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File: aabfd_05.txtThe other challenges, of course, have been logistical. Those are obviously anticipated and, I think, have been handled very well through CENTAF [U.S. Central Command Air Force] and local wing personnel. S: You have done some combat missions from this FOL. Can you describe some of those combat missions? R: I have flown seven combat missions, generally around the tri-border area, a little further west in Southern Iraq, and a few in the very northwest section of Kuwait right near the Iraqi border. I have been relatively lucky, have not met with any significant SAM [surface-to-air missile] activity, have had 23mm, 37mm, and 57mm AAA [antiaircraft artillery] in sporadic amounts. As with about everybody, I have had [(b)(1)sec 3.4(b)(4)] Consistent with what most people will debrief, they will light up the scope for 3 to 5 seconds and then shut down. About the time you maneuver back to do something else, they light back up again. You only really become concerned about them when they stay with you more than 10 to 15 seconds, and then they become a matter of concern. Targets have been armor; lately artillery sites have been a major target for us, as we get closer to what is an apparent move on the ground. Consistent from my very first mission till the most recent, which was yesterday, you don't see anything moving in the target area during daylight hours. Everything is well dug in and static. You see new formations occasionally, where they appear to have taken advantage of night hours and bad weather to make moves; but generally you see nothing move on the ground during the day. 5
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