F-15 'show of force' saves Army ground troops

Air Force Links ^

[diogenes ghost]

"Beautiful"??? ughhh. But, I guess some guys think A-10's are sexy, too.

[freedumb2003]

"Beautiful"??? ughhh. But, I guess some guys think A-10's are sexy, too.

Lemme guess -- Tomcat guy?

(and yes, I put A-10s in my top 5)

[Old_Mil]

As the guns continued firing, the pilots’ biggest concern was the wounded soldier on the ground. “The wounded soldier was completely vulnerable,” said Bigus. “I can’t imagine what he was thinking and what the other soldiers were going through. The only way to describe it would be to say they were in the most dangerous neighborhood in a city, and a bomb had just gone off, and they were being shot at from all directions, all in complete darkness.”

Still calm, the JTAC called for a quick reaction force and helicopter. But, it would take time to get these on location. So, the Air Force major on the ground requested “shows of force” from the F-15Es.

“AJ asked us to fly as low as we could and give as much noise as possible to scare off the insurgents"

You have got to be kidding me. Fly as low as you can and make noise to scare off the insurgents!? This is Vietnam all over again. The F-15E is one of the world's most capable air-to-ground platforms, and that's not because it has afterburners.

Good grief.

[TheForceOfOne]

You will never find a story like that on CNN with a tear in the anchor's eye, like I have in mine. Excellent story, our guys prove over and over they are the best in the entire world at what they do.

God Bless America, our troops, and our president who work everyday to insure that these Islamofacists will not endanger our freedom, our families will not perish, and old glory will always wave in our hearts and on our shores.

[r9etb]

LOL! I bet you're exactly right!

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

No way.

Mine;

380 MMS
43 MMS
6515 MMS

[Jasper]

A tip o' the hat and a bump to the "Fabulous Rocketeers", and especially to "AJ" the JTAC. Outstanding job guys! Beers all around.

Stand Fast

/jasper

[RightOnline]

My only connection to the 336th was being assigned to them long ago for a few weeks one summer before my senior year at the Air Force Academy (called the "Third Lieutenant" program). They flew F-4's back then; what a hoot. I loved every second of it; still have a unit patch and scarf from the 336th.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Don't sell the A-10 short... beauty is more than skin deep. Check out all those hardpoints on the wings... and the GUN!

[Calpernia]

JJ and his weapon systems officer “Dez” flew the lead fighter into Iraq. They were closely followed by another fighter, piloted by an aircraft commander named “Voodoo” and a weapon systems officer named “Bigus.”

Once over Iraq, the two crews received a radio call from AJ, the JTAC on the ground. AJ was part of a team patrolling the streets in an Iraqi city.

“JJ and I were in the lead jet, and Bigus and Vodoo were in the second one,” explained Dez, a major who has been flying seven years. “The JTAC called us to help support about 20 Army soldiers on foot patrol. And we flew right to the location.”

As the aircrew monitored the forces on the ground using their target pods to track movement, an improvised explosive device went off.

[operation clinton cleanup]

A scarf? That must be a collectible! Goldsboro must have been even more like Mayberry back then.

[RonDog]

...The F-15Es flew more than 500 miles per hour over the combat location maximizing full afterburner. JJ and Dez flew the first two passes while Bigus and Voodoo flew higher, watching the soldiers on the ground while keeping an eye on the lead fighter.

As the shooting intensified, so did the radio chatter.

"My command to Voodoo and Bigus was two words," said JJ. "I said ‘Do it.’ And they executed flawlessly."

The last low-level pass did the trick. The fighters flew several passes, dispensing flares each time, and the shooting stopped.

"A couple of Strike Eagles flying low over your head in full burner spitting white-hot flares will get anyone’s attention," said Bigus.

"I think we clearly communicated how serious we were about taking care of our brothers on the ground."

GOOD NEWS ping!

[null and void]

So many Monty Python fans, so little time...

[operation clinton cleanup]

The AMMO troops back at the base would have been happier with empty bomb racks rather than more chaff and flare dispensers to replenish... IMO

[onyx]

THANK YOU, Ron Dog, for the GOOD NEWS ping.

[RonDog]

:o)

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Thanks to the F-22 program, plans to increase the bomb load on all F-15s have been shelved, most likely permanently. One part called for hardening station 1 and 9 to carry up to the MK -84 ( 2000 pound "dumb and smart bombs" ). It would have almost doubled the bomb load on C/D and E models.

[Ichneumon]

You have got to be kidding me. Fly as low as you can and make noise to scare off the insurgents!? This is Vietnam all over again. The F-15E is one of the world's most capable air-to-ground platforms, and that's not because it has afterburners. Good grief.

What, exactly, would you have suggested they do instead? Blow up the surrounding buildings, which would inevitably rain debris down on the American troops, including the wounded guy in the street?

If the soldiers on the ground thought that anything else would have worked, I'm sure they'd have asked for it, and gotten it. But their best assessment, when their own asses were on the line, was to ask for the "fly low and loud" tactic. I'll take their judgment over yours any day.

[GretchenM]

It does have a poise, symmetry, "alertness," and grace to it that are very striking.

[Lady Jag]

F-15s in the Sunset