4410 OPERATIONAL SUPPORT WING(P) CONTINGENCY HISTORICAL

File: aabgb_16.txt
Page: 16
Total Pages: 17


    From 15,000 feet you can't tell if it is a dead tank or a
    live tank. Once the ground war starts, he is probably going
    to be moving; he will be kicking up some dust, and there is
    not going to be any question that he is a good tank as
    opposed to a dead tank. I think probably our job in the BAI
    is probably not going to change and will probably get a
    little bit easier; probably a lot more hectic because there
    is going to be a lot of the fluidity of the situation with
    the front moving. We will probably get a lot of airborne
    frag changes, more than we do now. We make off now having a
    pretty good idea of the target area, maybe even the target
    that we are going to hit.

    S: Because of the lack of air resistance by the Iraqi Air
    Force, has the morale of the F-16 pilots been changed any
    since they are more employed as bombing operations?

    E: Our role in the F-16 is primary as a bomb dropper. We carry
    a couple of AIM-9 mikes, simply for self-defense, and we
    really did not ever expect to use those. Even if the Iraqi
    Air Force had provided more resistance, I think the Eagles
    would have probably taken care of that. I don't think there
    are any delusions by the F-16 pilots that we were ever going
    to be involved in a great deal of air combat.

    S: Is there any closing comments that you might like to say
    about yourself, the war, this FOL, anything in particular?
    It is wide open.

    E: No, I think probably the FOL; I've changed my mind. I have
    come 180 degrees. As I mentioned before, I didn't think
    that this was really a good idea because it does cut the
    fuel. Dropping those two wing tanks, it cuts the fuel
    fairly close. As long as the weather is good, as it has
    been and is probably going to stay good, with the occasional
    
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