We (69 BS, Loring AFB, ME) had already been on "the rock" for 6 months (deployed 13 Aug 90), so we were more than ready to get this thing over with.

We hit 5 airfields night one, low level, think it was 15 sorties. There were a lot of dire predictions on how many Buff's we'd lose in combat and they were all wrong, thank goodness.

High level vs low level was batted around for a bit, but low level won out (for the first 3 nights). I didn't agree with it, but it worked out. I thought the "golden BB" threat from random, wild fired AAA down low was a greater threat than their OCA or their SAM systems.

We flew low with dedicated cap the first 3 nights (maybe it was 4?) and then switched to all high level sorties with area cap. Sortie lengths were from 13-17 hours (depending on how deep in country you went) with 3 air refuelings (2 on the way up and 1 on the way home).

We co-pilots were usually always begging our AC's for AR stick time during normal training sorties, but AR time was so scarce that most of it went to the ACs to maintain their proficiency. That wasn't even an issue during our combat sorties

There's nothing like the light show from 51 MK82/M117s going off behind (and maybe in front of) you at night at 400 ft AGL followed by reactionary wild fired AAA from all quadrants!! It was an incredible light show for #3, but it also sucked!!

 

I was in the first daylight wave. We (F-4Gs) were supporting ANG F-16s who were fragged to drop Mk 84s (Non-LGB!!) on SA-6s!!

I was worried as I figured we would have stirred-up a hornet's nest, and the Iraqis would be out for revenge in the daylight.

Takeoff from Sheikh Isa, tanker, then feet wet around Kuwait City. The whole country was on fire....black smoke, towering everywhere.

Long story short: A missile went streaking by my jet (I was #2) and I broke for it. Turned out it was a HARM fired by number 3 or 4, behind me. I got stripped from the 4-ship, tossed two HARMs at SA-2s, and got out of there (southeast of Basrah).

I had never seen anything accelerate so fast in my life as that HARM coming off the rail. Never thought about smelling the rocket trail....it went in the intake, and out the bleed air it came.

No one knew (or told us) that inboard-rail HARMS often caused compressor stalls (easily recovered in idle).

And the F-16s? Well, high-paid airline pilots didn't want to get their a$$es shot-off dropping dumb-iron on an SA-6. Supposedly, they jettisoned their bombs and went home.

Me, not much better. I went to my room and lay awake, all day, wondering how I would do that again....that night.

But I did. 32 more times. You learn a lot, and you learn a lot about yourself. You learn how to conquer your fears, or at least suppress them until the job is done.

Here's to all who served, and continue to serve.

 

I was never a Wild Weasel, but I've always thought it would take BIG BRASS BALLS to fly the WW mission. We were always glad to have them around too. Cheers! and thanks for serving.

 

There is a statistic going around that there has never been a S-A loss when there was HARM/SEAD coverage.

You guys make my combat time feel more like glorified cross countries (which they pretty much were). LL Buff's, dumb bombs on mobile SAMS, wow.

 

I was busy fighting the cold war. Still pulled nuke alert in the B-52H model while our G brothers went to war. Heard about the first three nights of low level, including the story of one buff doing a race track back over the target when they failed to release their weapons on the first try....word was they got shot up like hell, but made it back.

The G model guys flew so much they hit up some H model crews to come off the bench and get recurrent at Castle in the G. One of our pilot's who went told me they got over there just in time to get one mission in. While they're briefing it up his deployed ops O tells him he'll be tanking behind a KC-10...."you've been behind a KC-10 before, right?" "Oh, yes, Sir!" He said it took him 5 attempts to get his first hook up with a KC-10 that night.

Best story I ever heard was from an AC-130 copilot who said they had multiple SAM launches on them that they eventually were inverted pulling the nose back up to the horizon only to miss going into the sand around 500'. He said AWACS thought they were dead for sure. Hearing his story first hand made the hair on my neck stand up.