Document Page: First | Prev | Next | All | Image | This Release | Search

    E: They are not that much different from the sorties that we
    fly out of Hahn. One of the big differences, obviously, is
    less distance to drive. We have worked, in the past 10 days
    we have been here, anywhere from Eastern Kuwait near Kuwait
    City. The targets have ringed all the way around the
    Kuwaiti/Iraqi border from Northern Kuwait near Bhasra
    Island down southwest to the Saudi border, and now the
    sorties have generally moved west along the Kuwaiti/Saudi
    border, anywhere from very near to the border to 60 to 120
    miles inland, mostly fragged against hardened/bunkered
    artillery, tanks, command posts, communication[] nodes, with
    the Iraqi Army in both Kuwait and Eastern Iraq.
    
    S: Have you participated in particular combat missions that
    just stand out in your mind?
    
    E: No The sorties out of here are pretty much the same. I
    would say the ones that jump immediately to mind were
    obviously the first ones of the war where we were flying out
    of Al Dhafra where sortie length was anywhere from 5 to 7
    hours. We were hitting tankers, both pre- and post-strike
    and up into areas around Baghdad. Because of the length,
    because of their novelty and all, those stand out in my
    mind, but the sorties out of here have been "good."
    
    S: Has the training for F-16 pilots during peacetime prepared
    you for what you are doing now?
    
    E: Very well. I have been flying, not necessarily the F-16,
    but I have been flying for 18 years; I have been in the Air
    Force 18 years, so I've seen---- When I came in right at
    the end of the Vietnam era, I flew with the Vietnam guys in
    Vietnam era aircraft: i.e., F-4s.
    
    

Document Page: First | Prev | Next | All | Image | This Release | Search