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| Iraq |
| B-1B crew gets DFC for 7.April strike |
| 2003-04-21 |
| Edited for brevity. The pilot and crew of a B-1B bomber from Ellsworth Air Base (near Rapid City, SD)have received Distinguished Flying Cross medals for their April 7 strike on a house in Baghdad where Saddam Hussein was believed to be meeting with other Iraqi leaders. Military officials in Washington, D.C. announced Sunday that they gave the medals to Capt. Chris Wachter, commander; Lt. Col. Fred Swan, weapons-system officer; Capt. Sloan Hollis, pilot; and 1st Lt. Joe Runci, offensive-systems operator. The Central Command, which is in charge of military operations in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, announced the awards along with another set of commendations for the pilots of two U.S. jets that bombed a complex March 19 where Hussein and his sons were thought to be staying.Lt. Col. David Toomey and Maj. Mark Hoehn were flying the F-117A attack jets that night. Both overcame equipment problems and short notice to perform the mission effectively, the military said. The bomber crew is part of Ellsworth's 34th Bomb Squadron. The bomber was in the air and had finished refueling when the crew received the mission call. It took 12 minutes to reach Baghdad. With F-16 fighters for cover and Navy EA6 Prowlers jamming the radar of Iraq air- defense systems, the crew confirmed target coordinates and dropped four 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. The bombs penetrate the ground 10 to 20 feet before exploding. Military officials hoped the bombs killed Saddam, his sons and other top Iraqi officials. But that hasn't been confirmed either way. After striking the "leadership target" the crew hit six additional sites in Baghdad, then moved on to nine more targets. They included missiles, radar and support vehicles. One bomber, SIXTEEN targets. Hot damn! |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #3 Argh--as usual, my mouth/fingers engage before my mind. In looking at the USAF order of preference, I see the medal is actually ranked between the Silver and Bronze Stars, which would seem more appropriate. I mistakenly thought the DFC was only second or third to the MOH. Thirty seconds on Google would have saved me from publicly appearing like an idiot (again). Did find a very cool intro on the DFC Society home page, too. Regardless, these crews did perform exceptionally and deserve commendation. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-04-21 16:25:12 |
| #2 I've kinda been waiting after I posted this to see what comments it gets. I'm curious if the DFC is really warranted in this case. Please understand I think what these guys did was terrific, but when one considers what the bomber pilots in WWII went through--and how few of them got the DFC--this mission just screams "milk run" to me. Perhaps there's more to this mission and its inherent dangers and challenges than I, with a security clearance rating of Joe Public, am aware of, but how many fliers braved flak, Messerschmidts and Focke-Wulfs, and limped home with one or two fewer engines to receive nothing more than their combat pay? |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-04-21 16:15:37 |
| #1 Yep, and now the "bad guys" have the personal ID (names) to go with it. Wonder who's minding the synapse store at DoD? |
| Posted by: Larry 2003-04-21 15:11:25 |