I remember the capability coming as a surprise in 1990, but you're right that Reagan announced that civilian access would happen back in 1983.
Now I don't know if I was misremembering, or if Iraq was simply unaware of the technology, or whether that announcement was for access at some future date.
I do remember discussing GPS on sci.physics in the mid-90s though. Where I learned that GPS is the only commercial technology that has to take general relativity into account. Clocks on Earth run measurably slower than clocks at the altitude of GPS satellites, and the effect is big enough that GPS has to correct for it.
No, very much not. It was an article about how shocked the Iraqis were that the US tanks were able to disappear into the desert, organize, and then assault where and when they wanted to.
Looking back at the history, the tanks began to go into the Saudi desert in August of 1990. They then launched their massive assault on Feb 24, 1991. And caught the Iraqis completely flatfooted. With the tanks moving faster than the news of the tanks for several hours.
I remember the capability coming as a surprise in 1990, but you're right that Reagan announced that civilian access would happen back in 1983.
Now I don't know if I was misremembering, or if Iraq was simply unaware of the technology, or whether that announcement was for access at some future date.
I do remember discussing GPS on sci.physics in the mid-90s though. Where I learned that GPS is the only commercial technology that has to take general relativity into account. Clocks on Earth run measurably slower than clocks at the altitude of GPS satellites, and the effect is big enough that GPS has to correct for it.