[simpits-tech] OT - Interesting Day

[Brian Sikkema]

Hey all,

Just thought I'd relate the day I had yesterday. I found out Tuesday night that my buddy, the F-16 crew chief in Iraq, was coming home yesterday afternoon. We knew he was due back this week, but obviously the details don't get released until the last possible minute.

What an eye opener! We had all assumed when he was going that he wouldn't be in much danger, being on an airbase and everything. He said intel told them before they left that there were occasional rocket attacks, but nothing ever came anywhere near the base. Well, so much for military intelligence. They had over 100 rocket attacks at their base (Kirkuk) in the month of March alone, and not miles away, either. He had one occasion where he had to pull shrapnel from his aircraft, and several where he was pretty sure he was going to die. He said their base was attacked more than the one in Baghdad. But not too surprising when you realize the Bathe party headquarters are in Kirkuk - he has pictures of the arena there where public executions took place.

But, everyone made it back safe and sound, and they did an oustanding job. They had a CAS and Recon mission, and were the most accurate bombers of any of the units at their base - he said the navy unit there was so bad they had to give them a week off! They also boast the first recon aircraft to ever drop a bomb. Their unit has a new type of recon pod, I forget what it's called, I think it started with a "T", but they are the ONLY unit that has them. Before they got there we were working off photos from as late as 1998. Anywho, while they have the pod attached it's technically a recon aircraft, and they had one get called in for CAS, hence the history making mission.

He also said that the Air Force demands that a unit meets 90% of their taskings. They met 112%. Far above and beyond what anyone else was making. So even with some of the older aircraft, the 127th came through in flying colors.

He brought a bunch of stuff home, too. He gave me a flag that had been flown on a combat mission, a peice of shrapnel from when the US had attacked his base on earlier operations (we're not sure if it's from Iraqi Freedom or Desert Storm, though), and an Iraqi bayonet. All very cool! :)

So there you have it, folks. A slightly secondhand but nonetheless real look into Iraq.

Brian
The ultimate responsibility of the pilot is to fulfill the dreams of the countless millions of earthbound ancestors who could only stare skyward and wish.


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