Document Page: First | Prev | Next | All | Image | This Release | Search
File: aabgb_04.txtE: 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