 In 1989 he was promoted to Commodore and appointed Commander Canadian Fleet and Chief of Staff Operations in Halifax, the appointment he was holding when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August, 1990.Summers assumed command of the Canadian Naval Task Force that sailed from Halifax to the Persian Gulf, and upon arrival he was appointed Commander Canadian Forces Middle East, with headquarters in Bahrain.All Canadian naval, air and land forces in the Gulf came under his command during the implementation of Operation FRICTION, where Canadian naval and air units engaged in combat for the first time since the Korean War.