Viper Pilot_ A Memoi..

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enemy threat. The F-15Es were unable to find or engage the target due to the very poor weather in the target area. The MEF then sent a flight of A-10s that again were unable to find or engage the target due to worsening weather. Ceilings were estimated at 8000' and visibility was down to a couple miles. Since it was an emergency situation as passed by Cyclops (controller), we then sent Roman 75, flight of F-16CJs. The flight of F-16CJs was able to find and destroy the target. Due to the poor weather, Roman 75 had to execute a low altitude strafe against the target, the only way at the time to destroy the target. Two other flights were unable to find or engage the target after many attempts under these very difficult wartime conditions. The flexibility, tactical expertise, and calm under intense pressure demonstrated by Roman 75’s flight was above and beyond the call. This professional action of the flight lead under very poor weather conditions and in direct contact with the enemy ground forces saved 3rd Battalion from the reinforcing enemy forces. Lt Col Mike McGee V Corps EASOC Airboss Dep Cmdr for Joint Integration 4 EASOG This guy didn’t even have the balls to come see our squadron depart for home after the war ended. Fortunately, these types of people were rare and a marked contrast to officers like Kanga, Storm’n, and Ops Group Commander at Ali-al Salem. True professionals, they focused on combat missions and using their positions to actually help those doing the fighting. I’d love to see that colonel from Kuwait again, to shake his hand and buy him a drink. But the war didn’t stop for the weather. This was a reality the Iraqis were slow in grasping, and it cost them dearly. They hoped to use the dust to obscure their movements and move into position for coordinated counterattacks. It’s a good thought, and worked in 1944 for the Germans, but it wasn’t going to stop a military that could see through bad weather and had satellite tracking. In the end, after marching bravely out of their fortified positions with flags waving, the so-called elite Iraqi troops got the hell beaten out of them. I believe that the sight of the arrogant, goose-stepping Republican Guards limping back into Baghdad convinced other military units, and, above all, the civilians, that Saddam’s grip on Iraq was loosening. Consequently, there would be
no mass uprising of the people to throw the hated invaders (that’s us) into the sea. The military, however, did stay, and dug in tightly to fight the coalition forces as we approached the capital. And approach it we did. The Army’s V Corp moved up from the south, and the Marines, mad as hell about Nasiriyah, were blitzing northwest from al-Kut. The SAMs and Triple-A around Baghdad were warmed up now and waiting for the attack helicopters and close air-support aircraft that would support the attack on their capital. But they wouldn’t have to wait for long—the Wild Weasels were coming to get them.
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VIPER PILOT A MEMOIR OF AIR COMBAT
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Epigraph There are only two types o
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Author’s Note I WROTE THIS BOOK M
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Simple. Or not. The Second Gulf War
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But men were dying. Our men. I stra
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I was now truly on my own. But my w
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“CHIEFTAIN . . . ROMAN 75 is off
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ground every aircraft on the contin
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missions, though puny by modern sta
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extract ourselves from Vietnam, and
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LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER FOBAIR AN
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In November 1965, the first five Wi
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many cases, from lives lost. With t
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2 Cold War and Hot Times “IF THE
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IT WORKED LIKE THIS. The first two
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loathed most FAIPs. So, Daddy Rabbi
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conjunction with some properly embe
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At least long enough for me to star
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We were taught the basics of our va
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Southeast Asia within the past twen
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typical Type-A FNG, I wanted to mak
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listen to a few seconds of the audi
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LEARNING THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS
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search-and-rescue in the event a je
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I nodded, now an expert on all Span
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of passage and a tradition. So, dur
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eathing matched my heart rate as th
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Clouds of white-feathered brown dus
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Euphrates River was almost turquois
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Suddenly a thin, pole-shaped object
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firing solution and a visual on the
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As I watched the jets spiral down a
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ackup targets, weapons, and timing.
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“I—” “C’mon boy . . . spi
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clueless non-fighter type (male, th
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pilot who spoke up was called “Li
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“Well, he happens to be correct.
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nice quarters had to go to the tran
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extra flying time with no brief or
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the flight controls working. Everyt
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was still up, which was bad. Pullin
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Mubarak was very definitely in powe
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shaking their heads. I thought it w
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around. In fact, there was a wrecke
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disconnected. But he couldn’t get
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family with brains—and weapons. I
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“Sir” “Look at the fucking gr
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5 Patchwearer FIGHTER SQUADRONS, LI
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currencies, and upgrades, must also
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Where the commander is the personal
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weapons. In this case, barring a mi
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The point is, as a Target Arm, you
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6 Intermission SINCE I WAS ONE OF T
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societies. Restrictions upon these
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attlefield thinking, and they insti
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until the building shook and I sudd
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one of the rooftop sentries could d
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any event, neither worked out very
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looming when the Twin Towers came d
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iver side . . . and the point of im
Page 123 and 124: face. Hijackers are cowards. In my
Page 125 and 126: took off the next day for the bleak
Page 127 and 128: Photo Section Undergraduate Pilot T
Page 129 and 130: Inbound SCUD missile being destroye
Page 131 and 132: Self-portrait during a surface-to-a
Page 133 and 134: Beni Suef, Egypt, 1992. A shot of m
Page 135 and 136: Baghdad reeling from Shock and Awe,
Page 137 and 138: 77th Fighter Squadron “Gamblers
Page 139 and 140: Like father, like son . . . Me and
Page 141 and 142: 7 Shock and Awe March 19, 2003 0530
Page 143 and 144: wingman on a two-mile string, allow
Page 145 and 146: Even as I watched, the fiery plume
Page 147 and 148: could fly through the green world o
Page 149 and 150: problematic. And irrelevant. I coul
Page 151 and 152: 17,000 feet, panting hard. The RWR
Page 153 and 154: 8 Sandstorm SOUTH OF NASIRIYAH, I P
Page 155 and 156: “Loud and clear, ROMAN . . . we
Page 157 and 158: “None of us have ever seen the bu
Page 159 and 160: uneasiness poked up through my bell
Page 161 and 162: tell him my heading, altitude, airs
Page 163 and 164: “Ali Tower, ROMAN 75.” No reply
Page 165 and 166: There. I’d just created an instru
Page 167 and 168: “Five copies.” “Seven copies.
Page 169 and 170: There! White painted runway marking
Page 171 and 172: and burned bread—but it smelled h
Page 173: particular day he happened to be to
Page 177 and 178: “WICKED 23, this is RAMROD.” Th
Page 179 and 180: Taking a deep breath, I pushed the
Page 181 and 182: SAMs or big stuff, I couldn’t tel
Page 183 and 184: own villages lined the banks and I
Page 185 and 186: This went on for a few minutes whil
Page 187 and 188: 10 SAMbush April 6, 2003 1104 local
Page 189 and 190: and— “BEEP . . . BEEP . . . BEE
Page 191 and 192: ombs. These things are terrific Wea
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Page 195 and 196: SA-6s, so we’d give it a wide ber
Page 197 and 198: well, which rarely happens, when th
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Page 201 and 202: on the way out.” I turned down th
Page 203 and 204: the boy. He didn’t have any HARMs
Page 205 and 206: I sent a data-link, turned hard to
Page 207 and 208: 11 ELI 33 April 7, 2003 1046 local
Page 209 and 210: obviously tracking and others just
Page 211 and 212: The second missile had disappeared,
Page 213 and 214: clear of downtown. Sixty-one hundre
Page 215 and 216: 6.1 miles. I leaned back and center
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Page 219 and 220: His reply was instantaneous. “ELI
Page 221 and 222: 12 Endgame IT LOOKED LIKE A GIRAFFE
Page 223 and 224: us, we accounted for seven tanks an
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were two big runways that came toge
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moments. When they did open up, the
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morning Hunter Killer mission. We w
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“Affirmative. Clear all friendlie
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and stared down at the intersection
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eneath me, I stared across the pond
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as he hung in perfect formation off
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Epilogue SEVEN MONTHS AFTER THE GAM
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July parade. Her son, a young Marin
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Acknowledgments NO ONE WRITES A BOO
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FOX ONE/TWO/THREE: Air-to-air missi
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VUL: Short for “Vulnerability”
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Map of Iraq
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warriors in, 306 washing out of, 37
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Basra (Iraq), 145, 179 Battle Damag
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CONAN (Desert Storm call sign), 68,
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Eisenhower, Dwight D., 155 electro-
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F-117 jets, 179 FABLE (Iraq War cal
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generation gaps, among pilots, 47-4
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statue of, 285 U.S. attempts to kil
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Jackson, Mike, 155 jamming in Deser
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iefings about, 83 Desert Storm and,
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offensive jamming pods, 18 Office o
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Kosovo and, 155 low-altitude flying
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Sheikh Isa Air Field (Bahrain), 193
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U.S. invasion of Iraq as act of, 18
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U.S. casualties in, 27 U.S. pullout
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About the Author U.S. Air Force Lie
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Copyright VIPER PILOT. Copyright ©
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*For help along the way with acrony
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