US Air War Against Iqaq Already Under Way ;)
By Reuters
Monday, 11 November, 2002
ABOARD THE U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (Reuters) - Daily patrols of
no-fly zones over Iraq by U.S. and British aircraft have become a dress
rehearsal for war and a chance to dent Baghdad's military in the run-up to
battle, pilots say.
Pilots aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln -- the only U.S. carrier
now in the Gulf -- say their regular bombing of targets during the patrols
is giving them invaluable practice should a full-scale conflict break out.
``To
fly over the same territory you're going to be fighting over, it's a real
luxury. It makes it infinitely easier. We have gained a significant amount
of combat experience,'' said captain K.C. Albright, in charge of some 130
pilots on the ship.
``Strike familiarity'' missions generally involve pushing all the
buttons to aim and fire weapons, except the one that actually launches
them.
But
aircraft patrolling over north and south Iraq strike regularly, and when
the pilots press that final button, they say they now hit a wider and more
damaging range of Iraqi targets.
``The target set has changed a bit since we were last here two
years ago...Instead of just going after triple-A (anti-aircraft
artillery), we are going after command and control,'' said Albright. ``It
seems to me it is more substantial, more meaningful to the Iraqis, than
what we were going after.''
NEW
TARGETS...NEW WAR?
The
United States, calling Iraq part of an ``axis of evil,'' has threatened
military action against it unless Baghdad complies with a tough U.N.
Security Council resolution ordering it to scrap weapons of mass
destruction.
The
no-fly zones patrolled by Albright's team were imposed by the West after
the 1991 Gulf War to protect Iraq's Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in the
north from attack by government forces. Iraq rejects them as an
infringement of its sovereignty.
Now
the zones allow Washington and London to train pilots and soften up
targets ahead of any new Iraq war.
The
Pentagon, which speaks for U.S. and British contingents flying under U.S.
command, says pilots strike only when shot at first. U.S. officials say
the Iraqis have attacked more often in recent months, obliging them to
retaliate more frequently.
The
targets have changed too.
Since mid-September, U.S. officials say they have begun to focus
on command bunkers and other targets linked to air defense, not just the
mobile anti-aircraft missile launchers or artillery that attack coalition
pilots.
The
new tactics were on display when Lt Eric Doyle and Lt John Turner, of the
VFA 115 fighter attack squadron, each dropped two massive 2,000 pound JDAM
satellite-guided bombs.
Their target was described as a reinforced concrete command
bunker near Talil, 160 miles southeast of Baghdad.
``TOOL OF THE FORCES''
That
attack, on November 6, was a milestone: Doyle and Turner were flying the
F/A 18 E Super Hornet attack jet and it was the first time the new
aircraft had dropped bombs in anger.
The
bigger and more sophisticated aircraft allowed the pilots to carry the
sort of heavy, bunker-busting ordnance they would hardly have needed
against a mobile rocket launcher.
They
received the order to bomb while in the sky over Iraq, presumably because
another aircraft had come under fire elsewhere, Turner said. ``It wasn't
anything happening with us. We were just a tool of the forces out here to
go ahead and hit that target.''
Being the first pilots to drop bombs from the Super Hornet made
them instant shipboard celebrities.
After the strikes, Iraqi surface-to-air missiles locked onto
Turner and anti-aircraft artillery exploded around Doyle. ``I was shot at
once before when I was here before, but it wasn't that close. This was
really close,'' said Doyle.
Was
he scared?
``It
hits you, but you fall back on your training. It's amazing what takes you
over. It's all rote muscle memory.''
For
Albright, having his pilots shot at can be the best drill of all. As he
himself said:
``In
training, we can't shoot missiles at ourselves.''
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes.)
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