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BAGRAM, Afghanistan – As most Americans look forward to spending the coming holidays with loved ones, many airmen from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., are deploying to remote, desolate areas around the world to join coalition forces in fighting the war on terrorism. Davis-Monthan pilots, maintainers and support personnel have trained long and hard in preparation for the November Air and Space Expeditionary Force Silver rotation. During the past year, a series of Operational Readiness Exercises at home have kept the airmen ready to take their place at the tip of the sword. Airmen and A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft began their deployment in late October and continue traveling to support Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Most of those personnel and aircraft are now in Afghanistan and already conducting operations. Based at Bagram Air Field, near the foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains, the 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron “Bulldogs” are flying as the watchdogs for soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division as they continue to roust al Qaeda and Taliban forces from hiding. Now attached to the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group, under the command of Combined Joint Task Force-180, the Bulldogs are flying close air support in the most recent operation against those who would threaten peaceful nations, Operation Mountain Resolve. As ground forces brave treacherous terrain and possible Anti Coalition Militants in Eastern Afghanistan, Davis-Monthan airmen are flying at the worst possible time, when weather conditions are commonly cloudy, foggy, snowy and cold, with the most inhospitable conditions found in the mountains. Leaving Arizona just as the blazing Sonoran summers have faded to pleasant winter temperatures, most of D-M’s airmen traveled for days, through Germany, Turkey, Tajikstan and other neighboring countries to their final destination at Bagram. Once a Soviet airfield, Bagram is a remnant of the 10-year war between Afghanistan and the former Soviet Union. Airmen live and work in a stark, rugged, war-torn environment surrounded by the wreckage of old Russian aircraft, tanks and other instruments of war. A striking sight around the base are the hundreds of small, red marking flags that warn of the vast, mine fields that serve as another reminder of Afghanistan’s war-torn past. “The real heroes here are the ground troops. Those are the people that are getting the job done and we’re here to support them,” said Capt. Jennifer Short, 345th EFS O/A-10 pilot who is carrying on a family tradition of military service. Already a veteran at flying combat missions with only three years piloting the A-10, Short is serving her second tour in Afghanistan in just over a year. Her last deployment put her in hostile skies, here and over Kuwait, where she flew more than 40 missions. “It really means a lot to me when I’m flying over the Army positions and I recognize the voice or call sign of the controller on the ground and realize we have worked together before,” Short added. “Sometimes I fly a mission to support a ground |
I Love those A-10 Warthogs.
