Posted on 10/03/2004 2:00:28 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE--Seven A-10 Warthogs brought a little desert sand home with them when they touched down Saturday at Eielson Air Force Base for the first time in almost six months.
Though the long journey home provided the A-10s a chance to clean off some of the dust accumulated in Afghanistan, they were still due for a major cleaning and overhaul at the end of a busy 5 1/2-month deployment to Bagram Airbase near Kabul.
"We were sitting next to jets in Boise (Idaho)," said Capt. Glenn "Shredder" Ott, an A-10 pilot and West Valley High School graduate. "Boise jets were beautiful, all clean and everything. Ours are dirty."
Most of Eielson's 355th Fighter Squadron's 18 A-10s, as well as about 300 personnel, were deployed in March.
The A-10s provided air support for people on the ground registering Afghans to vote and U.S. troops moving from safe house to safe house, ferreting out Taliban members in remote areas.
While a majority of the maintenance and support airmen have already returned, the A-10s are coming home in spurts throughout this week. All but three aircraft have returned from overseas.
About 50 people--including a number of Ott's family members--welcomed the squadron's single-seat A-10s and their pilots home Saturday.
Small children waving flags clasped the hands of fathers they hadn't seen in almost six months and wives buried their heads on their husbands' shoulders.
"I'm kind of numb," said Ott's wife of two years, Kelly. She stayed up all night cleaning the house and studying for a test she had Saturday morning.
She said it was hard for her to believe her husband was finally home.
The deployment was a historical one for the 355th.
It was the farthest an A-10 had to travel to deploy, said Lt. Col. Phil "Goldie" Haun, commander of the 355th. The aircraft flew over three-fourths of the globe on the way home.
The A-10s also spent as many hours in the air flying missions during the 5 1/2 months in Afghanistan as they do in a year of training at Eielson. They flew around the clock and only had three days off during the deployment. Even then, they were on alert to be ready to join the battle at a moment's notice.
"As soon as your wheels went in the well, you were on a combat sortie," Haun said.
While the A-10s flew around the clock, the mechanics and support group were busy making sure the aircraft were ready to fly.
"The jets flew great, our maintainers did a phenomenal job," Haun said.
He said they flew 2,200 sorties, dropped a total of 40 bombs, shot more than 13,000 30-mm rounds and fired more than 70 rockets while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Haun said one of the highlights was providing a little extra fire power when the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit went into the Oruzgan Province north of Kandahar in June. It marked the first time U.S. troops had penetrated that Taliban stronghold, Haun said.
The A-10s' most common mission was to escort military convoys creeping along roads. Pilots scouted ahead to make sure there weren't any surprises waiting for the ground troops.
Ott said they didn't encounter many skirmishes because the A-10s have a strong reputation and were fighting against a rag-tag army that's equipped with whatever weapons they can find, mostly equipment left over from a 10-year war with the Russians.
But not everything the 355th did meant dropping bombs.
They also escorted teams venturing out to register voters as the country gears up for its first presidential elections Saturday.
"You probably don't see Afghanistan in the news very much and we consider that a win because we feel if Afghanistan was in the news it was because bad things were going on," Haun said. "Fortunately, it's boring when you're winning a war."
Reporter Beth Ipsen can be reached at bipsen@newsminer.com or 459-7545.
Have you got any pics....WartHogs are my all time favorite.
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- The first O/A-10 Thunderbolt ll from the 355th Fighter Squadron lands here for the first time in six months on Sept. 29. The A-10's are returning after a six-month deployment to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The 355th Fighter Squadron's primary missions now include air strike control, close air support, target interdiction, joint air attack team, combat escort, and combat search and rescue. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang)
I don't know about the about the first pic. Sorry.
"Fortunately, it's boring when you're winning a war"
That would be a good line for W to quote in the right circumstance.
Awesome pic - thanks very much!!!
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