In August 1990, Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait. McConnell tanker personnel and aircraft were deployed throughout the Middle East, performing refueling missions of Coalition aircraft in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm to help eject the invaders from the small kingdom of Kuwait. The wing's B-1B aircraft, however, were not used in Desert Storm, the official reason being that the B-1Bs were all needed to stand nuclear alert – which they did. However, at that time the B-1B had been encountering a rash of turbofan blade failures that caused the aircraft to be grounded through most of Desert Storm. At the same time, required weapons testing for the safe release of conventional bomb delivery had encountered test problems, and the aircraft was not certified to drop conventional weapons until after the war ended.