that they will be the next target of Georgias expansionism allowed the USAF access to Guduata airfield. The 58th Fighter Squadron and the 14th Fighter Squadron were stationed there. The French were providing AWACs. The Clinton administration approved the reestablishment of the No Fly Zone, but was insistent on not launching any strikes on Georgian Territory Outside of Adjara, despite the best efforts of military leadership to sway them to a different opinion. The mission was to eliminate the Georgian military positions in Adjara, and to reinforce the No Fly Zone in Georgia, hopefully forcing Georgia out of Adjara and discouraging them from further action.

Conclusion

Operation Adjari Freedom failed to reach its goal, despite air crews downing over a dozen Georgian aircraft, the restriction on ground strikes and the over involvement of politicians in mission planning led to a total failure of an Operation. The Operation was abandoned after a failed mission on the 13th left multiple Air Crew dead or behind enemy lines.