Final HARM Shot
I unexpectedly shot the squadron's final HARM of the air war today: a PET against a SAM site being struck by our No. 3 jet piloted by Lt. Col. Dennis. The shot was the sportiest I've yet to take. I was typing in coordinates and setting up the shot while flying a fluid route position off of my wingman, multitasking between the weapons employment, staying visual, and not hitting him. It was a great shot under challenging conditions, and a surprise tasking since I wasn't expecting to fly today with the early sandstorm. I wasn't expecting to shoot a HARM since the ROE has become so much more restrictive.

It was a challenging sortie in many more ways as well. The weather over Iraq was horrendous everywhere, so we were continually challenged flying our formation. Additionally, we employed as a three-ship—my second three-ship in as many sorties. And finally, the sortie took place later in the day, so we RTB'd at night. I witnessed the sun set and a breathtaking number of stars rise on the way back.
     — From the journal of Capt. Kris Padilla

MC-130 Mission Types
We flew various missions. We did leaflet drops, airland delivery, and lots of airdrops. We refueled a lot of Army helicopters.
     — Maj. Bruce Taylor

140th Wing Facts
Most pilots flew about eighteen missions in twenty-eight days of combat. Buckley was one of several units assigned to hunt for Scud missiles in western Iraq for the duration of the air campaign. While no Scuds were found, the units did support special forces on the ground.

Counting Afterburners
We lived in a tent city near the end of a runway. Every twenty minutes, jets were taking off. So, it was hard to get a good night's sleep.
     — Maj. Pat Hanlon

MC-130E Details
We have a basic TFR system that is very reliable. Our Combat Shadow, which is nearly identical to the Talon I, is able to refuel helicopters. The Talon I is an MC-130E with -15 engines [higher performance T56-15 engines]
     — Maj. Kevin Nicholson

Loadouts
At the beginning, we flew our Block 30 F-16s with four GBU-12s; then we flew with two GBU-12s and one JDAM; then two GBU-12s and two Mk-82s with contact or airburst fuzes. We used different loads at different times for different reasons. We preferred the airburst Mk-82s for CAS missions. We never carried cluster munitions.
     — Lt. Col. Chris Kelley