A-10s over Kosovo

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Foreword In the spring of 1999, NATO engaged in a precedent-setting air campaign over Serbia and Kosovo known as Operation Allied Force (OAF). This event marked a milestone for airpower, as it was, arguably, the first time airpower alone was decisive in achieving victory in combat. By the end of the conflict, in June 1999, America and its allies had mounted a monumental effort to achieve the immediate goals of halting ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and providing for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Ground forces, introduced following the end of the air campaign, have subsequently been employed to secure the peace. Several books have already been written about OAF, though not as many as might have been expected given the implications for NATO and airpower that came out of that conflict. Those that have been written focus primarily on the strategic level, the events, diplomacy, and decisions by senior military and political leaders that led to the conflict and determined its conduct. This is not that kind of book. This is about the other end of the spectrum as told by those that flew and fought at the most basic level during the war—the A-10 pilots of the 40th Expeditionary Operations Group (EOG). I was privileged to command the 52d Air Expeditionary Wing during OAF. The 40th EOG was one of four such groups in my wing. Its members’ job was to find and destroy fielded Serb forces in Kosovo and to provide combat search and rescue for downed allied aircrews. This is their story. They take you into the cockpit where you learn how the strategic policy was ultimately put into action. After the war, one senior Air Force officer said, “About 80 percent of the airpower effort was magnificent, but the other 20 percent was pretty ugly.” Through the eyes of the 40th EOG, you’ll see the good, the bad, and the ugly. You will appreciate the enormous pressures placed on our fighter pilots as they strove to find and verify valid military targets, protect the civilian population against collateral damage, destroy fielded Serbian forces, and rescue downed airmen. You’ll appreciate how well and how professionally they carried xiii
out their mission, and you will experience the frustration that comes from waging war within the inevitable restrictions placed by our leaders. OAF was an unusual war in many ways. Indeed, due to allied political sensitivities, we didn’t even call it a “war” for quite some time. Gen Wesley K. Clark, supreme allied commander in Europe termed it diplomacy by force until he retired. While victory was ultimately achieved, it was never declared. Nevertheless, for those who flew in it, OAF was war, and especially for the A-10 pilots it was tough, dangerous, and personal. I’m honored to have led these outstanding warriors, and I support their effort to preserve their experiences in writing. There are important lessons here for all of us. This is their story, in their own words— exciting, unvarnished, and on target. SCOTT P. VAN CLEEF Brigadier General, USAF Commander 52d Air Expeditionary Wing xiv
Page 3 and 4: A-10s over Kosovo The Victory of Ai
Page 5 and 6: We owe much of our combat success t
Page 7 and 8: Chapter Page Getting There from Her
Page 9 and 10: Illustrations Figure Page A-10 miss
Page 11 and 12: Photo Page Crew chiefs generating a
Page 13: Photo Page Capt Rip Woodard and air
Page 17 and 18: theater of operations. Covering tha
Page 19 and 20: Our personal experiences led us to
Page 21 and 22: Maj Peter R. Brotherton Maj Pete
Page 23 and 24: Capt Andrew J. Gebara Maj David E.
Page 25 and 26: Lt Col Mark E. Koechle Lt Col Mark
Page 27 and 28: Col Alan E. Thompson Col Al “Moos
Page 29 and 30: 30 January NATO’s primacy focus r
Page 31 and 32: 8 April Capt JD McDonough destroys
Page 33 and 34: 11 May An A-10 AFAC is hit beneath
Page 35 and 36: 11 June Col Al Thompson passes comm
Page 37 and 38: A-10s OVER KOSOVO testimony to its
Page 39 and 40: A-10s OVER KOSOVO Goldie Haun also
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Page 47 and 48: AFAC Striker Striker* CSAR AIM-9M (
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO creases with an i
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO three-hour daytim
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Aviators represen
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO deployed enemy gr
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO At the beginning
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Hobbins, USAFE di
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO That day’s five
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO 500 lb Mk-82 bomb
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO In the meantime,
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO After a half-hour
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “Copy, I got th
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “OK, we’re no
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO string of pearls
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO As we flew into K
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO pull into the de-
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO A Picture Is Wort
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO the field. I clea
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO my now-inverted c
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO stressful, and fr
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Aviano in support
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Eureka! I immedia
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO A-10 with extra m
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Pope A-10 with th
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO AB in southern It
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO but those few I d
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO USAFE waiver just
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO launched from Gio
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO one can precisely
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO airmen of all ran
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO SrA Nick Kraska w
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Colle. We had nea
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO USAF Photo by TSg
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Once our equipmen
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Monday through Fr
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Obviously, the Sp
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO ample, range from
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO As an executive o
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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO if we rushed or b
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO and no vehicles p
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO F-16CGs (block 40
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO USAF Photo Taxiin
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Valley four miles
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “Magic, Lobo 51
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO with no energy av
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO knots to touch th
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO When my family ar
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO the prior AFACs o
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO report it as “p
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO In accordance wit
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO trail began. I dr
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO We were directed
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO there is no war.
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO they were valid.
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO anticipated “Ho
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO USAF Photo RQ-1A
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO NATO authorities
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Approval Process
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO the target, fully
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO just how unhappy
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “I can’t beli
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO to compare and co
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO where in the worl
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO portion of these
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO tinued to prepare
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO targets are hard
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO launched each day
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO weren’t talking
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO weren’t bad. A
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO mover, and even b
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO it a little time
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO from bumpers refl
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO scribe the briefi
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Milano Camp Darby AUSTRIA HUNGARY T
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO news was that it
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO pass at 2,000 fee
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO essential to use
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO I was “Sandy 1
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO erick or NVGs exc
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO as possible, acqu
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Now I’ve shot c
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO tactical leadersh
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO four two-ships st
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO at least had some
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO 200 infantry with
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO facilitate the se
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO still had about 1
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO It then occurred
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Efficient cockpit
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO erate efficiently
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO The First Night C
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO USAF Photo by SrA
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Joe Bro and I ste
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO turned it back on
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO turning to keep h
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Buster then calle
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “OK,” I direc
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “It looks like
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “All stations S
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO was happy to fina
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO It sounded like a
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO We searched for a
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO strike for Buster
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO determined that h
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO the tanker in fro
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO and forced NATO t
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO I had been near t
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO operator passed t
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO into the weather.
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO rapidly into the
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO As I executed man
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO flight-control sy
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Sitting there on
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Many of our first
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO south, Lester fou
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO tie it was import
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO and resulting sur
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO Aviano (and later
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO amplify his emoti
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO ready to strap on
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO was one of the au
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO behind us. I knew
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO HUNGARY 0 0 Appro
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO I looked at the I
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO I checked all of
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO much more real, a
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO “One, come hard
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO I finished my pre
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO maneuver. I climb
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO The OAF conflict
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO erick attack. Unl
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO 4 June 1999 Capt
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A-10s OVER KOSOVO came, the targets
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Force, which the reader can use alo
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of 30 by 30 NM squares known as “
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sponded to sporadic infringements b
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Serbian action against the Kosovars
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A-10s were initially tasked with pr
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success and combined to provide a g
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ation in Europe (OSCE) had agreed t
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BE basic encyclopedia number used t
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GAU-8 GPS Guard hard deck hardball
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NM NVG OAF OPCON ORI OSC outlaw Pav
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USAFE UTM VHF-AM VID vis VJ VMEZ vu
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early warning [NAEW]), “Magic,”
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close air support (CAS), 1-4, 6, 14
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omblets (cluster bomb unit [CBU] su
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Willy Petes, 7, 11, 13, 41, 46, 54,
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A-10s over Kosovo

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