squadron remained in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea as part of a military presence enforcing the ceasefire until late April 1991, when the squadron was tasked with providing air support for ground forces assisting Kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq during Operation Provide Comfort. VF-41 was soon training for the F-14's new role: air-to-ground bombing. In late 1991, VF-41 had flown over 46,500 hours without an accident over a period of 11 years. In 1995 VF-84 was disestablished and VF-41 picked up the TARPS mission. The disestablishment of VF-84 was the only occasion in which a TARPS capable unit was disestablished instead of a non-TARPS capable unit. In early 1995 VF-41 deployed on a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf and the Adriatic Sea. During this cruise VF-41 conducted combat operations in support of Operation Deliberate Force and Operation Deny Flight over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Operation Southern Watch over Iraq. On September 5, 1995, two VF-41 F-14As dropped laser-guided bombs for the first time in combat during Operation Deliberate Force. The target was an ammunition dump in eastern Bosnia. The bombs were guided by F/A-18s. VF-41 adopted the slogan "First To Fight, First To Strike" in recognition of being the first F-14 squadron to score air-to-air kills and drop bombs in combat. During this deployment VF-41 logged over 600 combat hours and 530 sorties, and during a week of combat in the Balkans (September 5–12, 1995), VF-41 dropped 24,000 pounds of ordnance on Bosnian-Serb targets, the bulk of it precision guided bombs laser designated by F/A-18 Hornets. In 1996, VF-14 joined VF-41 in CVW-8 and thus CVW-8 was one of few air wings in the US Navy with two F-14 squadrons, rather than one. CVW-8 deployed on board in February 1996, for a Joint Fleet Exercise. This was followed by deployed operations to the North Atlantic while embarked on with port calls to Dublin, Ireland and Portsmouth, England. In April 1997, CVW-8 embarked on USS John F. Kennedy for a Mediterranean/Persian Gulf deployment. During this deployment, CVW-8 participated in numerous exercises and detachments including Infinite Acclaim, Beacon Flash and Invitex. During Invitex the Air Wing completed over 350 sorties including 203 sorties in a single day of surge operations. This deployment also included operations over Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation Deliberate Guard and over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch. In 1999,