614^th Fighter Squadron

Doha International Airbase

October 13, 2002

After months of political in-fighting and posturing by certain American political figures the vote has finally come through. The President, having out maneuvered his opponents, has forced a vote on the use of force in ousting Saddam Hussain.  The President won this vote by a wide margin with a few dissenters on the side of the Democrats.  Of course US efforts to get the UN to sign on have fallen flat.  The President said in his speech of September, 14, 2001 that "you are either with us or you are with the terrorist", clearly not everyone is with us.  Despite the resistance of the UN and many in the Muslim world the United States and Great Britain have decided (rightfully so) that we must take the initiative and strike the enemy before he has the capacity to do the same to us.  The argument is really quite silly; we should not attack Hussain because he has suddenly become forthcoming and willing to allow inspections (without restrictions) to ALL of his NBC production, storage, and deliver system.  Does anyone really believe this will happen?  There is no evidence that Saddam Hussain is building and developing biological, nuclear, and other weapons, of course not. We have not been allowed into Iraq in four years so how could we obtain such evidence?  He would never use such weapons if he obtained them. Nor would he pass them on to terrorist groups.  Ask the Kurds, should we wait until he has proven he possesses such a weapon?  I think not, if we do millions of innocents would die and then the world was criticizing the United States for not acting when we had an opportunity.  It is funny that the same voices that say we should not go in now are the very ones who were screaming the loudest that we could not go into Baghdad in 1991 and subsequently criticize Bush senior for not taking out Saddam when he had the chance...well this time we are going to finish the job.

Flying out of a hastily constructed airbases in Qatar we have increased or training routine and have been flying several sorties per day.  Our orders have finally come down despite the lack of any resolution from the United Nations.

Our missions will be primarily air to ground strike missions targeting the NBC production facilities of Saddam Hussain. RAF squadrons will handle the enemy airfields and bridges.  F4s and 18s will take care of the enemies Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS).  F15Cs, F14, some F16s and Tornados will handle the air-to-air work. Our squadron will be joined by F117s, F111s, A6s and other F16 squadrons in dealing with the WMD infrastructure of Iraq.  Our first combat mission will lift off at 09:30 putting us over the target at 10:25:00.  The target for this first strike is the chemical plant at Al Jahra.  This plant is claimed to be a pharmaceutical plant but or intelligence and satellite imagery tell a very different story.  It is reported that the site is a major research and development facility with the mission of weaponizing various chemical agents.   

We will be a flight of four F16s designated as Stud11 through 14.  Our SEAD escorts will be a pair of F16s designated Viper11 and 12.  Ordinance for the mission will consist of the following for each of the be 6 MK 82 500 pound bombs, 2 AIM7M medium range Radar missiles, 2 AIM9M sidewinder heat seeking missiles, and one jamming pod. We will ingress at high altitude as we don't expect much interference from the Iraqi air force, and the enemy IADS has been seriously degraded by strikes in the southern no fly zone prior to our mission orders being issued.

After briefing we walk out to inspect our jets.  The Viper is a beautiful airplane but its beauty is counter to its purpose. It is a very effective killing machine.  I quote a viper pilot from the first Gulf war, "from 20,000 feet you will not see an F16 coming down the slot, at 12,000 feet you might see it, at 8,000 feet you can see it but by then the bomb will be going off in your face".  Size matters, and the small profile of the Falcon is one of it major advantages. 

Once the jets are code one we initiate the startup procedure and check in on the radio.  I contact ground and request taxi approval and once this is granted the mission is underway.  Pulling out of my parking spot I swing my head left and right to insure that I am clear of all obstacles I apply power to the jet and start my slow roll.  The canopy is still up as I start my roll and I follow the directions of the crew chief until he whips me a crisp salute.  Returning his salute I bring the canopy down and pick up the yellow taxi line.  The other members of my flight follow my lead and we continue at a 15 mile per hour pace until we hit the hold line at 16L.  Holding short I stage my radios number one to the tower and number two to guard.  Contacting the tower I request permission for Fury to lift off.  Once permission is granted I pull out onto the main runway and center up on along the centerline.  I scan my instruments one last time and look to ensure that everything is in the green. I bring my gaze back to the outside of the plane and look to my right were 5 more F16s (the rest of my flight and the SEAD escort) are waiting to take the active runway.  I turn my attention back to business bringing my head back against the head rest and pushing the throttle past the after burner detents. 

 

The sound is muffled from inside the cockpit but the sensation is incredible as I speed down the runway.  As my speed crosses through 170 knots I apply gentle back pressure on the control stick.  My jet is heavy but still it lifts off the pavement gently. Having obtained a positive climb rate, I pull the gear up and bank into a left turn. Continuing into my turn I climb at 10 degrees.  Off to the left I watch as the rest of my flight gets airborne.  I continue at 10 degrees nose up and as I call for the others to close up.  It is 0930 and it is already very hot.  The desert below looks barren and the heat is visibly rising from the desert floor.  Looking over to my left and right I can see the other members of my flight tucked neatly into a finger four formation their planes bristling with live ammunition.  We level off at the briefed altitude of 27,000 feet.  Checking out of Doha airspace, we check in with AWACs and proceed to the third steer-point.  At this point in the mission we have not encountered any resistance what-so-ever from the Iraqi Air Force.  Looking over at my right Multifunction Display (MFD) I notice that we are approaching one of the threat rings of an SA2 site so I bring the flight down to angels 20.  From this altitude we can dive under any attack from the site.  As we close in on the 3rd steer point I contact Viper and tell them that the SA2 site is hot.  They acknowledge and sprint ahead to deal with the threat. 

Dropping down to 500 feet I put the formation in trail as we pass through the 3rd steer-point and head into the IP.  Now outside of the effective envelope of the SA2 our only concern is ground fire or some grunt with and SA7 on his shoulder.  I stage my bombs to drop in two pairs.  This should provide for one devastating pass with two additional bombs onboard to deal with any secondary targets or cleanup of the primary.  I switch over to air-to-ground mode and start to climb to a safe drop altitude.  Just as I start to do this I get indications that the SA2 site is still up and scanning and every gun in the world opens up on us.  Black puffs of smoke fill the air but what cannot be seen and is the real threat are the hundreds of shreds of metal that are rocketing through the air with each burst.  Scanning my ground mapping radar I ignore the commotion outside of the cockpit and concentrate on acquiring the proper target.  I range my radar from 40 miles to 10 in order to get a better picture of the target area.  I use my thumb mouse to maneuver the targeting brackets over what I believe is the best target amongst a cluster of buildings.  Once locked on I give my flight the order to attack my target.  All acknowledge and press home their attacks.  I am first in the line and I switch to manual bombing and maneuver the dot of death so that it will cross directly through the center of the factory complex.  There are several storage silos, large structures, a tower and other, smaller, buildings. I hold course as the Iraqi gunners close the range.  Placing my death dot in the midst of the complex, I pickle off 4 bombs and initiate a 6g right hand climbing turn. The vortices swirl off my wingtips as I strain to look back at my handy work.  The facility is rocked by a tremendous explosion as 2000 pounds of high explosive iron detonates in the center of the complex. 

I continue to climb away as my number twos bombs detonate in the complex.  I am now at 12,000 feet doing a traffic pattern around the target as the others drop their bombs.  More explosions rock the buildings in the complex.  Out of the range of the enemy guns I call for the flight to form up. Fury12 and 14 respond but know word from 13.  Repeated attempts to reach 13 fail to garner a response.  Looking back at the burning complex I see a smoking hole about a mile to the north.  It looks like the wreckage of an airplane and I assume (to be confirmed later) that it is Fury13.  Turning my attention back to the complex I spot a large red and white communication tower with some support buildings.  This looks like a nice place to unload my remaining ordinance.  Turning back towards the target I maneuver so as to drop my remaining bombs on the tower.  Just as I prepare to release my remaining bombs huge flak barrage envelopes the airspace above the target.  I begin to question the wisdom of my decision but by this time I am committed to the attack.  Holding course I curse myself as the enemy gunner get closer to taking me out.  I press and hold the pickle button waiting for my bombs to release.  It is only a matter of seconds but it seems like forever.  Finally my bombs fall off and I pull out of the flak barrage.

Zooming up to 12,000 feet I look back just as the tower falls with a tremendous explosion at the base.  I break out of the flak and call the others off.  We have done significant damage to the target and there is no need to risk further loses.  I circle at the 6^th steer-point to allow the others to form.  Once in echelon we level off and head south for home.  The threat from enemy aircraft is none existent at this point so I settle in for an easy ride home.  Decompressing in the cockpit I relax and retrace the mission in my mind.  Continuing to thing about past events I fail to see the armored column that is beneath me.  My machine is bracketed by enemy shells and the plinging of rounds striking my fuselage wakes me from my state.  “Warning Warning” Oh shit, I think as my master warning illuminates and my MFDs all go dead.  A quick check of my warning panel shows the following errors:

·                   FLCS fault

·                   Elec Sys

·                   Stores Config

·                   Engine fault

·                   Avionics fault

·                   Radar Alt