Kincaid, Stephen, MSgt

Avionics

TWS Ribbon Bar

Service Photo

Service Details

Service Status
USMC Retired

Final Rank
Master Sergeant

Last MOS
6391-Avionics Maintenance Chief

Last MOSGroup
Avionics

Previously Held MOS's
6474-Aircraft Weapons Systs. Techn.., AWG-10, IMA
6469-Advanced Automatic Test Equipment Technician, IMA
8411-RSS Recruiter

Primary Unit
2000-2006, 6391, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (All Weather) 533 (VMFA(AW)-533)

Service Years
1979 - 2006

Official Badges

Unofficial Badges

Military Associations and Other Affiliations


	2010, Marine Corps League, Waynesborough Det 1350 (Goldsboro, NC) (Finance Officer) (Goldsboro, North Carolina)

Additional Information

What are you doing now:

Working for UTC Aerospace Systems formerly Kidde Aerospace and Defense

Enjoying my life after retirement from the Corps. Been many changes but love where the family is and where we will go from here.

OIF/Liberation of Iraq (2003)
From Month/Year March / 2003	To Month/Year May / 2003
Description The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 19 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the conflict that later came to be known as the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States (prior to 19 March, the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom, a carryover from the conflict in Afghanistan). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion phase consisted primarily of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 9 April 2003. These were the United States (148,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops were assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The coalition forces also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." General Wesley Clark, the former Supreme NATO Allied Commander and Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of Strategy and Policy, describes in his 2003 book, Winning Modern Wars, his conversation with a military officer in the Pentagon shortly after 9/11 regarding a plan to attack seven Middle Eastern countries in five years: "As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan." Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace. In a January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, and New Zealand. Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading the country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC's 12 February 2003 report. On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. The invasion was preceded by an air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 19 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Province from their massing point close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While the special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk, where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi army to secure the northern part of the country. The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi army including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.

My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year March / 2003	To Month/Year May / 2003

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020

Personal Memories
Memories While serving with VMFA(AW)-533

Units Participated in Operation
7th Marine Regiment
23rd Marine Regiment
1st Marine Regiment
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (2/1)
1st Battalion, 1st Marines (1/1)
Marine Air Support Squadron 3 (MASS-3)
Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 (VMGR-452)
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 (HMH-462)
5th Marine Regiment
10th Marine Regiment
3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4)
Marine Attack Squadron 542 (VMA-542)
1st Combat Engineer Battalion (CEB)
Marine Attack Squadron 121 (VMA-121)
3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (3/7)
Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165 (HMM-165)
Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMM-161)
1st Battalion, 2nd Marines (1/2)
Marine Wing Communications Squadron 28 (MWCS-28)
2nd Marine Division
Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 (VMAQ-2)
Marine Forces Reserve Command Headquarters
Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 231 (VMSB-231)
L Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (3/7)
Marine Wing Support Squadron-371 (MWSS-371)
1st Battalion, 24th Marines (1/24)
Marine Attack Squadron 214 (VMA-214)
2nd Engineer Battalion
USS Boxer (LHD-4)
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 (VMFA-115)
3rd Battalion, 10th Marines (3/10)
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 (VMFA-232)
Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 162 (HMR-162)
Marine Aircraft Group 29 (MAG-29)
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122 (VMFA-122)
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 (HMLA-167)
USS Austin (LPD-4)
9th Engineer Support Battalion (9th ESB)
2nd Medical Battalion
Marine Attack Squadron 323 (VMA-323)
Marine Wing Support Squadron-272 (MWSS-272)
2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (2/5)
3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion (3rd AABn)
9th Communication Battalion
2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion (2nd AABn)
6th Engineer Support Battalion (6th ESB)