Lancer hits regime leadership target (Aif Force Official Version)

U.S.A.F. ^ | 8 April, 2003 | Senior Master Sgt. Rick Burnham

[Happy2BMe]

FILE PHOTO -- An Air Force B-1B Lancer flies near Iraq. A Lancer like this one struck a building in a residential area in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 7 where a high-level Iraqi leadership meeting was believed to be ongoing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Cherie A. Thurlby)

Lancer hits regime leadership target

by Senior Master Sgt. Rick Burnham
Air Force Print News

04/08/03 - WASHINGTON -- An Air Force B-1B Lancer struck a building in a residential area in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 7 where a high-level Iraqi leadership meeting was believed to be ongoing.

Officials at U.S. Central Command confirmed the attack during the daily press briefing at their forward headquarters in Qatar on April 8. Army Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, CENTCOM deputy operations officer, said there were strong indications that high-level Iraqi regime leaders were present at the meeting.

"We had credible information there was a regime leadership meeting occurring yesterday," he said. "We had an opportunity to attack that particular regime leadership meeting, and we believe the attack was effective in causing the destruction of that facility."

The general left open the question as to what specific Iraqi leaders were present, opting to wait until investigations of the site could be conducted.

"Our efforts remain focused on regime leadership wherever we can find it, and any remnants of command and control that might be exerted by any remaining forces of the regime, whether it is tactical or on a larger scale," he said.

CENTCOM officials said the attack was carried out by a single B-1B Lancer that dropped four precision-guided, 2,000-pound, Joint Direct Attack Munitions on the building, located in the al Mansour section of Baghdad.

The strike marks the second time in recent days that coalition air strikes targeted top-level Iraqi leaders. U.S. and British officials said April 7 they believe the body of Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali," had been found in the rubble of his Basra home after it had been hit by bombs dropped from Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons.

"We believe that the reign of terror of 'Chemical Ali' has come to an end," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during a Pentagon press conference April 7. "To Iraqis who have suffered at his hand, particularly in the last few weeks in that southern part of the country, he will never again terrorize you or your families."

[Happy2BMe]

The Fat Lady has left the building.

[ken5050]

Have you notices that none of the stories about the strike refer to the B-1 by its nickname..."Bone"..wondering why?

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[Happy2BMe]

Is it cuz we "Gave the dog a BONE?"

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They's "bad to the bone."

[Yankee]

Alternate headline:

"Saddam No Longer Able To Tell His Ass From A Hole In The Ground"

[IYAS9YAS]

An Air Force B-1B Lancer struck a building in a residential area in Baghdad, Iraq

Gotta love that attention to detail...the ordnance dropped from the B-1B hit the building, not the Lancer itself.

[Happy2BMe]

"Saddam No Longer Able To Tell His Ass From A Hole In The Ground"

I Like it - I Like It A Lot!

[Poohbah]

Have you notices that none of the stories about the strike refer to the B-1 by its nickname..."Bone"..wondering why?

Because the B-1's official nickname is "Lancer."

[ken5050]

I know that, but maybe some are trying to be PC...I mean, the B-52's been around for 50 years, yet MOST media never use BUFF...cause they'd have to explain what it means...same as with the "Bone"

[Happy2BMe]

Saddam Strike Plane Told: 'This Is the Big One'

"We used four weapons on the target," Air Force Lt. Col. Fred Swan, told Pentagon reporters of Monday's attack in a telephone interview from the region. "From the time we got the coordinates, it took 12 minutes to get the bombs on target."

Swan, one of four crewmen on the aircraft, said two earth-penetrating GBU-31 2,000-pound bombs and two delayed-fuse bombs of the same size were used.

He said he did not know who was in the destroyed building, but that the air traffic controller in a nearby airborne radar plane told the B-1 jet's crew before the daylight raid, "This is the big one."

Other U.S. officials told Reuters that intelligence indicated that Saddam and his sons might have been in the building but that there was no immediate indication whether the Iraqi president or others might have been killed.

"We got the order that it was a high-priority leadership target," he said. He said the jet 12 minutes later dropped two GBU-31 (guided bomb unit) bombs designed to penetrate deeply into the target before they exploded and, three seconds later, another two of the bombs with "25 millisecond" delayed fuses.

"I did not know who was there. I really didn't care," he added, stressing that he told the crew "this could be the big one. Let's get it right."

The swing-wing, four-engine jet bomber carries 24 of the satellite-guided "joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) bombs. Swan said the aircraft later dropped 17 of the bombs on two other targets -- one in western Iraq and one near Baghdad -- before returning to its base in the Gulf region.

[Poohbah]

BUFF and Bone are what the line and flight crews call them; most reporters don't talk extensively to those people, preferring instead retired generals who would never get caught dead calling a B-52 a BUFF.

[Die_Hard Conservative Lady]

The B1-B is the prettiest plane in the sky in my oppinion, I worked on that program that built them..... Beautiful plane.

[Zavien Doombringer]

It's also because the lingo/jargon used in the military is still "greek" to the outside. Those of us who have experience on the military aircraft would prefer it that way.

F-4 = Pig
F-105 = Thud, or Lead Sled
C-130 = Trash hauler

and so on...

[wysiwyg]

The only nickname I frequently hear is for the A-10, official name "Thunderbolt II," nickname "Warthog." The nickname is so common, I don't think most people even know the official name.

[Zavien Doombringer]

True, I worked on those at Eglin AFB on the "test" side.

[Jonah Hex]

And don't forget the Viper. (I've never heard ANY fighter jock refer to the F-16 as the Fighting Falcon.)

[Poohbah]

Lesser known nicknames:

F-15: Rodan

F-16 Lawn Dart, or Electric Jet

F-117: Wobbly Goblin

A-7: SLUF (Short Little Ugly Fellow :o)

A-4: Scooter

B-52: Stratopig

C-141: StarLizard

E-4B National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC): Doomsday Plane

[hchutch]

You know, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that we have the ability to track down a dictator, and give him four bunker-busting candygrams - and that the rest of the world knows it, too.

I think I can get used to this hegemony thing, y'know.

[ibtheman]

When I crewed F-16's A,B,C,D, models. We called them Falcons.