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FIRSTS IN THE GULF

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<i> Associated Press</i>

Here are some of the firsts in the Persian Gulf conflict:

* Largest helicopter assault in military history: The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division, with 300 attack helicopters, blasted deep into Iraq in the first days of the ground war.

* 100,000-sortie mark passed in a matter of weeks: About four times the missions flown against Japan in last 14 months of World War II.

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* Record number of tanks destroyed in one day: Two U.S. pilots who fly as a team reported destroying 23 Iraqi tanks Feb. 26.

* First woman reported killed in the war: Army Spec. 4 Christine Mayes, 22, of Rochester Mills, Pa., was among 28 Americans who died in an Iraqi Scud missile attack Feb. 25 on their Saudi barracks.

* First double kill by a coalition flier: In a Jan. 24 skirmish, a Saudi pilot shot down two Iraqi jets carrying Exocet missiles.

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