National Assets
We never go to the forward edge of the battle. We can't. We stay where no threats can get at us because we can still look beyond the battle. Our aircraft are, no kidding, national assets and we don't have many of them, so we never place ourselves in a situation where we could get shot at.
     — Lt. (j.g.) Nicholas Boyter

Staging Areas
We picked up loads from forward staging areas and would then fly them into Iraq at low level. We did that for two months. The battle was going on just ahead of us. After Baghdad fell, we carried pretty much everything. We tried to minimize exposure to ground threats by doing tactical takeoffs, approaches, and landings.
     — Maj. John Raulston

Dedicated Crews
We flew as dedicated crews, which worked out well. We started reading each other's minds. We got used to what each person would do in a certain situation. Everything was clicking. Nondedicated crews didn't work as well. Mission planning that might take two hours to do with an unfamiliar crew took a dedicated crew one hour. We got the missions down to a science.
     — Maj. Carl Hoagy

DEADing A SAM Site
We were a two-ship of Vipers packing two CBU-103s and two HARMs. My wingman, Capt. Paul "Buzz" Steinport, had the HARMs. I lugged the bombs. Our two-ship was providing SEAD support to a couple of F-16CJs from our sister squadron, the 77th EFS, as they charged across downtown Baghdad from north to south. Buzz and I orbited on the southwest side of town. This was the first week of the war, and no Army units were close to our position. Buzz had just fired one of his HARMs at a SAM sight in downtown Baghdad. I ordered a left turn, so we could monitor the area without driving into the middle of the town. We had just made the turn when I noticed a SAM heading skyward about five miles off my left wing. I could see the booster separating from the missile as it continued up and over our two-ship. It looked like it was headed for the moon. Almost immediately, a second missile was fired and appeared to be heading our way. We watched the missile as it slowly started to lose its guidance and arced back toward the ground.

The morning was very clear. Next to a large gravel pit, we could see the exact area where the missiles had been launched from. I turned toward the site and attempted to mark the exact coordinates, but they fired a third SAM. We had to turn away from the site momentarily until we were sure this last missile was not guiding on us. By this time we were fairly close to the site, so I decided to fly over the top of it to get its exact position and to try to spot the launchers and supporting equipment on the ground. I didn't want to get shot at again, but I really wanted a chance to prosecute these guys before they could pack up and move. I saw several launchers and a vehicle parked exactly where the missiles had come from. While Buzz covered me with his last HARM at the ready, I passed the site's coordinates to the AWACS to make sure no friendly troops were in the area and to get permission to attack the site. After monitoring the area for about ten minutes, I finally got the "all clear" from AWACS. I immediately called that I was rolling in hot. As I went down the chute, I set my TD container right in the middle of the launchers and equipment and pressed the pickle button. I heard two thunks as the bombs came off the jet. I started a climb away from the target and watched over my shoulder as the bombs eliminated the entire site. It was a great day to fly, and everything worked out well. Buzz and I left the area to get gas and support more players later that day.
     — Capt. Steve Tittel