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Twenty-Four Off
We were flying just about every day. We would have twelve to eighteen hours between flights. If someone ever got twenty-four hours off, they felt like it was their birthday.
— Lt. Cmdr. Chris Saindon
Unconfirmed Destinations
It was sort of weird. In Panama, I saw an A-7 land and thirty minutes later it was on TV. In Desert Storm, it was routine to see what you were doing on TV. Here, you would get back to the base and call home, and your son would ask, "Did you go into Baghdad tonight? I saw it on TV." The only thing I could say, was, "Well, I can't confirm that."
— MSgt. Tom Mason
Great Support
Spare parts were readily available to us. I was amazed to get them in short order. We blew a main tire in Baghdad and it destroyed the door. We flew the aircraft with the door off, and a replacement came in less than a week. The assets came directly from Warner Robins ALC. They were geared up to support us.
— SMSgt. Russ Withrow
Leaflet Science
Leaflet drops are a classic case of measure with a micrometer and hit with a sledgehammer. We pick an altitude and figure the winds. The navigator checks the dispersion charts. The process is all very scientific. Once we release them, they just go everywhere. If a leaflet box opens early, we have leaflets everywhere inside the plane. They even get in the cockpit.
— Maj. Bruce Taylor
Cluster Load
We did engine-running offloads with the Army guys, who would take whatever the load was to wherever it was going by truck. One night, we moved 20,000 pounds of cluster bombs.
— TSgt. Chris Pickens
 Phoning Home
At Minhad, we could call home and send e-mail. We could receive photos and not feel like we had missed anything at home. Guys with cell phones could get through to the states for about $3 per minute. Ten minutes talking to the family was expensive, but great.
— MSgt. Trevor Williams
CSAR Near Baghdad
When we were on the southern edge of the Baghdad threat array in early April, our two-ship of Block 50 SEAD was engaged by Iraqi triple-A fire. We headed west to remove ourselves from the threat and witnessed an apparent shoot down of an egressing Navy F-18. We immediately assumed on-scene SEAD command for the CSAR effort. Our two-ship, along with other airborne assets, began receiving more hostile fire north of Karbala. We placed ourselves between the threat array and the CSAR AOR, while maintaining sensor coverage for the SEAD support. We coordinated further CSAR and SEAD support, relaying CSAR transmissions to AWACS, coordinating more than ten extra refuelings, while still receiving spurious enemy fire throughout the night. It was our longest, most exhausting mission. We maintained sensor coverage for Karbala and Baghdad for more than ten hours that night.
— Capt. Derek O'Malley
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