their Communist governments, leading to the opening of the Berlin Wall in November. The mighty Warsaw Pact as well as the Soviet Union was crumbling from within. It was clear that the threat the western democracies faced in Europe was coming to an end as the Soviet Union imploded from within. As a result of the end of Cold War tensions, the United States began a period of downsizing the military. The Base Realignment and Closure (or BRAC) process was developed in an attempt to achieve the government's goal of closing and realigning military installations. Through the BRAC process, numerous active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve bases and stations were marked for closing and units were inactivated. Beginning in 1988, some units became what were called "Super Wings," comprising more than one unit and aircraft type, along with several different missions. With all of the cutbacks it seemed that any type of major armed conflict was a thing of the past. Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm In 1980, Tactical Air Command units of TAC's Ninth Air Force were allocated to President Jimmy Carter's Rapid Deployment Force, formally known as the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF). In 1983, the RDJTF became a separate unified command known as the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), focusing on the Middle East. Ninth Air Force, headquartered at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, provided the aircraft, personnel and materiel to form United States Central Command Air Forces (CENTAF), the USAF component command of USCENTCOM, which was also headquartered at Shaw AFB as a combined organization with 9th Air Force. Starting in 1981, Ninth Air Force aircraft and personnel were deployed to Egypt for Exercise BRIGHT STAR, an evolution that would continue biennially for the rest of the decade. On 2 August 1990, ground forces of Iraq invaded Kuwait without warning. President George H. W. Bush proclaimed that the situation was not tolerable and with that he drew a what was referred to as "a line in the sand." The United States took their case to the United Nations, and the UN in turn condemned the actions of Iraq and proclaimed that they must withdraw. Iraq refused to withdraw from the small country, claiming it as being part of their sovereign territory. The United States, now backed by United Nations mandates, again told the Iraqi leadership to withdraw or suffer the results of continued aggression.