News Observer (Raleigh, NC) March 25, 2003
Seymour Johnson aviators in action
By Kevin Diaz, McClatchy Newspapers
DOHA, Qatar -- Taking part in the hundreds of sorties that made up the air attack Friday on Baghdad were pilots and crew members of the 4th Fighter Wing from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro.
Some of the crews, which the Web site Globalsecurity.org reported are based at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base, were sent off with a back slap from a 4th Fighter Wing lieutenant colonel named Brian, a squadron supervisor. Brian, a 38-year-old weapons system operator from Lancaster, S.C., did not want his last name used. A veteran of the Persian Gulf War and the NATO campaign in Bosnia, he has flown on nine missions in Iraq in the past month. Friday night was his turn to watch out over the other crews.
"I was the guy pushing 'em out the door and wishing them godspeed," said Brian, who would normally be sitting in the back seat of an F-15E jet, running its load of precision-guided munitions.
"We're taking care to achieve our objectives, not just wiping out everything that's in front of us," said the married father of two.
Having flown over Iraq, Brian knew what the crews faced Friday night. "We're seeing a lot of flak and missiles, especially in the urban areas," he said. "It can be stressful getting shot at."
All coalition air missions are planned and controlled by the Combined Air Operations Center at an air base on the Arabian Peninsula. It functions as the brain for the entire coalition air campaign. From the desert base, where the 4th Fighter Wing operates, missions over Iraq last anywhere from three to eight hours, Brian said.
Sorties originate from as far away as Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the Indian Ocean and the United Kingdom. B-2 bombers flew the longest missions, lasting about 34 hours round-trip.
"Guys are excited because they've trained their whole lives for this," Brian said. "War is not a pretty thing, but we're in this for a reason."
Copyright © 2003, The News and Observer
