Posted on 11/03/2001 10:22:24 AM PST by HAL9000
ABOARD THE USS PELELIU (AP) -- Marines on the USS Peleliu launched their first airstrikes against Taliban and al-Qaida targets in Afghanistan Saturday, using Harrier jump jets loaded with 500 pound bombs, officials said.Leaving a trail of black smoke, four AV-8B Harriers from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit took off from the amphibious assault ship Saturday morning, heading north toward Afghanistan. One returned to the ship an hour later after experiencing communications problems.
Each single-seat plane left with four 500 pound unguided bombs. U.S. Marine F/A-18C attack jets have flown off the USS Theodore Roosevelt since the first airstrikes were launched Oct. 18, but this is the first time Marine Harriers have been used to hit targets in Afghanistan.
"They were command and control targets ... in southern Afghanistan," Capt. Dave Romley, a Marine spokesman said.
Maj. Ed of Arizona, who for security reasons wanted only his first name used, said the airstrikes were successful. He said Taliban forces did not fire on the Marines' planes.
Maj. John, of Chicago, Illinois, said he had not expected the operation to go by so fast. "It felt like any other mission we have trained for, nothing unusual."
Neither pilot had flown combat missions before.
The Harriers are assigned to the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, which consists of three ships: the USS Peleliu amphibious assault ship, the USS Comstock landing ship and the USS Dubuque landing platform. A total of 2,200 Marines and 1,900 sailors live on the ships, which have been in the north Arabian Sea since Sept. 28.
Accompanying each ready group is an air wing, which includes helicopters and six Harriers. The jump jets can land like a helicopter on the Peleliu's short flight deck and don't require a catapult to take off.
In what Marine officers said was an unrelated mission, a combat-ready pilot and aircraft recovery team boarded two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters and left the Peleliu a few hours after the Harriers.
The 23-man team was equipped with machine guns, anti-tank weapons and enough supplies to spend several days from the ship, team members said. Dressed in desert camouflage, some of the young men snapped photos of each other sitting on large backpacks and holding M-16A2 rifles before boarding the helicopters.
The Marines were not allowed to say where they were going, how long they would be gone or whether they were going on a specific mission or merely prepositioning. But the team is trained to enter enemy territory, rescue pilots, provide first aid and bring the pilot or aircraft out using heavy-lift helicopters
Under strict ground rules, journalists on the Peleliu are not allowed to report on any combat operations away from the ships unless they are confirmed by senior officers. Cpl. Fabian Perez, a 23-year-old team leader from San Diego, Texas, said his team was ready for combat, if called upon to enter Afghanistan to recover a downed pilot, or recover a disabled aircraft.
"I've been training (my team) for a while. We're pretty much ready," Perez said. "I sat them down and told them to expect the worse. That's the mindset I give my team."
The recovery team left the Peleliu several hours after the Pentagon reported that a U.S. Army Special Forces helicopter crashed in Afghanistan. The crew of that helicopter was rescued by another special forces chopper and the crashed helicopter was destroyed by Navy attack jets, Pentagon officials said.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Michael
You really have to see a Harrier perform to appreciate them.
I'll never forget seeing them at the Dayton Air Show. It's quite awesome how fast they transform from full speed ahead to a dead stop hover, and how fast they're gone again!
I demand to know where they are going and what time they will arrive.
They are going to Whup, Afghanistan and they will arrive a few moments before the terrorists are dead.
Hope this helps.
So why do you think it was so important for AP to give us this little disclamer?
I don't recall having seen disclamers like this attached to any of the BS put out by OBL or the Taliban.
Just my simple observation...
Yeah. We have a right to know. Tell the media now. LOL!
You forgot the other standard questions we can expect to hear from the media dumbasses:
How many are there, and how much ammo will they carry?
Exactly how and when will we resupply/extract them?
How many babies will they kill?
Will they be wearing their black combat pumps, or their canvas flats?
Go Marines
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