Hammer From Above Marine Air Combat Over Iraq

In

Operation

Iraqi

Freedom, the Marine

ground campaign up the

was characterized by unparalleled

a

Corrjs'

and Euphrates

Tigris

speed and aggressiveness

military history. Little has

in

been

written, however, of the air support that guaran-

teed the drive's success. Paving the rush

to

Baghdad

above"— in

"the

hammer from

and other support

former Marine fighter

a

for the

the form of attack helicopters, jet

fighters, transport,

Now

was

way

aircraft.

pilot shares

the

gripping never-before-told stories of the Marines

who

helped bring to an end the regime of

Saddam

Hussein.

As Jay Stout

been

in

the

reveals, the air

war had

actually

planning stages ever since the

victory of Operation Desert Storm, twelve years

when Operation Iraqi Freedom officommenced on March 20, 2003, the Marine

earlier. cially

But

Corps entered the fight with an aviation arm at its

smallest since before

World War

II.

Still,

with

the motto "Speed Equals Success," the separate air

and ground teams acted

as a single unit to get

the job done.

Drawing on exclusive interviews with the men

women who flew the harrowing missions, Hammer from Above reveals how pilots and their

and

machines were tested to the

limits of

endurance,

venturing well beyond what they were trained

and designed to do. Stout takes pits,

revealing

what

it

was

us into the cock-

like

to

fly

these

i

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Marine Air Combat

Over Iraq

JAY

A,

STOUT

Li PRESIDIO PRESS

BALLANTINE BOOKS

• NEW YORK

Copyright

© 2005 by Jay Stout

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Presidio Press, an imprint of The Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.,

Random House

New York.

Presidio Press and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stout, Jay A.

Hammer from

above: marine air

combat over p. cm.

Iraq

/

Jay A. Stout.

— 1st ed.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1.

Iraq

0-89141-865-2

War, 2003— Aerial operations, American. narratives,

American.

I.

2.

Iraq

War, 2003 — Personal

Title.

DS79.76.S72 2006 2005049175

/

956.7044 348-dc22

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

www.presidiopress.com

24689753

1

First Edition

Designed by Joseph Rutt

For

all

the wives and All of

The

warrior's

And

for

burden

is

all

the mothers.

them.

nothing compared

my dear childhood

friend

to the terrors

they bear.

and fellow dreamer,

Dale Douglass.

1

Contents

Foreword

xi

Introduction

xvii

1

Marine Aviation Primer

2

TheMEF

3

Staging for

3

13

War

24

4 Operation Southern Watch 5

Harrier Carrier

35

Teamwork

43

6 Cobras in the Attack 7 Hornets

Get

52

62

into the Fight

8 Harrier Strike

77

9 Rockets and

Bombs and Guns,

Part

I

85

10 Rockets and

Bombs and Guns,

Part

II

98

1

Rules of Engagement and

12

Tomato

Man

Command

and Control

108

116

CONTENTS

Vlll

An

13

Cobras Over

14

Huey Shootout Over An

15

TheFARP

148

16

Going Long

158

17

The Storm

170

Nasiriyah

121

Nasiriyah

1

32

18 Hercules in Iraq

178

19

The Prowler

185

20

A Million Ways

21

Convoy Escort

to

Die

194

200

22 Fuel Bladder Rodeo 23

210

Napalm

219 226

24 Precision Strike 25

POW Rescue

26

The Son Goes Back

234 248

to the Fight

27 Destruction by FAC( A) 28

CAS

256

on Highway 6

29 "We're Not Going

to

272

Get Shot Up

." .

.

280

30

CASEVAC

286

31

Lost Heroes

297

32

The Pioneer

305

33 Death on the Diyala

314

34 Al Basrah Adventure

319

Gunning Down

329

35

the Fedayeen

CONTENTS

IX

36 Fight for the Palace and Mosque, Part

I

337

37 Fight for the Palace and Mosque, Part

II

349

38 Cobra

Down

39 Realization

364

374

Afterword

377

Acknowledgments

381

Glossary of Terms

385

Bibliography

391

Foreword

A

common

perspective outside the military has the Army, the Navy,

the Air Force, and the Marine Corps in constant competition

quarreling with each other over a wide range of issues.

be the vices,

last to I

pretend that there

would

also

is

be among the

no

rivalry

first

among

While

I

—

would

the different ser-

to highlight the fact that dra-

matic changes have occurred during the past couple of decades.

Rather than squabbling siblings, the various branches are

now un-

abashed teammates. This transition has been driven not only by islative

combat

and doctrinal

pressures, but also

by a variety of contemporary

realities— the nation simply cannot afford a military that

to leverage the

advantages created

when

leg-

its

fails

different services cooper-

ate in battle.

This closer collaboration

marines has

more

far

filtered

among our

down through

airmen, and

soldiers, sailors,

the ranks; today's warfighters work

closely with their brothers-in-arms

from the other services

than ever before. This exposure has in turn led to the creation of cross-service friendships

between individuals on one

broader professional awareness on another, higher

level,

level.

and

a

Combined,

they have helped produce the successes that have been the hallmark of recent joint I

am

American

military actions.

a fortunate beneficiary of the interservice collaboration that

has burgeoned since

I

was commissioned into the Air Force in 1971

FOREWORD

Xll

A&M's Corps

out of Texas

armed

services, including the

unique place

young

have been blessed with

too,

Marine Corps— the

service that

a tough, tight-knit

has always maintained a

to perfectly

match

their stereotype as

group of loudmouths who always seemed

certainly not always without stepping

for their

My perspective began

on some

They were

toes.

swagger and their swashbuckling

broadened

as

I

advanced through the ranks, and

cliched "streetfighter" image.

its

trained naval infantry organization with cally

had

to

make do with

been

your-face vice

air

burden of having

to

It is

what

I

it is

a superbly

that has typi-

this

paucity of

"do more with

less,"

at least partly responsible for creating the brash, in-

Corps.

The

ser-

the sort of self-possessed, get-the-mission-accomplished

who can make

admirable

for

is,

arm

men and women who make up the Marine

demands

people

own

very limited resources.

resources, this institutional that has

its

was, and

It

a

fighter pi-

attitude.

understand and appreciate the Marine Corps

to

beyond

to get

accomplished— although not always by the book, and

hardworking and hard-playing crowd, not unlike Air Force

known

fea-

during the years immediately following the war in

officer

Vietnam— the Marines seemed

lots

is

my estimation of the world's military forces. To me —

in

their mission

I,

The Marine Corps

tured in this book.

as a

of Cadets.

and professional relationships with members of all the

close personal

trait

.

.

things

happen with the

assets at

hand.

A most

.

Aside from their reputation for toughness, the Marines are also

known

for their distrust of

servers

have gone so

anyone outside

their society.

far as to characterize their fiercely

Some

ob-

guarded na-

ture as a mild organizational paranoia. I

knew and understood

all

of this

when I assumed command

of the

Component for the United States Central Command late in 2001 (on the floor of the Combined Air Operations Center at Prince Sultan Air Base in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Coalition Forces Air

while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan). While holding this post

of

all

I

was responsible for— in

fact

commanded— all

air activities

the participants in Operation Enduring Freedom, the opera-

tions in the

Horn of Africa,

the operations within the Southern

No

FOREWORD Fly

Xlll

Zone (Operation Southern Watch), and what was

Operation Iraqi Freedom.

and looked forward

I

was excited and honored

working with

to

would be

sensitivities associated

I

was aware that

with an Air Force general com-

manding Navy, Army, and Marine Corps units— as well components of

Corps— with

its

prospect

the services and a variety of

all

Host Nation and Coalition partners. Nevertheless, there

named

later

at this

several other countries.

And

knew

I

as the air

Marine

that the

unique history and pedigree— would potentially be

the most prickly of all.

The

me

Marines didn't know

rank-and-file

stood them. With

five joint

manding the F-15 Squadron of the Air School and

seemed Flags,

later

Maple

commanding

lieved there was a better

Marines didn't know that Earl "Titan" Hailston,

way I

to

work

desire to

"joint

Band

drill

At one of my

—

first

it

under-

com-

Weapons with what

at Nellis

my

And

Red

G-suit ...

I

be-

the rank-and-file

Dog"

Collins,

Mattis, Bill "Spider" Nyland,

Post,

and Jim Conway

as not

— but true comrades in arms and part of a of Brothers."

Or

said another

work more closely with them was more than

and execution

I

after

classes, joint exercises,

together.

Mike Hagee, Jim

only close personal friends

and

consider folks like Jim "Red

Jim "Tamer" Amos, Martin "Wiley"

contemporary

Wing

and Cope Thunders under

Flags,

believed

I

me

Force's Fighter

the 57th

thousand weapons school

like a

like

assignments behind

way

just a

.

.

.

my

planning

was personal.

meetings

senior aviation leadership,

I

at

Miramar with

a panel of the service's

sensed some resistance and a notion of

posturing to maintain control of their units for the coming fight in Iraq.

To make my

point,

I

stopped their briefings and declared that

was aware of their role and their "traditional" mission. But, this wasn't

going to be a traditional

fight.

I

stressed

where

at

once.

I

stressed that this couldn't

to

be

depended

hitting them hard every-

be done piecemeal or with-

out a central focus for planning and execution. are attributes the Air Force

allowed

our task was

very light and very fast and very lethal, and that everything

on getting control of the Iraq airspace and

I

I

I

allowed that these

and the Marines understand very well and

with the right command/control construct, the right joint planning,

FOREWORD

XIV

and having the

would be I

that

weapon

right

any of us had ever seen.

better than

told the

assembled Marine leadership that afternoon

truly didn't care

I

would

what was painted on the

et cetera

target set

air

obligations

— and

only that

.

team

joint/coalition

ducted an

.

.

that

we

I

— USAF, RAF, RAAF,

didn't care

Component

the overall

theater

Iraqis as a

has ever con-

my command commander General Tommy

campaign. At the same time

to

which squadron got

and destroy the

get at

better than any Air

Miramar

at

side of the aircraft that

deliver decisive blows to the Iraqi forces

USMC, USN, which

in the right place, the end-state results

reiterated

I

Franks as well as to our joint and coalition warriors and to the na-

tion—which expect and

a great deal

responsibilities that

needed the Marines in

order to meet the tasks

us. In

had been given by General Franks,

I

in that

room

as

teammates— not

charge of all the planning and execution of all

Central I

from

Command

would ensure

and

that the

I

pledged

departure, he's

my

first

Component's

They

tool

Marine lieutenant

forces

And,

for air

I

believed me, but

I

was

My pledge

kit.

The beddown

to

ac-

them

would buy

his

would be no Marine

in-

was

more important

of Marine Air

charge

would have

.

in .

.

I

command.

they trusted me. Ev-

eryone pulled together and rallied from that point on team.

in

was

steps off across the line of

stressed, there

support while

I

I

within

air activities

that while

lieutenant. As the senior Airman,

task as well as mine.

fantryman wanting

them

Marine Corps ground

cess to every bit of the Air

was that when the

to

as rivals.

I

Wing

assets

— as

a joint

on established Air

Force expeditionary bases was a "no-brainer." Likewise the sharing of

maintenance

billeting facilities, force protection capabilities, ties, fuel,

on developed received.

facili-

and munitions was also a "no-brainer." Cooperation early into support that

Marine crews joined

was eagerly given and enthusiastically players

from the Air Force, the Royal

Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Army, and the

help form the most effective

commander

combatant and

has had the good fortune to lead.

Operations Center

at

PSAB was

a sight to

Navy

to

any

air

truly joint staff

The Combined

behold

... all joint

and

Air all

focused. As the fight began, planning work and execution responsi-

FOREWORD

bility

was taken and shared so

effectively that lines

vices faded over the battlefield. Again,

on the

side of the aircraft!

XV

it

between the

ser-

doesn't matter what's painted

What matters

is

having the right weapon

at

the right place at the right time.

While

my

leadership perspective was

received daily reports that described the all

our nation's

fighters.

more

theater-focused,

I still

and professionalism of

skill

That the Marines who fought from the

performed superbly was no surprise

to

anyone. Their

stories, set in

air

the

context of the fight on the ground, are told here in detail and cover

all

aspects of their operations. Chronologically organized, these ac-

counts impart a greater understanding of the significant role that rine

Corps aircrew played

in the success of

General Franks 's

Ma-

brilliant

campaign. These Marines added yet another wonderful chapter

to

the service's outstanding and rich legacy, and were everything that the nation has to the fight

am

to

to expect.

Marine Corps

aviation's contributions

ensure a triumph like no other, and

I

personally

glad to have had the opportunity to serve with the brash,

done men and be,

come

helped

women who make

it

what

it is. I

am, and

will always

an ardent admirer of these fellow warriors.

T. Michael "Buzz"

get-it-

Moseley

General, United States Air Force

Introduction

felt like

I

an

old,

worn-out

gundog— left behind and scratching at the

kennel door on the opening day of hunting season while

young pups headed

course, there was the small matter of

had taken place two years shortly after

my

exit

career was squashed

September line

I

fell

earlier

when

I

back on what

best

F/A-18s with the Kuwait Air Force.

working

for the

squadron buddies was planning charts.

sponsible!" fighter pilot

As

much

ers, that

and It

budding

airline

after the horror that

was

and went to the Middle East

A year of that was enough, I

to fly

and by

was back in the

tie

to

Baghdad

I

did a couple of stints

Fox News Channel. At Al Jaber one of my old

when he looked up from his mission do a double take when he saw me puffed

startled

He had

was

no as

my

for a defense industry giant.

head

in a suit

service,

Freedom began,

During the Coalition's run up as a talking

during 2001. That same year,

being tossed into the unemployment

to

knew

I

Of

retirement, an event that

was furloughed

the time that Operation Iraqi States

my

from Marine Corps

Subsequent

11.

the

to the field.

couldn't believe that they actually went to war without me.

I

up

all

to

on the

television screen:

a stinging

"You looked

backhanded compliment.

I

.

.

.

like, re-

really

was a

longer. I

wanted

was the closest

to I

be overseas with

got.

my Marine

Corps broth-

INTRODUCTION

XV111

When they returned so

I

realized that they

home

relayed

was eager

I

had done quite

to the rest of us.

a bit

more than

any

sort of

snub or

else to

cover— to include the

slight; rather,

to the war.

captured very well, and there was a only as barroom

So

I

role of

rine

happened

fight

There

on the

just wasn't

fliers

had done wasn't

the record would survive

risk that

perhaps in forgotten, drily written

histories.

decided to write

Marine Corps

is

or

stories,

reader a real feel for intent

it

or print space to give the aviators the coverage they

had enjoyed during Desert Storm. What the

squadron

the media had

don't believe that the news profes-

I

ground and the worldwide reaction

enough airtime

with them, and after doing

much

sionals intended this as

because there was so

to talk

to

It is

an exciting description of the

aviation that uses firsthand accounts to give the

how that part

show the war through

That being

fliers.

book.

this

said,

it is

of the war was actually fought.

My

broad cross section of Ma-

a fairly

hardly a scientific survey; instead

it is

a description that follows the fighting chronologically through the

recollections of those

The

who were throwing

the punches.

reader will note that although the book includes

all

the tacti-

is

a focus

on those

forms that did the majority of the shooting and

killing.

I

cal aircraft that the

Marine Corps used, there

most people understand pilot told

me:

"I really

the reasons for this.

don't

worth putting into a book. times

we

got shot

dirty— okay,

But

for

it

at,

was

others

gunship

dirt

dirty— but for

was absolutely

of an

me

more than

five

is

like these are It is

we it

you that would be

didn't.

It

was hot and

wasn't that exciting." Bullets

smashing

real attention getters. Skid-

upside down, in a helicopter

blood pressure somewhat. In that

the act of racing over the

Mesopotamian Plain

at

only a couple of hundred

feet, at

napalm on an unsuspecting enemy.

Stories

hundred knots

night, in order to drop

tell

terrifying.

enemy airfield,

will likewise elevate the

same category

can

believe that

transport helicopter

hauled trash [supplies] around. Some-

through a thin Plexiglas canopy can be ding across the

I

but most of the time

really it

I

know what

A

plat-

what make up

at

this

book.

a collection of anecdotes reasonably leavened with strategy,

INTRODUCTION

XIX

and the how, who, why, what, where, and when of day-to-day

tactics,

operations. But

not an all-inclusive, analytical, unit-by-unit, hour-

it is

by-hour drudgery of written tedium. That very necessary type of torical record will

The

reader will be reminded, perhaps too

Corps aviation it

remain the work of someone

exists to

was necessary

his-

else.

many times,

that

Marine

support the infantryman. That being the case,

to depict the aviation side of the story in the context

of the fight on the ground.

I

believe there

about the land campaign included here

is

to

enough information

just

accomplish that objective

mostwere many op-

without taking away from what aviation enthusiasts enjoy accounts of fighting from the

Nevertheless there

air.

from the core purpose of the book

portunities to stray

cuss interesting aspects that were fighting.

I

endeavored

One

only remotely related to the

temptations while

to resist those

make

the sorts of fascinating bits that can

in order to dis-

a

still

including

book readable.

of the strengths of the manuscript, to me,

is

that the partici-

pants were interviewed shortly after they returned from Iraq. This was

important because fresh in all,

ensured that the events described were relatively

each interviewee's mind.

and with some

tails

it

He

could recall the

detail. Additionally,

about what had gone wrong and

retellings

trast

with

It

were often haltingly delivered

to accurately recall

my

each and every

and

time hadn't worn away the de-

why— the

time has a tendency to wear away.

story, warts

negative aspects that

was interesting that these as the participants struggled

detail.

This was in marked con-

previous experiences interviewing World

War

II

veter-

ans for other projects. Usually the older gentlemen delivered smooth, carefully crafted stories. This was because their in large part telling.

been honed and refined

They were

neatly

wrapped packages

more than that

tales

fifty

to

from Operation

Freedom

will

become

had

years of

were undone from

be recounted. As the years pass the

time to time in order Iraqi

after

more dated

just as

stories

smoothly pol-

ished.

Another strength of the book

many

is

the collection of photographs. In

instances there are photos from the very missions that are de-

scribed.

James Isaacs describes how

his flight of

UH-INs exploded

a

INTRODUCTION

XX

of Iraqi artillery pieces; a photo of that equipment as

set

flames

included here. Likewise, there are photographs that record

is

part of the battle for Tigris.

goes up in

it

Saddam's presidential palace on the banks of the

Technology being what

it is,

many

of the crews carried digital

cameras, which provided pictures of quite acceptable resolution.

We

are the beneficiaries of that technology.

As well

as

Marine

aviation performed

role,

its

it

would be

an operation where everything was executed

to portray

was not the case; mistakes were made

all

sham

a

perfectly.

That

up and down the chain of

command. This should be obvious, as the participants were human. Some of the interviewees were reluctant to speak about the frictions, and some were not; it depended to some degree on where they were in their careers or what amount of semiofficial criticism or scrutiny they thought they could bear. Nevertheless,

Marine Corps

strength of the

is

showcased

as

believe that the real

I

we

see Marines

in the heat of combat

battlefield

making decisions

sibility for

those decisions. This

is

on the

and taking respon-

many

not something seen in

of the

world's militaries. I

liked writing this book.

much was sort of

that

work

I

was only

as the

men

I

One

of the primary reasons

a short time

I

enjoyed

it

so

removed from doing the same

interviewed.

I

understood the tactics they

flew, the

problems they encountered, and the workarounds they de-

veloped.

I

to

had been

a

Marine

for

twenty years, and

it

was a pleasure

reconnect with old friends.

While reading this that the

collection of accounts,

Army was conducting

its

it

might be easy

own campaign

just to the

west of the Marines. That would be a mistake; the well,

and there

is

no doubt

and

While

mind

that

I

hope

that

someone

also fought

records that

and Navy made

is

killing

from the

I

sky.

always bear in

And

who gets killed is usually someone's baby baby boy who was brought proudly home soon after that

ines-

fight.

enjoy writing about aerial campaigns,

what they are about

remember one's

I

bravery. Likewise, the Air Force

timable contributions to the

south and

that the nation's soldiers executed their

mission with brilliance and bravery. brilliance

Army

to forget

I

also try to

boy; somehis birth

—

INTRODUCTION

XXI

often to great celebration; someone's baby boy for,

who was

and coddled; someone's baby boy whose picture

bedside during

all

the years

come someone's husband

it

took for

or father.

someone's baby boy was the one

him

We

to

loved, cared

sat at

grow up

to

someone's

perhaps be-

must always remember

who

that

got splattered in pieces

all

across the battlefield.

The

fighting in Iraq

said that for

what

when

is

is still

taking place there

the war was started.

took place, and although

than

I

obvious— that

I

hope

gob of goat guts and

endgame

men who first

now

this writing. It

is

will

become more

I still

time.

I

I

all

to state the

It is silly

do.

I

have no predictive

to wait with the rest of the

recorded by history. In the meantime

wish them

it

protracted and bloody

believe— for a variety of reasons—

not wrong. But

have

hoped

was an advocate of the war before

was taken was correct.

am

can hardly be

the solution that was

told their stories here have returned for a

stint in Iraq.

the

is

I

I

has

it

would have thought,

that the decision that

the

going on at

world until

many

of the

second or third

the luck and success that they enjoyed

'"

"

\\

|Tikrit


"

*

CM*.**.

XXX

[X] 5 WfSamarra,./'

\

/ 35

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HAMMER FROM ABOVE

1

Marine Aviation Primer

The

Marine Corps sent many brave men

into the skies over Iraq

during the spring campaign of 2003. This book will describe their actions and perhaps bring

more awareness

most part

is

barely aware the air

That

is

so

this

is

to a public that for the

arm of the Marine Corps even

remarkable considering the

many

legends

exists.

who have

flown in our country's service while wearing a Marine uniform.

Ted Williams twice interrupted one of the most fantastic baseball to

fly

Marine Corps

and

fight in

pilot

both World

John Glenn flew

War

in the

II

careers in

and Korea. Likewise,

same two wars and went

Ed McMahon started adulthood as a pilot with the Marines during World War II and years later sat beside Tonight Show host Johnny Carson and enon

to

become

the

first

American

to orbit the planet.

tertained millions. Joe Foss, the great sportsman, governor of South

Dakota, and chairman of the flying in

World War

II

as a

NRA, won

Marine Corps

the

Medal of Honor while

fighter pilot.

And Gregory

"Pappy" Boyington fought and drank himself into one of aviation's

most colorful and enduring legends. Regardless of public awareness, Marine Corps aviation has been

4

STOUT

JAY A.

producing these types of

men

since 1912.

that First Lieutenant Alfred A.

the Naval Aviation

Camp

was

Cunningham was

in Annapolis,

later,

on August

flight

time and became Marine Aviator

he soloed

20,

It

in

A

Maryland.

Number

of that year

directed to report to

two hours and

after

May

few months minutes of

forty

1.

Aviation in the Marine Corps grew slowly until the United States

War

entered World

At the time the entire aviation

in April 1917.

I

complement of the Marine Corps numbered only and

enlisted

men.

Just

more than

a year later,

758

fifty-two officers

men

staffing three

squadrons arrived in France on July 30, 1918. They came without their

own

machines;

flying

they received their

war ended

in

wasn't until the end of September that

during the short time before the

first aircraft. Still,

mid-November, the Marines managed

mark by shooting down ity

it

German

several

aircraft.

to

make

their

Indeed, their feroc-

was such that Second Lieutenant Ralph Talbot and Gunnery

Sergeant Robert

Guy Robinson

each earned the Medal of Honor

while flying together for actions that are described in part by the

fol-

lowing excerpt from Robinson's citation:

...

on October

14th, 1918, while

gium, his plane and one other

on

a raid over Pittmtfn, Bel-

became detached from

the for-

mation on account of motor trouble, and were attacked by

enemy

twelve

scouts. In the fight

which ensued he behaved

with conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. After shooting

one of the enemy planes he

was struck by a bullet

away much of his elbow and

He

his

cleared the jam with one

for position.

though until

With the gun

his left

after receiving

stomach and one

same time.

his pilot

maneuvered

he returned

to the fight

hand while cleared,

at the

arm was useless, and fought off the

he collapsed

in the

gun jammed

down

which carried

enemy scouts

two more bullet wounds, one

in the thigh.

Robinson survived despite suffering multiple bullet wounds and having his arm very nearly shot

off.

Talbot received his medal posthu-

mously; he was killed only a few days

later in a

plane crash.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

5

Immediately following the war Marine aviation underwent

a pe-

riod of massive reductions, as did the air branches of all the services.

By 1921 the Corps

on

carried only forty-three pilots

its rolls.

Despite

the huge cutbacks that most of the world's militaries underwent, the

interwar years were a time of rapid technological development in

aeronautics that saw a gradual buildup of capabilities within the Corps's air arm. During this time the Marine Corps was the only U.S. service to put

its

into combat. Flying

fliers

various Caribbean

and Central American

experimented with

tors

and used years

insurrections,

and techniques

tactics

Some of these were

later.

and fighting throughout

made

makeshift landing

fire into a

Schilt was rewarded with the

1928, First

in

enemy

evacuate eighteen

an ambush. For

his ef-

Medal of Honor.

mission marked the unbreakable relation-

Schilt's extraordinary

ship between the infantryman and the aviator that has lar

8,

ten separate sorties under

strip in Quilali to

Marines who had been seriously wounded forts,

avia-

exceedingly dangerous. Dur-

ing fighting in Nicaragua from January 6 to January

Lieutenant Christian Schilt

Marine

would be refined

that

become

a pil-

of the Marine Corps ethos. Simply put, the primary reason the

service keeps aircraft

them

is

to

and the

Marine

aviator learns

uniform. Parallel to this

proaches an

aircraft.

practical purpose:

the ground

Through grow.

It

It

from the

skills

fosters

air

and maintain

an indissoluble

is

first

the dictum that every

This

tween the ground and

day he puts on a

flier is

a rifleman

and training before he ever ap-

empathy and understanding be-

communities and

also serves a

more

enables the aviator to more readily understand

commander's intentions and requirements. the 1930s the Marine air

was during

became even more

this so.

arm continued

as doctrines

and

Marine squadrons saw

air

arm

strategies

pirations in the Pacific

to

develop and

time that a close relationship with the Navy service

and the Marine Corps became wholly and

developing a navalized

And

is

he receives basic infantry

first;

to fly

support the Marine on the ground. This

tenet that every

riers,

men and women

and

fully

in terms of operations

were matured

Asia,

on

aircraft car-

committed

to

and equipment.

to address

Japanese

more emphasis was placed on

as-

joint

6

STOUT

JAY A.

operations with the Navy; these joint operations were oriented toward

The

the seizure of advance bases in the event of war. strategy

War

execution of this

would be the centerpiece of naval operations during World

II.

By the

late

1930s the U.S. military

great nations in preparing for the

War

The

II.

situation

lagged behind the other

still

coming cataclysm

was World

that

was so abysmal that second-tier countries such

as Portugal fielded larger

armies than America.

The Marine Corps

was a reflection of this lack of readiness, particularly where

its

air

arm

was concerned. In June 1940, while France was being overrun by the

Marine aviation numbered

Nazis,

More than

sonnel.

caught the Corps

Marine

at the

less

a year later the Japanese attack

as

much by surprise as anyone Ewa was destroyed.

of

its

dearly for the tiny speck that

Harbor

Every airplane

fliers

twelve aircraft were destroyed on the ground at nearly the same

the next several weeks. rasagi to the

The

VMF-2

1 1

continued

bottom and shot down seven enemy

F4F Wildcat was

Those who survived the

final

killed or

their

When their

aircraft.

destroyed, the twenty pilots

and dropped

their flight gear

to fight for

squadron's pilots sent the destroyer Ki-

from the unit who hadn't been

as

else:

Pearl

made the Japanese pay was Wake Island. Although seven

time as the attack on Pearl Harbor,

last

on

airfield at

Farther out in the Pacific, Marine

more

than nineteen hundred per-

and mechanics

wounded climbed out

wrenches

of

to fight as infantry.

Japanese assault spent the

rest

of the war

POWs. But

it

was

at

Guadalcanal where the Marine Corps's

fliers

and

permanent place

When

the

"wrench turners" earned

a

in history.

Navy's aircraft carriers were forced to retreat under the threat of superior Japanese forces, the aerial defense of the beleaguered Marines

on the ground was pitifully small

left to

the handful of their brothers

who

and hard-worn collection of F4Fs against

a

piloted a

seemingly

unceasing stream of Japanese fighters and bombers. Living in the

and wet and

filth

of the jungle, they fought alongside a hodgepodge

collection of airplanes from both the

months

rot

until the island

Navy and the Army

was declared secure.

It

for several

was here that the Ma-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE rine

Corps showed the world that the Japanese Zero was

And

vincible.

was

it

far

from

Guadalcanal where Joe Foss equaled the

at

twenty-six aerial victories scored by America's greatest ace of

War

the end of the war the Marine Corps counted

men

125,000

in

its

These

five years.

arm alone — more than

air

officers

across the Pacific

and

aircraft

a sixtyfold increase in

men had

slugged their way battle-

Rabaul, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and even Japan

In doing so they shot

enemy

enlisted

more than

and had seen action over such legendary

fields as Bougainville, self.

World

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker.

I,

By

in-

down more than

and produced 121

it-

twenty-three hundred

aces. Aside

from

killing other air-

perhaps their most important contribution to the war was the

craft,

on the ground.

hard-hitting support they provided to the infantrymen

As airborne bility

of

"artillery"

fire that

they provided such a volume, range, and

no Marine commander would ever again

flexi-

seriously

consider a major operation without Marine airpower overhead. Less than five years after the end of the greatest conflict in history, the Corps's

fliers

were

at

war again. Korea saw more refinement of co-

operative operations between the "ground pounder"

When Red China

and the

surprised the world by launching a million

pilot.

men

over the border and into the fight during October 1950, Marine

air-

down by

the

crews surprised those same Chinese by chopping them thousands.

It

was

this sort of closely coordinated support that enabled

Marine Division

the First

to "attack in the opposite direction"

and

ex-

ecute an orderly withdrawal in the face of overwhelming numbers.

Had

these

conflict

men

may

not been supported from the

conflict,

utility

had invested heavily

1951,

first

in

the opportunity

HMR-161

The

at the forefront.

of the relatively

Having recog-

new machines,

the Corps

equipment and training between the

came they were

executed the

operations included lifting ing.

outcome of the

really large-scale use of helicopters in a

and the Marines were

nized the obvious

When

the

very well have been different.

Korea also marked the

major

air,

first

ready,

ever mass

combat troops

wars.

and on September

combat

13,

resupply. Later

into the thick of the fight-

helicopter added a vertical dimension to the Corps's play-

AY

book and remains

STOUT

A.

a cornerstone of

Marine

assault capabilities today.

But perhaps the chief advantage the rotary-wing Korea was

its

gave in

aircraft

rough terrain while bringing

ability to replenish units in

back the dead and the wounded. There were ten thousand casualties evacuated by Marine helicopters during the Korean conflict. the injured

Many of

would have died were they not speedily delivered

to field

hospitals by the novel aircraft.

Marine Corps aviation operations broad or extensive ent types of

jets,

Marine

gamut from

differ-

fliers

punished enemy forces throughout

CAS

(Close Air Support), their operations

Marine

electronic warfare to all-weather attack.

even claimed three

pilots

never again be as

they were during Vietnam. Flying several

as

Southeast Asia. Along with ran the

will likely

air-to-air kills against

an enemy that fielded

very few aircraft.

But year

it

was the helicopters that did most of the

alone— 1968 — the Marine Corps

flying.

During one

flew nearly 750,000 sorties in

Vietnam. The bulk of them were rotary-wing missions— the war was, at least

on the American

side, largely a helicopter conflict.

There was

only one good highway in the country, and the rugged nature of the

was such that surface transport was

terrain to

where they were going

difficult.

via the venerable

Most Marines got

CH-34s

that

were

re-

placed in the war's later years by newer UH-ls, CH-46s, and CH-53s.

As we

shall see, these

become

more modern

aircraft

evolved through time to

the aged warriors that eventually served in Iraq and

still fly

with today's Marine units.

The

ferocity of the

Marines

in

nam

conflict that did not differ

Pless

was escorting a

combat was one aspect of the from

MEDEVAC

earlier wars.

Viet-

Major Stephen

(Medical Evacuation) mission on

who had been stranded on a beach near the My Lai village area. The men were part of an Army helicopter crew that had been left behind when their ship came under fire and the pilots fled. Pless raced his UH-1E

August

19, 1967,

when he

learned of four American soldiers

Huey gunship toward where

the soldiers were engaged in a life-or-

death, close-quarters firefight.

The

of

Honor

following excerpt from his

citation describes his heroism:

Medal

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Maj. Pless flew

the

to the

Some

in the open.

S>

enemy enemy were bayoneting and

scene and found 30 to 50

of the

soldiers

beating

downed Americans.

Maj. Pless displayed exceptional airmanship

enemy

a devastating attack against the

ing

many

of the

enemy and

tree line. His rocket

such low

Seeing

men and crew

wounded

the

at

through debris created by

he

soldiers gesture for assistance,

between the wounded

which permitted

his

wounded. During the rescue the enemy

fire at

and again, closing

were made

attacks

the enemy, providing a shield

to retrieve the

When

driving the remainder back into a

his helicopter into a position

rected intense

wound-

rockets.

its

of the

1

maneuvered

he launched

force, killing or

and machine-gun

levels that the aircraft flew

explosions from

as

di-

the helicopter and rushed the aircraft again

to within a

few feet before being beaten back.

wounded men were

aboard, Maj. Pless

vered the helicopter out to sea. Before

it

became

maneu-

safely airborne,

the overloaded aircraft settled 4 times into the water. Displaying

superb airmanship, he finally got the helicopter

The

other three

members

aloft.

of the crew received the

their bravery. In total Pless flew

780 combat

sorties

Navy Cross

for

before leaving

Vietnam. Following the exit from Vietnam during 1973, Marine aviation

ements did not see major combat operations again of 1991.

Whereas Marine

aircraft

the other services in other conflicts, this was the vice's aviation

elements were

until the

had cooperated

fully integrated

Component Commander (JFACC) — in

first

under

this

Gulf War

side by side with

time that the

traditionalists,

who were

fearful that the

ser-

a Joint Forces Air

instance a U.S. Air

Force general. This fact caused a great deal of consternation

Corps

el-

among

infantryman on the

ground would not get the support he needed when he needed

it.

Ultimately, however, the nation's military professionals were just that;

they worked to ensure that the

Marine aircraft— he needed

JFACC had the assets — including

to fight the

deep

strategic fight, as well as

JAY A.

10

STOUT

the wherewithal to shape and prepare the battlefield. In layman's terms, this

meant

killing as

diers as possible before

many

Iraqi tanks, artillery guns,

committing

Marine F/A-18s and A-6s flew

a

men

to the fight

Harriers

Iraq,

even

as far as

sol-

on the ground.

gamut of missions supported by KC-

130 tankers and EA-6B electronic warfare

deep into

and

jets;

these strikes ranged

Baghdad. The shorter-legged AV-8B

and slow-flying OV-10 Broncos concentrated on

targets in

Kuwait.

As the date of the ground attack into Kuwait neared, most Marine fight

and dedicated almost

entirely to obliterating everything within the

Marine Corps's pro-

aircraft

were shifted away from the deep

ground scheme of maneuver. Elsewhere the Air Force, Navy,

jected

and other Coalition

The

forces also blasted

efficacy of their efforts

only one hundred hours.

away

at the

entrenched

was such that the ground campaign lasted

The

support the Marine infantryman

this out.

Aside from the United States Air Force, a service that

exists solely to project

tion flew

The

dom

re-

The numbers

ceived from his winged brothers had never been better.

bore

Iraqis.

more combat

the nation's airpower, no other service or nasorties

than the Marine Corps.

twelve years between Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Free-

(OIF) saw

real

changes within Marine Corps aviation. Most im-

portant was a significant downsizing that saw the size of the F/A-18

community drop from twelve

single-seat fighter squadrons to eight.

The A-6 was retired and replaced by a lesser number of two-seat F/A18D squadrons, and the OV-10 was pastured completely. The Harriers

and the helicopter communities saw

their ranks

thinned

as well.

The Navy— also hit hard by force reductions— was forced to augment its

aircraft carrier

complements with Marine F/A-18 squadrons;

was a move that had a palpably negative impact on the

this

service's readi-

ness and training. Too, the Corps lost a good deal of control over

EA-6Bs,

now

considered a national

USAF's retirement of its EF-1

On

that gave

them an

of the

Is.

made to improve The AV-8Bs went through

the other hand, changes were

the fewer aircraft remaining.

gram

1

asset, particularly in light

its

air-to-air radar, a

the quality of a rebuild pro-

more powerful engine,

HAMMER FROM ABOVE major avionics and airframe upgrades, improve

11

KC-1 30s and EA-6Bs. Changes

ticularly to the

CH-46E— were more

the arrival of the

much money

to the helicopter

modest, as

MV-22 Osprey would

to

saw improvements,

their survivability. Likewise the F/A-18s

as did the

enhancements

as well as

it

fleet— par-

was expected that

obviate the need to spend too

in modifications. Unfortunately,

hopes pinned

to the

failure-plagued Osprey have not yet been realized.

Improvements

in

weapons

increased the efficacy of the

also

Guided Munitions (PGMs)

Corps's fleet of attack aircraft. Precision

such

as

Bombs (LGBs) became more matured. And the advent of Global

Laser Guided

and more

fully

tem (GPS) munitions meant

readily available

Positioning Sys-

that rather than putting his aircraft at a

and

precise point in space, at an exact airspeed, altitude, attitude,

heading, a pilot could simply

bomb, and

get coordinates, release a

would guide

the vicinity of a

fly to

He

directly to the target.

known

set of tar-

reliably expect that the

could do

this

bomb

without ever see-

ing what he was attacking— day, night, or in poor weather.

Improvements the Marine gles,"

fliers.

in sensors further contributed to the capabilities of

Night Vision Devices (NVDs), also known

enabled the aircrews

helicopter pilots, the

as "gog-

to literally see in the dark. Particularly for

NVDs

were a tremendous aid

formation and navigating low over

enemy

terrain.

landing were easier, too. These attributes were not

in

maintaining

Taking

lost

off

and

on the KC-1 30

community. And depending on the illumination provided by the

stars

and the moon, or man-made

AH-

1W

Cobra and fixed-wing

lighting, targets

pilots

could be struck by

without relying on more expensive

FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) pods. More expensive and heavier they may have been, but the improvements made in FLIR pods since Desert Storm included greater mag-

and heavier devices such

as

and

nification, laser-designating capabilities,

pods could make

all

the difference between success and

nighttime interdiction missions. In tures

and

was able

fact,

it

characteristics of the Litening

to

be a contributor of any merit

relatively small

better reliability.

bomb load, that load

was mostly due

pod

that the

at all.

These

failure

on

to the fea-

AV-8B Harrier

Although

it

carried a

could be delivered very precisely.

JAY A.

12

Although

it

ning of World

STOUT

was a smaller force than

War

II,

the Marine air

eve of Operation Iraqi

Freedom was

at

any time since the begin-

component therefore

that existed

still

on the

a potent force

—

roughly equivalent in size and capabilities to the United Kingdom's

Royal Air Force (RAF).

and ready

to

add

And

its

men and women

to the service's legacy.

were well trained

2

The MEF

The First Marine Expeditionary Force, or rine

In the vernacular,

Task Force. This

from

size

I

MEF,

was the chief Ma-

Corps combat component during Operation

just a

it

is

was known

as a

Iraqi

a purpose-built fighting force that

couple of thousand

now

poised to support and execute the vault into Iraq

thousand.

bat

— more

than

make up a MAGTF: a Ground ComCombat Element (ACE), and a Combat

that

Element (GCE), an Air

Service Support

can range in

men to the size of the one that was

sixty

There are three pieces

Freedom.

MAGTF— a Marine Air Ground

Element (CSSE). Once assembled,

this force

is

es-

own right. Embarked own infantry and — depending on its size — its own armor and artillery. Augmented by a contingent of Marine aircraft and supported by its own logistics train,

sentially a self-contained

armed

aboard Navy warships, the

the

MAGTF

service in

its

MAGTF will have

its

provides the president with a versatile force capable of

meeting myriad needs. These requirements span the spectrum of military operations

from quick, hard-hitting

strikes

on one end

to

more

peaceful activities such as humanitarian relief on the other. Tailor-

14

STOUT

JAY A.

made

for specific contingencies, the

tent, rapidly

Army can

as in

Army

until the mission

arrive with

more recent

its

heavier,

on

of

MEF

I

a

Marine Division, and was

CFLCC

accomplished, or until formations. Or, fight alongside

on the

faster,

more

MAGTF was designed for. during Operation Iraqi Freedom was

A

Lieutenant General James Conway.

man, Conway had held

capable of taking

more powerful

roles that capitalize

maneuver-oriented fighting the

The commander

is

is

Marine Corps can

operations, the

units while taking

the Central

designed to be a po-

is

deployable expeditionary force that

and holding an objective the

MAGTF

number at ease

of

but well-read

big, brusque,

commands, including

both in the

field

and

the First

in garrison. In

Command (CENTCOM) region Conway reported to the

(Coalition Forces

Land Component Commander), Army

McKieman, who in turn was accountable General Tommy Franks— the commander of CENTCOM and of

Lieutenant General David to

Coalition forces in the region.

all

The

largest

component

Division, heavily

the

in

Conway's

augmented by

units

GCE

as the division

up of three Regimental

RCT-1, "Inchon^ RCT-5,

"Grizzly,"

Marine

First

and personnel from

Marine Corps. The "Blue Diamond,"

named, was made

was the

all

across

was nick-

Combat Teams (RCTs):

and RCT-7, "Ripper."

A

fourth

regiment, Eleventh Marines, was an artillery unit that augmented

and supported the RCTs. The General James Mattis, another

commanded by Major well-educated and savvy Marine who division

took his art so seriously that he was After the

campaign

it

was

known

was Mattis who downplayed

ship by declaring: "I'm not a great general.

generals that don't

know

I

monk."

as the "warrior

was

his

just

up

own

general-

against other

shit."

Aside from Mattis's First Marine Division,

Conway

also

owned

Task Force Tarawa (RCT-2), an ad hoc collection of more than seven

thousand Marines— largely from the Second Marine Expeditionary

Brigade— that was commanded by Brigadier General Rich Natonski.

Rounding out Conway's ground combat formations was the

1st

UK

Armoured Division commanded by Major General Robin Brimms; its

twenty-five thousand

men made up

the three brigades that would

HAMMER FROM ABOVE ultimately take and hold Iraq's "second

city,"

15

the strategic Iraqi port of

Al Basrah. This contribution by America's closest ally was crucial to the

campaign and underscored the deep and abiding friendship be-

tween the two nations. Providing the logistical support that would enable

march

Baghdad was Brigadier General Edward Usher's

to

Conway First

to

Force

(1st FSSG) and its Combat Service Support The Companies (CSSCs). CSSCs — using new concepts especially developed for the campaign— would make certain that the Marine

Service Support

Group

"trigger pullers"

had the food,

needed

tion they

to

meet

ammunition, and medical

fuel,

their mission.

cally served in a support role, the fact

fight.

Although the units techni-

was that

marksmen and brought considerable

trained

atten-

all their

Marines were

experience to the

field

This would be important in the coming confrontation, as the

FSSG's many and varied elements would see plenty of action.

Conway also had at his command something that— outside of the Marine Corps— few infantry generals in history have ever possessed: his very own air wing. Although the Army could count on its considerable helicopter formations as well as

Conway had at his Marine

an entire

disposal

on support from the Air Force,

air force in the

Wing— 3rd MAW. The

Aircraft

wing was made up of

Marines who maintained and flew helicopters,

Two

aerial refuelers.

small squadrons of

form of the Third

tactical

Unmanned

(UAVs) further enhanced the mix. The wing was no paper ther;

it

was made up of modernized

top-notch professionals.

But, as

is

often the case

there was a rub.

der of 3rd

tiger, ei-

maintained and flown by

was more potent than the entire

MAW,

MEF,

when something

is

too good to be true,

Major General James "Tamer" Amos, the commanhad

responsible to

diers of I

it

and

of most nations.

air forces

He was

On its own

aircraft

jets,

Aerial Vehicles

to

dance

to the tunes of

Conway to

but during

this

two different masters.

support the Marines and British

campaign

his aircraft

sol-

were technically

"owned" and parceled out by the Coalition Forces Air Component

Commander (CFACC). The CFACC, Air Force Michael Moseley, worked

directly for

Lieutenant General

Tommy

Franks and com-

16

STOUT

JAY A.

manded

all

the Coalition air assets in theater— Army, Air Force,

Navy, and Marine Corps,

as well as the foreign air forces.

Acting as

the sole authority responsible for meeting Franks's aviation require-

ments, Moseley and his

staff

would control every fixed-wing

sortie

that got airborne as well as a sizable percentage of the helicopter missions. In turn,

would be up

it

to the other air

component comman-

ders—again, the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps his

demands. This centralized

had proved

ized execution

command combined

effective

— to meet

with decentral-

during Desert Storm and had

been successfully practiced since then, most recently during the campaign in Afghanistan.

That

mean

didn't

rine

Corps has

own

air

When the

that

it

historically

was

easy.

Or

popular.

been reluctant

component would be among the

To

grossest of understatements.

coming campaign, the Marines looked forward

to the

to the initial

they were scheduled for root canal surgery. For their

as if

part, the officers

Corps

its

directed to cooperate with the Air Force to develop a plan for

meetings

keen

Ma-

say that the

to relinquish control of

who made up

Moseley's staff were likely not very

upcoming conferences with

their ofttimes prickly

Marine

"in-laws."

One

of the

quarters in

first

significant meetings took place at 3rd

San Diego during the

tingent of staffers to

visit

with

fall

MAW head-

of 2002. Moseley brought a con-

Amos and

his

own

deputy, Brigadier General Terry "Guts" Robling,

planners. Amos's

remembered

the

"We started out with some how Marine aviation existed to support the Marine on the ground." The Marines in the room thought that all was well until Moseley meeting:

briefs that essentially reiterated

stopped the proceedings midway. "He essentially," recounted Robling,

"reminded

us— very pointedly— that he would own

tion assets in the plan.

The Marines them when,

know it

that

in the

They were

the avia-

his. Period."

room girded

after a brief silence,

all

he

for the worst.

Moseley surprised

cited a bit of history to let his hosts

he was familiar with Marine Corps doctrine, particularly

applied to

its

air

components.

He

as

then went on to say that although

he would retain ultimate authority over the allocation of Marine

avia-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE tion assets, ations,

he planned on using them

and he further intended

to

17

support Marine Corps oper-

Marines whatever other

to give the

help they needed from the Air Force and the Navy. "In other words/'

Robling our

own

aircraft,

much

going to

trust

let

and was promising us more

actions speak louder than words,

Still,

mutual

"he was pretty

said,

we needed

if

and

us have full access to

it

it."

took awhile to build a

CFACC and the Marines who were assigned

between the

"We sent a lot of fine officers and enlisted men to interface with the CFACC," Robling recounted. "One of the keys to our success was Colonel Ron McFarland. He spearheaded to

work with him and

our

efforts inside the

his staff.

CFACC

requirements were, and

were able

at the

staff

by educating them

same time

to contribute to the overall

as to

them know what we

letting

campaign." Ultimately McFar-

land and the host of other Marines assigned to work with the

developed a relationship that was noteworthy really hit a

Planning

home

what our

for

its

CFACC

effectiveness.

"We

run with that one," Robling recalled.

for the invasion of Iraq

had been ongoing

in

one fashion or

another for more than a decade. Always, during the twelve-year period

between the conclusion of Desert Storm

1991 and the

start

of Iraqi

Freedom during

2003, there had been a scheme to topple

armed

forces.

"We had

down and

end of February

the latter half of

Saddam and

the weather heated

up and

"But it

March

destroy his

actually gotten very serious about

early 2002, the year prior," recalled Robling.

slowed

at the

it

during

politically things

looked

less likely that

summer of 2002, Saddam's intransigence and rhetoric seemed to make an American deployment more likely despite the brutal summertime heat that would make op-

we would

erations

deploy." But then, during the

on the

checked the

battlefield a torture. Again,

start

though, diplomatic

efforts

of any major military mobilization. These sorts of

on-again, off-again episodes characterized

much

of the year that pre-

ceded the actual commencement of hostilities. Robling recalled:

"We

finally started

out to Kuwait during late 2002." In

fact,

sending small advance parties the wing

commander, Major

10

JAY A.

STOUT

General James Amos, spent November of that year pating that his units would follow

him

in Kuwait, antici-

shortly thereafter.

expected deployment did not transpire, he returned to his in the States.

anyone's tions to

Even

mind

do

that the

just that

to

for the

set to

command

little

doubt

volume

is

directed at

MEF,

I

Marine Division. Although the

Marine Corps

be reminded several times that the

air effort

aviation, the reader

was wholly dedicated

supporting the ground scheme of maneuver. In that context a brief

overview of the plan

is

warranted in order to understand the descrip-

tions of the air operations that

The broad scheme

make up

Gap

the Karbala to

straight into

Army

support the

Baghdad. The Marine Corps's

between the

phrates—the area known

archaeologists

Plain. If all

The day

CFLCC

it

after

at I

to

went

and

as intended, the

Tigris

and Eu-

historians as the

Marines would link

Baghdad.

MEF

received

its

assigned battlespace from the

was handed a study that described most of the terrain

area of operations as untrafficable. In other words, the ground

not support the

movement of a mechanized

tor that the planners at the First

They had

vision

MEF

I

with an attack that ran north and west from territory

Mesopotamian

his staff was a two-

and then north through

Iraq,

Kuwait and then through the

up with the Army

and

V Corps driving northwest from

Kuwait through the deserts of southern

was

the lion's share of this book.

CFLCC

devised by the

pronged assault that had the Army's

of.

in

invade Iraq. Prepara-

Marine Corps revolved around

specifically Mattis's First

focus of this will

United States was

the

proceeded apace.

Those preparations and more

by the end of 2002 there was

so,

When

studied the

had been trapped

its

would

This was not a

fac-

Marine Division had been unaware

World War in the

force.

in

I

battle

during which a British

same marshy

terrain

di-

and was defeated

by the Turks. That battle had taken place near Al Kut, and Al Kut sat

smack

in the

Saddam had drained most of the marshes in an effort to isoand punish the Shia Muslim "Marsh Arabs" who made up the re-

that time late

middle of the planned Marine advance. Granted, since

HAMMER FROM ABOVE gion's population

and who had

traditionally

ernment. But the sodden ground that was

by canals and was

19

been enemies of his gov-

left

behind was crisscrossed

mechanized

distinctly unsuitable for the type of

warfare the Marines were planning.

This meant that the First Marine Division's advance would be tied to the limited road

and highway network that serviced the region.

was a challenge that vexed the

turn— both

division's planners at every

before and during the campaign. Nearly every

would make revolved around the

move

availability of roads

It

the division

and bridges

that

were capable of handling the type of weapons and machinery the

Marines would be moving.

Much

of the equipment that would be

hauled was bridging material. As heavy and cumbersome the planners recognized the need;

if

as

it

was,

the Marines lacked the ability to

span a river from scratch, the Iraqis would only have to destroy a few

key spans

to

slow them considerably.

was frustrated by canals,

rivers,

It

was paradoxical that the

and waterlogged

staff

terrain in a part of

the world that most of the world envisioned as dry desert. In fact, a very serious danger that never materialized was inundation warfare, or

regime might

war by water. There was

stall

into the path of the Marines. entire region

real

concern that the

Iraqi

the attack by diverting water from canals and rivers It

was

a possibility that

had gone underwater during

had

potential; the

a flood in 1954.

And

dur-

ing Iraq's war with Iran in the early 1980s, Saddam's forces successfully rerouted

water to deny avenues of approach to the Iranians.

If

such a strategy was effectively executed, the Marine Corps could be stalled

long enough for the Iraqis to

shift

more resources

against the

Army's drive.

The Marine

planners rightly recognized that having their advance

confined to existing roadways not only limited their maneuver options but also

They

channeled

their forces

feared that the Iraqis

firesacks or

ambush

and made them predictable.

would develop

locations that

a coordinated catalog of

would enable them

to

employ their

long-range artillery and rocket launchers against preregistered points

on the highways. Done

properly, these

ambushes could

Marines on the hard surfaces and decimate them on the

trap the

spot.

20

STOUT

JAY A.

more than

Just

presented

I

a

month

CFLCC

before the campaign would start

MEF with a gift that would dramatically lower the risk to

the Marine Corps's planned

scheme of maneuver. Highway

1,

more modern

finished roadway that was intended as a newer,

an un-

link be-

tween Al Basrah and Baghdad, had originally been within the Army's

AOR

that they

one was accepted

it

showed

A

to

put on

An

to relieve pressure

tion

Nasiriyah, and

joined

It

gave

it

to

be able

Highway

Conway

to

its

8 from the north, just

another avenue of ap-

from the other highways. The road

it.

Best of all,

it

was

likely that the Iraqis

if

new option,

their plans to take full

the

also

the situa-

gave no

ous consideration to the idea that the Americans would use giddy with the

and

handle what the

the ability to flank and envelop his adversaries

demanded

has long

services,

roadbed along

a reasonably robust

promised

it.

proach

him

The Marine Corps

from the other

thorough analysis by Marine intelligence experts

west of

gave

Army's plan meant

wasn't entirely finished, significant portions

1

that the entire route

Marines wanted

in the

gladly.

were paved, and there was

entire length.

it.

to receiving castoffs

Although Highway of

change

no longer needed or wanted

been accustomed this

A

(Area of Responsibility).

it.

seri-

Almost

MEF staff made significant changes to

advantage of the windfall.

Although the chief highways— sensibly enough — ran through major

cities,

Marine Corps's

there was never any intent on the

take these urban areas in protracted battles.

The

part to

costs in lives

and

time would be too high. Rather, the scheme called for the ground

ements

to either

punch

their

way through

straddled the route of advance. ets

of enemy units

that the

all

While

el-

or bypass those cities that

this strategy

would leave pock-

along their lines of communication,

it

was

a risk

MEF commander was willing to take.

Truth be

told,

many

risks

were accepted by

all

of the

commanders

in order to support the

primary tenet around which everything else

revolved: speed. Mattis

summed

"Speed equals success." were prepared to take

It

it

up

for his division in three words,

was the factor on which the commanders

to risk everything; a swift offensive

an enormous

territory

would allow them

with far fewer resources than would

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

21

have traditionally been required in a more conventional campaign.

Such an isolate

assault

enemy

would cut communications, cause confusion, and

units; all of this

maneuver

their divisions

would

make

also

went

well,

of Iraq would

ernment

tricky artillery

make

it

call for

difficult for the Iraqis to

effective defense.

Speed

WMD

and

targets.

Speed would,

if

swift attack into the heart

— for Saddam's govintervention by the UN or other na-

difficult— if not impossible

entreaties for

government.

tions sympathetic to his

This

and coordinate an

reduce casualties. Finally, a

make

to

it

the Coalition units difficult to track, and that in turn

would make them all

would make

speed impacted every aspect of the MEF's planning

and preparations. Units were directed

to lighten their loads.

they were inspected and ordered to trim more.

Afterward

The emphasis was on

mobility and hitting power. Over and over the process took place until the

MEF

commanders were

made up

assured that the units that

I

were the leanest, most potent fighting forces the nation had

ever fielded.

One commander

neatly

summarized the way most of the Marines

understood the importance of speed

one

to

Marine

Baghdad

aviation's role in the

that Mattis

had declared

coming campaign was

that the First

ration because of the confidence

He commented

into theater:

"The boys

.

.

.

this

is

to the

[First

why we're

So

criti-

Marine Division would be the

He was he had

wing

able to

make

in the

MEF's

staff prior to the

Marine Division]

the brawl, and have a level of trust in you that

you

crucial.

MAW to the ground scheme of maneuver

"air-centric" division in history.

Marines.

last

eats shit!"

was the support of 3rd

most

campaign:

was hey-diddle-diddle, straight-up-the-middle, and the

"It

cal

to the

this decla-

aviation

deployment

are looking forward to I

think would surprise

willing to accept the risk of a fight with odds

of less than three-to-one." Mattis considered the Iraqi indirect

fire

weapons — artillery, multi-

22

STOUT

JAY A.

pie rocket launchers, threat

and

and the enemy's

surface-to-surface rockets— to be his biggest

tactical center of gravity.

he wanted destroyed above killed in the

deep

air

all

others,

and

war were considered

It

was these systems

his desire to

have them

early in the construction of

the overall plan. Nevertheless, recognizing that there was no guarantee that the execution of the

worked with 3rd

MAW

rapidly detect, target,

to

and

deep

air

obliterate those

enemy

indirect fire systems

On the other hand, tanks and armored

vehicles, while worthwhile targets,

the division

perfect, his staff

develop "quickfire" tactics that would

that escaped early destruction.

Marines could handle

war would be

were dangers that Mattis

toe-to-toe. If air

would take care of them

could

kill

them,

felt his

fine. If not,

itself.

Mattis and his staff appreciated the importance of air strikes carried out by tactical jets well in front of the division, but the air support

that they

would touch and see more than any other would be

vided by the wing's rotary-wing components.

The

helicopters

provide his air assault capability and would support

VAC

(Casualty Evacuation)

aircraft,

would

him with CASE-

resupply missions, transport

as-

and more. Too, the Hueys and Cobras would become the

sets,

platforms that his

they provided

RCT commanders would come to depend on most;

CAS

and

command and

control capabilities, without

which the campaign may have been very staff

that pro-

recognized the

timately, during the

airlift

that the wing's

different. Finally, Mattis's

KC-130s could provide;

middle of the advance, these big ships would

bring his Marines the supplies they would need to maintain their

mentum

into

mo-

Baghdad.

Because the ground assault would be so the wing

ul-

would be counted on

of destruction in front of the

to

tied to the

main highways,

sweep a constantly moving cordon

RCTs

that

would

travel the routes.

The

plan called for the neutralization of the Iraqi units that possessed

weapons capable of ranging the highways; they were fore they could

Of sive

engage the

staffs

be killed be-

division.

course the tasking and coordination were

and complex than the

to

much more

brief description above,

expan-

and the combined

of the division, the wing, and the various support

components

HAMMER FROM ABOVE spent a great deal of time together.

23

They planned, planned

again,

and

then planned some more. Although none of the schemes that were written was executed in

gether that

when

its

entirety, the staffs spent so

the fighting actually started

much

time

was easy

it

to

changes when operational requirements demanded them.

knew

this before the conflict ever

ways change crossing the line of departure."

In the

Conway

".

.

.

because plans

He went on

al-

to explain

MEF would be facing eight Iraqi divisions, the

though the

airpower that 3rd

make

began and explained that he would

not be crippled by the lack of a detailed plan,

that even

to-

MAW would provide would help to ensure success.

end he gave

a

grasp and execute.

two-word plan that every Marine would be able

"I

MEF's guidance

is

simple," he said. "Attack

north!" It

was simple enough

in theory,

but putting

it

into practice

when

confined to the limited highway infrastructure available was going to

be considerably more complex. This was emphasized in a very basic fashion during what

tenant Colonels

than

six

became known

Rob Whitters and

thousand of the

as the

"LEGO

Steve Santa

plastic toy blocks.

Drills."

Lieu-

Ana purchased more

These were then

carefully

placed on a scaled outdoor terrain model of the regions of Kuwait and Iraq

where the

initial

attack was to take place. Every single vehicle in

the division was represented— one per block.

ored plastic signified,

toys,

and the

logistical

The long

and operational challenges they

were sobering. Nevertheless the exercises were useful in

lustrating just

how

much

would take up. They further helped

of

lines of col-

space

it

movement and

large the fully fielded division

il-

would be and how to devise

timetables, identify potential bottlenecks,

schemes

and de-

lineate reasonable unit boundaries.

The Marines— air, ground, and coming war the way they always had:

support alike— approached the as

one big team. The plans and

made were nothing more than the fine-tuning of an enduring operational legacy that has made the Marine Corps

adjustments that they

unique

in the history of warfare.

Staging for

War

had assembled bikes JCPenney during the few months beHetween graduation from Central Washington University and at

his

his call to active duty.

That was during the summer of 1976,

he'd gotten married.

Now

just after

Brigadier General Terry "Guts" Robling

was second-in-command of the

largest air

wing

in the

United States

Marine Corps.

Not

that

it

was obvious

civilian clothes, ers that

and

he could see

to the casual observer.

his military haircut as

He was

dressed in

was only one of several oth-

he deplaned and stepped

into the terminal at

Kuwait City International Airport. Military haircuts — particularly

American

military haircuts— had

been

since the end of Desert Storm in 1991.

a regular feature in

Now,

in January 2003, the

United States was putting together a force that would

end

to

Saddam

that actively left alive.

The

finally bring

Hussein's government in neighboring Iraq

murdered

its

own

citizens

an

— a regime

and brutally repressed those

in-your-face intransigence that Hussein

had been

ing out in reply to United Nations sanctions was going to

thing of the past.

Kuwait

it

dish-

become

a

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

25

Robling brushed past a gaggle of giggling Arab

dress— designer

jeans, tight shirts,

surprise. So did their affinity for

and with

a gusto that

back

home

appropriate on the opera stage

Their Western

and high heels— caught him by

makeup; in

girls.

it

was applied

— or under a lamppost.

resented one end of the spectrum of dress and

up the crowd

inside the airport. At the other extreme full,

every feminine

women

The

made

women

and cloaked

curve; their purpose was to

Many

years before,

servicemen had nicknamed these darkly clad

tire

that

were

jet-black abayas covered their faces

bump and

Objects.

girls rep-

head-to-toe black robes traditional in that part of

as uninteresting as possible.

Moving

The

demeanor

dressed in the

the Arab world.

in quantity,

San Diego would only have been

The Arab men who

make

the

American

women BMOs — Black

weren't dressed in Western

at-

were more conservatively garbed in flowing dishdashas, and gen-

erous headdresses or gutras, held in place by black circular bands called ogals.

Through everyone weaved swarms of men from

the belt of poorer

southern Asian countries. These included Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians,

who

and

Filipinos,

among

others.

They were

the hired laborers

did the difficult, demeaning, and dirty jobs in the Emirate of

Kuwait. After collecting his suitcases, Robling approached the customs

area where uniformed Kuwaiti officers were pawing through the bags

and boxes of incoming

laborers.

of another officer, Robling

showed

The

Responding

made

his

to the

way over

beckoning wave

to a

counter and

his military identification card.

Kuwaiti gave

it

only the barest of glances.

"Do you

bring the

liquor?" Alcohol was illegal in Kuwait.

"What?" Robling answered. "Whiskey," the Kuwaiti tried to

Robling was

still

clarify.

confused. "No, thank you."

Exasperated, the Arab gave up and waved

him on without

looking

through his baggage.

Once through customs, Robling stepped into the throngs of families and friends who were waiting for their loved ones. Other than the

26

JAY A.

Marine Corps, he had no family

him

STOUT

in Kuwait.

led Robling past the terminal's Starbucks

He

took only a

moment for

introducing himself, the young Marine

to spot his driver. After

into the parking garage.

It

and

KFC

franchises

and

wouldn't see the airport again for several

more months.

He had an

Robling

set

air

war

up shop

to

help plan and execute.

in 3rd

MAW's forward headquarters

Jaber— the Kuwait Air Force base

that

tiny nation.

would help lead the

effort to get the wing's

and prepared

coming

fight.

and more would soon be on

Ahmed Al

was scraped out of the desert

and located very near the center of the

for the

at

A small

From

there he

Marines into the country cadre was already in place

their way, including

Major General

Amos, the wing commander.

It

was the morning of January 17 when Captain James "Pinky"

Finnegan

AH-1W

left

San Diego Bay aboard LPD-8, the Dubuque. He was an

HMLA-267. Standing out in the breeze with his fellow fliers that day, he remembered the start of the journey that would ultimately take him into the heart of Iraq:

.

.

.

Cobra

pilot assigned to

out on the flight deck, drinking coffee, talking a

watching the spectacular San Diego skyline pass the weeks leading

up

to the departure

by.

were shrouded

little

and

Although in secrecy,

knew where we were going and what we would ultimately be doing, which made our slow sail out of the harbor and past we

all

the thousands of cheering, waving, and crying families an

emo-

tional event.

Finnegan had no way of knowing

ing those sentiments with would not be returning

Marines on both coasts were saying good-bye never easy regardless of whether

it

men he was sharhome with him.

that two of the

to loved ones.

It

was

was a master gunnery sergeant

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

27

with two-plus decades of service and a dozen overseas deployments

under

his belt, or a nineteen-year-old lance corporal with a

new

wife

and baby. Across the Corps families endured tempests of emotion.

One Marine remembered cheeks wet with

his

.

.

and her

.

looking

face, so peaceful

might never get

I

cause of some

at his sleeping

daughter—

tears:

ing the unthinkable— that year.

down

and innocent.

I

find myself think-

might not be around

I

to scare off

her

first

sadistic, neurotic, wildly

this

time next

boyfriend ...

all

be-

unstable dictator in a

crap-ass third-world country.

When gets

the Marine Corps goes to war

them

to

where the fighting

Dubuque were

is.

it is

the

Navy

Finnegan and

part of Amphibious Task Force

that traditionally

HMLA-267 and

(ATF) West,

a

the

group of

warships that also included two Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs), the Boxer and the

Bonhomme

Richard, as well as another

LPD,

Cleveland. Between the four ships they embarked twenty-four Harriers, sixteen

CH-46s, and

CH-53Es, eighteen AH-lWs, nine UH-lNs, twelve

a substantial

Their counterpart,

and meet them

LHDs,

ATF

complement

East,

would

in the Persian Gulf.

of Marines and equipment.

sail

ATF

from the eastern seaboard

ships carried the exact

made up of two LHA, the Saipan.

East was

the Kearsarge and the Bataan, as well as an

Those three

the

AV-8B

same catalog of

West— plus an additional AV-8B. And there were more. The Fifteenth Marine

aircraft as

ATF

Expeditionary Unit

(MEU)— led by the Tarawa — was on station more than a month prior to the fight, while the 24th MEU with the Nassau would arrive at the

end of March

for eight

more

after

having already been

months. These two

aircraft

on 3rd MAW's

And there were came into theater

still

in

more.

MEUs

at sea

combined put

on other duties

a total of sixty-two

roster.

The KC-130s— a

ones and twos, while

total of

twenty-four—

sixty F/A-18s, ten

EA-6Bs,

and another sixteen AV-8Bs were nursed across the globe and

into

28

STOUT

JAY A.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia by Air Force KC-10 and KC-135 fuelers.

The

Air Force contributed

more

to the effort

Marines. Nevertheless, the bulk of the

CRAF-the

made up

air

wing's Marines arrived

The CRAF

Civil Reserve Air Fleet.

of commercial aircraft provided by major domestic

lines—the same ones that take us each

airlifting in

MAG-39), equipment, and

additional helicopters (sixty-three for

courtesy of the

by

aerial re-

year.

to

Grandma's house

for

is

air-

Christmas

A national treasure, this system was one of the primary rea-

sons that the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force were ready for war as early as they were.

All of this

was augmented by equipment and supplies from Mar-

(MPS)— combat-loaded

itime Prepositioning Ships

ward

ships staged for-

around the world. The concept had been a

at different ports

huge success during Desert Storm and had been refined since then. Always crewed and ready vessels supported the

force with

to

go on short notice, eleven of these huge

MEF. The Navy

further

supplemented the

men and gear off-loaded from twenty different amphibious

ships, while three

more

transports

were dedicated wholly toward the

delivery of ammunition.

By

the time

it

was

all in

place 3rd

MAW had fifteen thousand per-

sonnel and 408 aircraft in theater. But

it

didn't have

many

places to

put them. During Desert Storm the United States had stationed forces

all

over the region

— especially Saudi Arabia and Turkey. This

time Turkey wasn't going to play

was

much more

"shooters"

EA-6B

on

limited; the

its soil.

This

is

at all,

and the Saudi

kingdom forbade the

participation

stationing of any

where the Corps's normally unarmed

electronic warfare aircraft went. All but sixteen of the AV-8Bs

were kept aboard two LHDs, the

Bonhomme Richard and the Bataan.

These two ships were dubbed "Harrier Carriers" and would their

unorthodox complement of jump

entire

its

jets

serve

unfailingly through the

campaign.

The F/A-18 Hornets were scheduled

to

be land-based

in Kuwait.

Nevertheless, there were few good options available to them. In the

end they went

to

MAW's forward

Ahmed Al

Jaber,

headquarters.

where Robling was working

Still, it

was a

tight

fit

as

at 3rd

they joined sev-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE eral Air

29

Force units as well as the forty-two F/A-18s that

Kuwait Air Force. As

if

that wasn't

made up

the

enough, a squadron of sixteen AV-

8Bs was thrown into the mix.

The Marines outnumbered

many

their host Kuwaitis at Al Jaber

times over; nevertheless the Kuwaitis maintained ownership of their

might be expected, there were cultural differences

base. Although, as

and minor misunderstandings between the Kuwait Air Force and the Marines, a shared purpose and past friendships carried the day. of Marine Air

Group (MAG)

Corps during the

Eleven's majors had

left

the

One

Marine

1990s and taken a job as an F/A-18 instructor

late

with the Kuwait Air Force. There he built up a great camaraderie and friendship with the host of Kuwaitis he instructed and worked with.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, he returned to the States,

much

to the

disappointment of his Arab friends, and was

When he reappeared at Al MAW, his happy and surprised former students ex-

recommissioned into the Marine Corps. Jaber as part of 3rd

claimed: "See,

we

always say that you cannot stay

miss Kuwait and be back to

away— that you will

visit us!"

Actually the Marine units were relative newcomers, as the U.S. Air

Force had been rotating units through Al Jaber for a decade in support of Operation Southern Watch. rolling out the

welcome mat

The men

for their

in blue lost

no time

Marine brethren. Robling

in re-

membered: 'They couldn't have been more gracious — everything was open and available

to us.

There was

a

little bit

of grumbling

down

lower levels— they accused our young Marines of stealing their

at the

Of

girls.

course that was true, but by and large everyone got along

great.

"There was some pain early on without a doubt," continued Robling.

"But

it

wasn't long before

we

started getting

our gear in and our

dirt. And we operated our jets much from day one." Notwithstanding the get-to-it attitude of wing's men and women, conditions were certainly challenging

up and our Marines out of the

tents

pretty

the

early

on and were the subject of considerable grousing.

Some

of their pain, though, was of their

the time of the

Roman

legions military

own making. Since

men

before

have marched off to war

30

STOUT

JAY A.

with a required

list

The Marines who deployed

manders.

2003 were no

early

of gear or equipment mandated by their com-

Kuwait during

to

different. Nevertheless,

late

2002 and

Captain Anthony "Curly"

Bolden didn't pack the sleeping bag prescribed by the yard-long that

had been disseminated prior

room and weight by

stead to save

roll-up mat. "I thought that

wouldn't need

As

right?"

stars.

that wasn't lost I

I

would be

gear— after

a badass/'

all,

in-

he recalled.

Kuwait was the

first

few nights

February can be quite cool in Kuwait;

on Bolden

opted

bringing a poncho liner and a

turned out, his unit spent the

it

under the

that sissy

all

just

He

deployment.

to the

list

desert,

in the

this

"I

open,

was a

fact

"Rather than a badass,

after the first night.

dumb ass when I woke up in the middle of the night freezmy backside off." When I myself had deployed for the 1991 Gulf War more than a

felt like a

ing

decade

earlier,

one of the chief complaints upon

centered on the dearth of

arriving in theater

Evidently this was a lesson

toilet paper.

learned and then forgotten. For this campaign, although the Marine

Corps had managed five

to arrange for the transport of more

thousand tons of ammunition, they had

toilet paper.

One

Executive Officer

squadron I

Officer for everything.

night he

came

asleep in

my

now had

into

cot.

to take a

officer

was more or I

than twenty-

failed to bring

remembered, "Because

less

enough

I

was the

Commanding

responsible to the

guess that included shit paper because one

my tent and kicked the

He had

hell out of

me while

I

and

just finished 'taking care of business'

shower because he couldn't find anything

to

was

wipe

with."

Regardless, things gradually improved at Al Jaber as

Support Group Thirty-seven

Marines and equipment

make

needed

to get the air

more comfortable. The work of

things

mented by the

known

better

it

(MWSG-37) continued

efforts

ramp

others

to receive the

wing functional and

the

MWSG

was aug-

of the Navy's Construction Battalions

as Seabees.

These rough-and-ready

biggest concrete project since Vietnam,

thick

Marine Wing

sailors

— units

poured

their

a twenty-five-acre, three-foot-

that provided space for scores of aircraft. This project

made

the base a better place from

which

to fight a war.

and

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Approximately twenty-five miles

31

north of Al Jaber was the

to the

other Kuwait Air Force base, Ali Al Salem. Closer to Iraq,

where the

air

wing would base more than

Those helicopters shared the

was

helicopters.

its

with thirty-five British rotary-wing

field

and fourteen Army UH-60

aircraft

a third of

it

air

ambulance

helicopters. At

peak the base supported more than three hundred

aircraft

and

its

five

thousand personnel from several different nations. Like the Marines at

Al Jaber, the

men and women

at

Al Salem suffered through their

share of hardships.

The

majority of the rotary-wing outfits operated from the various

LHAs, LHDs, and LPDs

that the

Navy deployed

shipboard amenities those units enjoyed were paid for by their in the Still,

The

to the region.

currency of longer transit times to and from the

operations afloat are always a challenge, and even

fliers

battlefield.

more

so dur-

ing war.

The big but essential KC-130s were more problematic when it came to finding a location from which to operate. With a wingspan greater than

1

30 feet they were real estate hogs, and

them

find a place to put

all.

The

Even more diminutive than Kuwait, Bahrain linked to Saudi Arabia by a long causeway.

Shaikh staged

Isa Air Base, the

difficult to

is

The

a small island nation

ruler there offered

up

same base where the Marine Corps had

Shaikh

was nearly 250 miles from the center of Kuwait.

Isa

This translated into nearly an hour of the

was

F/A-18s during Desert Storm.

its

Still,

it

solution was provided by Bahrain.

command wanted

ships closer to Iraq.

to

keep

flight

at least a

time for a KC-130, and

small contingent of the big

Another element that came into play was the

that the Bahrainis

would permit the Marines

twenty aircraft

Shaikh

at

Isa.

to base

The problem was

fact

no more than

that there simply

wasn't any space available at either of the two military airfields in

Kuwait. So, 3rd

Amos

MAW built another.

gave the go-ahead while negotiations to scour

desert were

back

still

in theater

it

out of the

under way with the Kuwaiti government. "Tamer was by

now and he fell

in love with the idea,"

remembered

32

STOUT

JAY A.

Robling.

and

The men and women

rollers

and trucks

to

of

MWSG-37

work leveling and

set their

heavy graders

filling a stretch

of desert in

the north-central region of Kuwait only about thirty miles or so from the Iraqi border.

Two

each

parallel runways,

six

thousand

feet long,

were scraped out of the earth with the intention of operating from

one while repairing and maintaining the dirt-and-sand airfield that

would remain

resources weren't available to also the fact that the Kuwaitis

make

other.

The end

result

a

and the

so because the time

more permanent. There was

it

had not granted permission

still

was

for

it

to

be constructed.

The

airfield

was completed on the same day that the Marines

ceived approval from the Kuwaitis to the

Camp

commence

Coyote TAA (Tactical Assembly Area),

collectively

named

it.

Part of

the two strips were

the Joe Foss Expeditionary Air Field in honor of

the great Marine ace

who had

passed away only months

a dusty, dirty, noisy place. Situated adjacent to the

highway

building

re-

earlier. It

was

main north-south

that bisected that portion of the country, the base served as a

staging point for

equipment and supplies

that

were trucked

in

from

the port at Kuwait City.

Operating off a

dirt strip

one thing

is

but quite

for a small aircraft,

another for an eighty-ton, four-engine transport. Getting a fully loaded KC-1 30 plowing through the loose sand

fast

enough

to get air-

borne was always an exercise in patience and nerves. Captain Rick Fee of VMGR-352 was one of the

pilots qualified to operate

out of the

primitive setup. 'Taking off could be interesting, depending

the

runway had been repaired

added power the the sand.

aircraft

and slow down

we

finally got

up enough speed

after

we

soft spot in

decelerated and then

Then we'd

hit

another dip

dirt like that until

to get away."

own

set of challenges.

"The

problem we had," recalled Fee, "was

just spotting the

place

at Joe Foss

during the daytime.

Throw

again.

we

again. We'd lurch along through the

Landing back biggest

in our seats as

momentum

on when

he remembered. "Often,

picked up speed and then hit a

We'd pitch forward

we'd slowly build up

last,"

in a

little

It

provided

its

was a pair of sand

windblown dust

or

strips in a

some haze and

sandy desert. the runways

HAMMER FROM ABOVE would almost lots

Landing

vanish."

33

night was easier for the "Herk" pi-

at

because the infrared covert lighting made the

strips

from the surrounding blackness of the Kuwaiti desert. was

craft

stopped.

safely

on the ground, the aircrews had

The same sand

were quite

traps that

effective at slowing the

made

little

stand out

Once

the

air-

trouble getting

getting airborne so difficult

heavy airplanes down.

Despite the added capabilities and options that Joe Foss Field gave the Marines, there was no denying that

Powdery sand got

"We're

suffering

still

A

from the

finding sand in the aircraft."

is

no arguing the

tires

zinged

year after the campaign Fee stated:

Even today we're

effects of that dirt.

How much

the KC-130s by these operations there

was hard on the KC-130s.

and the propellers and

into everything,

rocks hard into the airframe.

it

is

service life was beaten out of

still

being guessed

at.

Even

fact that the supplies the big ships lifted

so,

out of

Joe Foss Field to the Marines fighting in Iraq were crucial to the con-

duct of the war.

War

often about waiting, but the Marines

is

paign generally spent

less

that

fought this cam-

than two months in Kuwait before being

sent into combat. Nevertheless, two get hurt. Because

who

most Marines

makes insurance executives

months was plenty of time

fall

lie

into the exact

awake

to

demographic

at night, there

were

a lot

of incidents. Training accidents, or lacerations and broken bones

from

sports

And

juries.

were common, while vehicle crashes also caused predictably, because they were

young men with guns,

there were mishaps involving firearms.

Then

dents created by spectacular lapses of

common

Marine was refueling drew

his lighter

sults

were

sent

home.

The

skills

that

there were those inci-

a truck in the dark and,

his

sense.

One young

unable

to see well,

pocket for additional illumination.

as you'd expect,

aviators of 3rd

hone the

much

from

in-

The

re-

and the badly burned young man was

MAW did their best to use the time they had to were so

critical to their missions.

This wasn't

of a problem for the helicopter pilots, as there were plenty of

34

JAY A.

Marines

in the field

and training opportunities abounded.

ferent story for the fixed-wing ritory

wasn't to

STOUT

fliers,

was a

dif-

though; Kuwait's diminutive

ter-

It

was overlaid by an equally small airspace, and there simply

much room

do over the

proficiency.

for the jet

tiny emirate

crews to

train.

The

flying they

was only barely adequate

to

managed

maintain their

Operation Southern Watch

Most sources

declare

Gulf War, whereas

March

20, 2003, as the start of the

in reality, in the air at least, the

The conclusion

going on for years.

Second

war had been

of Desert Storm in 1991 marked

the start of an air campaign against Iraq that did not end until Coali-

Saddam

tion forces ejected

Hussein's government in 2003.

lutions following the 1991 conflict prohibited,

among

UN reso-

other actions,

the Iraqi military from operating aircraft south of the 32nd parallel (and, from 1996, the 33rd)

and north of the 36th

parallel.

These

res-

olutions were intended to protect Shiite populations in the southern part of the nation

and Kurdish peoples

that enforced these resolutions

(OSW), supported

to the north.

were known

Incirlik Air

Iraq two-thirds of

operations

Southern Watch

primarily from bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,

and Northern Watch (ONW), executed around from

as

The

Base its

in Turkey.

own

sorties

Combined, the two

airspace. U.S.

and

flown mainly efforts

denied

British forces flew

than three hundred thousand combat and support

more

flights to police

these two so-called no-fly zones.

The enforcement

of the no-fly zones had several major effects.

36

STOUT

JAY A.

First, as

intended,

did prevent the Iraqis from attacking the Shiites

it

and Kurds from the

air.

In part because of the protection they were

af-

forded from above, the Kurds were able to establish an autonomous

northern Iraq.

political region in

Second,

USAF's

the

it

provided a real-world training ground for virtually

tactical

airmen during the nearly twelve years from the

end of Desert Storm

Force aviator had done a

vided

stint "in

the sandbox" in support of one or is

no

better training than the "real

and the low-grade tempo of combat missions over

just that. Several Iraqi jets

no-fly zones,

that

Freedom. Almost every Air

to the start of Iraqi

the other of the operations. There thing,"

of

all

and the

list

Iraq pro-

were shot down

as they violated the

and

antiaircraft systems

of Iraqi radar

sites

were attacked and destroyed was very extensive. The experience

gained was invaluable. Finally, in concert with

weapons embargoes, the operations had

the effect of degrading the Iraqi air defense system to a significant degree.

It is

remarkable that during more than a decade not a single

Coalition aircraft was lost over Iraq for any reason. This

more astonishing when an

for

effort this size

considered that the normal accident rate

more

aircraft.

carried the bulk of the

burden

no-fly zones, particularly at the beginning. fort

became more

the Marine Corps lier

the

all

— even in peacetime— would have seen the loss

of perhaps a dozen or

The USAF

it is

is

for enforcing the

two

As time passed and the

of a grind, units from other services

ef-

— including

— rotated through the duty. And as mentioned ear-

the British maintained a smaller but steady effort through the

duration.

During most of the period the tensity

level of effort

was low — with occasional spikes

was steady and the

in activity,

Desert Fox in 1998. Mostly the operations were exercise of

tit

for tat.

Coalition aircraft with

An its

Iraqi antiaircraft unit

would

as

during

more than an

would illuminate

radar, or fire antiaircraft artillery,

Coalition would respond with a limited the Iraqis

such

little

in-

air strike.

On

a

and the

rare occasions

actually fire a missile, but always without effect. Iraqi

fighters occasionally played

games of cat-and-mouse but nearly

al-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

37

ways stayed well out of missile range of U.S.

were often blown out of the

didn't they

When

aircraft.

they

sky.

Nevertheless, during 2002 the level of effort increased significantly

from

a

tempo

that

had already been gradually increasing since the

This was due in part

late 1990s.

more

to

aggressive Iraqi activities in

the two zones; as incentive, Hussein had offered substantial rewards

downing

for

And

a Coalition aircraft.

ratcheted operations

up not only

with the goal of grinding

down

the Coalition undoubtedly

in response to the Iraqis but also

Iraqi antiaircraft capabilities in prepa-

ration for the

impending

conflict. Coalition actions also

connaissance

flights that

contributed greatly to the construction of a

portfolio of targets

included

re-

and coordinates.

No-fly zone operations reached their peak just before the official start

March

of Iraqi Freedom. During the period from

1

to

March

20,

2003, there were four thousand sorties flown. Targets included fiber-

SAM

optic nodes, batteries,

and

(Surface to Air Missile)

command and

sites, antiaircraft artillery

control installations.

Marine Corps Hornet and Harrier squadrons took flights

soon

after arriving in theater in

part in

OSW

mid-February. Just as had been

the case with the Air Force, these missions served as familiarization flights

by getting the aircrews used

cedures, and by getting

to the established operating pro-

them acquainted with

the lay of the land in

southern Iraq. It

wasn't a simple task— even from the standpoint of just getting

bombs onto

the target. For a variety of reasons most of the air-dropped

weapons during precision-guided

pended on

ground

Global Positioning System bombs that de-

to the target

unit.

types required effectively

— either

OSW (and the coming campaign) were

satellites for their steering, or

were directed or a

of

this stage

by a

beam

Bombs

that

of laser energy from an aircraft

While extremely accurate, both of these weapons

much more

than did the

planning and attention

free-fall,

was particularly true of the

GPS

or

and these codes had

to detail to

"dumb," bombs of the

employ

past.

This

munitions; encrypted codes had to

be coordinated and loaded into the selves,

Laser Guided

to jibe

aircraft

and the bombs them-

with the data that the

satellites

— 38

STOUT

JAY A.

provided. Also, the weapons had to be able to receive the satellite in-

formation while loaded on the aircraft and while in

The

flight.

vaga-

of radio frequencies being what they are, this wasn't always

ries

guaranteed. In short, there were plenty of opportunities for mistakes or short-

comings, and

employment

all

of these could cause the weapons to

of these

bombs depended on

fail.

Successful

a chain of people— from

the nineteen-year-old ordnance loader to the forty-year-old pilot

doing everything exactly

This was something that didn't always

when compared

happen.

Still,

hundred

feet or

more

with the average miss distance of a

for a conventional

GPS weapon

miss distance of a

made

right.

dumb bomb,

the average

of perhaps less than a dozen feet

the satellite weapons very attractive.

Additionally, the

processes that the

seemed

overly

command and

USAF

complex

control procedures and routing

had developed over more than

to

many

of the Marines.

And

a

decade

everything de-

pended on encrypted communications— something that they weren't used to using day to day. All of these factors combined resulted in a

good

bit

of eye rolling during what the Marine aircrews considered

the exceedingly tedious briefs that their Air Force brothers provided.

Soon

after

landing their

VMFA(AW)-533 and

first jets at

Al Jaber, the F/A-18D crews of

started attending the Air

classes that qualified

them

Force-conducted briefings

to fly inside the

southern no-fly zone.

At the same time, they flew training missions in the limited airspace

above Kuwait. There were until February

22— for

OSW

missions scheduled as well, but

a variety of

cluded the squadron had

all

fore the crews got to their

reasons— the missions that

in-

been called back or even scrubbed be-

jets.

These cancellations were extremely

frustrating.

The

mission scheduled for the night of February 22 would break

Comlead scheduled to and VMFA(AW)-533 was manding Officer (CO) of the four jets that his squadron was contributing to the strike. The mission was part of a Response Option, or RO. An RO was intended to the streak. Lieutenant Colonel L. Ross "Migs" Roberts was the

punish Iraqi intransigence in the no-fly zone.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The

four crews that Roberts put together for the mission were a

cross section of his squadron. Rightly,

squadron's

first

he put himself in the lead of his

combat mission. His operations

would man the

"JP" Farnam,

behind him. The

pit

rest

WSO

officer,

(Weapons System

Major John

Officer) cock-

of the division was a leavened mixture of

combat veterans and

relatively

had never been shot

at.

new

boys"— young crews who

"cherry

Their assigned target was relatively unexcit-

ing: a set of four fiber-optic cable repeaters.

each

39

The weapons

load for

was two GPS-dependent, GBU-32, thousand-pound

aircraft

Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or

JDAMs.

On this night Roberts had the flight start their jets earlier than normal

in order to

work through some of the weapons and communica-

tions glitches that

were bound

would ultimately be start early

was

a

to

occur during

this,

the

of what

a long series of combat missions. This decision to

good one because,

just as

expected, there were prob-

lems with the cryptographic interfaces between the

JDAMs and

the

Nevertheless the maintenance Marines and aircrews worked

aircraft.

together to

But the

fix

the problems.

flight's difficulties

weren't over.

"We found

minutes from our takeoff time without being able

AWACS

via

HAVEQUICK,"

trolling the overall strike, while

jam-resistant

official

policy was that

you couldn't launch.

I

if

you couldn't

Roberts talk

on

to talk to the

(Airborne

aircraft that

HAVEQUICK

communications.

agile,

ourselves five

AWACS

Roberts recalled.

Warning and Control System) was the Air Force

ment

first

was con-

allowed frequency-

"The

continued:

HAVEQUICK,

then

was starting to contemplate the embarrass-

of having to cancel the mission. Luckily, Captain 'Mumbles'

Simmons, the

WSO in the dash-four aircraft, figured out the problem

and we were able

to

manually load the required frequencies." After

a

short taxi, the four aircraft were ready for takeoff.

On

the runway, Roberts pushed the throttles of his aircraft

way forward and

released the brakes.

The

afterburners

lit

all

the

with a roar;

purple-white plumes of brilliantly hot exhaust shot from the rear of the

jet,

and within seconds he was airborne, followed

by the other three

aircraft of his formation.

in short order

40

STOUT

JAY A.

Turning toward

Iraq, Roberts

looked over his shoulder through his

wingmen

night-vision goggles as each of his

checked the

From

formation.

into

settled

in the other crews over the radio

maze of command and

necessitated. At the

same time, the and completed each

Farnam

and brought them through

control frequencies that

tus of their aircraft

listened with satisfaction as

closed the distance and

the cockpit behind him,

pilots

their

and

OSW operations

WSOs checked the sta-

combat

checklists. Roberts

aircraft reported in

with good weapons

systems. It 1 1

wasn't long before the four-ship of Hornets

—was inbound toward the target.

Closer

in,

rechecked the status of their weapons. The

— callsign Marauder

the crews checked and

JDAMs

were new

to

them. Because they were new and because they were also expensive, this

was the

first

time that any of the eight Marines in the

had

flight

ever used them.

One

of the chief advantages of

conventional

JDAM

weapons

is

that,

dumb bomb, the aircrew doesn't have to drop

unlike a

it

from an

exact point, at an exact airspeed, altitude, attitude, and angle, in order to hit the target. Instead the pilot aircraft enters a

bomb once

can the release the

pie-shaped envelope that

is

mission computer and depicted on the navigation display.

bomb

leaves the airplane,

to the

preprogrammed

and-leave

bomb bomb

needed

its

trajectory

coordinates. In essence the

Once

the

and guide

JDAM

is

it

a launch-

that guides itself to the target.

The formation was Roberts's

tailfins adjust

its

his

calculated by the onboard

than a minute from the release point

less

when

indicated a degraded status. This was not what he

as the flight lead of his squadron's first

mission

—a

high-

visibility sortie that he wanted to go well in order to set a tone for the

squadron

for the

combat

that

started to troubleshoot the

review of the checklist release."

The

I

was

problem, and

decided that

formation was

fast

launch range, and only seconds

bomb

release button

weapon cleared dropped

their

likely only a short

on

it

after a short discussion

"We and

was working well enough

approaching the later

time away.

to

JDAM minimum

he mashed down on the red

his control stick

and

felt a

thump

as the

the aircraft. Taking his cue, the other three crews

own bombs

in

quick succession.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Angling away from the

targets, the four

same time doing

displays intently, at the

crews watched their

their best to

enemy

ning into each other and watching for

41

missile

FLIR

keep from runfire.

The FLIR

pods were slaved to the target coordinates and remained fixed there

which way the

regardless of

JDAMs smashed

aircraft

were pointed.

When

four

all

into their targets almost simultaneously, there

was

an eruption of cheering from each cockpit. VMFA(AW)-533's

first

mission was a resounding success.

Upon

returning to Al Jaber, the crews rolled the mission video-

tapes over

were

lit.

and over

all

loaded the

flight

I

High

fives

were exchanged, and

cigars

Roberts remembered: "The boost to morale in the ready

room and that

again.

across the squadron was contagious.

with the heavy

had confidence

in

hitters,

them and

Because

I

hadn't

every one of my aviators

that they

would be

knew

trusted to exe-

cute the mission they were assigned." Although the Iraqis hadn't de-

fended against the formation in any meaningful way, validation of

and

in the

what

his

Marines were capable of— on the

With combat

just

it

and Saddam Hussein. The

been allowed back

WMD

UN

satisfy

both the United

weapons inspectors who had

into the country during

finds.

December had made no

Yet the same lack of cooperation that earlier

teams had encountered prevented them from being able that the rogue

government did not possess them.

Blix reported his frustration to that world

response to Blix's report was mixed;

diplomacy more time. Others did

body

some

Council— the United

to lead their

much

States

to certify

UN inspector Hans

in early

March. The

nations wanted to give

not. Despite fervent opposition

from France, Germany, China, and Russia— as well rity

his

belts.

was becoming obvious that there was going

be no diplomatic arrangement that would

significant

a

flight line

around the corner, Roberts was glad that

By the middle of March

States

still

air.

crews were getting some preparatory combat under their

to

was

it

and Britain made

as the

UN Secu-

final preparations

smaller Coalition partners into Iraq.

The world watched on March

17 as U.S. President George

W.

42

JAY A.

Bush demanded

that

STOUT

Saddam Hussein

leave Iraq within forty-eight

hours. Tired of the diplomatic wrangling that had gone long, the United States was going to see to

it

on

for too

that Iraq's president

was

removed from power one way or another. His murderous legacy of and

terror

torture,

and the potential

threat

future,

was going

When

they weren't training or flying

were about

he posed

to

peace in the

to end.

OSW missions,

men who

the

go to war had time to meditate on what the approach-

to

ing conflict would

demand

of them. Stereotypes aside, the majority

of these Marines weren't hard-bitten killing machines, ready and

eager to

visit

death on the enemy.

More

typical

much

thought,

was the attitude of

Major Michael Rodriguez:

.

.

.

some

fensive

[of us] don't give

Saddam, we

who may be plight. I've

feel the

who

I

do,

as a deI

think.

are going to die

None of us wants to kill them, but we have to do to defend the Marines move north on the ground. It's a sad

are saddened.

called

seen

maybe

same way

look north and see the soldiers

every one of us will do what

if

too

mechanism, but most

When we for

it

upon

stories

to

on the news of defectors

that report that

the Iraqis surrender, they'll be executed, as will their families.

How would own army

you

kills

like to

you.

be in that position? You surrender, your

You

don't surrender and the Marines

roll

over you.

Contemplative they may have been, but

March came

to

as the third

an end the Marines who made up 3rd

also ready for war.

week

in

MAW were

5

Teamwork

Harrier Carrier

During

OSW

it

wasn't the Iraqi air defenses that posed the biggest

threat to the Coalition's

fliers.

Rather,

it

was the region's unpre-

had the potential

dictable weather. Sandstorms

to

sweep entire

for-

mations out of the sky in a figurative instant. That there weren't more accidents or deaths was a tribute to the ators.

These

attributes in turn

vestment that the nation had

and -women.

AV-8Bs

and experience of the

avi-

result of the considerable in-

in the training of

its

servicemen

A particularly vicious squall caught up with three AV-8B

Harrier pilots from

Captain

were a

made

skill

Tom

VMA-223 on

the night of March 13.

"Shine" Gore was the

flight lead of a three-ship

of

that was scheduled to patrol southern Iraq that evening. Fly-

ing off one side of his aircraft was Captain the other side was

Major John "Seabass" Hicks. The named

interest for the mission

briefed hours earlier,

ing into

enemy

Mike "Trout" Hunting; on areas of

and the execution had been meticulously

and each

pilot

knew

his role. Shortly after cross-

territory, however, the controlling

AWACS

aircraft

passed word that the sortie had been scrubbed. Disappointed, Gore

double-checked that

this

was indeed the case and then swung the

for-

44

STOUT

JAY A.

mation around and pointed the three well, the three pilots

hour or itself tral

They had had no

less.

went

aircraft southeast. If all

would be back aboard the Bataan

an

in half

idea that a furious sandstorm had spun

up out of nowhere and was currently racing

east

from over cen-

Kuwait.

Regardless, the pilots tally

who

only

prepared for imminent combat

their aircraft for getting

small

feat. All

moments

before had been

now had to

back aboard the

ship.

ready themselves and

At night,

this

was no

of them went through their individual checklists, back-

ing their aircraft out of a combat-ready status and for the recovery.

maintained the

making them ready

At the same time— almost automatically

of training— their hands and feet

moved

after years

and

their flight controls

aircraft in their respective places in the formation.

Only twenty minutes

"We could

men-

later the flight

was within sight of the

easily see the coast of Kuwait,"

mother [Bataan] reported the

ship.

remembered Gore. "But miles and wanted us to

visibility as six

land immediately as there was a dust storm rapidly approaching."

The

Harriers, having been airborne only a short time, were too heavy to

come aboard

the ship, and

Gore

directed the flight to

dump

fuel in

The three pilots had no become as they each reached

order to get to an acceptable landing weight.

how bad the weather was about to down in the dark and, without looking, threw idea

switches.

Three streams of

jet fuel trailed

the appropriate

the formation as

it

de-

scended toward the water.

Inside the ship's darkened

Chief James crew

station.

HDC

(Helicopter Direction Center)

Wood looked up at the radar screen hanging over his Two civilian freighters had strayed into the Bataan s op-

erating area, a twelve-by-twelve-mile box just off the Kuwaiti coast.

With wind

gusts

now approaching

gale force, the

the Day) on the ship's bridge had two options.

center the winds straight

down

The

OOD first

(Officer of

was

to turn to

the deck so that the Harrier pilots

could land without fighting a crosswind. But doing so would require the ship to "thread the needle" between the two freighters that were

HAMMER FROM ABOVE now

only two thousand yards apart.

run with the wind;

this

would

45

The OOD's second

option was to

force the pilots to land at night with a

tailwind that was blowing at speeds beyond anything they had ever dealt with before.

It

would

Bataan

also require the

to

steam out of her

operating area and toward the shoal waters to the south. Neither option was good.

Wood

heard the

first

change of BRC (Base Recovery Course) and

immediately realized that the

tween the two

freighters. It

tempts to get the

final

OOD

intended to drive the ship be-

would probably take the

OOD several at-

bearing correct, and each intermediate

correction would require changing the Harriers' final approach heading to the ship. Adding to the problem was the fact that the Bataan

meant

precision approach radar system was out of service. This

gauge

that

would receive heading information only and would have

the pilots

their descents without

any help from the

s

to

ship. Technically, ex-

ecuting an approach to the ship with the existing combination of

equipment malfunctions and weather was forbidden. no other choice— the

there was in

and the Chief

aircraft didn't

Wood checked

extended

all

quarter mile.

airfields in

have enough fuel

them

to

way down

He

looked through the dimly

also socked

go elsewhere.

and

to the water,

most junior controllers were watching for

Kuwait were

the latest weather observation.

the

Practically,

lit

visibility

The

ceiling

was barely a

space to where his two

their radar screens.

He

called

to step back and replaced them with his two most experi-

A moment later he stood up and placed himself directly three men who would be responsible for getting the Har-

enced men. behind the rier pilots

down.

Gore remembered what happened headed

for the initial

mother turned

next:

finished

dumping and

only to be told to go to 'max conserve' while

into the wind."

Through

caught sight of the approaching storm.

seen— a moving

"We

wall of sand. As long as

sight, or the sense of helplessness that

his night-vision goggles

"It I

was

live

I

he

like

nothing

will

never forget that

came with

I'd

ever

realizing that

we

46

STOUT

JAY A.

were below bingo [minimum

ship— there was nowhere horror of the three

fuel]

else to

and committed

landing on the

to

go and nothing else

To

to do."

the

the Bataan turned directly into the storm.

fliers,

was right about then that the three Marines started they had just jettisoned overboard.

Now

it

It

to miss the fuel

was nothing more than

useless vapor slowly settling toward the Persian Gulf.

Things began

up

division fuel,

his

happen

to

for individual

The approach

fast.

controllers split Gore's

instrument approaches.

The low man on

come down first. As Gore followed Hunting, he knew things were going to get

Hunting, was given vectors to

own

vectors to follow

ugly. In the

Bataan

Major Don

Sterling, the Strike

ation was

Strike Operations Center, just outside of

s

becoming

critical.

Duty

"Go

Officer, also

get the

CO, and

knew

HDC,

that the situ-

send him up to the

tower," Sterling ordered his assistant.

In the

meantime the

three

jets

arced through the night

pilot following his individual vectors while the aircraft

sky,

each

burned twelve

to fifteen gallons of fuel per minute. Inside their cockpits the fliers

anxiously watched their fuel gauges drop toward empty while they

waited for their turn to land aboard the ship's pitching deck. justed the vectors six different times as the trying to correct for winds All of this

combined

to bring

to the pilots.

visibility to

minute.

added

The

freighters.

Darkness and blowing sand

nearly nothing, and there was

on

tion but to focus their entire attention

ing to do otherwise

OOD changed BRC while

and avoid colliding with the two

was maddening

HDC ad-

would crash them

flying

no op-

by instruments. Try-

into the water in less than a

unfamiliar sound of sand blasting against their aircraft

to their

apprehension.

Hunting was the

first

one down the chute. He was the most junior

night-qualified pilot in the squadron

and had fewer than 250

flight

hours in the Harrier. This was his

deployment, and his

night

approach

to a ship in

first

bad weather. Even though the

approach radar was inoperative, Chief Wood and to

guide Hunting

mum

down toward

first

ship's precision

his sailors

were able

the ship until he reached the mini-

authorized descent altitude of four hundred

feet. It

was no

good; he wasn't able to see the Bataan. "I was a mile and a half be-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

HDC

hind mother," recollected Gore, "when

down— Trout

slow

had waved

off.

About

him come up on approach frequency and downwind with emergency

fuel."

47

asked

me

seconds

five

if

I

could

later

I

heard

declare that he was turning

Gore had no way of knowing

that

mouth had gone completely dry— his body's physiological preparation for an imminent ejection had left him unable to swallow. Hunting's

Chief tion

Wood

studied the radar screen and realized that the situa-

was slipping out of control.

ship, they

If he didn't get

were very well going

couldn't see

it,

to die.

Wind

gusts

approaching gale force tore across the

and had

water. If the pilots ran out of fuel

to

them

to eject, the

wind would

across the water in their parachutes until they were beaten

death or drowned.

If

hitting the water, there

be able

Below them, although they

the surface of the Persian Gulf was being churned into

angry whitecaps.

drag

those pilots aboard the

to find

them

managed

they

was

little

hope

in the furiously

to

shuck

that

an

their parachutes after

SAR helicopter would

blowing storm. In

fact,

doubtful that the helicopter would even be able to launch.

was

it

Wood

grabbed the shoulder of Hunting's controller and signaled that he

would personally take control of the

Gore

"At that instant," every .

.

.

last bit

there

of my gas to

would be zero

Hunting— somewhere

pilot's

get aboard on

that pass.

would be

in the wind-torn sky

hand knowing

that his friend

to look

useless until

to use

didn't

I

It

was

He

thought of

him— and wished

around

difficult to focus

might not

ship. Flying

survive.

Gore

on fol-

by instruments alone,

out into the distance, knowing that

he was nearly on top of the 850-foot-long

Over the radio Gore heard Wood

who was

critically

it

ship.

direct Hicks to circle once.

chief was working to vector Hunting, in

I

fuel left for another chance."

lowed Wood's vectors toward the

he fought the urge

was going

knew that if I

recalled, "I decided that

there was something he could do to help. the task at

approach.

low on

The fuel,

between Gore and Hicks.

Approaching one mile from behind the Bataan, Gore was already

down to

only 250 feet above the water.

and he positioned

his

The ship was nowhere

engine exhaust nozzles

to

in sight,

"hover stop." This

redirected the jet exhaust from almost fully aft to straight down,

and

48

STOUT

JAY A.

Through the luminescent green

rapidly decelerated the aircraft.

symbology of

his

HUD

(Heads

Up

Display) he could see nothing

made

but the black-brown opaqueness that the windblown sand had the night.

Now in the flight control Woodmansee,

Pete

tower of the Bataan, Lieutenant Colonel

CO of VMA-223, looked desperately behind

the

the ship for the approaching Harrier.

He saw nothing and briefly con-

sidered taking over the duties as the Landing Signals Officer (LSO).

He

rejected the notion: "I

had

to trust

my subordinates."

Wood-

Like

mansee, Captain Mike Perez, the controlling LSO, was unable

make out

After hearing

Hunting wave

and disappear

off

into the night,

were useless

in the storm.

nowhere

in the

called for

Gore

—

less I

lifted

struck by an idea that was

the goggles back to his eyes and

Seconds

to turn his landing light on.

a light well left of course

"At

Then he was

manual. Perez

and closing

rapidly.

It

later

light,"

Gore remembered.

above the water, he heard Perez

call,

Now

he spotted

was Gore.

than a half mile from the ship— while in a

saw a

he

They

pulled his night-vision goggles away from his face in frustration.

stop

to

Gore's aircraft through the storm that swirled overhead.

full

braking

only two hundred feet

"Contact, you are well

left

of

course." Taking advantage of the Harrier's unique vertical landing capabilities,

Gore continued

aircraft thirty

ship.

to

slow and pedal-turned the nose of his

degrees to the right toward the faint light that was the

One minute

later

he crossed over the edge of the

flight

deck

with only about ninety gallons of fuel remaining— enough to have kept his aircraft aloft for only a few Just as final

more minutes.

Gore was touching down, Hunting turned

approach course, in front of Hicks 's

aircraft.

to intercept the

He had

just less

than a hundred gallons of fuel remaining and was three miles from the ship.

He knew he

but he also knew that

wouldn't make

with the ship's surveillance radar.

have

it if

he flew

Gore had landed and

Once he

to look well to the right to find the

down

to

250

feet,

normal approach, was a problem

got in close, he

would

Bataan. Hunting followed

Chief Wood's heading corrections and kept mile he was

a

that there

and much

his nozzles

faster

aft.

By one

than he normally

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

49

should have been. In the control tower Mike Perez was stunned to discover from

HDC that Hunting was on short radar final to the ship.

He had assumed that Hicks would moments away from

be next,

Anxious

ejecting.

Hunting had

as

to

be only

Hunting aboard he

to get

shouted over the radio: "Turn your landing light on!" Peering through the swirling sand, Perez saw the Harrier's landing light half a mile

away, well

left

of course, and

moving too

Perez directed. Hunting glanced one

last

"Slow down now!"

fast.

time

gauge and

at his fuel

selected full braking stop, pointing his nozzles sixteen degrees for-

ward of his wing at

line.

The

high speed in a sports

his harness craft.

and

for

effect

car;

was similar

to

jumping on the brakes

Hunting slammed forward hard against

an instant fought

to

maintain control of his

Illuminated by just a very few NVD-compatible

lights,

air-

the deck

of the ship was barely visible through the clouds of dust that ripped

down

its

length;

Hunting struggled

the Bataan. Perez shouted at

before the pilot finally

to

judge his aspect and closure to

Hunting two more times

managed

to get his airspeed

down

slow

to

under control.

moment later he was aboard the ship with only fifty gallons of fuel maining. Had he crashed, the jet wouldn't even have burned. Major John Hicks was night. at

Having served

Cherry

any

to

Point,

as

still

A

re-

out there somewhere in the sand-blown

an instructor

in the Harrier training

he was a very experienced

pilot

and

as qualified as

handle the extremes that the storm had dealt the

Gore and Hunting, Hicks came

off his

By now, however, Perez knew where

approach well

to look

and what

squadron

flight.

left

Like

of course.

to expect.

For

Hicks, though, the skewed approach was a surprise; he had been on a separate frequency from

Bataan

Gore and Hunting and expected

directly in front of

him

at

any

instant.

As anticipated, Perez caught sight of Hicks 's landing

and

to the left of the ship at

Hicks to slow his part,

down and

about half a mile.

He

tried to talk the pilot's eyes

he was nowhere near the

he could

sponded

reflexively to the

tell

from

behind

onto the ship. For at

him when

ship. Still,

LSO's commands and did

celerate while being careful to keep

light

quickly directed

Hicks was dumbfounded to hear Perez yelling

as far as

to spot the

he

re-

his best to de-

settling into the water.

50

STOUT

JAY A.

On

the flight deck of the Bataan the

were spinning. The helicopter tened with elation

They knew might

as

pilots

that launching to find

one-way

one of these

but would never

pilots let a

were going

man

them

trip for

while listening to Hicks's approach the

Navy

rotor blades

and the rescue swimmer had

Gore and Hunting completed

easily turn into a

ejected, the

SAR helicopter's

mood

to launch.

die while they

lis-

their landings.

pilots in the

water

as well. Nevertheless,

turned grim.

If

Hicks

They all knew the

remained

safe

risks

aboard the

ship.

Under ter

abeam

mile

from a quar-

Perez's direct control, Hicks slowed to a hover

the ship.

It

was a position completely out of normal

parameters and one that would never have been accepted during nor-

mal conditions. These conditions were hardly normal.

Still

not real-

izing that the ship was ninety degrees to his right, Hicks struggled to

maintain his

spatial awareness.

With no

visual reference points,

no

horizon, and no ability to see the water beneath him, he was in big trouble and he that his jet

knew

began

it.

It

was while he was struggling

drifting

backward and

started to

to find the ship

toward the

fall

water. "Power! Power! Power!" Perez shouted into the radio.

mansee,

directly

the LSO's

swimmer eject at

calls,

behind him, could hardly bear

if

left,

to his rescue

over the intercom. "Get ready," he said, expecting Hicks to

already had his

Then Hicks caught fuel

Wood-

watch. Jolted by

SAR helicopter's commander called

the

any second. Looking over

swimmer

to

his shoulder, the pilot

mask down and snorkel

sight of the ship.

and burning almost

forty gallons per

he could close the distance

radioed: "I see you, but

I

With

less

saw that the

in.

than 110 gallons of

minute, he didn't

know

to the ship in time. In exasperation

can't get there

he

from here." At only one hun-

dred feet above the waves, the transition from instrument

flight to vi-

he overcame

his vertigo

sual flight

and

had nearly paralyzed him.

Still,

air-taxied his jet sideways to the flight deck.

With the

last jet

on deck Mike Perez slumped back

into his chair.

He was

soaked through in sweat— absolutely exhausted.

HDC,

Chief

shit,

Wood

he thought.

Down

in the

also collapsed into his seat. I'm too old for this

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Operating

LSO Mike

Bataans Chief Wood and

Perez saved three

lion dollars. Less than a trollers

edge of their limitations the

at the very

three Harriers, the

51

jets

month

his controllers,

an Air Medal

for the

duress, in saving his

and

valued at more than a hundred millater

Chief

Wood and

were awarded the Navy Achievement Medal

saving the Harrier pilots. In

pilots of the

his

two con-

for their role in

May 2004 Captain Hunting was awarded

composure he maintained, under extreme

jet. It

was nothing that would make the news.

It

was nothing the public would ever learn.

The

recovery of the three aircraft was indeed a remarkable

Nevertheless, accidents did occur. Three weeks

AV-8B went

later,

on April

effort. 1,

an

into the water while trying to land aboard the Nassau.

Fortunately the pilot survived the ejection and was rescued with only

minor

injuries.

This

made

the news.

Cobras

President Bush's deadline 20

— the

missiles

it

power.

the Attack

passed. Early

on the morning of March

evening of March 19 in Washington,

and bombs struck

personally target

but

in

Saddam

Iraq. It

Hussein.

D.C.— a

was an attempt by U.S. forces It

strike

began

paign's timetable forward;

a

to

failed to kill the Iraqi president,

was the start of the campaign that would topple

The

series of

him from

sequence of events that forced the cam-

commanders all over the

theater frantically

hurried to adjust their plans.

A series of chest-rattling booms roared across Ali Al the

morning of March 20

as Patriot missiles

Salem Air Base on

exploded out of their

down from the northwest. The Patriots were successful; none of the enemy rockets found its mark. Lieutenant Colonel Steve "Woodman" Heywood and launchers and streaked off to intercept targets hurtling

his flight of four

were sent

AH-1W Cobra

gunships, already circling to the

to investigate the point

where one

of the Iraqi

SCUDs

east,

had

exploded in the desert only a few miles away. Even before he got the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE pointed toward the crater his orders changed and he was

flight

structed to divert his helicopters to threat of

more inbound

around Al Salem. With field

minutes

helicopters, dust.

The

later

he

flight

when,

finally set

Ahmed

made

rockets

just barely

Heywood wheeled the

teen

ties

53

Al Jaber Air Base; the

it

too dangerous to operate

enough

fuel to reach the other air-

around and headed south.

closely

down

It

was

fif-

by the three other

followed

Al Jaber in a whirling shroud of

at

landing marked the end of one of the most frustrating

of his career. As the

in-

sor-

commanding officer of HMLA-267 he would

many more during the next few weeks. Heywood recalled how the mission had begun: "We were getting trained on a new survival radio late that same morning when the call came that the MEF headquarters was under terrorist attack and that they wanted Cobras overhead ASAP." The order seemed a bit bizarre see

to the lot,

squadron commander, but nevertheless he collected

his copi-

Captain "Vinny" Burton, and three other crews and put together

a quick brief.

Within minutes they had

grabbed the new survival radio and

a

game

Heywood

plan.

M4 carbine and led his crews

his

to the flight line.

"My plane

captains," recounted

and had us turning and ready borne the

to

Heywood, "beat us out to the

go in record time." After getting

flight joined quickly, despite the

headed northeast

to

worsening weather, and

in his efforts to establish

munications with any controlling agency— there appeared

didn't

seem

to

air-

Camp Coyote to provide the cover that the MEF

had requested. Heywood was stymied

one minding the

birds

store.

Once overhead

the

He remembered:

be no

MEF headquarters there

be anything out of the ordinary going

couldn't contact anyone.

to

com-

"Finally

on— and we saw

he

still

that the

Kuwaiti Defense Forces and the Marines had several prisoners

rounded up near the main entrance. Other than peared normal."

everything ap-

A few minutes later the flight made contact with the

Tactical Air Operations Center

(TAOC) and were

goose chases that saw them ultimately landing Shortly after setting his aircraft

that,

down

at

at the other base,

and debriefing with

his crews.

sent

on

a series of

Al Jaber.

Heywood was out

A veteran

of

of operations in

54

STOUT

JAY A.

northern Iraq immediately after Desert Storm, and Somalia a couple of years

them

he cautioned the younger

later,

to get

used to

pilots in the flight. "I told

Confusion and the

it.

communicate

inability to

were the norm rather than the exception." Across the runway more than two hundred fighter and attack

Heywood

ready for war. licopters

back

he

he led

place. Regardless,

one

spidery he-

fuel truck

his flight airborne again

and

and arrived

Al Salem late in the afternoon. Frustrated by the day's

at Ali

events,

alert later,

were crowded together,

felt a bit self-conscious; his light,

seemed oddly out of

SCUD

one

jets

still

expected to lead his squadron into combat that very

evening, shortly before midnight.

Heywood

hadn't been back at Ali Al Salem very long

when he had

the squadron assembled for a quick briefing and pep talk.

them had spent

the day in and out of gas masks, as the

had been nearly continuous. overview of

how

Now

was time

it

plained the plan in broad terms, outlining

first

to cross the

Marines an

battle. "I ex-

how our Marines would at-

that our squadron's pilots

would be

border in order to take out the enemy's

OPs [Ob-

tack from east to west;

the

them

SCUD alerts

to give his

Cobras would be put into the

their

Most of

I

told

servation Posts]."

The tial

elimination of these

push into

Iraq.

would be able

OPs was

Unmolested, the

to call

crucial to the success of the ini-

Iraqi soldiers

deadly accurate

artillery fire

who manned them onto the masses of

men and equipment that were queued up that very moment,

ready to

charge through the cuts in the high earthen berms that separated

Kuwait from

Iraq.

A

concentrated

bombardment would

kill

hun-

dreds—or even thousands— of Marines. "I

reminded them

this wasn't a

game

to listen to their leaders

or training any longer.

ful—that getting hurt in good. Finally,

make

it

I

told

I

and

also told

a senseless accident

them

that

if I

— or

to

understand that

them

to

be care-

would do no one any

any of the others— did not

back that they were to keep working hard to accomplish their

mission." After dismissing his people

Heywood

couldn't help but feel-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE ing

some

pride as his unit's

55

noncommissioned officers— the back-

bone of the squadron— set about

getting the younger Marines orga-

nized and hard at work.

Eager

rang. "It

was

he couldn't help but feel bothered when

I

asked

MAG's

his cell

MAG operations officer. "He said, 'Just go, man, just

him what he was

talking about

and he

said that the First

Marine Division was going to shoot the breach early and that the needed

to

op-

phone

Woody Lowe," he remembered — Lieutenant Colonel

Brad Lowe, the go!'

quick meal and a situation brief from the

to get a

erations shop,

OPs

be taken out immediately."

The ensuing scramble was almost a

mirror image of the morning's

chaotic rush. But because the mission called for sixteen aircraft rather

than four, thing,"

it

my dear friend and

much more

was a

Heywood

frenzied event. "This was it— the real

recalled. "As

Jim Braden, the

his wife for twenty-one

I

walked

to

my

aircraft

CO of HMLA-169.

years— we had

1

I

came

across

had known Jim

started in the

Marine

Corps together. After we shook hands and wished each other luck said a

little

prayer,

hoping that he would make

it

through the

I

first

night."

Heywood drew comfort from that the squadron

cause the

had briefed and practiced

OPs were

been exact

the fact that his

own

mission was one

several times already. Be-

so close to the border, the practice flights

replicas of the

had

planned attack— except that the crews

hadn't actually shot their weapons. "After

we

got our engines online

Heywood recalled. "That didn't happen without a lot of backbreaking work— my maintenance Marines had done an outstanding job." Still, the commander couldn't help but wonder if some of his crews were taking aircraft that were less everyone checked in on cue,"

than perfect. His pilots were hard chargers, and the temptation to

launch with a sick airplane would be

difficult to resist.

Heywood was airborne and at the head of the most powerful column of aircraft he had ever led. The flight was divided into four smaller flights of three aircraft each— two Cobras and one In short order

Huey.

A

fifth flight

Each of the

flights

was made up of three Cobras and a spare Huey.

was charged with destroying a single OP. The Co-

56

STOUT

JAY A.

armed with precision-guided

bras were

TOW (Tube-Launched Opti-

cally-Tracked Wire-Guided) and Hellfire missiles, as well as 2.75-

The Hueys

inch rockets and a 20-millimeter cannon. rockets, as well as a .50-caliber

GAU-17

heavy machine gun and a

The minigun was capable

minigun.

also carried

of spewing out

more than

four

thousand 7.62-millimeter rounds per minute and so was particularly effective at

keeping enemy troops pinned down. The Hueys also had

the potential to act as rescue ships; this provided

of comfort to the

crewmen

some small measure

they pressed ahead on their

as

first

mission

of the war.

"As powerful a feeling as

Heywood

combat," tial to

fresh

said, "I

go bad quickly."

memory

still

An

much

firepower into

that the mission

had the poten-

to lead that

knew

were scrambling

to catch

he knew that

up

eryone else in Kuwait was

no way

that

and the

entire career in tactical aviation

of the morning's abortive flight led

evitable conclusion. Too,

was, there was

was

it

he and

if

him

to that in-

own Marines

his

then ev-

to the hastily adjusted timeline,

flailing as well.

all

Rushed

as the situation

the pieces were going to

come

together

perfectly.

The visibility had deteriorated badly, to less than a mile in haze. Heywood recalled: "The weather was so bad that if there hadn't been so many Marines at risk, I would have scrubbed the entire thing— it was that dangerous

to fly." Still, clattering

above the desert, the knots.

From

train of

multiple frequencies trying to raise the to

just a

gunships charged ahead

the front cockpit of his aircraft

Center) in order

along

Heywood

DASC

hundred at a

feet

hundred

cycled through

(Direct Air Support

get an intelligence update, and perhaps

to coor-

dinate his strike with the F/A-18s that were originally scheduled as part of the overall mission. His calls were answered by nothing but static.

his

On

his tactical frequency

column

he heard the individual

flights

from

calling out that they were peeling off to prosecute their

individual objectives. "Still unable to get any direction from the

DASC," he

recalled, "I told

Heywood's

them

copilot, Burton,

rear cockpit while his

to press

on and

kill their targets."

would do most of the

commander

flying

from the

concentrated on leading the mis-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE sion.

57

The second Cobra was commanded by Captain Aaron "Jimmy"

Marx, while the Huey's crew was led by Captain Lonnie "Cheevo"

Camacho. Nearing the

border, the flight flew over the endless rows of

up

vehicles that were lined

to

ing on top of their tanks and

LAVs

[Light

Armored

that very

AAVs

Vehicles].

ing and cheering us on.

what we were there

smash

It

[Assault

for

Amphibian Vehicles], and

I'll

them. For our

never forget. They

knew

we knew

from

part,

moment they wouldn't be stopping until

dad. Behind

me

I

were stand-

We could see them yelling and wav-

was a sight that

do

to

into Iraq. "Marines

that

they reached Bagh-

heard Vinny say 'Good luck, boys/

"

Seconds

crews of the two Cobras and the single

like airborne cavalry, the

later,

Huey

disappeared beyond the view of their earthbound brothers.

For their part, the ready to move.

men and women of the

They had by now

message— the one called out their

were overhead tect

need

to

have

at that very

them through the

You

would see them

that

trust

First

Marine Division were

received Major General Mattis's off to battle.

and conviction

in the

One

portion

Marines who

moment, and who would continue

to pro-

fight:

are part of the world's

most feared and trusted

force.

Engage

your brain before you engage your weapon. Share your courage with each other as

we

enter the uncertain terrain north of the

Line of Departure. Keep right

faith in

your comrades on your

and Marine Air overhead. Fight with

strong

a

left

and

happy heart and

a

spirit.

Before the war, one of the chief fears of the Coalition's planners had

been

that the Iraqis

tructure that laced

would

much

set fire to the

immense petroleum

of the southern part of the country.

infras-

One

rea-

son for that trepidation was the massive ecological damage that the torched wells and lines and processing stations would cause.

than a decade

after the event,

More

Kuwait and the northern reaches of the

58

JAY A.

Persian

Gulf had

STOUT

not recovered from the environmental holo-

still

caust the Iraqis had created during Desert Storm in 1991. Another

concerned the Coalition was the expense that would be

factor that

in-

curred in rebuilding a sabotaged petroleum producing, processing,

and transportation network. Reconstruction

costs aside, the loss of

revenues would be staggering to the Iraqi people. But regardless of the environmental and financial considerations, the factor that was

Heywood and

troubling

and smoke "It

huge

his

gunships most on

this

night was the

that limited their visibility to near nothing.

was incredibly smoky/' the commander remembered. "And the

from torched wells and burning

fires

lines across

my FLIR

lines created blanking

video screen." Through the roiling smoke, he

led the flight to the IP, or Initial Point;

was an oil-producing com-

it

Whereas during their practices

plex on the Kuwaiti side of the border.

they had been able to pick up their target at long range,

now

they

could not. There was no choice but to make a slow run toward the get

fire

and hope

to pick

it

out of the

"I

simply trusted that the

as

we

were," recounted

murk— despite

enemy was having

as

the risk to the

much

tar-

flight.

trouble seeing

Heywood.

Picking up a heading of fifty degrees, the three ships

felt their

way

through the black smog that shrouded their route. Heywood squinted into his sensors, desperate to pick out a target that defied detection.

Burton called from the rear responded,

"I

seat, "Sir,

we

re in Iraq

now."

Heywood

know," and punctuated the statement with a nod and a

thumbs-up. Finally that

Heywood

appeared

from the

to

located a blob on his Forward Looking Infra

be the

target.

He

it

sensor's built-in range finder, but the effort

smoke and dust rendered the

laser useless,

confirm that what he was looking tration,

hit

at

was wasted. The

and Heywood couldn't

was actually the

and no longer sure of where the

Red

with a burst of laser energy

target. In frus-

target should be,

Heywood

signaled the rest of the flight to reset back across the border into

Kuwait.

The squadron commander rechecked roundings, no longer willing to put

his chart against his sur-

all of his trust in the Cobra's state-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE of-the-art

tigo

GPS

navigation system. At the

59

same time, he fought the

ver-

and disorientation brought on by looking from the green-black

glow of his sensors, through

his night-vision goggles to the fires burn-

ing in the dark outside, and back to his map. Nevertheless he con-

firmed that the formation was in the correct position and

another run

set

up

for

at the target.

The three gunships closed to less than two miles from the OP when Marx, in the other Cobra, called out that he had the target in sight. Heywood immediately cleared him to fire and an instant later a forty-thousand-dollar Hellfire missile arced away from the gunship in a brilliant trail of

fire,

and then

just as violently

slammed

itself into

the ground, thrown off course by the laser scatter caused by the dust

and smoke. "So the optimist, to a direct hit

much

Marx

for

shock and awe," Heywood recalled. Ever

sent another Hellfire into the

on one of the buildings

Simultaneously

in the

Heywood caught sight

air; this

one guided

OP complex.

of a large flash to the north

of their position; the Iraqis were firing artillery at them. Burton

wrapped the helicopter around

in a

hard

left

turn away from the

get while also firing flares to decoy any shoulder-launched

might have been targeting them. With that

Marx had

fired into the

the

compound,

OP

tar-

SAMs that

marked by the

Hellfire

the three ships separated for

individual firing runs, coordinating their efforts over the radio.

Frustrated at having

made two

separate runs without having fired a

Heywood selected a wire-guided missile. The TOW was an older weapon but not dependent on laser energy for guidance. Again, Heywood's attempt was botched when the missile failed to fire. De-

shot,

spite all the closely

choreographed training that he and

had put themselves through, the fog of war was proving Burton swung the

aircraft

around

ing the easternmost building in the south, to

Heywood

sent the

his

squadron

their

for their fourth attempt.

compound, and

match.

Choos-

from the

flying in

TOW rocketing through the dark.

He had

hold the missile-guiding crosshairs on the building for only a very

short time.

The

TOW smashed into

of bricks and other material went the desert," he

remembered.

it

with a

terrific blast.

flying several

"Chunks

hundred meters

into

60

STOUT

JAY A.

For the next

five

minutes the three helicopters savaged the

airborne sharks after blooded prey.

Heywood, "and there was Jimmy

said

2.75-inch rockets.

brought his Huey

minigun

their

And in.

at four

as

just

OP like

my

shoulder/'

pummeling the

target with

looked up over

"I

we spun around

for

another run Cheevo

hammering

His crew chiefs were

thousand rounds per minute

the area with

as well as with the

heavy .50-caliber machine gun."

Heywood

cleared Burton to attack the

compound

with the 2.75-

inch flechette rockets that were nestled in the pods slung underneath their helicopter's stub wings.

These were nasty weapons; they were

designed so that— just before impact— they would explode and send twenty-two hundred individual metal darts flying

at bullet-like speed.

For obvious reasons they were particularly deadly against troops in the open. Burton rippled seven of the rockets into the complex at close range.

The scene was

erything was ablaze

— even

like

something from the apocalypse. Ev-

the ground burned in places. Streaks of

tracer rounds lashed out

from the helicopters, and

ated the black, shadowy

gloom of the surrounding landscape. The

oil fires

punctu-

shroud of dust and smoke in combination with the flames that

burned

in every direction

made

it

all

take

on

a hellish, orange-red

cast.

Then,

incredibly,

Heywood's ship began

the

OP; someone

left

side of his aircraft.

and well enough

alive

do

inside was

still

alive.

to fire a

from within

down the compound still

tracers raced

Not only was someone

in the

heavy gun, but he also had the guts

to

Burton reacted instantaneously and racked the Cobra into a

it!

hard right turn. At the same time, else,

to take fire

White

Heywood

still

more

sprayed the area with the

surprised than anything

aircraft's

millimeter cannon. Camacho's crew in the

cannon

fire

with machine-gun rounds.

The

three-barreled 20-

Huey

followed up the

stream of

enemy

tracers

ceased.

With the enemy gunner

killed

— or at least suppressed— the greatcollision, or

perhaps the threat of

shooting one another down. In for another run,

Heywood and Burton

est risk

had

to

was the danger of a midair

hold their

fire,

because Camacho's crew in the Huey was in

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Unable

their way.

to shoot, they pulled

61

away from the

looked up," recalled Heywood, "just in time to see us

target. "I

fly right

through

a burning forest of natural gas blow-off pipes. Fortunately

missed them and we didn't catch

Now scarcely more

fire."

than forty minutes since

Heywood had

squadron airborne, there was only one building target area.

From

hurtling after

come range.

.

Behind him he heard .

.

come

on."

It

or

more

led his

standing in the

TOW missile

a half-whispered chant.

"Oh,

was Burton, urging the missile down-

into the structure

and detonated with

blew the building into smithereens.

hundred

left

than a mile away he sent another

The TOW smashed

rocity that five

it.

on, baby

less

Vinny

a fe-

A cloud of fire reached

feet into the sky. "Clearly, that place

was being

used as an ammunition storage point," Heywood deadpanned.

There was

little left

of the

most

desultorily, the three

tion

into the fire

compound.

Finally

OP that merited any more attention. Al-

gunships blasted the

and debris

Heywood

that

rest

of their

marked what was

called off the attack

ammuni-

left

of the

and rejoined

his

three-ship formation across the border in Kuwait. Together again,

they flew past the wreckage one (Battle

Damage

pass complete,

FARP

more time

in order to extract

BDA

Assessment) for the intelligence debrief. With that

Heywood turned

the formation toward

(Forward Arming and Refueling Point) and started

its

assigned

to

check

the rest of his squadron over the radio.

The campaign had

just

begun.

It

had been

a very long day.

in

7

Hornets Get into the Fight

The campaign's kickoff had been a frenzied reaction to a muddled mess

for

Heywood's Cobra squadron. Farther south, the war wasn't

getting off to a clean start at Al Jaber, either. Ross "Migs" Roberts was

Commanding Officer of VMFA(AW)-533, a two-seat F/A-18D squadron. He and the squadron operations officer— Major John "JP" Farnam— were supposed to be airborne as part of the scheduled kickoff at 0300 on March 21. "I was in the rack [sleeping] when the first the

SCUD

sounded

alert

at

around 1130 on March

20,"

he

recalled.

Roberts leapt out of his cot and tore open the packaging that held his

bulky

NBC

(Nuclear Biological Chemical)

squadron, spread across the

air base,

suit.

The

of his

rest

was doing the same. This was a

standing procedure; U.S. forces were not going to be caught unpre-

pared in the event that the Iraqis opted to use chemical weapons. After

what seemed an

eternity but

Roberts had struggled into his

clomped over

to a

was actually only

a

minute or so

NBC suit, mask, gloves, and boots and

bunker accompanied by Farnam. Through

female voice droned into the basewide loudspeaker: "This drill, this is

not a

drill."

Crammed

into the bunker, Roberts

it all,

is

a

not a

and

Far-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE nam hunkered down odd

feeling;

with a dozen or more other Marines.

masks and the

NBC

"We were

It

was an

men

in the

in the black

rubber

he probably knew every one of the other

bunker with him, but encased

tective

63

gear, all

as all of them

were

of the awkward ensemble that

rest

made up

their pro-

he couldn't have named a single one.

huddled

in there, kind of staring at

each other, when

the all-clear sounded about an hour later." Immediately Roberts and the rest of the Marines reached

up and pulled

breathing through the masks, even the dusty shelter

seemed

off their masks. After

air in

the sandbagged

refreshing. Roberts didn't delay long in the bunker. "I

grabbed JP and we ran over

to the

MAG headquarters to see what was

going on." Like

mand

all

the

chain— the com-

MAG was trying to react to various issues that often were

Not least of them was the question of what to do with the

at odds.

craft

down

of the leadership— up and

at the

and troops when

a

SCUD alert was sounded.

it

made

On the

other

For some,

sense to get the aircraft airborne and out of harm's way.

air-

hand, the short warning time that usually accompanied a

SCUD

launch meant that the

enemy

missile

hit— unless the

could hardly get

jets

aircraft

aloft before the

were manned full-time

at the

end of

the runway. There was also the considerable risk to the Marines

on

the flight line in the event that the Patriot anti-missile defenses were

penetrated and the base was actually

Roberts and Farnam

headed

my own

to the

left

ramp where

initiative

I

hit.

MAG

with no clear direction and

the squadron's aircraft were parked.

took JP to the flight line— we were going to

a bird in case the order to craft

the

launch was given. The

"On man

MAG had four air-

per squadron loaded with live weapons for this contingency.

had no sooner gotten sounded again."

It

into our flight gear

was another

group was getting frustrated

as

SCUD

when

alert.

We

the alarm was

Everyone

simply the threat of an

in the air

enemy

missile

attack had essentially brought operations aboard the base to a halt.

The two

fliers

the flight line.

spent another hour in another bunker, this one on

Saddam had

yet to hit

Ahmed

Al Jaber Air Base, and

already the situation bordered on chaos. "I was getting exasperated,"

"

64

JAY A.

Roberts recollected. "JP and

CO, Colonel

I

STOUT

went back

MAG and found the

[Randy] Tex' Alles, and his operations

tenant Colonel [Kevin] 'Wolfie' Iiams.

I

were better than

tion, fighters airborne

disagreed with Roberts. air

to the

He

officer,

Lieu-

suggested that, in this situafighters

on the deck."

believed that shotgunning his

jets

Alles

into the

every time there was an alert was counterproductive and danger-

ous.

He informed

SCUD

Roberts that during the confusion of the morning's

alert several of the jets that

had been airborne had landed

They had

circled overhead waiting for a

dangerously low on

fuel.

clearance to land that almost didn't come; the Marines

who manned

the tower were in a bunker. It

call

was while

from the

this discussion

First

Marine

was going on that the

MAG received a

Division's Air Officer (AO), Lieutenant

Colonel Bruce "Iron" Shank. There was information that seventy eighty Iraqi T-72 tanks were

earthen

berm

Kuwait and

that

moving

into position just

to

beyond the

demarcated the northern boundary between

The enemy tanks were supposedly digging in exof where RCT-7 was scheduled to breach the border. If

Iraq.

actly opposite

the report was true and the division was caught in a trap, the entire

plan ran the

risk

of coming apart before

Roberts recounted:

"I

their engines turning.

it

even began.

already had one crew on standby alert with

Captains Jason "Flamer" Pratt and Lance

"Puny" Muniz were ready

to go.

I

recommended

airborne to verify the report and Tex agreed. brief over the radio said, 'Well, It

was

all

We

gave

and launched them. Then Tex

what are you waiting

that

we

get

them

turned to

them

a quick

me

and

for?'

the prompting Roberts needed. Less than a minute later

he and Farnam were racing toward the engines up and running

we

didn't have a callsign or an

flight line.

realized that

IFF squawk

in all

"Once we

got our

the confusion

we

assigned," recalled Roberts.

command and control standpoint in order to let everyone know who they were and what their mission was. Both were important from

Not

to

a

be stymied by a technicality, Farnam dug up a bogus callsign

and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) squawk from the previous day's schedule,

and the two

fliers

roared airborne.

It

was the

tactical

aviation equivalent of bullying past the maitre d' at a fine restaurant.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Loaded with four Mk-20 rockets, the F/A-18D's

DASC's mission rest

of the air wing.

the

DASC

and

munitions and eight 5-inch

in with the

DASC.

On this day the DASC was

It

ground

direct air traffic to the

just as

was the

units that

confused

as the

Not sure of what Roberts and Farnam were doing,

directed the two

await further instructions.

formed of the

bomb

crew checked

to track

needed supporting.

cluster

65

It

proceed

fliers to

seemed

CAS

to a

that the center

Iraqi tank division that

was reported

"stack"

and

had not been

to

in-

be on the other

berm.

side of the

Roberts wasn't having any of it: "The entire ground scheme of ma-

neuver called

for us to

enemy— not holding backseater— or JP to do what

bump.

We

needed

to

be out in front of the division looking

inside of Kuwait/' In the two-seat F/A-18D, the

WSO — runs the radios. we

for the

when

always did

Roberts remembered:

DASC

the

just 'rogered' their instructions

turned

itself a

"I told

speed

and pressed on with what

be done." The crew started a descent and contacted Bruce

Shank, the

division's Air Officer.

been talking with

in the

had been Shank

It

whom

they had

MAG headquarters only a short time earlier.

"Iron asked us to search Highways 6 and 8 directly to his front, and

then to look to the north along the highway that connects

and Basrah," Roberts

said. It

haze and smoke from the

was getting

oil fires

that

Umm Qasr

late in the afternoon,

were burning

and

to the north

made visibility poor. "We searched the roads twice and saw nothing— not even a car." Pratt and Muniz— who had launched before Roberts and Farnam — had also come up empty-handed. To their west the two airmen could make out the brilliant smoke trails that marked the paths of multiple volleys of U.S. Army ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile

System) missiles. Flying through their trajectory could have

sulted in disaster, missiles

but the Marines were well

were ripping through the

on, intent

on finding the

Just as the

column of

Iraqi

sun was about

sixteen

to

sky.

armored

to the east of

re-

where the

Roberts and Farnam pressed unit.

drop below the horizon they spotted a

armored vehicles stopped on an overpass on

RCT-7's route of advance.

"JP,"

remembered

radio stuff and got in touch with the division

Roberts, "did his magic

and the various

ensure that none of our guys had crossed into

Iraq.

We

RCTs

to

talked per-

66

STOUT

JAY A.

sonally to Bruce

Shank again and he was confident

grunts had pushed past the

FSC

LOD

that

none of the

[Line of Departure]. JP then con-

Support Center] and asked them

to con-

firm that there were no friendly units at the coordinates where

we had

tacted RCT-7's

[Fire

found the armored column." The situation was

DASC knew

exactly

what was going on, Roberts and Farnam headed toward

enemy

the Iraqi city of Al Basrah to scout for later

RCT-7 came back on

artillery units.

Minutes

the net and pronounced that the armored

vehicles were positively hostile.

damn

unclear, and the

still

declared the vehicles friendly. Not confident that anyone

Farnam responded: "You

sure because we're going to

kill

them

all."

RCT-7

better

be

reiterated the

declaration. "All along," Roberts continued,

"we were complying with the

tude restrictions that the wing had developed and luck identifying the vehicle types from where

sand the

feet."

Farnam,

column on

the

we were having no

we were

at ten

thou-

in the rear cockpit, captured the lead portion of

FLIR pod. Following the cueing that the FLIR dis-

played on his Heads

Up

Display, Roberts

winged over

earlier

he had programmed the

aircraft's

system to select two of the Mk-20 Rockeye cluster slung under the arate into

jet's

wings.

two halves prior

Rockeyes came

apart, they

The Rockeye

canister

to hitting the

would each spread

bombs

is

ground.

and

to the west

dived toward the armored vehicles. There was no sign of enemy

Only seconds

alti-

fire.

weapons that

were

designed to sep-

When

Roberts's

a wide-ranging, deadly

shower of more than two hundred small, armor-piercing bomblets.

Checking

for the last

Roberts mashed

time that his master armament switch was on,

down on

the control

stick's

red

bomb

release button

with his right thumb. Only a second or two later as he guided the craft into the

proper parameters the

jet

air-

automatically released the two

bombs. Roberts remembered:

watched

for the hits as

"We

pulled off target, rolled

we climbed back up above

left,

and

ten thousand feet."

Instead of the football-field-sized pattern of sparkling explosions he

expected, there were two sharp flashes approximately a hundred feet

south of his aim point.

The Rockeye

canisters

had

failed to open.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

It

67

was vexing in the extreme.

me

"JP backed

up," Roberts said, "and

and delivery parameters thing up."

again

—

it

They

to

make

Farnam found the

hadn't.

for

another run

at the

opened and we had

the canisters

FLIR

targets with the

— and Roberts dropped the nose of the

was almost dark now

Hornet down

we rechecked our system we hadn't screwed any-

sure that

enemy

effects

armor. "This time one of

on one of the

The

vehicles.

other missed."

The

only weapons that Roberts and Farnam had remaining were

5-

inch rockets and the 20-millimeter cannon. These are primarily day-

time weapons

them

— unguided— and

in order to

have any

require that the pilot visually

with no other option in the

effect. Still,

smoky dusk, the two Marines decided

aim

to

make

their attacks using the

FLIR. Once more Farnam put the targeting diamond of the FLIR

made two

over a set of enemy vehicles. Roberts rockets; their

motors burned a

Each time the

rockets

FLIR was not properly less,

brilliant violet-white in the

went wide.

rifle

that

The confusion and bad all

day were

still

weapons, they could or

had

Roberts and Farnam didn't give up

runs and sprayed the area with the

men

It

borne.

on

gas,"

dim

eight light.

easily.

aircraft's

gun

was akin

sight.

to try-

Neverthe-

They made two more

20-millimeter cannon.

fortune that had been their figurative wing-

Although they were out of

serve as an airborne Forward Air Controller,

FAC(A), and bring other

getting low

aircraft. It

a bent

in tight formation.

still

all

was later discovered that the

"boresighted" to the

ing to shoot straight with a

runs and shot

"But we were

aircraft in to hit the target.

Roberts said, "and there were no tankers

The DASC was

still

in reaction

mode

like

air-

everyone else and

evidently there weren't any aircraft available that could continue to

prosecute these targets anyway." passed the position of the

turned to

Ahmed Al

The

pair

had no good options. They

enemy armor column

to the

DASC and re-

Jaber.

After landing uneventfully

and parking

their jet Roberts

nam climbed down

onto the ramp to be greeted by

squadron's Marines,

who were

gone. "The

first

Marine

to

eager to hear

how

and

many

Far-

of the

the mission had

meet us was Sergeant Anderson, our

68

STOUT

JAY A.

plane captain/' remembered Roberts. "He was anxious to find out

what we had

hit.

I

wished that

I

could have given him a more posi-

tive report."

The crew found been

in

out that the Marines working the

had

flight line

and out of the bunkers three separate times while they were

airborne.

Now

that they

were out again they were excited and angry

to know if Roberts and Farnam "had kicked some Iraqi The crowd of Marines continued to press the two fliers for more

and wanted ass."

information. Roberts reached inside his "nav bag" and pulled out his chart of southern Iraq.

He dropped to a knee as he spread

With Farnam shining

concrete.

his flashlight

out on the

it

on the map, Roberts

gave his Marines an impromptu debrief of the entire mission— warts

He was obviously displeased with the way the sortie had gone, and he could see the disappointment in the faces of the young men gathered around him. He recalled: "I could see that they were unand

all.

happy. job.

They worked

Morale

in a

their hearts out every

cess of the aircrews."

Man" — Roberts was him

like a

day so that

wooden

As the squadron

could do

commander— or

especially aware of their frustration.

my Old

"the It

stuck in

knife.

Following the recap, Roberts and Farnam

MAG

I

squadron moves up and down based upon the suc-

made

their

way

to the

Finding Tex, Roberts and Farnam

headquarters tent.

counted what they had found, and Tex directed them mission to the Tactical Air

Command

re-

to report their

Center (TACC) a few yards

away. Roberts and Farnam found the atmosphere inside the com-

mand center calm but tense. Roberts recounted: "Major General Amos was there and waiting, as were Colonels Miclot, Sawyers, and Fox— all key players in the wing's operations. They were sternfaced— apprehensive about the prospect of our Marines running the mysterious Republican

commander, was working

nam

laid out a chart

They

his

chewing

oil fires

As

to

division."

gum

hard

as

Amos, the wing Roberts and Far-

and reviewed the mission they had

pointed out that the steadily

burning ficult.

Guard tank

worsening

would make locating the tank

whether or not the

Iraqi tanks

into

visibility

just flown.

caused by the

division even

even existed,

more

Amos

dif-

said

HAMMER FROM ABOVE had emphasized

that Mattis

69

that the original report

came from

a cred-

ible source.

The

small group continued their discussions as they pored over the

map. Areas where the

Iraqis

might be hiding, either

in locations that

Roberts and Farnam hadn't overflown, or in areas that were obscured

by smoke, were given particular scrutiny. "There was some concern as to

what

effect the

nance—Mavericks, was too thick, their targets.

more

smoke might have on our

Hellfires,

laser-guided ord-

and LGBs," Roberts

recollected. If

would keep the precision weapons from guiding

it

On

the other hand,

traditional free-fall or

it

would

be

also

dumb bombs

if

difficult to

it

to

use the

the aircrews couldn't

A decision was made to arm most of the aircraft ordnance. A few aircraft would stay loaded with thou-

even see the enemy. with unguided

sand-pound GBU-16s; they would

stay

on

alert to

drop a bridge

to the

north of the division's advance in the event that the Iraqis attempted to attack or reinforce

from that direction.

As the consultation wound down, already recorded

its first

Amos

reported that the wing had

"blue on blue" (friendly-fire incident).

AH-1W Cobra from HMLA-169 had hit a

Marine

side the northern Kuwaiti border. Roberts

and Farnam collected

M1A1

An

tank just intheir

notes and exited. This was hardly the decisive, hard-hitting start to the

campaign

aerial past.

that

And although

had been hoped

It

But

it

was already

in the

the carefully plotted script was in disarray, the

Marines on the ground were above.

for.

still

being protected and supported from

could have been worse.

After his mission against the border OPs, Lieutenant Colonel Steve

Heywood

led his flight to the

Kuwait. (All the

ums—one bility

Astrodome FARP

FARPs were named

for

of the planners was a baseball nut.)

made him

feel fortunate that all the

without incident. Now, only hours

in north-central

major-league baseball

stadi-

The horrendous

visi-

crews had been able to land

after the start of the war, the

newly

adjusted plan called for his squadron to continue the fight through the night in support of the Regimental

Combat Teams. However,

70

STOUT

JAY A.

smoke and worsening weather made

that course of action

seem un-

likely.

"The wind was blowing out of the west-northwest," Heywood

membered. 'The

stuff that

and dust and fog— was enough,

I

think

black cotton.

like

If

could have reached high

I

could have torn pieces off of

I

re-

was rolling over our heads— oily smoke

it."

After checking

on

the status of his crews and their aircraft, he used his Iridium satellite

Woody Lowe

telephone to make contact with Major

Lowe was busy

operations center.

the friendly-fire incident;

wood

reassured

Lowe

it

"Woody was anxious Requests from the the top of the

wasn't clear yet what had happened. Hey-

who had

shot

up the

RCTs

were coming torn.

in,

on any tank,"

to get us airborne again to

Heywood was

list.

trying to gather information about

that his flight hadn't fired

"Aside from finding out

said,

help out the grunts."

and Cobra support was

He would

at

never have launched

weather during peacetime, and he questioned

worth the

risk at that

moment. Because

tanks.

Heywood

in similar

Heywood and Lowe

MAG-39

at the

if it

was

truly

the Iridium wasn't encrypted,

couldn't talk about what was going on at the bor-

der except in generalities, but

Heywood made

the decision to stay

on

the ground until the weather improved.

Two more Despite

the

changed

his

came

calls

atrocious

flying

mind and grabbed

After a quick brief they

checked

The grunts needed help. conditions, Heywood reluctantly

in over the Iridium:

in over the radio.

a copilot

was passing only about a hundred

feet over their

guessed his judgment one more time. flight time,

him

He had

heads and second-

thousands of hours of

and the conditions were well beyond bad enough

to give

pause; he could only imagine what the younger pilots he was

about "I

and two more Cobra crews.

manned up, started their engines, and Heywood looked up at the oily scum that

to lead into that

goop were thinking.

had Jon Livingston on the controls

sortie,"

Heywood

an eye on the

said. "I

rest

with the grunts."

wanted him

in the front cockpit for this

to fly

because

I

wanted

to

keep

of the flight and coordinate our communications

Heywood gave

the

command

to

lift off;

at

2220 Liv-

ingston got the aircraft airborne and transitioned to forward

flight.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE They had hardly gone

when

half a mile

71

Livingston

became badly

dis-

oriented in the swirling black smog. "I've got vertigo

Heywood answered. "Get on

"Okay,"

to fly yourself

"No,

the instruments and just try

out of it."

mean

I

— really bad," Livingston called over the intercom.

...

can't even fly the aircraft."

I

"Fve got the controls."

Heywood grabbed

his set of flight controls.

"Roger, you Ve got the controls."

They had handled as

he began

same

the situation by the book. Nevertheless, as soon

to fly the aircraft

bit of his training

and experience

double-checked what gles against

Once,

Heywood

started to wrestle with the

had nearly overwhelmed Livingston.

vertigo that

little

to set

took every

up an inside-outside scan

he could see through

what the instrumentation

It

his night-vision gog-

in his cockpit

twice, three times the warning

from

that

his

was

telling

him.

radar altimeter

sounded, alerting him that he was too close to the ground. Each time

he

lifted

ward

it

the aircraft away from the desert floor only to settle back to-

again.

On

each side of the gunship

tucked into formation

Heywood turned

his

two wingmen stayed

as best they could.

the flight north along the east side of the

main

highway toward the RCTs, clustered along the border. "We were badoing the Helen Keller thing," he recalled, "only making

sically

about felt

fifty

or sixty knots

our way along."

A

and hoping not to run thin sliver of

borne sludge and made worse rather than

make out

fires

moon

downrange

we

reflected against the air-

through their night-vision goggles

better. After a short

flashes to their front

preparatory

The

visibility

into anything while

time the crews were able to

where Eleventh Marines was putting

in front of the

RCTs.

bright flashes from the guns illuminated what looked to be a

Heywood didn't believe it was possible, but miasma they were chopping their way through was

solid wall at the border.

the choking black getting thicker. saturated.

do

to

I

"By

this time,"

he remembered,

"I

couldn't raise anyone on the radios and

keep from

was it

totally task-

was

all

I

could

flying the aircraft into the dirt." Just prior to the bor-

der he eased his helicopter into a gentle left-hand turn.

72

STOUT

JAY A.

Heywood weighed the risks of continuing against what little help his flight may have been able to provide the Marines on the ground. The Marines would have to do without his Cobras. "I made one of the hard decisions that

As the

flight back/'

I

get paid for/'

flight leader

Heywood said.

"I

he was responsible

was taking the completing

for

the mission, but not at the expense of four aircraft and eight crew-

men. And

certainly not

been able

to see well

Heywood

felt

when

enough

twice blessed

landed safely back

at

to

it

was doubtful that he would have

help anyway.

when

the

last aircraft in his

formation

Astrodome.

was just past 0130 on March 21 when the Commanding Officer of MAG-39, Colonel Rich Spencer, received the latest intelligence update: Enemy resistance on the Al Faw Peninsula was expected to be fierce. The report indicated that the Air Force AC-130 gunship assigned to prep the Landing Zone (LZ) had stayed on station longer It

than scheduled, as the defending Iraqis were more firmly entrenched than predicted. Despite the pounding the gunship had dealt the

enemy

positions, there

was concern that they hadn't been

enough. Spencer would have

he got

there.

rations

as

the

helicopters

groups— were readied be leading a

to discover the truth for

Around him he could

flight of

Corps combat

lift

see Marines

— sourced

from

more than

forty aircraft

several

on the

final prepa-

different

air

time he would largest

Marine

since Vietnam.

However, the troops that the Marine Corps was taking into that very early

hard

himself when

making

for the mission. In a very short

hit

battle

morning were not U.S. Marines. Rather, they were

Royal Marines from the United

Kingdom

led by Lieutenant Colonel

Buster Howe. Marines from both services had been planning and rehearsing the mission for several weeks.

company-sized insertion

had evolved

to capture a

into the operation that

What had

few key

was about

oil

started as a

pumping

to unfold:

stations

When

the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE helicopters touched desert, they

down and

the Royal Marines leapt out onto the

would be charged with sweeping across the Al Faw Penin-

Now,

sula to the edge of Al Basrah.

despite the worsening weather,

they were anxious to get airborne and

Spencer was a Cobra mission from the

start their part

of the war.

by training and would be leading the

pilot

command and

ship— an HMLA-169 Huey

control

piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Braden, the unit.

73

commander

the mission's progress with the specially configured

itor

of that

Spencer was in the main cabin, from which he could best mon-

had been

tions suite that

installed just for this effort.

communica-

At Spencer's side

was the Royal Marine commander, Lieutenant Colonel Howe. The

made up

formation was inventory:

There were

lWs, and four UH-ls.

of every helicopter type in the Marine Corps sixteen

Many

CH-46E "Frogs"— were

of the ships— particularly the beloved

veterans of the war in Southeast Asia.

the aged birds squatted in the guidly in the dark.

minum

CH-46Es, ten CH-53Es, twelve AH-

rotor blades

dirt, their

The aluminum

Now

drooping lan-

skin that was riveted to their alu-

frames was patched and seemed to sag in places.

The

venerable aircraft looked every bit their age.

A

few minutes before 0200 the

last

aboard and the helicopters whirled

spun themselves into shadowy

of the Royal Marines were

to life.

discs,

and

Their once floppy blades a cloud of dust

overhead the massive formation. Inside each cockpit the

whipped

pilots

com-

pleted their checklists while the gunners and crew chiefs readied their

weapons and gave the

part, the

aircraft their final inspections.

For their

Royal Marines double-checked and rechecked that their

personal gear was strapped into place and that they would be ready for

combat the It

would be

Kuwait

to the

status of

tion

instant they

a short flight

bounded from the

helicopters.

from where they were staged

in northeast

Al Faw Peninsula. Over the radio Braden checked the

each division of aircraft. After he confirmed that the forma-

was ready, Spencer gave the order

to

lift off.

Braden quickly

checked that the area around him was clear then coaxed the heavily

burdened ship airborne amid

we climbed

into the air,"

a

cloud of swirling dust. "Just

as

Spencer recounted, "Jim noticed a severe

74

STOUT

JAY A.

torque split— we had to land immediately." Braden quickly put the

Huey back on

the ground, and the rest of the ships pressed on with-

out them.

Scrambling

and control ship hustled Minutes

craft.

and the

in the dust

felt like

their gear

Braden wasted

and equipment

hours, but before too

Braden and Spencer and the

rest of the

command

crew of the

dark, the

to the

much

backup

air-

time passed

crew were airborne again.

time; instead of following the turns in the pre-

little

planned route he raced

directly

toward a point where he hoped

to in-

tercept the formation.

No

one

will

know

46E where Major

exactly

Jay

controls. Nevertheless,

what happened

in the cockpit of the

Aubin and Captain Ryan Beaupre it is

CH-

sat at the

almost a certainty that they both fought

against an enervating vertigo brought

on by the blanket of smoke and

sand and fog that the formation was flying through. But in the rear of the aircraft

it is

likely that neither Staff

nor Corporal Brian Kennedy knew ther

is

it

likely that

physically keen for

Sergeant Kendall Watersbey

that things

were going bad. Nei-

any of the eight Royal Marines — mentally and

combat— had any

idea that disaster was immi-

nent.

Once he had for a

the

Huey on

course, Braden called out over the radio

communications check.

Jerry Driscoll called

It

was then that Lieutenant Colonel

out— very calmly— that

his third aircraft

"down." Driscoirs remarkable composure led Spencer the aircraft in question had simply been

problems. In

At

fact,

just this

left

was

to believe that

behind with mechanical

the helicopter had crashed.

moment Braden and Spencer

flew into the shroud of

black dust that the rest of the formation had been clawing through for the

last several

minutes. Spencer remembered:

goggles started to sparkle and that

I

"I

noticed that

my

could no longer see objects that

had been clear only a few seconds before." Realizing that he was

HAMMER FROM ABOVE going to lose more aircraft and

likely

men

mission, Spencer called for an abort.

if

The

75

he continued

to press the

radio crackled as

Braden

made

the transmission and got the rumbling mass of aircraft turned

south.

A short time

Ron Radich

Lieutenant Colonel

later

he had the flames from the downed helicopter cleared

him

the on-scene

to

detach from the

rest

called that

Spencer

in sight.

of the flight to assume duties as

commander.

The remainder of the aircraft returned to the start point without Once he was safely back on the ground, Spencer made his way to the Royal Marine command post and offered his

further incident.

apologies and condolences. four Marine

was

It

crewmen, and the

a dreadful

British

had

Command

on the merits of con-

It

was decided

made

at

his

rine Division operations. In the

about the crew he had

Huey down

climbed out to

lost.

own much

meantime Spencer was

of the route at only

to talk to the other officer.

an-

still

Ma-

anxious

got airborne and carefully

close to Radich's aircraft

prepare us for what

make

crews to support ongoing First

He and Braden

much

to

the

smaller helicopter

way through the morning fog toward the crash

After having flown

the

weather permitting, an-

was scrubbed. The Royal Marines planned

and Spencer released

felt their

that,

dawn was not permitting and

other attempt later in the day with their forces,

still

at first light.

developed, the weather

joint effort

of their rock-

lost eight

war to be fought, and

other attempt would be it

lost

a

tinuing the operation.

As

had

Post (CP) staff conferred

hard Royal Marines. Regardless, there was

he and the

moment— he

It

Braden

set

and he and Spencer

"Ron met

we were about to see."

site.

fifty feet,

us and briefly tried

was a hopeless effort-

there was nothing to say to adequately prepare anyone for viewing the

carnage that was put,"

Spencer

smoldering only a short distance away. "Simply

said, "it

countered—and years of service."

love

still

was the most horrendous scene

that included

There

in the

and hope of twelve

husbands and

fathers

smoldering wreckage was the pride and

brothers. All of them

shook Spencer and the other

had ever en-

two previous wars and twenty-seven

different families. All

and

I

men

were sons; some were were gone. The sight

to their cores.

76

JAY A.

Aside from the the

ammunition

off sporadically

two

ships.

human

that

STOUT

tragedy, a very here-and-now

had been aboard the helicopter;

and posed

a real danger to the

Spencer realized that there was

Dealing with the

and

aircraft

left

the crash

helplessness.

site

would be "the grim

mishap teams." site later that

When

morning,

it

concern was was cooking

Marines from the other

little

that they could do.

task of the mortuary affairs

Spencer and the other Marines it

was with a sad sense of loss and

There was nothing they could do

that

would make

what had gone so badly wrong.

By afternoon they were supporting other

operations.

right

8

Harrier Strike

Through

his night-vision goggles

make out

Hile could

Lieutenant Colonel Mike "Zieg"

the silhouette of the

USS Bonhomme

Richard only a couple of miles in front of him. "Mother in reported to the controller. "Contact tower/' adjusted his

heading

slightly,

knowing

came

that his

sight/'

he

the response. Hile

wingman, Captain

Jason "Bearclaw" Duncan, was tucked tightly into position just under his right wingtip.

the

Bonhomme

can was

Richard

350 knots. Hile quickly checked that Dun-

were no other

he snapped

throttle

at

then twisted back around

in position

tain that there later

A moment later the two AV-8Bs were over the top of

his Harrier into a

back toward

idle as

to the left to

aircraft in the traffic pattern.

hard

left

he pulled on the

timed

jet

down

jet's

control stick.

and swiveled

nearly vertical at sixty degrees.

his turn to arrive a mile

and

cer-

instant

turn and brought the

After 180 degrees of turn, Hile rolled his wings level

the nozzles on his

make

An

Duncan

a half in trail of his leader to en-

sure thirty seconds of spacing between the two aircraft for their separate landings

on the deck of the Landing Helicopter Dock. From

about a mile and a half abeam the

ship's port side

and headed

in the

78

JAY A.

STOUT

opposite direction, Hile extended the

aircraft's

landing gear and set

the flaps for landing before starting his descent out of eight hundred feet.

Landing aboard the ship safely

He scanned

attention.

night was busy and dangerous; doing

his

Descending now, he timed about a mile.

He

and

aviator's skill

his turn to arrive directly

could see

it

LHD

around

.

.

.

behind the ship

through his goggles, gray-green with

points of bright light that aided his approach.

big

it

instruments and then looked back

jet's

the dark, then back inside again, and then back out

into

at

at

and successfully demanded the most of every

The wake

that the

generated glowed brighter than the undisturbed water

it.

Hile continued to slow as he drew near the ship, transitioning to a creeping hover as his

he sidled up the

speed to only a few knots

of the deck. Adjusting

left side

faster

than that of the

Bonhomme

Richard, he eyed his landing spot and adjusted his flight path to ap-

proach

from

it

maintain

compared with

a forty-five-degree angle;

sidestep, this allowed

him

a better sense of

to

keep more of the deck

in

depth perception. Cleared

a true

view and

to

to cross over

the deck by the Landing Signals Officer, Hile eased his

jet

over the

assigned spot and slowly let the aircraft down, reaching for steel

with the rubber

snapped the settle to

tires

of his landing gear.

On

throttle to idle in response to the

making contact he

LSO's

call, felt

the

jet

the deck, and watched the signals from the enlisted crew-

man who

directed

him

to taxi to the refueling point at the front of

the ship, referred to as the "forward bone," where he

would take on

gas for his next mission.

He needed nance.

the fuel, but there was no need to take on

A veteran

more

of Desert Storm and, as an exchange pilot with the

RAF, Deliberate Force, Hile had

just finished his first

Freedom without dropping

bombs. Like many of the

borne that

first

night, Hile

getting in contact with the off to a as

it

ord-

his

had experienced

DASC

mission of Iraqi craft air-

a great deal of trouble

before he had finally been handed

ground FAC. "We were assigned

to support

one of the

RCTs

crossed through the breach on the northern border of Kuwait.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE There had been

reports of Iraqi units in front of them.

the visibility was poor, but despite the weather

route of advance over pretty well.

noitering the area in front of the to the

With

Bonhomme

we

To be honest

thing to attack— nothing threatening

back

79

them

RCT,

As

really

it

turned out

looked their

there just wasn't any-

at that time." After

Hile and

Duncan

recon-

recovered

Richard.

on

his Harrier taking

fuel,

and with Duncan

also safely

back

aboard the ship, Hile reviewed his notes for their subsequent mission.

The

next sortie was an assignment to

bomb

the

Alamo

bridge, a span

main canal approximately twenty miles northwest of

that crossed the

Al Basrah. Part of 3rd

MAW's

mission was to act as a blocking force

against the Iraqi units along the border with Iran. Rather than guard-

ing that flank with Marines on the short

supply— the plan

relied

on the

ground— a air

Taking out the bridge would make

fort.

units to mobilize

wing it

resource already in

to protect the

more

main

ef-

difficult for the Iraqi

and threaten the Marines.

At the same time he reviewed his notes, Hile double-checked his aircraft's

weapons systems while one of

looked over the

jet's

exterior.

men

his squadron's enlisted

This was part of the teamwork that

made

his squadron efficient. Hile was the commander, the pilot, but he knew that nothing happened without the hard work and loyalty of the

young men and women who made up the

greater part of his

squadron. During a career that had spanned nearly twenty years he

had entrusted a

his life to

Marines

like

them

every time he strapped on

jet.

His AV-8B was loaded with a single, thousand-pound

LGB,

or Laser

Guided Bomb. Slung underneath

his jet

GBU-16

on the

nermost station of the right wing was an AN/AAQ-28 Litening igation

the

and targeting pod. This device enabled him

GBU-16 on

his

own

jet to a direct hit,

to

II

in-

nav-

guide not only

but also the two

five-

hundred-pound GBU-12s on Duncan's. Because the AV-8B couldn't carry a great deal of bomb tonnage while operating

important for the weapons

it

from

did carry to be accurate.

a ship,

The

it

was

Litening

pod's capabilities turned the ordnance-limited Harrier into a sharpshooter.

80

STOUT

JAY A.

"The Litening pod had

and magnification than

better resolution

anything in the Marine Corps," Hile recalled. "During the planning

phase of the campaign the goal for the Harrier was for each section of

two

aircraft to kill

was

a

little bit

two

on each

targets

At

sortie.

first

we thought

too aggressive, but once things got in sync

the norm than the exception." The pod was useful for more than

this

became

it

more

high resolution

it

was a boon

just steering

an accurate picture of what was deep

in front of

where the Cobras and Hueys could range. And and guiding

ting

steer the Laser

them

weapons. With

its

Marine commanders who needed

for

them— deeper

it

was useful

than

for spot-

targets for other aircraft as well. Just as Hile

could

Guided Bombs of his own wingman, he could guide

for other aircraft as well.

The pod

had an

also

Infra

Red

(IR)

beam could finger taraway. The aviators often

pointer; through goggles at night this powerful gets to other fighters or

called craft's

it

bombers from miles

"the Finger of God."

And because

it

was slaved

to the air-

navigation system, the pod could use grid or latitude/longitude

coordinates to stare at a precise geographic point; conversely, the exact location of anything

found could

it

also

be accurately extrapo-

lated.

The pod

also provided

undeniable BHAs, or ing,

and

pilots

remarkable value in delivering accurate,

Bomb

Hit Assessments.

Combat can be

confus-

can sometimes misinterpret the effectiveness of

their

weapons. The videotaped evidence provided by the Litening pod provided irrefutable proof. This capability was particularly important to the

commanders, who could

been missed or reapportion event that a given target

than planned. In short, the

AV-8B — and the

"These pods were easy to

air

this

reliable.

jets."

had

secondary targets in the

one device increased the

wing— by

you could guide weapons that

aircraft against

had been neutralized or destroyed

great," Hile

maintain, and

had was

reallocate sorties to hit a target that

earlier

effectiveness of

a significant degree.

confirmed. "They were easy to use,

And

after

dropping your own bombs

for other aircraft.

we only had enough pods

for

The

biggest

problem we

one of about every two

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The thump

81

of the fuel hose being broken away from his aircraft

took Hile's attention away from his notes. In short order he was

taxi-

ing away from the forward bone and toward the back end of the

ship.

Unlike conventional

that operated the Harriers

the

as possible

had no catapults or

assault ships

arresting gear. Instead

down the ship's deck as quickly before vectoring their thrust downward and pushing them-

jump

little

amphibious

aircraft carriers, the

had

jets

to accelerate

selves airborne.

Hile followed several

sets

of waving light wands to the stern of the

ship and then pivoted his aircraft around until

the bow.

He

could see that

where he

sat,

ready to launch.

as

both of them

side—made

— the

deck

Duncan was

He

a

positioned not far from

on the

certain that the Harrier was ready. for takeoff.

officer's signals

outside, Hile

The

on the

in-

nozzles and flaps

At the same time, his en-

Marines gave the

aircraft

one

last

thumbs-up indicating

that all

was

in order.

listed

was pointed toward

followed the deck

officer

were checked, then positioned

it

him

inspection before giving

Finally cleared for takeoff, Hile confirmed that the nozzles were

pointed directly ward.

He checked

dropped

and shoved the

aft

his

engine and

Harrier's throttle all the

an instant he was hurtling

toward the front of the ship, and only a few seconds and 750 feet

he reached pulled

and

for the

it aft,

felt

the

knobbed

to

the sky.

jet lift into

for

Duncan

just that,

and the two

"We checked

in

with

jets

winged

and

their

way toward southern

AWACS — callsign

me

a

little

bit

and contin-

Bonhomme few minutes Duncan

cleared us to hit the bridge without any delay at Hile. "This surprised

flaps

to clear the

Richards deck and join on his wing. Within a

Iraq.

He

rotating the nozzles fifty-five degrees toward the deck,

climb while waiting

had done

later

lever that controlled the nozzles.

Safely airborne, Hile raised the landing gear

ued

for-

one more time then

flight controls

his feet off the aircraft's brakes. In

way

Karma — and all,"

because the

they

remembered

MEF

had

flip-

flopped for several days about whether or not they wanted this bridge hit."

tain

The command's indecision can perhaps be understood to a cerdegree. If the enemy couldn't use a destroyed bridge, neither

82

STOUT

JAY A.

could friendly forces.

And

of course there was the desire to achieve

the objectives of the campaign while destroying as try's

little

of the coun-

infrastructure as possible.

The mechanics to the

two Harrier

out of the west to-west run

of bombing the bridge presented several problems

At

pilots.

altitude, the

winds were excessively strong

at sixty-five to seventy-five knots,

on the

thus dictating an east-

bridge. Hile didn't like the fact that they

would be

attacking the bridge at a perpendicular angle; the span ran north and

bombs

south. "If our pletely,"

hit just a little

long or short, we'd miss

turn to the

left to stay

that night

poor communications, and limited

found themselves already cleared

and weather

far

make

to

a

clear of Iran.

Whereas other Coalition aircrews

fuel,

com-

he remembered. And because the bridge was located not

from the Iranian border, the formation would be forced

Iraqis,

it

to

were fighting the

visibility,

Hile and

Duncan

drop their bombs, and with time,

for a practice run. Hile's radar

warning receiver

dis-

played only the occasional spurious signal; there was no indication that they Iraqis

were being targeted by enemy SAMs. In

were completely unaware of the two small

"We had

Hile recalled: so

I

we had been planning

real reason to rush

The mock

attack

the real thing.

racing overhead.

plenty of gas, and no one was shooting at us,

bridge. This was a mission

no

jets

likelihood the

any reason why we shouldn't make a dry run

didn't see

there was

all

"One

went

well,

at the

while and

for a

it."

and Hile spun the

nice aspect about

making the

flight

around

for

attack during this

time of the night was the fact that no one was up and around," he

re-

truck— or

for

called.

It

was

that matter

just short of

any

From twenty

0530 and there wasn't

sort of traffic

a car or

— in sight.

miles away Hile rolled out of a left-hand turn and put

the bridge dead ahead of the two AV-8Bs.

Even

at this

range the

Litening pod showed the bridge as a dark, elongated, easily recognizable- form.

Rushing toward the

target at five

hundred

knots,

he had

only about two minutes to complete his final checks before he would

send the

flight's

bombs

earthward. For perhaps the

night he confirmed that his single

GBU-16 was

fifth

time that

ready to go. Fifteen or

HAMMER FROM ABOVE so feet

away

in a right

83

echelon formation, Duncan was readying

his

twoGBU-12s. At

less

than ten miles the bridge was clearly visible on the Litening

pod's display. Hile was relieved to see that there was

no

still

traffic.

He

carefully slaved the pod's targeting pointer over the center of the

southernmost span. As the two continued

raced toward the release point, he

jets

placement over the desired point of

to refine the pointer's

HUD

impact. Finally he followed the steering on his

down on and the

the control

aircraft

hearing the

bomb

He felt a sharp thump, heavy bomb fell away. Duncan,

"pickle" button.

stick's

seemed

and mashed

to leap as the

release tone transmitted

from

own two weapons. The flight leader's attention went right back to

Hile's

jet,

released

his

he

away from the

started a left-hand turn,

Even

crucial part of the mission. entire effort

would be

a bust

if

if

the targeting pod as

target.

This was the most

everything else went perfectly, the

bombs

the

failed to hit their target.

Keeping the targeting pointer steady on the bridge, Hile waited the

bombs had

fallen nearly half the distance,

until

then squeezed the

trig-

ger that fired the pod's laser.

The

laser detection devices

on

frequency as the Litening pod

three

all

bombs— tuned to the same

— captured the energy reflecting from

the bridge and immediately began snaking through the sky toward

where Hile held the targeting diamond on the southernmost span.

He

didn't see the

light that

bombs

before they

hit,

but the sudden explosion of

momentarily blanked out the pod's display

bombs had found their mark. He called out him know that they had hit the bridge.

when

Despite the perfect delivery,

could see that the span was

had

still

hit in the center of the

way was chewed up, but

"splash" to

smoke

likely take

Still, this

drifted

away Hile

The three bombs and much of the road-

or less intact.

easternmost lane

would

it

bridge would be unusable.

combat

more

the

him that the Duncan to let

told

more

strikes before the

wasn't overly surprising to the

veteran; successfully weaponeering an attack to destroy a

modern, well-constructed bridge tasks that a

combat

aviator

can

is

face.

perhaps one of the most

difficult

84

JAY A.

Only tors

a

couple of minutes

after

STOUT

dropping their bombs the two

avia-

were back over the northern Persian Gulf and heading back

to-

ward the cluttered deck of the Bonhomme Richard. For Hile the night

had been almost

a nonevent;

been more demanding.

would challenge night had.

he had been on training

Still,

him and

his

flights that

had

he knew that the coming campaign squadron

much more

than

this first

9

Bombs and Guns,

Rockets and

Parti

had been impossible

to get

It sleep. Stuffed into their

their cots for

most of the

turning in the

NBC

night.

stifling tent

anything that merited being called suits,

The

they had flopped around in

physical discomfort of tossing and

while wearing

full

MOPP

(Mission Ori-

ented Protection Posture) gear was bad enough, but the combination of repetitive full

SCUD

alerts

and the continuous howl of

jet

engines in

afterburner was a double guarantee against the notion of

The

icing

on the cake was the

fact that they

rest.

had finished an

adrenaline-stoked mission only a few hours earlier and on this day,

March begin

21, they

were scheduled

just after first light.

for a full

day of flying that would

Both of them knew that they would be draw-

ing on the rest they had gotten during previous nights rather than the rest

they should have been getting on this particular evening.

Majors Jay "Chewy" Frey and Scott "Weeds" Wedemeyer of VMFA(AW)-533 were too excited to be exhausted when they

walked into the

TACC

at

Al Jaber. In a very short time they would

86

STOUT

JAY A.

be strapped into their F/A-18D supporting RCT-7's plunge across the border of Kuwait into Iraq.

They were scheduled

Air Controller (Airborne) mission; this called for

Forward

for a

them

conduct

to

reconnaissance ahead of the regiment while directing other aircraft

and supporting find

and

kill

fires

onto

enemy

targets. It

would be

their job to

the Iraqis before the Iraqis had an opportunity to en-

RCT. Frey recalled: support RCT-7 as anyone

we were

gage the

"I'm certain that

to

has ever been to support any ground

unit."

During the previous

several

as

prepared

weeks Frey and Wedemeyer had

had daily contact with the two regimental Air

Officers,

Majors Ken

Maney and Jim "Mighty" Quinn. "At least one of them would come down to Al Jaber daily and brief us on the latest pieces of the plan. We also made several trips up to their area to meet with the "Kid"

regimental

The

staff."

RCT commander, Colonel

Steven

Hummer, had

taken time

to visit Al Jaber in order to coordinate with his counterpart

ders

and

similates

to "fly" the

TOPSCENE

imagery,

satellite

training system.

ATARS

mensional representation of any battlespace

TOPSCENE

through.

It

was

a capability that

could only have dreamed

Now with tors

the

as-

to create a multidi-

which data

for

unit at Al Jaber allowed

virtual flight over the exact territory

TOPSCENE

(Advanced Tactical Airborne

Reconnaissance System) photos, and other data

essence the

comman-

In

Hummer to take

he would be fighting

commanders

exist.

a

his unit

in previous conflicts

of.

RCT just pushing through the breach, the two aviamuch

gathered as

information as they could about what was

"We talked to the watch officers as well as come back," recollected Frey. "This, in com-

going on across the border. the crews that had just

bination with briefs from our intelligence sections, real-time infor-

mation coming

in over the radio,

tactical situation,

us pretty

and map

made up a continuous

much on

VMFA(AW)-533's

studies of the current

flow of information that kept

top of the game." As the campaign progressed

aircrews

would be some of the

best informed; their

twenty-four-hour support of operations as FAC(A)s gave

matched

battlefield presence.

them an un-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

One

of the issues

still

87

being reacted to was the supposed brigade-sized

force of Iraqi T-72s that was conjectured to be waiting to

RCT-7

By now Mattis and

ambush

his staff

had gener-

ated a plan that involved shifting boundaries between the

RCTs and

as

it

crossed into Iraq.

bringing the British units farther west than they had originally been tasked. fix

With the support of

the Iraqi

enemy

3rd

tanks— and then

force in an

MAW they were looking to find and

reverse the trap.

They would crush

the

overwhelming envelopment.

Wedemeyer and Frey climbed

into the

truck for the short ride to the flight line.

bed of the squadron's pickup

The

route was the same, the

buildings and tents were the same, even the people were the same,

but somehow, in the context of what was happening only a few miles away, everything was different. Already the

burning trenches and

oil

smoke from Saddam's

wells was mixing with the natural airborne

dust to create a brown-black haze that cast everything and everyone in a faint sepia hue.

Screened from the normally brutal sun, eyes that

usually squinted during the day were wide

and with greater sharpness. But

open and saw more

detail

regardless of the environmentals, the

Marines and airmen on the base were stepping and moving with

more purpose. There was rectly affected

a

war on. What they did or didn't do

who might live and who might die.

ning from place to place, but

it

People weren't run-

didn't take a practiced eye to see that

they were doing their best to restrain themselves to a

When

the

truck stopped,

di-

the

fast

walk.

two Marines walked into the

squadron's maintenance area and checked their assigned

aircraft's

"book." This was a log that delineated what type of maintenance had recently

well as

been done and what minor

how

gripes

remained

to

be

"On

this

what we called the 'goofy

gas'

the aircraft was configured, armed, and fueled.

day," Frey said, "our jet

configuration.

was

set

up

in

fixed, as

We had an external fuel tank on the right wing and an-

other on the centerline station under the fuselage.

It

was an uneven-

88

JAY A.

looking arrangement but view,

and

a better overall field of

And

as ugly

much."

freed

up another precision weapons

was,

The

rest

two

CBU-99 Rockeye

it

FLIR

gave the

really didn't affect the flying qualities of the jet that

it

it

as

it

STOUT

station.

of the weapons consisted of two 1,000-pound

Cluster

Bomb

Units

White Phosphorous (WP)

eight 5-inch

rounds of 20-millimeter ammunition

509 pounds each),

(at

rockets,

and

and

preflight, start,

post-start

five

hundred

cannon. After a quick

for the

view of the book, Frey and Wedemeyer stepped out

The

Mk-83 bombs,

to the

re-

jet.

sequence went quickly. The

SCUD alerts hadn't abated, and the young enlisted mechanics made short,

snappy work of their procedures. Frey, the

WSO,

readied the

navigation system and radios from where he sat in the rear cockpit

while trols,

Wedemeyer checked and rechecked

the aircraft's flight con-

engines, and weapons systems from the front cockpit. After taxi-

ing to the south end of the base and receiving clearance to take

Wedemeyer positioned

An

throttles forward.

pounds of violet-hot

the

on the runway and shoved the two

instant later the

crew

felt a

two engines shot out a combined

sides as the

start to

the aircraft

more than

1

thrust that

off,

slammed

kick in their backthirty-six

thousand

the aircraft from a standing

50 knots in just a few seconds. Less than a third of

way down the runway the

jet

broke ground.

was 0714 local

It

time.

'The layer of

visibility

smoke

sional breaks.

the sun,

it

was

was horrible," remembered Frey. There was a single

that

hung

at

about two thousand

feet with only occa-

Even through the openings, depending on the angle of still

very difficult to see through the haze to the ground

make their job extraordinarily difficult. NevertheWedemeyer climbed up to twenty-two thousand feet and winged sixty miles or so to where RCT-7 was trying to cram itself across

below. This would less,

the

the border at the northernmost point of Kuwait.

minutes "After

It

took only a few

to cover the distance.

we checked

in

through the

eryone else in the world we

had been up

all

made

TACC

and the

DASC

and

ev-

contact with Kid; he and Mighty

night while Colonel

Hummer was working to get ev-

eryone through the cut in the berm," Frey recounted. Mattis had

HAMMER FROM ABOVE known

that his

RCTs would

lines of earth that little

take time to pass through the elevated

demarcated the border but he wanted

He

time as possible.

Iraqi artillery guns, the

was only too aware that the

own

chemical

Those guns were

shells. "It

was a

and had the

artillery

rounds into the masses of Marines

firing

it

to take as

largest of the

Austrian-made GHN-45, 155-millimeter can-

non, could outrange his

side of the border.

89

who were also the

fact/'

ability to

drop

staged on the Kuwaiti

most

likely to

be used

Frey said, "that Mattis fully ex-

pected to take casualties in the staging areas." For that reason Iraqi

was

tillery

Maney

for

at the top of the general's target

ar-

list.

Wedemeyer and Frey— callsign Nail 33— to push north along the Main Surface Routes (MSRs) that the RCT would advance along later that morning. The two fliers were about four miles south of Division Objective 2, the Rumaylah oil field pumping stations, when they spotted a trio of tan-colored tanks oriented east-todirected

west behind a set of hastily scraped revetments. the

jet

low enough

to

make

a positive ID;

it

Wedemeyer dropped

was a pair of older T-55s

along with a newer T-72. Their guns were pointed south. of Kid on the radio and he told us to go ahead and there were

no other

clearance to engage,

targets

got hold

them — that

being reported," Frey remembered. With

Wedemeyer dropped

ward the enemy armor and pickled were slung underneath the

kill

"I

jet's left

off

the Hornet's nose

down

one of the two Rockeyes

wing.

advertised; an instant before striking the

The weapon worked

ground

it

to-

that

just as

separated into two

halves and showered 247 small, anti-armor bomblets over the center

of the three tanks. This was exactly what the Rockeye was designed for;

the shaped-charge warheads of the bomblets drove a stream of

molten metal into the tanks with

a force of

250,000 pounds per

square inch. Frey recounted: "That tank was totally destroyed, and there were any

Wedemeyer

crewmen

pulled back on the control stick and got the aircraft

moving skyward again while he adjusted to the

dim

desert terrain, Frey

more

targets.

if

inside they were dead, too."

light

set

up

and became

for

another attack. As their eyes

better acquainted with the flat

and Wedemeyer were able

"Every time that Weeds jinked

make out more and or banked we spotted

to

90

STOUT

JAY A.

something new," Frey

mored Personnel

"Not

said.

equipment

Carriers as well as other

ered in camouflage netting."

Wedemeyer

from the tanks were several Ar-

far

that was cov-

They rocketed earthward once more

as

and dropped the remain-

targeted the westernmost tank

ing Rockeye canister.

Wedemeyer pulled the nose up hard again and Both of them looked back over the left side

turn.

watched

started a left-hand

of the aircraft and

for the familiar sparkling pattern of explosions that

should

have covered the second tank. Instead, there was a single bright to the

west of the target.

The Rockeye had

the ground and exploded

open and had

hit

— or gone "high order." This was a problem

had plagued the weapon since

that

failed to

flash

its

introduction.

most of them were now twenty or more years

And because

old, the failure rate

was

significant.

"Just after

we came

off target

tubes to the southwest,"

spotted a pair of GHN-45 artillery

we

remembered

was armed and they were cleared

to

were presented, the FAC(A) crew's by other

aircraft

the aircraft

we

just flying tools

on the

engage

real job

Although

'bomb

was

to coordinate attacks

"We

able.

that there

DASC

what

nets to contact

I

MAG-1 1

jets to

DASC

its

work the two

hands

me on the TAD

armed

he more

artillery tubes. "I told

[Tactical Air Direction] frequency

radio.

The DASC

didn't put

As Frey was briefing the two single-seat F/A-18C rolled over into a steep dive

artillery position

full,

had and then directed one of the sections of Hor-

were working on the other

meyer

frequency

F/A-18s airborne and avail-

controlling agency had

or less hijacked a pair of the

the

"They were

to kill the stuff we found."

were several

Knowing that the

kind of viewed

trucks/ " Frey said.

Frey had kept one of his two radios tuned to the

and knew

their aircraft

targets as opportunities

targets that they found.

controlled as

we used

Frey.

up

we

a fuss."

pilots,

Wede-

from the north and designated the

through his Heads

Up

Display. At the

same time he

the FLIR's laser designator; this enabled Frey to derive an ac-

curate ten-digit grid coordinate, which he subsequently passed to the

other two call in

jets.

For good measure,

Wedemeyer

the form of three 5-inch rockets.

sent

down

a

wake-up

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The

rockets were designed as

White Phosphorous burned

hot and produced exceptionally dense, white

brilliantly

on the

marking rounds. The nature of the

or "Willy Pete" warheads was such that they

smoke. They were intended eyes

91

target."

to

help other pilots more easily "get their

Frey recalled: "In

this instance the

Weeds's rockets mixed with Saddam's smoke and the other two pilots to get a

we

ing a lot higher than

fix

made

smoke from

it

difficult for

on the individual guns— they were

fly-

were." Nevertheless, the ten-digit grid that

Frey had captured and passed to them was good enough. After he

fin-

ished his brief and was certain that they had the general target area in

he cleared the two F/A-18

sight,

molished within

back

a

wagon-

runs using just the steering

really well," Frey said.

"Both of the guns were de-

HUDs.

worked out

"It

They set up

made swooping

wheel-type pattern and

cues on their

pilots to attack.

to Al Jaber

a matter of minutes." Frey gave the

and passed the BDA, or

two

jets

routing

Damage Assessment, By now they had been

Battle

DASC: two GHN-45s destroyed. airborne almost an hour— it was time to get more gas. Frey checked off station with Maney and the DASC and established contact with back

to the

"Raider," a

Marine KC-130

that

was orbiting

just a

few miles

to their

south.

The Marine Corps would be not for the KC-130.

It is

neither fast nor pretty.

an

On

were

it

old, high-wing, four-engine design that

is

the other hand,

efficient transport aircraft ever

tions

a less effective fighting force

it is

have used the transport in one capacity or

Corps introduced

its first

KC-130F during

More than fifty naanother. The Marine

1962; there are approxi-

mately seventy-five KC-130s of various types

were that most of the

the most versatile and

put into operation.

aircraft airborne that

still

in service.

morning had seen

Odds

service

during both Vietnam and Desert Storm. Odds were also good that the

machines were older than most of the

men and women who made up

the Marine Corps.

Aside from possessing the ruggedness and power to bring large

numbers of troops and supplies airfields,

into relatively small

and unforgiving

the aircraft's refueling capabilities essentially multiply the

92

JAY A.

Marine Corps's

effectiveness of the

one KC-130

we

turn one

pilot:

STOUT

words of

tactical jet force. In the

"By giving them gas and keeping them airborne,

jet into

two or three or more."

was certainly true

in this case. Rather than returning all the

way

south to Al Jaber, landing, taxiing, taking on more fuel, and then

taxi-

It

FAC(A) crew would only need

ing and taking off again, the short, airborne timeout.

contact with the tanker while Frey ran the radio as

he established

pick

it

up

a radar lock

on the big

and adjusted

visually

rive at a position just a

to take a

Once southbound, Wedemeyer made Almost

drill.

as

Wedemeyer was

ship,

his intercept point

soon

able to

and airspeed

couple of hundred feet above and

radar

to ar-

offset to the

Streaming back from the two refueling pods mounted on the

right.

KC-1 30's wingtips were

thick black hoses that

ended

in dirty white re-

fueling baskets.

A

quick light signal from the observer's window located

at the

Wedemeyer that he was cleared to rehe reached down to his cockpit's left console,

tanker's midsection signaled

Without looking

fuel.

flicked a switch,

and

felt

and heard the

airflow over the jet

ever so slightly as the refueling probe unfolded

itself

change

from the

right

forward fuselage. At the same time, he nudged his control stick to the left

and adjusted

few

feet

On the

his

power while he

behind the gently

rear of the refueling

illuminated fuel that

the

jet into a

oscillating basket

pod he

on the

could see that

position just a

left-hand hose.

an amber

light

was

— confirmation that the KC-130 was prepared to pass the

would keep him and Frey

in the fight. For perhaps the thou-

sandth time in his career he added

nudged the

jet

and seated

itself into

quick look

slid

just a

small bit of power and

forward until the refueling probe

down

the refueling receptacle.

at his fuel

the basket

slid into

Once

gauge confirmed that the

stabilized, a

jet

was taking

fuel.

During the few minutes

that

Wedemeyer held the

aircraft in the re-

fueling basket, Frey continued to work the radios. "Before

even gotten

to

our

jet

we had

we had heard about a supposedly was set to ambush our RCTs as they

that morning,

huge

force of Iraqi tanks that

came

across the

border— but no one had found anything

really sig-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Now,

nificant yet.

our guys were

still

listening

on the

radios,

anxious to find and

Once Wedemeyer had

taken on a

it

93

was becoming clear that

kill this threat."

full

load of gas he backed out of

the refueling basket, edged away from the tanker, then

turn back toward RCT-7. "Kid

came up on

what we had been hearing/' Frey whole

division

was staying put

made

a

hard

the radio and confirmed

recollected.

"He

told us that the

until the mystery with the Iraqi tanks

was solved. They hadn't even crossed the Line of Departure— General

know where those tanks were." Wedemeyer took on the assignment to do just that. Adthe Rules of Engagement (ROE) that the wing had as-

Mattis wanted to

Frey and

hering to

signed them, they pushed east from overhead the

RCT

toward the

The mix of clouds and smoke was too thick; they could Approaching Umm Qasr— almost at the water's edge —

Persian Gulf. see nothing.

they

still

weren't able to see through the clouds.

ing was going to

happen

until they got

Knowing

low enough

to see

that noth-

what was

on the ground, Wedemeyer and Frey de-

actually taking place

scended through the clouds

in a left-hand turn. Leveling off only a

thousand feet or so above the

desert,

forward until the

jet

Wedemeyer shoved

was making more than

and there along the border they could see the night before had

left

five

hundred

spots

where

the throttles knots.

Here

strikes

from

ugly black pockmarks that used to be Iraqi

border posts.

RCT

Just east of the

these were British still

just

they spied a large formation of tanks. But

and were on the Kuwaiti

side of the border.

There

was no enormous mass of hostile armor. Having cleared the area

ahead of the

RCT

from the

east,

Wedemeyer swung

the

jet

deeper into Iraq and then turned east again until he reached the

gulf.

Once more

The

there was no huge formation of tanks to be seen.

crew turned north,

still

farther into

enemy

territory,

then paralleled

The result was the same: no tanks. "After four passes up and down that border Weeds and I knew that there was no gigantic Iraqi tank formation," Frey said. "We told Kid the border back to the west.

that their information

Soon

after,

was bad

— that

there was nothing out there."

the Marines on the ground began to push north with

94

STOUT

JAY A.

RCT had the

vigor. Satisfied that the

Marines sprinted back It

to the tanker for

was only a few minutes

RCT

front of the

news

that the

that

information

Maney

another

needed, the two

top-off.

back on station

after they reported

contacted

it

Wedemeyer and Frey

Marines on the ground had been taking

with

and

fire

that

counterbattery radar had plotted the position of a suspected Iraqi

He

emplacement.

tillery

in

ar-

passed the data to the F/A-18D crew and

asked them to investigate. "Sure enough," Frey remembered, "we

found

GHN-45s

a battery of six

aligned in what

we

called a

Crazy-W formation; Olympic

layout of the rings on the

from

northwest of Division Objective 2

flag."

it

was similar

The guns were

east to west with their tubes pointed south. This

threat that

to the

oriented

was exactly the

most concerned Mattis.

Frey recalled: "Weeds overflew the emplacements from the south

and got the

jet set

up

to

drop a Mk-83.

A fog

of grayish white

smoke

among the guns — an indicator that they had just finished firing/' Wedemeyer pulled the aircraft around in a lefthand, 270-degree turn and dived on the enemy position from the west. Starting down from ten thousand feet in a thirty-degree dive, was hanging low in and

he designated the center tube through the

HUD,

the designation, followed the steering line, and

bomb bomb

release button. fell

grid that

There was

away from the

jet.

quickly adjusted

mashed down on

a gentle jolt as the

thousand-pound

Behind him Frey pulled up the

marked the position of the emplacement

the

to

ten-digit

an accuracy of

several feet.

With the bomb on back on the control pulling

down

at

for the

bomb

to hit.

been

its

stick

way Wedemeyer simultaneously hauled and

them, both

Only about

released, the targeted

The combination

rolled right.

fliers

ing run

I

gun disappeared

ten-digit grid coordinate

Frey

of gravity

Mk-83 had

in a concussive flash.

of smoke and humidity was such that the spreading

worked with Kid

Iraqi guns,"

g's

eight seconds after the

shock wave from the explosion was clearly

"With the

With seven

strained to look behind the aircraft

said. "I

to get

an

visible.

we had

artillery

pulled from the

bomb-

mission run against the

passed the grid and the spacing and orienta-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE tion of the tillery

guys would need.

an orbit

in

emplacements

FAC(A) crew

to

as well as the other details that

When

the brief was passed,

northwest of the target."

to the

do but

Miles to the south,

DPICM

were loaded

Munition)

These

shells.

own

ar-

set us

up

our

Weeds

Now there was little for the

wait. artillery

Marines from the Eleventh Marines

prepared to run the mission. Into their itzers

95

Ml 98,

155-millimeter how-

(Dual Purpose Improved Conventional

are the

artillery

equivalent of the

air-

delivered Rockeye; each shell carries seventy-two anti-personnel/ anti-materiel grenades that detonate

most devastating weapons on the

DPICM

Although ers

is

on impact.

DPICM

is

one of the

weapon— each

shell cov-

battlefield.

essentially

an area

an area of approximately two hundred square yards— the

state of

the artilleryman's science has advanced to the point that accuracy

no longer an

issue.

As one Marine put

nate, our artillery will put steel directly

is

it:

"Given an accurate coordi-

on

steel every single time." In-

deed, factors as minute as relative humidity and the rotation of the earth are taken into account

"We

a fire mission.

waited approximately a minute after the 'shot over'

made," Frey neuvered

The

said.

as best

shells

he could

and on the FLIR while shells.

when computing

to

still

keep the enemy emplacements staying clear of the

incoming

Frey remembered the astonishing accuracy of the

DPICM:

"It

call

was incredible— as

first

in sight artillery

volley of

perfectly shaped, giant explosive

if six

doughnuts had been overlaid on top of each gun." While the two ators

ing

we

watched the

if

Iraqi positions burn, a call

another mission was required.

made

placed barrage of

DPICM

first

had

created.

the call and stirred

came

much was moments

Frey said, "but

probably better than

later

another perfectly

up the burning wreckage

Wedemeyer dropped

the

avi-

over the radio ask-

"It really wasn't,"

figured that in a case like this too

not enough." Frey

was

were on their way, and Wedemeyer ma-

jet's

last

that the

Mk-83 onto

a

nearby transport truck and fired his remaining rockets into a formation of

Armored Personnel

Carriers (APCs) before heading south

again to top off the Hornet's fuel tanks. After another quick trip to the tanker the

FAC(A) crew was back

in

96

JAY A.

Iraq, reconnoitering in front of

STOUT

RCT-7. Frey

when we came

scouting along Highway 8

across five tanks parked be-

hind newly shoveled berms

in the vicinity of

had dubbed

Looking down from the

what

it

'the Paperclip.'

looked

like

—

it

"We were

recalled:

an intersection that we air that's exactly

was unmistakable." The T-55s were oriented

and

east-to-west across the highway,

their

guns were pointed south;

made

they were obviously intended to act as a blocking force. Frey

DASC, hoping to get aircraft to attack the Iraqi but he came up empty— there was nothing available. "Weeds

contact with the

armor,

and ell

talked

I

it

over and

made

contact with Major George 'Sack' Row-

67— who were

and Captain Douglas 'Oedi' Glover— callsign Nail

also

working

a

FAC(A) mission

close to our area. Neither crew

any ordnance remaining except 20-millimeter cannon, but ter

it

had

was bet-

than nothing."

The books

say that 20-millimeter

cannon

fire

can't destroy heavy

An

armor, but practical experience has shown otherwise.

attack from

above and behind that puts shells into the engine compartment

Wedemeyer

set Soviet-era tanks afire.

ecute strafing runs against the T-55s.

Maney to exThey would make shallow at-

coordinated with

from the north so that they could

tacks

vehicles. Their ad

will

fire

into the rear of the

hoc deconfliction plan put Rowell and Glover on

the west side of the road and

Wedemeyer and Frey on

liding over the heads of the people they

were

killing

the east; col-

would be

a

bad

thing.

Rolling in from the north and just under the layer of smoke at

about two thousand

feet,

Wedemeyer pushed and

into a fifteen-degree dive

let

the Hornet's nose

the aiming reticle rest just atop the

engine access doors on the easternmost tank. throttles fully

HUD

forward — he wanted more time

to

He

didn't have the

aim and

fire.

he could see the range bar on the clock-like aiming

compress back on

itself.

down

In his reticle

Passing through about twelve hundred feet

above the ground, the words IN RANGE appeared

in the

HUD.

Still

he

held his fire. Then just as he reached what the HUD showed him was

minimum

range, he squeezed a one-second burst into the tan-

colored tank:

umn

The down

grrrrrrrriiiiipl

of angry bees racing

fast-moving rounds looked like a colat the

enemy

vehicle.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The

instant he let off the trigger

back hard and yanked the

toming out

at five

jet

hundred

97

Wedemeyer snapped

the stick

over to the

left in a

climbing turn. Bot-

he knew

that the

wrong combination

feet,

of ricochets and bad luck could result in shooting himself down. But

not

this time.

Both

fliers

saw flashes

as the

API (Armor Piercing

In-

cendiary) rounds smashed into the tank and surrounding desert. Dust

mixed with smoke from the burning engine compartment. Under the hail of the

deep booming crackle of cannon

from one hiding spot Both their

Iraqi troops scurried

to another.

aircraft hurtled

toward the ground several more times until

ammunition was exhausted. "Weeds and Sack

of those tanks," Frey said.

When

the rest of the

the intersection twelve hours later,

were

fire,

still

Maney

killed every

one

RCT passed through

reported that the tanks

burning.

With no more ordnance and than three hours,

They needed

to

after

having been airborne

Wedemeyer and Frey headed back

rearm

for

another

sortie.

for

more

to Al Jaber.

10

Rockets and

Bombs and Guns,

Part

II

Wedemeyer followed the plane captain's hand signals as he swung the

jet into its

parking place on the flight line at Al Jaber.

stepped on the brakes one

hands over

his

last

head and clenched them

threw a pair of chocks under the that the aircraft

motion across

was

into

aircraft's

safely parked, the

his throat

fists;

middle of the

first full

crews across the base

were getting ready

plane captain

made

a slashing

and Wedemeyer shut down one engine;

jet,

and stretched

their

ejection

their stiff limbs.

It

a

seats,

was the

day of the war and they were one of dozens of

who had

either just returned

to go. All across the parking

aircraft to aircraft,

from

a mission or

ramp Marines moved

with purpose; systems were checked or repaired,

were trundled from

another mechanic

wheels. Double-checking

moment later he secured the second. The two fliers quickly unstrapped from climbed down from the

He

time as the young Marine raised his

trailers

of

bombs

and big green refueling trucks

snorted and roared as they shot thousands of gallons of

jet

propellant

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

99

into big bladders that in turn hot-refueled the jets before they re-

turned to the

flight line.

The

SCUD alerts continued, but rather than now caused

sending the Marines wholesale into nearby bunkers, they

more than an anxious look skyward

little

or perhaps an unconscious

reach to check that a gas mask carrier was

"Weeds and to get the jet

He

had been

set

FLIC

started.

from various units had been

into a larger, albeit ad hoc, organization that

sponsive in gathering

(Flight Line

up before the shooting

a collection of intelligence experts

merged

stepped out of his flight

the quick three-minute walk to the

Intelligence Center) that

There

strapped in place.

up while the squadron's young Marines hustled

split

ready to go again," said Frey.

made

gear and

I

still

was more

and disseminating information than

re-

a smatter-

ing of smaller squadron intelligence cells would have been. At the

FLIC mission debriefs were collected and disseminated immediately. The information was vital not only to higher headquarters but also to the crews who were about to go into the fight. Along with manpower and

expertise, scarce

pooled

communications and video equipment was

for better efficiency.

nectivity they

needed

to

Frey remembered: "They had

reach

just

about anybody

at

all

also

the con-

any time." The

equipment included SIPRnet (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network),

STU

NIPRnet (Non-secure

III

tions,

Internet Protocol Router Network),

(Secure Telephone Unit) telephones,

and other more

typical telephone

was also equipped with

a

satellite

and radio

communica-

gear.

The

center

broad spectrum of analytical equipment

that better enabled the experts to determine

what was actually taking

place on the battlefield. In particular, mission videos were reviewed, evaluated, and forwarded to higher headquarters for scrutiny

when

required. At times

more

detailed

some of the most spectacular

of the

footage was rerouted early, delivered into the public domain, and

then broadcast on worldwide television only hours in the

it

had arrived

FLIC.

"Once

The

after

I

got to the FLIC," Frey said,

"I

mystery Iraqi tank brigade had pretty

this point,

and our

gave them a quick debrief.

much been

RCTs were moving forward

discounted by

fairly quickly."

In fact,

the leading elements of the division were already reaching their ob-

100

STOUT

JAY A.

Rumaylah

jectives in the

been torched, the

horrific

curred had been headed

oil fields.

Although a few wellheads had

environmental

off.

disaster that

could have oc-

Present-day hindsight frequently glosses

over this early success, but had

it

failed the natural

and

political fall-

out would have been a disastrous and enduring legacy.

Because he had that the

come

just

FLIC could

tell

much

off the battlefield, there wasn't

Frey about what was going on directly in

he passed

RCTs that he didn't already know. Still, the information to the FLIC was useful, and after a short time he left and

made

way

front of the

his

section.

to

There

where Wedemeyer was waiting

machine had been

a video

at the

set up,

shared their successes from that morning with the

who were

responsible for keeping the

jets in

maintenance

and the two

fliers

men and women

combat-ready condition.

After having spent years keeping the aircraft operational so that the

aircrews could train,

was extremely gratifying

it

to see

what the

fruits

of their labor had wrought on the enemy.

The maintenance Marines were good at their job. An hour after Wedemeyer had shut the engines down, both he and Frey were walking back to the same jet. The aircraft had been checked, refueled, and rearmed with four Rockeyes, eight 5-inch

WP rockets, and a full

load of 20-millimeter cannon ammunition.

was ready

It

to go.

Airborne again, the crew of Nail 33 checked in with the

and was subsequently directed

to contact

"Kid passed us off to a FAC, callsign

ond Tanks. They oil fields, east

Pita,

again. Frey recalled:

who was

assigned to Sec-

were stopped at the southern edge of the

Rumaylah

of Route 8 at Mahattat a Tubah, and were taking spo-

radic mortar fire."

The Marines

were more concerned about they were taking, but

From where

RCT-7

DASC

it

was

M1A1

in their

Iraqi tanks still

tanks and

HMMWVs

than the harassing mortar

fire

a threat that had to be suppressed.

they were halted at an elevated intersection they could

occasionally spot a pair of white pickup trucks to their north and east that

would move,

fire,

then

shot and wanted Nail 33 to "I

kill

again.

They couldn't

get a clear

the two vehicles.

got lucky and spotted the trucks immediately," Frey said. "But

Weeds was having him,

move

as

a hell of a

time finding them; that was unusual for

he generally had great

eyesight."

The

Iraqi vehicles stayed

on

HAMMER FROM ABOVE move and headed south

the

across an east-west road before stopping

in a prepared position not far area's

only

rail line.

But even

from where a locomotive after

bility

and vagaries of trying

battlefield at

sat

on the

repeated attempts Frey couldn't

Wedemeyer's eyes on the enemy

get

101

trucks.

The

to spot a small target

still-degraded visi-

while racing over a

hundreds of miles per hour were working against the

crew.

was then that

It

HMLA-167 AH-1W Cobras came up on

a pair of

the radio net and called the targets in sight.

"I

asked them

anything that they could mark the target with," Frey

they had

if

"and they

said,

answered that they had 2.75-inch flechette rockets." Frey knew that this

could work. "These rockets typically

front of the

smudge.

I

Cobra and then burst with

knew

able to pick

fly

if

up the

The mobile

a certain distance out in a characteristic reddish

they could get close enough that

Weeds would be

trucks."

Iraqi mortars

had

started to

move

again and the pair of

Cobras, led by Captain "Bull" Budrejko, pushed out from overhead

A moment

later several rockets streaked

out from

the helicopters' stub wings and burst just short of the trucks.

The Co-

the friendly tanks.

bras tion.

his

wheeled back around and headed back toward the friendly Budrejko had taken two small-arms rounds into

wingman had

take one.

They had missed being

posi-

his canopy,

hit in the

and

head by

only inches.

"Weeds caught

sight of the trucks as

soon

as Bull

put the rockets

downrange," recollected Frey. "He took us down low and overhead the top of them and they both stopped." The two to get clearance

denied.

One

from Pita

to attack the trucks with

shortcoming of the cluster munition

fast just

fliers tried

Rockeyes but were is

that there

is

al-

ways a small percentage of bomblets that don't explode upon impacting the ground. Nevertheless, these "duds" are as likely as not to

detonate upon making contact with a passing vehicle or infantry-

man's boot. They had killed and during and

after

were too close traffic in

maimed

several Coalition soldiers

Desert Storm. Pita was concerned that the two trucks

to the

main MSRs — routes

that

would see very heavy

the subsequent campaign.

Instead,

Wedemeyer was

cleared to engage the trucks with rockets.

102

STOUT

JAY A.

'The problem with

that,"

explained Frey, "was that the only rockets

we had were White Phosphorous rounds— Weeds would have to hit the trucks dead-on in order to destroy them." With no other good option Wedemeyer rolled in on the trucks from the west, almost overhead

Pita

and Second Tanks. In

and with no

a fifteen-degree dive

substantial anti-aircraft threat observed

he

set the jet

up

for a "train-

ing-wheels" delivery. At only 350 knots he carefully placed the reticle

illuminated on his as the

and

HUD just between the two trucks and held

it

there

down through 1,650 feet he quickly mashed the red but-

range counted down. Finally, passing

at the absolute

minimum

range,

ton atop his control stick once, twice, three times. Three rockets flashed out from the pods slung underneath his wings.

"The

Weeds

were unbelievable," said Frey. "Aside from the

hits

is

one of the most experienced Hornet

fact that

pilots in the

Marine

Corps, there was a big dose of luck involved in where those rockets hit." Incredibly,

third hit just

each truck was struck by one rocket apiece while the

between them. As close

meyer heaved the I

could

stick

back and

feel us skidding

ground.

I

as

he was, Wede-

left.

can remember looking back and thinking, Holy

really low!"

As they climbed back

molten heat of the It

said.

ground

"We turned so hard that before we actually started going "Still, we came pretty close to the

to the

sideways

where we were pointed," Frey

to the

to altitude the pair

shit, we're

could see the

WP warheads transforming the trucks into ashes.

was while making their attack that Frey had spotted an

MTLB

multipurpose armored vehicle approximately two hundred yards south of where the trucks had stopped. Nearby there was other equip-

ment screened by camouflage

netting.

The

MTLB

was farther away

from the road than the trucks had been, and Frey prevailed on Pita allow

them

Careful not to lose sight of the to the

to

to attack the armored vehicle with Rockeye.

MTLB, Wedemeyer swung around

west overhead Second Tanks again before diving east and drop-

ping two Rockeyes.

The

canisters

performed

perfectly; a large pattern

MTLB,

but also a

was covered by the netting. The

MTLB was

of sparkling explosions enveloped not only the

good part of the area destroyed, and

that

fire started to

consume much of the camouflage

cover.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE For good measure

Wedemeyer

103

dived on the area twice more, drop-

ping another Rockeye and then spraying the netting with his 20millimeter cannon.

Frey recollected: "At the time hit so the

only thing

later learned that the

we

we had MTLB." The crew

weren't exactly sure what

we claimed was

the single

camouflage netting hid an entire

nized infantry

company— six MTLBs,

and numerous

soldiers.

"And

the whole thing with his

later

five

on Bull

FLIR— his

BMPs,

told

me

mecha-

Iraqi

three Zil trucks, that

he had taped

squadron actually included

it

in

their Greatest Hits video after the war."

The enemy

goal of the battlefield preparation had

RCTs would

been

pummel

to

the

to

do nothing more

strenuous than "wade through a sea of body parts."

Wedemeyer and

so thoroughly that the

Frey were doing their part to meet 3rd

have

MAW's

After a quick trip to the tanker Frey

obligations.

and Wedemeyer were tasked

with reconnoitering the route toward Al Basrah. "From

ATARS

photo

night before, a

and because we had flown

studies,

we knew

five

miles east of where they had

and

five rockets

left

five T-55s.

Iraqi tank

aircraft

had

was only

It

column about

Second Tanks. The

The

map and

up there the

the area pretty well," Frey recalled.

few minutes before they came across an

was made up of about

a sortie

just

line of tanks

one Rockeye

remaining, and the two Marines thought better of

using up their remaining ordnance

when

other aircraft might do the

job better.

Instead

Wedemeyer made

a low, fast pass over the lead tank.

"They

stopped immediately and ran from their tanks," recounted Frey.

doubt they had an idea of what we were capable of doing

But

it

was here that the pair encountered the

to

"No

them."

friction that so often

jams up the execution of a fast-moving war. "Aside from getting the

DASC to assign aircraft to work with us, we ran into a bigger problem because the column we found was located right on the boundary be-

tween RCT-7's area of responsibility and RCT-5's. RCT-5 wasn't sure that

RCT-7

didn't have

same with RCT-7

anyone close

relative to the

took almost a half hour to sort

it

to those tanks,

and

whereabouts of RCT-5's

all

out."

it

was the

forces.

It

104

STOUT

JAY A.

meantime the

In the

Iraqi

tank crews had gotten

come immediately

death didn't

climbed back into

their T-5 5s

Wedemeyer's

after

and

started toward

When

restive.

initial pass,

Second Tanks

they

again.

A second pass stopped them again, and again they cleared their vehiWhen,

cles.

falling

on

While

same

fliers

had

few minutes, there

keep

it

moving once more. of tanks distracted, Frey and

column of five T-72

tanks

moving

direction only a couple of miles or so to the east. their

hands

full

meyer pointed down stopped

this first line

discovered a second

were no American bombs

still

their heads, the Iraqis started

trying to

Wedemeyer the

after a

—

it

was a "cat herding"

at the lead

The two Wede-

situation.

tank of the second column and

WP rocket that hit the road just in front of

with a 5-inch

in

column had

it.

In the

meantime the

nally,"

Frey said, "we got a pair of Hornets overhead. They were very

initial

low on gas and had time

F/A-18Cs began

nowhere and

for only

one

their attack a

started

down

moving

started

pass." Just as the

again. "Fi-

two single-seat

vehicle appeared out of

civilian

the line of tanks. Adhering to the ex-

tremely restrictive

ROE

that characterized this phase of the war, the

F/A-18Cs aborted

their

run and, dangerously low on

fuel, left the

area.

Not long

of AV-8Bs arrived and Frey gave

after, a pair

them

Wedemeyer

brief that included a ten-digit grid coordinate while

marked the area with

for

if it

their

and

They were out

was the

whatever reason they

GBU-12s about five hundred meters south

dropped left.

know

several rockets. "I don't

weather or what," Frey recalled, "but

a quick

of the target

of bombs and gas."

This was hardly Marine Corps aviation's shining moment. fuel themselves, Frey

and Wedemeyer decided

Rockeye on the lead tank of the

"Weeds outdid himself on garbage and

we were

dropped that

last

lowest

I'd

The Rockeye

this run,"

fairly

low

to

Frey

on

a

Low on

drop their

column they had

last

discovered.

"The weather was

said.

begin with.

Rockeye and we pulled clear

ever been

halfoftheFLIR

first

to

When

it

bombing run— that tank

he

finally

was probably the filled

more than

display."

canister didn't open. Instead

at the point just between the engine

it

tumbled

into the tank

compartment doors and the

tur-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE ret.

"A Rockeye

canister isn't designed for that sort of attack," said

Frey, "but in this instance five

hundred knots

The

of damage."

.

.

.

it

worked.

A

well, simple physics says

tank caught

fire

that

They

discovered

more

bomb

509-pound

it's

traveling at

going to do a

made one more sweep

targets

would have

be prosecuted by someone

to

to the

else.

After having spent nearly seven hours airborne that day, Frey

Wedemeyer made

their

squadron's ready room.

way back

watch,"

some

remembered

Frey.

to beat

Eventually word got back to the

Colonel Randolph "Tex"

and got

questioned as to

wing had

way

Alles.

MAG's commanding

"Tex called us over

to the

into us pretty good," Frey recalled.

to

was

it

officer,

MAG head-

The two were

why they had broken the altitude restrictions that the Frey and Wedemeyer answered that there was no

laid out.

to get

any work done above the clouds and that

stances—particularly with Second fire.

our own drum, but

by

good footage."

pretty

quarters

videotape to several of the

a lot of other aircrews stopped

"Not

and

to the tent that served as their

"We showed our

and when word got out

guys,

of

SCUD under tow

targets including a

was accompanied by other vehicles. They passed the data

DASC. The

lot

and burned.

Before the crew of Nail 33 departed, they the area.

105

in

some

in-

Tanks— there were Marines under

Alles answered that clearance directly

from the

TACC

was

re-

quired to deviate from the restrictions, and, absent that, deviations

were approved only

if the

Everyone hated the

Iraqi

Marines on the ground were being overrun.

SCUDs.

such a fearsome weapon; rather,

it

It

wasn't because the

was because

it

was

SCUD

was

just barely ca-

pable enough to force the Marines to take precautions. Every time that a

SCUD

imminent,

launch was detected, or whenever

sirens

a

launch appeared

would sound. Everyone was required

to stop their

work, climb into their protective gear, and get inside a protective

bunker.

The odds

of any of the Iraqi missiles actually hitting what

it

was

106

JAY A.

aimed

STOUT

were very poor. The design was

at

the 1950s;

it

a Soviet

one

that dated to

had an accuracy that— at the very best— was measured

in football fields;

it

was launched by

Iraqis with

circumspect training.

That the

missiles got airborne at all

was a small miracle.

tem had

a small record of successes.

Only by sheer luck

weapons

hit a barracks

housing American soldiers

Still,

did

one of the

in the

middle of

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, during Desert Storm on February

The

twenty-eight deaths

it

And

truth be told,

threw

many

forces.

of the surface-to-surface missiles that the

Coalition during Operation Iraqi

at the

indigenous derivations of the older Soviet weapons.

was one of these. Supposedly longer-ranged than the intended to be an example of

Of

manufacturer.

Iraq's

Freedom were

The Al Hussein SCUD-B, it was

emerging prowess

an arms

as

questionable design, dubious manufacture, and

poor employment, these weapons were even

SCUDs

25, 1991.

caused marked the only success the

SCUD had ever enjoyed against U.S. Iraqis

the sys-

than the

less successful

used a decade earlier during Desert Storm.

Still,

on paper

they were a threat, and they were taken seriously.

Because the missiles had a remote but tion installations, then, U.S. forces

real

chance of hitting Coali-

were required

to react. Part of that

reaction— a big part— was donning protective Nuclear Biological

Chemical ted out,

suits.

These

suits

were uncomfortable and bulky. Fully

most Marines couldn't

effectively carry out their duties.

dripped with sweat on the inside, and condensation to see

and the boots were

but even to

move around

be able

to carry a

difficult

still

the

not only to pull on and

wound was the

realization

SCUD systems were only postulated

chemical or biological warhead.

As primitive and inaccurate

SCUD attack

difficult

in. Salt in

by most of the Marines that the to

it

out of their gas masks. Too, the gloves absolutely precluded any

precision work, off,

made

kit-

They

had an

effect

as the

system was,

on the Coalition

just the threat

forces.

of a

Even though

the defensive shield that the Patriots provided had proven almost perfect,

overly prudent U.S. leaders required their troops to take cover

with every

alert.

But

after a

time

One Marine remembered

the

it

became

first

a case of crying wolf.

SCUD alert that sounded at his

HAMMER FROM ABOVE installation. "It

and

like a

bunch of old women

at a yard sale.

Clothes

NBC gear were flying everywhere. By the time most of us got our

shit on, the I

was

107

think

alarm was over. But then there was another.

we had

at least twenty-five

alarms during the

And

first

another.

ten days or

so."

With each to the threat.

alarm the Marines became more and more inured

false

The same Marine quoted above remembered

tion later in the campaign. "After not getting

fourth night in a row,

ured

my sleeping

I

finally said

bag would be

a

Tuck

if

any sleep

and

good enough

for

his reac-

about the

just rolled over. filter

and

so did

I

fig-

most

of the other guys."

As

much

trouble as the threat of the

SCUDs

caused, there

mately were no U.S. casualties caused by the aged system.

ulti-

11

Rules of Engagement and

Command and

Control

well as the air campaign was going, there was some friction Asbetween the leadership at 3rd MAW and the crews who were exestill

cuting the missions. For the

AV-8B

pilots

fast

movers— the F/A-18 Hornet and

— nothing was more frustrating than the altitude restricwing had mandated. The crews were limited

tions that the

floor— a "don't-go-below" altitude— of ten thousand ground.

The

attack

be

jets

won

to lose

And

The

Iraqis hitting if

to a

above the

regardless,

anything above

this altitude

were

very,

the altitude restriction limited the efficiency of the

somewhat,

any

feet

reasoning behind this line of thought was that the

chances of the very small.

the

well, that

was acceptable. The war was going

to

and the wing— quite understandably— didn't want

aircraft needlessly.

altitude restrictions

were eased somewhat

if

an

aircraft

was op-

erating under the control of a Forward Air Controller (Airborne). In this situation the floor

was that the airborne

was lowered

FAC

to five

thousand

feet.

The

logic

crew, with two sets of eyeballs and a pair of

HAMMER FROM ABOVE binoculars, could

make

109

reasonably certain that there were no sophis-

ticated anti-aircraft threats in the area.

The

hated the restrictions.

pilots

The

Rules of Engagement drafted

by the theater commander required that every target— regardless of its

location

extreme ties

— be positively identified, or PID'd. This was driven by an

sensitivity to the political implications of the civilian casual-

that might

PID

result

from a misidentification. In

Damage

required, a Collateral

necessary. If a valid

and PID'd

target

From

it

ten thousand feet with the naked eye

targets

such

And

it

armored

as tanks or

it

enemy armor from

was

Damage

difficult to

also

make

Evaluation except

was simply impossible

to

PID

small

Even equipped with FLIR

vehicles.

pods that provided some level of magnification, distinguish

was

was off limits.

a positive identification or a Collateral

with the largest of targets.

not only was a

CDE,

was discovered, but was too close

then

to civilian or cultural structures,

fact,

Estimate, or a

it

was not possible

to

friendly at an altitude often thousand

feet.

This drove some aircrews to question the soundness of the tions. feet, it

A PID

could generally be

made from

three to four thousand

depending on the sensor and the atmospheric conditions.

sometimes took more than one pass over the

commander restrictions,

my guys

to

would have had

that

little

squadron

they had been allowed to

make

one pass

One

were racing around over the top of the bad guys if

just

target.

was low enough

chance

to take a shot.

make

the

PID

the Iraqis

On the other hand, when make

they complied with the rules they normally weren't able to

PID on

the

initial flyover.

They

usually didn't get shot at the

time, but they sure did on the subsequent runs. giving a wake-up call to the bad guys. started to

enemy

fall,

fire,

Still,

"To make the PID while complying with the

recalled:

two and three and four times. However,

to

restric-

By the time

my guys had wasted a bunch and given the

Iraqis a

The

first

that

first

pass was like

bombs

actually

of gas, exposed themselves

chance

to

run or dig

in."

This was particularly frustrating from a leadership standpoint.

was charged with leading these "It

was

my job to make

fellas,"

sure that

a

"I

one commander remembered.

we played by the

boss's rules.

On the

110

other hand, field just

want

didn't

I

because

I

JAY A.

STOUT

to leave

enemy

make

couldn't go low enough to

PID. Those same enemy forces would be in the trying to kill Marines/'

what

I

did,

I

felt

that

I

Another

on the

forces alive

a bulletproof

day-

fight the next

flight leader recalled,

was being forced

battle-

"No

bad example

to set a

matter

my

for

subordinates." Restrictions aside, there

were

was a loophole.

were expected

do everything possible

to

meant everything

the ground. This

opening

with their

fire

If

Marines on the ground

were

in extremis, all altitude limitations

lifted

and the crews comrades on

to assist their

short of raising the canopy

and

9mm pistols.

As might be expected, there were different interpretations of in tremis.

Sometimes

with Marines

just the fact that the aircrews

who were engaged

in a fight

were

ex-

in radio contact

was enough

to bring

them

down. And

for their part, the troops loved to see the fast jets streaking

overhead;

bombs and

morale booster

bullets aside, the sight

for the friendlies,

and

was

a

terrifying for the

tremendous enemy. Re-

gardless of nuances, this caveat allowing the lifting of the altitude restriction

worked; in numerous instances the

fast

movers blasted away

dug-in fighters to clear the way for their ground-bound brothers. In-

deed, at times there were Marine Hornets racing around at a thou-

sand feet or

less strafing all

Fedayeen on

But

ROE

it

wasn't just the

pilots as well.

wood was

made up

the

of

of targets, to include black-suited

foot. jet

jocks

who

was considered impractical

gunship

ships

manner

AH-1W

at their restrictions; the

Lieutenant Colonel Steve

commander

— twenty-three

chafed

at the tactical level

of

HMLA-267,

Cobras and

UH-1N

a

by helicopter

"Woodman" Hey-

composite squadron

Hueys. Nearly

of twenty-six— sustained battle

all

of his

damage during

the fighting.

Heywood tion of this

the

believed the

ROE

was responsible

for a significant por-

damage— particularly that portion of the ROE that treated

engagement of enemy troops who may or may not have been

rendering.

"The

three engaging a

first

group of

GNH-45

my

birds that

artillery battery,

was shot up,

sur-

a flight of

exposed themselves

to the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE enemy by adhering

the

strictly to

ROE

that

111

was imposed. In

stance they pulled off without engaging because the

was waving the white

sition

enemy at the

attacks

on

"You can imagine that

ingly vexed.

it

to spare those

that

may have

crews by Iraqis under white

his

continued, and he and the other

flags

po-

flag."

Heywood believed that the higher command's goal who did not wish to fight was a laudable one, and one worked elsewhere. But

this in-

commanders became

increas-

did not take long to alter our

posture and engagement decisions vis-a-vis 'surrendering troops/

"The problem with the ROE," the commander went on, "was it

was

a single, all-encompassing set of rules.

It

was written

that

for the

lance corporal infantryman, the guy pulling the trigger in the Abrams tank, the fixed-wing pilots— everyone.

across

had

all

to

It

just didn't translate well

the different weapons systems in the heat of battle

when you

decide very quickly what you were going to do."

Neither did he agree with those

critics

who claimed

that the high

percentage of battle damage his unit sustained stemmed from ranging too far afield

— cowboys

looking for a fight in Indian Country.

"We went deeper forward when we given situation warranted stance,"

it.

felt that

the particular aspects of a

That's what we're trained to do. For in-

he continued, "there was an episode during the

first

week

or

when a unit of Brits was taking casualties from an Iraqi artillery battery. The fixed-wing boys couldn't help, and one of my captains made the decision on the spot to take his four-ship— a division of Cobras— so

up

to help.

"He made

the judgment call to take the risk and go fourteen kilo-

meters out in front of the friendlies.

When

it

was

all

over,

he and the

other three crews killed that arty battery and destroyed a tank platoon,

some

anti-aircraft pieces,

Coalition lives by doing

Heywood

didn't

he lamented the it

training,

it.

whole bunch of Iraqis. And he saved

a

This

is

argue the need

fact that little

became apparent

also dangerous.

and

what

was done

that the original set

Bottom

line,

my guys to

ROE.

modify or change

was not only

he believed that

combined with good

get paid to do."

for a good, effective

Rather, it

once

ineffective,

realistic

and

personal leadership, were

but

effective

what made

112

JAY A.

STOUT

the difference in the face of doctrinal shortcomings. "There

between

line

and good

stupidity

courage. Sometimes this get,

you did things

is

in results: If

a fine

and

leadership

flight

tactics,

measured

is

you

killed the tar-

right/'

Heywood qualified his comment, "Of course that's a bit too simplistic. What is true is that positive results come from realistic and demanding

What

training of the highest standards.

most of the time during the fighting was

think happened

I

that the flight leaders

made

reasonable decisions based on the threat, the ground commander's desires,

and the prevailing

tactical situation.

These decisions were

devastating to the enemy."

make up

It is

the accounts of individual Marine

this

book. While these narratives are interesting on their own,

portant to understand

and control

them

structure.

fliers

that

earlier,

3rd

MAW

manded by Major General James "Tamer" Amos, General Terry "Guts" Robling served

as

wing's operations. Although

split

Amos was always

im-

was com-

while Brigadier

Amos's deputy or

wing commander. Between the two they

it is

Marine command

in the context of the

As indicated

the bulk of

assistant

the oversight of the

in charge,

he delegated

the "night page" to Robling while he led operations himself during the day. "This worked out reasonably well," Robling recalled.

was

a pretty easy

guy

to

work with, and

it

relationship with the other generals throughout the

and the time

rest

shifts

"Tamer

helped that he had a great

Marine Corps

of the theater." While the theory of daytime and night-

made

perfect sense, the reality was that neither

one of the

two generals could stand to be away from the center of the action for

more than "I

a

few hours during the day. "Truth be

think that

we both averaged about twenty hours

TACC." The Tactical at

Al Jaber, and

least

when

told,"

Air it

Command

Robling a

said,

day in the

Center, callsign Icepack, was located

Amos and Robling hung their hats— at The Marine portion of the air war was di-

was where

they were awake.

rected from this center, equipped with wall-sized displays, banks of

HAMMER FROM ABOVE computers, extensive communications

The

all.

action in the

TACC

suites,

113

and the

staff to

ATO,

revolved around the

man

it

or Air Task-

ing Order.

The

ATO was simply the flight schedule for the day.

from simple.

It

was built

vices using inputs

by the

in pieces

staffs

of

all

But

it

far

the various ser-

from hundreds or more sources. These sections

were then forwarded

to the

CFACC

in

Saudi Arabia. There

it

sembled, reviewed, adjusted, approved, and disseminated.

huge— hundreds and hundreds all

was

the individual flights, but

it

of pages per day.

Not only

was It

did

as-

was

it list

and num-

also delineated units, types

bers of aircraft, callsigns, targets, times, weapons, procedures, coordi-

nating directions, special instructions, and more. or

more people

to the

to build.

It

took a thousand

This single paragraph can hardly do justice

complexity of effort that goes into building the

ence that people spend careers

"One we put

ATO;

it is

a sci-

to learn.

of the keys to our success," said Robling, "was a system that

into place especially for this fight."

Amos and Robling

tagged

four experts to monitor the details of the battle around the clock.

Each of them was an

them understood

They put

fected

ATO. And

"They would

participate in building

"and then would come on duty

to

TACC

to

of course they were in the

for at least a

in long days."

firsthand

it.

said Robling,

hand over

huge dividends and

to execute

ATO,"

execute that same take over or

each of them was a colonel, and each of

the wing commander's intent and had the experi-

ence and expertise a given day's

aviator,

couple of hours before and

This familiarity with a particular

in the execution.

knowledge of the

what happened on the

ATO

after.

paid

With

the experts' aviation expertise

fight,

they

made

decisions that

battlefield in real time.

Because they

personally captained the air war from where they sat in the

TACC,

they were dubbed "Battle Captains." Robling recollected: "There

no doubt as

it

af-

that one of the primary reasons the campaign went

is

as well

did was because of the hard work of these four Marines: Colonels

Jeffrey

White,

Raymond

Most of the Marine "grunt" on the ground.

Fox,

Mark Mahaffey, and

sorties

The

Bill Griffen."

were directed toward supporting the

controlling entity for this effort was the

114

STOUT

JAY A.

Direct Air Support Center. With the callsign of Blacklist, fitted

much

like the

TACC

it

except on a smaller scale. With

focus on supporting ground operations, the the Fire Support Coordination Center

DASC

(FSCC)

was outentire

its

coordinated with

that

was embedded

with the First Marine Division in order to collect and prioritize quests for air support.

then parceled

It

the great confuser that

it

time-critical requests that

When radio

War

being

the "Dascateers" also serviced ad hoc,

came

to

them

outside normal channels.

operations reached deep into Iraq, the longer distances

made

DASC was augmented KC-130 that served as an airborne DASC —

communications more

by a specially configured the

is,

sorties as required.

re-

difficult,

DASC(A). The DASC(A),

and the

callsign

Sky Chief, helped

to

ensure

better connectivity across the breadth of the battlefield.

The TAOC, was responsible

Saddam's

or Tactical Air Operations Center, callsign Tropical, for controlling the air defense effort. In this conflict

air force stayed

on the ground, and there was

de-

little air

fense to control. Although the Iraqis did send rockets into Kuwait, the

Marine Corps possessed no

missile defenses capable of defending

against them; the Army's Patriots took this duty.

manned craft

the

TAOC

directed

more

effort

toward the various killboxes and

as the situation dictated.

With

The Marines who

toward routing friendly

TSTs (Time

air-

Sensitive Targets)

their surveillance radar they also pro-

vided good situational awareness and could vector aircraft toward aerial refuelers or other

important points.

The final link in the chain that ran from the TACC down to the battlefield was the FAC, or Forward Air These were Marine

officer aviators pulled

from

the

all

Controller.

flying billets

signed to ground units for a year or two at a time.

way

and

as-

They marched with

the grunts, got dirty with the grunts, fought with the grunts, and killed

with the grunts. Requesting and controlling the

Support, that the ground unit needed was their

CAS,

task.

or Close Air

Their familiarity

with aviation procedures combined with the savvy that

having worked with the grunts from the

air

made them

suited for the job. Their airborne counterpart was the

airborne

FAC. These

specially trained

came from perfectly

FAC(A)— the

F/A-18D crews often ran the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE deeper

fight,

115

but could also control aviation and

artillery fires close to

A

crew would pull the

the troops. In practice

it

worked something

like this:

appropriate information for their scheduled sortie from the the

TACC

had helped build and was managing

ting airborne

and checking

in with the

TAOC,

ATO that

full-time. After get-

the crew would con-

tact the

DASC. The DASC would give them amplifying information,

change

their mission, or simply

if

the crew were flying a

and the

FAC would

CAS

send them on their way. Ultimately—

mission— they would contact

a

FAC,

coordinate the support he needed.

Again, these descriptions are simplifications of a process that quires years for professionals to learn well.

Still,

in the

re-

framework of

the stories presented here, they help to build an appreciation of the Marine Corps operates as a complete air-and-ground team.

how

12

Tomato Man

March 22

By

tives

the various

RCTs had met

of the previous day and

now

or exceeded their objec-

concentrated on meeting their

remaining assignments while shifting their

effort

Nasiriyah and the Euphrates River. To the west, 1

moved on An

had taken link

Nasiriyah,

had opened

left for

The Army's

a route over the river;

it

also allowed

enemy forces that waited

in the city.

the Marines to deal with. In the South

RCT-5 executed

a

handoff of

its

fighters

remnants of the

who wore no

Iraqi

that

them

Army

oil fields

UK

RCT-7 continued

as well as various factions of

uniforms.

first

time since the war in Viet-

Marine Corps Cobras had blown up an enemy

tenant Colonel

to bypass

These would be

area with elements of the First

That morning probably marked the

nam

capture of this

Rumaylah

Division, while to the east, just south of Al Basrah, to battle

An

where the Army's Third Infantry Division

a bridge across the Euphrates.

the considerable

west toward

TF Tarawa and RCT-

"Woodman" Heywood and

boat. Lieu-

his four-ship of

AH-lWs

HAMMER FROM ABOVE had spent much of the

first

against targets north of Az

few hours of daylight supporting RCT-7

Zubayr near Highway

Heywood

sent a

simultaneous explosions were spectacular. said, "that

it

was

a

his to

up

second sec-

escape up a

TOW missile after one of them, and

second section leader launched another

Heywood

After shooting

caught sight of two patrol boats trying

nearby canal. his

8.

Heywood and

Iraqi positions inside a set of buildings,

tion leader

117

shame

TOW. The "I

pair of near-

remember

thinking/'

that our video systems weren't

working that day."

He was leading the four aircraft back south toward Astrodome in Kuwait when he overflew a FARP convoy on the highway. After reversing course

and exchanging hand

lead vehicle, he brought his division

each aircrew took care not

signals with the

down

in the

alongside the road, where

land on any of the exposed mines stud-

to

The FARP team Marines

ding the ground.

Marines

explosives while they quickly fueled

stepped around the deadly

and armed the Cobras.

It

wasn't

long before Heywood's four gunships were airborne again.

This time they were directed to support a

Armor Team) working along

CAAT (Combined Anti-

a canal that ran east-to-west

about eight

miles from the newly captured Al Basrah International Airport. Pushing north of the canal,

enemy

targets. It

was only

light illuminated in

Box) pressure

light.

a short

time

his flight started looking for later

conjunction with his

it

master caution

(Combining Gear

my

failed, the

it

immediately started back south toward the

the pressure gauge; at

CBOX

his

to the aircraft's rotor system; if

recounted Heywood. "Jon Livingston in

were looking

when

This component combined the power from both

engines and transferred aircraft failed. "I

Heywood and

friendlies,"

backseat kept an eye on

minimum acceptable was twenty-five

PSI, and

we

twenty PSI."

The four helicopters swung overhead the CAAT from the but Heywood quickly decided that the team wasn't big enough vide the security he

would need

wanted

With

his aircraft.

the

if

north, to pro-

the Iraqis decided that they really

CBOX

pressure

now down

to fifteen

PSI, he headed back toward Al Basrah International where Third Battalion,

Fourth Marines was dug in with tanks and other armor. This

118

was very near where he and

CP when

the battalion

remembered.

time

I

started to get

tain that they

craft

was

hit

licopter

aircraft started attracting

start to

little bit

landed near

I

mortar

he

fire,"

of payback. Any-

creep closer and closer. At the same looks from the grunts. I'm not cer-

my Cobra

and amongst them."

CBOX

sitting in

would hardly be relevant

pressure

if

the

air-

by a mortar round, Heywood and Livingston said some

quick good-byes and

safe.

our

after

Iraqi posi-

some nervous

wanted

Because the

had shot up the

guess the Iraqis wanted a

"I

watched the rounds

I

his division

was only a few minutes

tions earlier that day. "It

way,

STOUT

JAY A.

lifted

away from the

would hold together long enough

They headed

south,

airfield

for

hoping that the he-

them

to get

escorted by the rest of their

still

somewhere

flight,

and

it

wasn't long before they spotted the headquarters element of Third Battalion, Eleventh Marines.

Nearby was

CSSD

a

(Combat

Service

Support Detachment) fueling point.

Heywood and

Livingston set their aircraft

down and

sent the other

three crews back to base to help coordinate the maintenance effort that

would be required

to get the helicopter airworthy again. After a

short chat with the battalion

commander Heywood

way toward the CSSD. He

recalled:

trucks

on the

road.

goats.

were no land mines

didn't say anything

and

I

as

it

of cars and

lot

but some of them in her twenties

She was taking them

which was somewhat reassuring

tain that there

just stared,

young woman — maybe

A

walked by with a herd of water,

"There were a

Most of the people

cheered and waved.

crossed the high-

made me

and

to feed

reasonably cer-

She looked

in the area.

—

at

me

but

remember thinking that the only thing these

people really knew was war, and that

must have been

it

a brutal exis-

tence."

The CSSD Marines wood's

aircraft,

and

Post for a quick

amused myself survival radio

—

I

after

MRE

for a

readily agreed to provide security for

stopping back at the battalion

he rejoined Livingston

Heywood's

wanted

interest

Command

at the helicopter. "I

while by sending text messages out on the to

Nobody answered. So much

know how for

Hey-

new

the recovery effort was going.

combat

e-mail."

was piqued when an older

Bored with

man and

a

his radio,

young boy

HAMMER FROM ABOVE stepped out of a

mud

brick hut a few

119

hundred yards away. The two

some time feeding a handful of goats and then tended

spent

Heywood

patch of tomatoes. Again

reflected

on

to a small

seem-

their primitive,

ingly miserable lives.

was midafternoon when the three-ship of Cobras returned

It

CH-46Es from

corting two

Foxes. "I sent the Cobras

"while

Gunny Pack and

away

his

Heywood's

attention. There,

man and

young

the

go

work

set to

coming

es-

world-famous Purple

Heywood

kill stuff,"

coming and going

all

Iraqi

to

team

was during

of this

HMM-364— the

fixing

my helicopter/'

CSSD

that the

recalled, It

Marines got

across the field, was the old

boy.

"The Marines were doing

their job,"

recounted Heywood, "but

wasn't convinced that the guy was a threat, so

I

walked out

I

meet

to

The man was short but walked upright and with confidence. He was dressed in traditional Arab style with a white dishdasha and a red-and-white-checked gutra over his head. And probably because he

him."

was

he was wearing boots instead of sandals. "He was

a farmer,

mated and happy," his house.

We

said

smiled a

ani-

Heywood, "and he kept gesturing out toward lot at

each other but had no way

to

commu-

looked back at the Marines and they were keeping a close

nicate.

I

eye on

him — no doubt ready

to take

him out

if

he made the wrong

move." After a short time the Iraqi farmer

on

their

full

way back. This time they were

"We

of tomatoes.

gestured

ured that he was trying to wallet."

The

me

for

I

something— a box

the tomatoes, so it.

realized that the

man

what we were doing.

It

said,

I

him

"and

I

fig-

pulled out

my

He pushed

held the box of tomatoes toward

was then that

was thanking us

sell

carrying

but were soon

left,

some more," Heywood

would have none of

Iraqi

money away and "It

and the boy

the Marine's

again.

was giving us a gift— he

was an incredible

moment

standing there in that field with millions of dollars of aircraft and those

armed Marines and

had nothing but a

this

simple farmer and his boy.

mud house, some goats,

He

all

really

and a tomato patch, but he

was proud of what he had and was happy we were there. ing us what he could in order to thank us. That

He was

man showed

giv-

us the

120

JAY A.

very best of Arab culture, and

I

STOUT

think that

we

all

learned a lesson that

day."

Heywood thanked

the

small boy laughed as

man

man and

and the

Heywood made

tomiming how he would later the old

heartily

eat

pair of

them and

the

exaggerated gestures— pan-

and enjoy the tomatoes.

A

while

little

the boy waved good-bye and headed back to

tend their goats and crops.

By now the

aircraft

was

fixed. Still feeling

good about having made

warm connection across a chasm of culture and language, Heywood couldn't help but reflect on what had just taken place. The irony was still with him as he strapped into his gunship and brought a

it

roaring back to

life.

On the

one hand he was hoping

be well with the old man, while

at the

would

that all

same time he and Livingston

were getting airborne and heading west

to kill

more

Iraqis. It

was a

kooky world.

The RPG that struck the M88 tank retriever near Al Basrah on March 22 destroyed the vehicle and badly wounded three of the Marines inside. One of the more grievously injured men was Master Gunnery Sergeant Guadalupe Denogean, a twenty-five-year veteran who had emigrated from Mexico with his parents nearly forty years

younger Marines, triever

also hurt, braved the flames that

and pushed and pulled

Denogean belonged

First Tanks' roster, stayed

his father

would

survive.

But he would be back.

consumed

His

the re-

broken body out of the wreckage.

to First Tanks.

did so without two Denogeans.

on

his

earlier.

But when the unit moved on

Young Sergeant Jovan Denogean,

it

also

out of the fight until he was certain that

13

Cobras Over An Nasiriyah

the end of

March

22,

TF Tarawa

was already engaged with the

Byenemy in An Nasiriyah. RCT-1 passed through Tarawa's zone two different times in order to secure bridges to the north city in

preparation for the arrival of

Those two RCTs completed

their

RCT-5 and

handover

Nasiriyah,

RCT-1,

city.

It

stay

-5,

and

behind

-7

and west of the

on March

23.

to the British of that part

of Iraq that sat between Kuwait and Al Basrah.

Tarawa would

-7

Once around An

would continue the race north while

to kill

enemy

fighters

who remained

in the

That was the plan, anyway.

was daytime again and Captain Todd "BT" Miller of

was dusty, three

thirsty,

and assed-out

AH-1W Cobras

that

tired.

made up

HMLA-267

So were the crews of the other

the rest of his

flight.

"Seeing the

sunrise was a lot like taking aspirin for a bad headache," he

bered.

"It

remem-

released a lot of tension." As their division leader, Miller

had flown them

all

over southeastern Iraq during

hours of night operations.

It

more than twelve

was the longest night mission that any of

122

STOUT

JAY A.

them had ever

"We had been

afternoon.

and

flown; they had taken off prior to sunset the previous flying all night

on

between the FARPs and the front

forth

oil fields,

Umm

Al Basrah, and

Marines and with the shot at anything

Now, on

the

the Astrodome

all

Qasr.

goggles, shuttling back

had been working with

but most of it had been a bust

Brits

Rumaylah

lines near the

We

as

we

hadn't

night."

morning of March

FARP

23, his four-ship

just inside the

was refueling

Kuwaiti border with

at

Their

Iraq.

tasking was complete and they were preparing to return to their base at Ali

Al Salem.

"We were

pretty

much done

the aircraft needed servicing and

problem

that pretty

much

kept

my

in,"

Miller recalled. "All

dash-two had a mechanical

him from doing any more ops

any-

way." It

was then that the

called us firefight

and

up

in

call

said that there

An

Nasiriyah.

came: "Sky Chief, the airborne were

friendlies

They wanted

engaged

DASC,

in a pretty

heavy

us to launch immediately."

Miller was responsible not only for making sure that whatever mission the crews were assigned got accomplished, but also for

making

the correct decisions about the welfare of the

men and

"Aside from safety considerations— because

we had been up

night— I was concerned because some crews had caught

the aircraft. all

hell during

the previous couple of days for flying beyond what they were scheduled. As

young Cobra

grunts get what they

pilots

we'd had

want— always.

I

it

pounded

into us that the

think that guys were just leaning

forward and trying to do the right thing." Unfortunately, this type of

commitment was was supposed

difficult

on the tasking

to stick with the schedule,

cycle. Miller

and

knew

in this case that

that

he

meant

going home. Nevertheless, he double-checked with Sky Chief and the word

came

back:

They were

the only available crews and aircraft, and they

were needed straightaway. of course they were

We

all

"I

kind of polled the

chomping at the

bit to

rest

of the

go out and

kill

put a quick brief together and got airborne in a hurry.

two back

home

to Ali Al

I

Salem; he wasn't too happy about

fellas

and

bad guys. sent dashthat."

Operating under the callsigns of Orkin 61, 62, and 63, the three

HAMMER FROM ABOVE crews raced northwest as

fast as their

hard-worn ships would carry

them. Miller was manning the front cockpit of

cockpit was his good friend

and

a really

count on

wanted thought

to do. I

Dave "Fuse"

good sounding board

tough decision/' Miller erally

said. "If

his experience

On

his bird.

Cobra's weapons were typically

this station that the

pilot

123

I

It

fired.

was from In the aft

Bussel. "Fuse was a great

for

me

if I

was up against

was thinking one way

and knowledge

I

could gen-

to validate

the other hand, he wasn't afraid to speak

was about

to

a

what

up

do something that might not be too

if

I

he

bright.

The two of us made a pretty solid crew." The rest of his division was made up of seasoned fliers as well. Captains "Weasel" Weis and Ron "Ike" Canizzo crewed the formation's second aircraft,

Dan

and Captains

"Shoeshine" Sheehan and Brad "Gash" Lagaski rounded out

the lineup in the third gunship.

The three ships were flying northwest, parallel with Highway 8, ward An Nasiriyah when they overtook an enormous column

to-

of

friendly equipment. "It really bothered me," Miller said, "because

there

would be

up on another if

a break with

no one on the

line of vehicles. Well, until

road,

we

and then we'd come

got close

I

couldn't

tell

they were our guys advancing, or the Iraqis retreating— I was wor-

ried

about flying straight into an ambush.

were bad guys

I still

wanted

to

be able

On

to kill

the other hand,

if

they

them."

The column that Miller and his three-ship had overtaken was Regimental Combat Team 5. It had started a two-hundred-mile road movement that same morning, its route also charted to An Nasiriyah. Miller had other problems besides the long line of friendly vehi-

"We were going like hell and fuel was already a concern. Initially we were going to stop for gas at a new FARP just south of An Nasiriyah, but the closer we got the more it became obvious from Sky Chief that they needed us up there right now." The three crews put cles.

together a hasty

game plan and

refueling stop, shoot

up

their

enemy, and then disengage

pressed on.

ammo upon

They decided

to skip the

making contact with the

to either find the

new FARP

or set

down

along the highway and wait for a refueling truck.

The men whom

Miller and his crews were coming to aid were part

124

STOUT

JAY A.

of the First Battalion of the Second Marine Regiment, or "one-two" in

Marine

lexicon.

They were

southern approach to the

heavy their

fire,

stalled at a

highway overpass

Although the Marines were taking

city.

they were unable to counter with overwhelming

own— an Army

were survivors

still

convoy had been ambushed

earlier,

fire

of

and there

trapped in the area.

Miller remembered:

"On

FACs

ple of different

at the

we were

the radio

until

passed through a cou-

they handed us off to Major Scott

He was assigned to a tank detachment at the column." By now things were getting hot; an AAV

Hawkins, callsign Hawk. very head of the

had already been the road.

RPG

by an

hit

and

smoking on the west

sat

And whenever Hawkins keyed

side of

Cobra crews

his radio, the

could hear bullets pinging off the outside of his tank. Another factor played into the agitation. they

left

the

FARP

legally sanctioned

The

The

that they

three crews had been so tired

had

all

taken "go

These were

pills."

amphetamines— speed. They were

when

wired.

three Cobras slowed almost to a hover as they approached the

From where he was battened down in his tank near the overpass, Hawk was having a difficult time making visual contact with the Cobras. "It was confusing when we got there," Miller recalled. "We fighting.

could see the tanks in a staggered formation on the highway, and there was a lot of dust and smoke, but

enemy

positions."

It

fire!

A frantic

You're taking

call

came

caught sight

over the radio: "You're tak-

"I called

back, really calmly, 'From

where?' and he shouted back, 'Everywhere!'

was then that Sheehan and Lagaski

helicopter's tail

finally

fire!"

Miller didn't see anything.

It

couldn't really see the

was obvious when Hawkins

of Miller's formation. ing

we

boom.

Now

in

"

Orkin 63 took

hits in their

thoroughly alarmed and without a good

idea of what the situation was, Miller wheeled his aircraft around led the other two Cobras back south

and out of range of the enemy

"We

fell

back and regrouped, and checked

everyone was

still

okay.

gunners.

in a fighting hole.

looked closer,

He

Then Sheehan

hit

we could

it

with a

and

to

make

spotted a heavy

TOW and blew

see that the entire area

it

sure that

machine gun

to bits.

And

as

we

on the west side of the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE highway was

up with trenches and

built

125

fighting holes.

There were

bunkers and pillboxes, strong points in buildings, and guys with

RPGs running back and place was

between the

forth

of heavy weapons and vehicles

full

The

different positions.

— even some half-buried

tanks."

Miller and the other two crews tore into the area like

"We charged

in there

and

just

opened up on those

guys.

mad It

dogs.

was kind

we weren't using the most organized tactics. The smartest thing we did was shoot and shoot and then shoot some more— sometimes from a hover. They didn't stand a chance." The Cobra crews pummeled the enemy positions for fifteen more minutes. "Hawk was shouting into the radio and calling us onto tarof a free-for-all;

gets.

Fuse and

course calls

all

—

it

I

were shouting back and forth on the intercom, and of

of us were talking and

was crazy!

had made

my mouth

incredibly dry;

towels wrapped around forth just

inch rockets

it

scope

crawling through

a

all to

good

effect.

it

I

a

wad

pills

of paper

three crews raced back and

jumped

into

city

my

started looking

and could see dozens of guys

army

units in the

throat— but only

TSU

were

I

As Miller shredded the cover with

heart

plainly through the

Miller remembered, "Weasel

opened up with the 20-millimeter and ripped

called out that there were

his

same

for a second.

I

Iraqis

and

definitely not ours.

more times by

that

I

"My

could see

was okay."

down was

the firepower that Weis and Canizzo in

Orkin 62, and Sheehan and Lagaski the Iraqis. Miller

area.

Hawk came back

destruction that Miller and Bussel were throwing

multiplied two

cannon,

[Telescopic Sight Unit] that the guys run-

moment later and confirmed The

had

exploded. After that

Hawk

a

I

laser-guided Hellfire missiles, 2.75-

at a line of trees

it.

that place to pieces."

ning for the

felt like

of

TOW and a dozen bodies literally came flying

when

out of that thing

my

all sorts

fired everything they carried, includ-

TOW missiles,

one bunker with

through

radio with

— both high explosive and flechette — and 20-millimeter

cannon. They used hit

I

my tongue." The

above the ground and

ing wire-guided

jamming the

remember," continued Miller, "that the go

I

remembered

in

Orkin 63, were pouring into

that the 2.75-inch flechette rockets

126

STOUT

JAY A.

were particularly tion,

hundreds of tiny metal

he

Iraqis/'

Upon

detona-

darts flew in all directions.

"Those

when

they got

effective against troops in the open.

recalled, "actually looked like they deflated

caught by flechettes; they dropped

had been

like they

hit with a

mer." Finally, out of ammunition and gas, the three Cobras

and turned south

rearm and

to

"By now our hearts were this

point

we

fell

hamback

refuel.

really

pounding," Miller recalled.

hadn't gotten into any kind of shooting like

this."

"Up

to

He led

back down the highway— back past the advancing mass of

his flight

men and equipment that made up RCT-5 and toward

the spot where

new arming and refueling point, was supposed to be way back we passed nose-to-nose with another Cobra on his way up. I don't know who he was, but he asked if he could join us. I told him that he was welcome, but that things were Riverfront, the

"On

located.

the

hot up north and that they really needed help, so he pressed on

had found

alone." Miller learned later that the crew of the lone ship

and laser-designated

targets for fixed-wing aircraft; the decision to

press to the fight as a single ship

"We were

really

army Black Hawks and

low on gas and

where the FARP was

close to

told

I

in

good one.

a

danger of flaming out. As we got it

because

got hold of

them on

actually spotted

circling to land.

I

them what was going on and asked them

They had no problem with

What

had been

that

and waved

Miller and the other two Cobras

FARR Only

getting set up. asses,"

"The Marines working

Then

the

off to get

behind

landed into

was

birds.

It

us."

little

more

fully func-

as

we

that

FARP were

down

got

busting their

they hooked up the

ammo trucks and troops started showing up and

they started off-loading

our

the radio

the fuel trucks had arrived, and they were just

he recollected. "As soon

fuel hoses.

saw two

to let us cut in line.

than a dusty rendezvous point in the desert rather than a tioning

I

all

their stuff into the dirt

and slapping

it

onto

wasn't even close to being by the book but they just did

what good Marines always do: They made

While the young

enlisted

it

happen."

Marines hustled the

readiness, the three crews evaluated their situation their follow-up plan. "Shoeshine's bird

aircraft

back into

and put together

had two holes

in the tail

HAMMER FROM ABOVE boom, but at

to

An

it

was obviously

them

Nasiriyah and cleared

be a

little

"Fuse and

I

flyable.

still

to fly

smarter for this next

discussed

it

and drew

a

I

127

needed him and Gash back

another mission.

sortie,

We decided

though," Miller recalled.

few things on paper, and then he

got out and quickly briefed the other copilots using an expedient dirt terrain model."

The

"expedient" model was sand that the

scratched into place.

The

fliers

plan was to put two birds forward and

shooting while one stayed back and covered their

rear.

crews shot up the targets, they would rotate positions.

had

all

been

there," Miller said,

"we named

nent features so that we could communicate the lake

when

a

Within

forty

Then,

"Now

as the

that

we

few of the more promi-

better.

and the wall would bring everyone's eyes

things got going hot

kicked and

Simple terms to the

like

same spot

and heavy."

minutes of touching down, the three gunships

clat-

tered airborne again in a whirling cloud of sand, leaving almost a

dozen newly arrived in dire

need of

couldn't range

air

An

aircraft

behind.

The word was out: Marines were

support but the helicopters from Ali Al Salem Nasiriyah without stopping for gas

looked over his shoulder

"Those young Marines

first.

Miller

at the near-frantic activity at the

FARP.

at Riverfront

who

got us put back together

were amazing."

Approaching An Nasiriyah again, Miller's flight was passed on to a new FAC, Captain Dennis Santare, callsign Mouth. The complexion of the fight had changed— many of the uniformed soldiers had fled. "We had to be careful because there were many more civilians running around this time," Miller said. This made things particularly difficult for the Marine fliers, because the enemy had to be positively have weapons in their hands before

identified as hostile.

"They had

we could kill them,"

Miller said. This part of the

Cobra

pilots

throughout the

mind ran around

in the

to

war— after

middle of

all,

ROE would frustrate

what

civilian in his right

a pitched battle?

That the

Iraqi

combatants sometimes didn't wear uniforms exacerbated the problem.

"These people weren't stupid," Miller recalled. "By now, even

128

though we were city. It

was a

we

that

just

put together

taking

still

blew

to smithereens." In

at the

attack like the

and went

first sortie

keeping with the brief he had

know

it

this effort

was very methodical,

briefed," Miller continued.

yet,

forward while

aircraft

"Rather than executing a dog-pack

fire.

had been,

and scoring

fighting back

still

Miller didn't

we

for the

equipment behind

a lot of

FARP, Miller positioned two

just as

enemy was

most of them were running

fire,

and they were leaving

rout,

the third provided covering

not

STOUT

JAY A.

Regardless, the

In fact, although

hits.

Weis and Canizzo had been

although

hit,

critically.

"The and

had

Iraqis

a lot of stuff

brushy growth.

dry,

One

fig trees

by one we picked off anti-aircraft guns,

heavy machine guns

—

can remember thinking that

it

trucks,

hidden amongst palms and

it

was

was

like a

like

smorgasbord of

targets.

I

thumbing through the pages

of the recognition books back in training."

It

was then that Weis

in

berm next

to

Orkin 62 spotted a large gun barrel reaching up over

a

an open-pit mine about twenty-five hundred yards north of Santare's

on the

position

thought

By tion,

this

time a

and Miller

hit the big

was

difficult

one of

left in

flight of

tried to

even

for

see and I

I

was

marked

several nearby houses.

and

huge eruption saw the pieces

I

it

it.

"But behind the berm

really well, they'd

To be honest

'lased,'

we

more

realized that the barrel

with spectacular explosions

he

— mostly

lased.

due

bomb much

it.

me

with

went up

in a

gun It

for

When we

had actually belonged

same time, Weasel spotted two more missiles while

it

bomb. What ended

or marked, the

that set off multiple secondary explosions.

a T-55 tank. At the fired three

Weis

put a

there wasn't

fired a Hellfire missile right into

fly

sta-

afraid that at the altitude the

the area that warranted a thousand-pound

his laser,

on

arrived

put together a brief so that the fighters could

me to

that

Miller said, "we

first,"

gun, a 57-millimeter S-60."

Marine F/A-18 Hornets had

flying, unless

up happening was

I

anti-aircraft

gun and whatever was behind

Hornets were into

east side of the road. "At

was a large

it

They were

to Weasel's

barrels,

all

to

and

direct hits

keen eyes and

steady hands."

Now

with the tanks aflame, the Hornet pilots

— more

than two

HAMMER FROM ABOVE miles high

129

— had a good fix on the area and were cleared to drop their

bombs under

from Santare. Ultimately nine T-55s

positive control

were destroyed. Because of how they were positioned, the

enemy

likely that

it is

tanks would have gone unnoticed from the ground and

would have been able

to execute a flank attack against the

Marine column. The

casualties could have

After shooting

advancing

been enormous.

up most of their ammunition, Miller and the

rest

of

moment to catch their breath and assess the situation around them. The approach into An Nasiriyah was a flaming shambles. The fight between the defending Iraqis and the Marines had gone badly for the defenders. The Iraqi fighting positions, their his flight took a

equipment, their buildings, even their people were burning. More

and more Marine ground

units

— covered by more and more Marine

aviation units— were pushing into the

was time

"It

for us to get

city.

out of there/' recounted Miller. "Our guys

on the ground were making some headway and there was plenty of help overhead.

back

for Riverfront."

back

to the

hung a new

The

We

finally

checked out with Mouth and headed

three ships

made an

FARP, where the seemingly

tireless

uneventful retrograde

young Marines again

load of weapons and topped their fuel tanks. "While they

got our birds ready," recalled Miller, "we got together and discussed the situation.

and

all

of

We

Two

were exhausted.

them needed

was now plenty of help

extensive servicing. at

An

Nasiriyah. If

again the potential for ugly things to

we decided to pack it in." They didn't say much to each to Ali Al

start

Most important, there

we

pressed back north

happening was very

other over the radio on the

real

mood

"

light.

during the

But on

this

transit

back

to base

—

day they were overly

it

and

way back

Salem. Normally they would have engaged in a

"smokin' and jokin'

keep the

of the aircraft were shot up

bit of

helped

to

tired. Still,

Miller couldn't help but smile behind the dark visor that covered

much

of his face.

what they had

The

just

done.

community's reason contact.

three crews had trained for years to do exactly It

had been

a textbook

example of the Cobra

for existence: close fire support for

They had performed well— and with

Marines

ferocity. "I

in

was smil-

130

STOUT

JAY A.

ing," Miller

grunts.

remembered, "because

Without

asking,

knew

I

I

felt like

we had won one

that the rest of the guys

for the

were smiling,

too."

When flight

AH-1W

the three

shut

down back

of March 23,

ous combat

Orkin 61

it

at Ali

Al Salem Air Base in the early afternoon

marked the completion of nineteen hours of continu-

flight operations.

flight

was recognized

into the defenses that

Nasiriyah.

Cobra crews of HMLA-267's Orkin 61

Not only

for putting

one of the

guarded the approach

initial

cracks

An

to the heart of

but the crews had undoubtedly saved the

that,

many of their fellow servicemen as well. The men manning HMLA-267 Cobras that day were officially credited with destroy-

lives of

the

ing multiple fighting positions;

numerous

aircraft guns; four

proximately

sixty

vehicles including six large

ZU-23, 23-millimeter

Zil transport trucks; four tanks; four

ZPU-4, 14.5-millimeter

enemy

anti-aircraft guns;

anti-

and ap-

soldiers.

The rhythm of the fighting was such that aircrews— especially the Cobra and Huey fliers— were often flying operations that were double or even triple the length of anything they were used to during

peacetime. Regardless,

it

was something that the Marines on the

ground required and something that had

to

be done. In order

the crews alert in the event that the lack of rest fliers pills,

became an

to

keep

issue, the

had the option of taking performance enhancement drugs — go or five-milligram doses of

HMLA-269 were among

amphetamines. The Marines of

those authorized to use the drugs. Colonel

Robert "Boomer" Milstead, the commanding officer of MAG-29,

HMLA-269's parent unit, remembered, 'little

crack babies.'

The "no-go stress

counterparts to the pills."

made

"I

used to

call those

crews

my

"

amphetamine

These allowed the

getting a

pills

fliers to rest

were the downers or

when

heat, noise,

good sleep impossible. "These were

and

fifteen-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

131

milligram doses of Restoril," explained Milstead. "They weren't

lowed dent."

in the cockpit; this

In

practice,

the

precluded anyone from taking one by accicareful

and regulated use of both the

amphetamines and the barbiturates was were reported.

al-

a success,

and few problems

14

Huey Shootout Over An Nasiriyah

it 1

1

was supposed

I bered

March 23

to

be a

'softball'

mission— a no-brainer," remem-

Major Paul "Goose" Gosden of HMLA-267. The ATO called for a pair of

command and control

UH-1N Huey

for

helicopters to provide

support to RCT-5's one-day, two-hundred-mile

The huge regimental combat team was scheduled to move up Highway 8 from a point south of An Nasiriyah, up past the road march.

city,

and northwest toward Baghdad.

"All

we were supposed

to

do was act

as a radio relay

RCT. That was why I had no problem when Nick ded reporter from The Wall along," for

First

Kulish, an

Street Journal, asked

remembered Gosden.

"It

He

my

embed-

he could come

Aside from Kulish and Bersky, the

copilot

and the

hadn't been in Iraq up to this

point and this would be a good opportunity to get

of his two crew chiefs, Sergeant

if

was also the 'cherry popper' mission

Lieutenant Mike 'Stroke' Bersky,

youngest pilot in the squadron.

overhead the

rest

him

wet."

of Gosden's crew consisted

Rogan Mclntyre and Corporal Sarah

Wilson. Mclntyre was the classic hard-charging "salty dog"; he that

felt

he could do anything. "And Wilson," Gosden remembered, "we

called her

Mom. Not

only could she do

all

the crew chief

stuff,

but

HAMMER FROM ABOVE she mother-henned us around like

we had sprung

She made sure we were clean, warm, and

loins.

her

sitting cross-legged in the

and

jelly

to

133

her

sandwiches

fed.

from her

straight

can

I

still

picture

back of the bird making peanut butter

with that big K-Bar knife she kept strapped

for us

leg."

Gosden,

his crew,

They met with

and Kulish were awake by 0300

that morning.

the crew of the other ship to brief and coordinate the

"My wingman," Gosden recalled, "was Captain Lonnie 'Chivo' Camacho. He was a great guy who also had a really good crew. He had become my wingman only recently because of all the mission.

crew swaps that were made before the war." After briefing and grabbing a quick bite their aircraft

Kuwait

at

and

to eat,

Gosden and

the rest of the flight climbed into

Salem Air Base

clattered airborne out of Ali Al

"This was the mission," Gosden said, "when

I

learned that there

no such thing as too much firepower or too much ammo." His

M2

was armed with an four

in

0700.

.50-caliber

machine gun

in the left

is

aircraft

door with

hundred rounds of ammunition. This was Sarah Wilson's

weapon. Sergeant Mclntyre operated an

M240G

7.62-caliber

chine gun in the right door with four hundred rounds. side of the aircraft there

the transmission wall in the

weapon. Aside from

all

the out-

was a pod of seven 2.75-inch folding-fin

each crewman had

rockets. Also,

On

ma-

his personal

back— with

M16

several

strapped against

hundred rounds per

these weapons, each of the Marines carried a

9-millimeter Beretta pistol.

Gosden brought

Astrodome FARP

his flight into the

crossing the border into Iraq. At Astrodome, the off

and the crews received an intelligence update before getting

borne again. They "It

just before

Hueys were topped

test-fired their

was a pretty nice

above

us.

We were

two hundred

hundred

feet

feet,

day— clear

it

hundred knots

at

oil

smoke

an altitude of

with Chivo maintaining a position roughly two

abeam." After about

came

a half-hour flight the

huge column

into view. Coiled into a defensive

was more than two miles

The RCT's

as they crossed into Iraq.

except for a scuzzy film of

cruising at about a

of Marines and equipment

formation,

weapons

air-

in diameter.

air officer called a "tally"

on the two Hueys and talked

134

JAY A.

STOUT

made up

Gosden's eyes onto the antenna-covered vehicles that

the

Command Post. Once the crews landed and shut down, the column's aviation tankers set to

work topping

RCT

under way Gosden met with the

eling was

While the

off their aircraft.

Colonel Joe Dunford, and received

refu-

commander,

a quick brief. Essentially the

two

helicopters were there to provide a communications link for the

colonel and his column. to

twenty miles

On

RCT was

the road the

— that maintaining radio line-of-sight from the front to

the rear wasn't possible. Colonel Dunford also erator

long— fifteen

so

pawned

off a radio op-

and one of his lieutenant colonels on Gosden and

his crew. As-

signed to act as the airborne commander, the lieutenant colonel was

and

a reservist

Once

the

a toy

maker

in his real

column began

life.

move, Gosden stationed

to

copters overhead in a long, lazy orbit. "I truckster,"

had

a

he remembers.

"I

was

Dad

felt like

letting the

new

along with a toy maker, some kid radio operator, and

The two Hueys

two

heli-

in the family

guy, Bersky, drive,

Wall Street Journal reporter bouncing around

pokes— prodding

his

in the back,

my own

crew."

RCT like a pair of airborne cow-

rode herd on the

the laggards along, relaying radio messages, and

keeping the commander updated. They also monitored the radio fic

I

traf-

on the Direct Air Support Center frequency. There was something

on

big going

in

An

Nasiriyah to their

Tarawa were pinned down. ties,

and they were pushing

north— parts of Task Force

could hear them talking about casual-

"I

much

as

air

support as they could find

into the area."

On the hazy horizon, Gosden and the rest of the flight could make out smoke plumes rising from the Iraqi

borne

for a

and we

set

while

down.

I

brought the

On

we were hearing and

the ground seeing.

and

told

I

back

we had been airrear of the column

"After

to the

briefed the

command

By now we needed

tankers had already rolled, so radio operator

flight

city.

I

dumped

them we'd be

pointed us toward a brand-new

gas but the

back. After set

we

up

what

RCT's

maker and the

off the toy

FARP they had

as to

got airborne

just

I

south of An

Nasiriyah."

When

they arrived at the FARP,

Gosden and

his flight

found a

HAMMER FROM ABOVE madhouse of

frantic activity.

"These guys had

shop; there was expeditionary matting lying

bunch of

And

trucks, stacks of

was the only game

it

and

ammo, and in town.

a pair of Army Black

135

up

literally just set

over the place, a

all

people running everywhere.

There were

Hawks already

CH-

Cobras, two

six

when we showed up." After a twenty-minute wait, Gosden and Camacho brought their helicopters to the head of the line and shut down while they refueled. Gosden and the other pilots had stepped away from their aircraft 46s,

few minutes

for a

to talk

Gosden ran back and

An

stretch.

The DASC was

ran up to them.

boys in

and

wasn't long before Mclntyre

It

"The

Nasiriyah needed help nowl

were getting pretty desperate

Opah 76— their

calling for

got on the radio.

if they

in line

I

DASC

told

callsign.

me

that the

started to think that things

were calling in a pair of Hueys

for

close air support."

The two

crews scrambled aboard their birds and quickly rumbled

aloft,

north toward where the fight was.

now.

I

want

to

The

Nick Kulish that

told

be along

for

and

left

flight intercepted the

of the fires

had

city. It

was

"It

was

just

me

was probably

this

and

a trip

him behind; he seemed okay

highway and

ugly. Aside

my

crew

he didn't

with that."

started right toward the heart

from the smoke, they could make out

and explosions; there was

a pitched battle raging

on the main

thoroughfare through the town.

What Gosden and started earlier that

his flight

were

had

cost

lost

them eleven

in a pitched clash with

Gosden

Just as they

that

and

in

six

and now were locked irregular

listened to the radio like a fan glued to the big

reached the southern outskirts he began

DASC

The

captured.

hundreds of Fedayeen and other

frequencies and taskings that the "It

had

fight that

and been ambushed. The

killed

Marines of Task Force Tarawa had charged

fighters.

was a

morning when elements of the Army's 507th

Maintenance Company had gotten surprise attack

flying into

to jot

game.

down

the

forwarded to him.

was right about then that Chivo called over the radio and said

he was having problems; he was out of

without a

full

bag of gas and on top of

wasn't transferring."

Gosden had

a

fuel.

He had

taken off

that, his auxiliary fuel

tough decision

to

tank

make. The

pri-

136

JAY A.

mary formation element tions

was the section,

STOUT

for firepower

a flight of

two

and

self-protection considera-

aircraft.

No one

was supposed

go into combat without a wingman. This was a golden that

was written in blood, and a rule that wasn't

theless, there

were Marines under

might die

if

Gosden

break the rule.

to

"Almost

how

the hundredth time

needed help immediately, Stroke and

so

be broken. Never-

They were Marines who

called us

and asked

for

about

we were. It was obvious that they made the decision to send Chivo back.

out

far I

Mom and Mclntyre and

With Bersky

I

pressed on alone."

and Mclntyre and Wilson

at the controls

Gosden watched over

guns,

DASC

same time the

to

rule, a rule

They were Marines who needed

they didn't get help.

at this

fire.

to

his shoulder as

at their

Camacho wheeled

his

greasy gray bird back to the south. Turning back to the front he began to coordinate with the

under

fire.

They were

main highway,

at

DASC

now, concrete burns

been created by

Smoke from

the Marines

125 feet and one hundred knots flying up the

straight into the city. "Everything

everything— tanks and trucks and right

make contact with

to

if it

cars,

even buildings.

gets hot

earlier flights of Cobra

was on

enough."

The

can

I

mean

tell

you

inferno had

gunships and Air Force A- 10s.

had been damaged added

a refinery that

I

fire.

to the

choking

mess that the helicopter was thrashing through.

The callsign fire in

DASC

passed

Mouth. The

the

Gosden brief

to a

Forward Air Controller with the

from Mouth — punctuated by heavy gun-

background— was

simple: There were two

the road, one north and one south.

Mouth and

main bridges on

his

Marines were

north of the south bridge on the east side, and the Iraqi combatants

were on the rooftops on the west

By now Gosden and

his

side.

crew were taking

fire.

Streaks of tracers

lashed out at them, the individual rounds making sharp cracking

sounds

as

they passed close by. Mclntyre answered back with short,

staccato bursts from his replied with deeper

M240G,

booming

while Wilson's .50-caliber gun

volleys.

The burning

smell of gunpow-

der punctuated the stink of the smoke that was already burning their eyes.

'

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

137

Gosden remembered. "There were people running around everywhere— guys with guns dressed in jeans and "It

was

total chaos,"

Some

of them were in their traditional robes, and there

civilians

without weapons, but other than our Marines

tennis shoes.

were also

there wasn't anyone in uniform. Tracers and

Grenades] were flying

all

RPGs

[Rocket Propelled

over the place. Stroke looked over at

with this sort of funny grin and said, 'Do you think

doing

this?'

I

my

put on

and

best war face

me

we should be going

said, 'Stroke, we're

in!

Ahead of him near the bridge Gosden could make out the hulks of

AAVs— Assault Amphibian

two burning Marine tracks.

They were only two

of seven

One had been

destroyed that day.

AAVs

that

Vehicles, or

would ultimately be

mistakenly strafed by an Air Force

A- 10, while the other had been blasted by multiple

he could

also see the friendly positions.

beleaguered Marines, and

Mouth

They

set

ther

Mom

added

to the din.

RPG hits.

up an

By now

orbit over the

started calling out targets.

The

chop of the

heli-

noise of the battle was near deafening, and the copter's blades

Am-

Gosden oriented

or Mclntyre could get a clear shot.

their runs so that ei-

Whichever gunner

wasn't shooting would turn around and call out targets for the gunner

who was engaged. The reaction to started

drawing a

the Huey's arrival was immediate.

lot

of fire, but at the

hell out of those guys. this

was a hell of a

passes

and

first

By now

I'd

mission for

same time we were shooting the

—

him— and was setting up our firing

trying to stay unpredictable.

It

really

taken the controls from Stroke

ing into the radio cheering us on and

over the intercom.

"We

Meanwhile Mouth was shout-

we were

yelling back

and

forth

was absolute bedlam."

Mouth's unit was getting shot up from one particular rooftop, and they couldn't bring any weapons to bear.

happened

my

next:

turns so that

'right,'

then

left,

Gosden remembered what

"So Mclntyre spotted these guys and started

he could

more

left

line .' .

.

up

and then

and he

ing top of them!

can't get a shot!'

I

And he

all

calls

of a sudden

out I

left'

then

hear rounds

screaming, 'You're right over the fuck-

hitting the aircraft

starts

a shot.

to call

138

STOUT

JAY A.

Gosden

Huey away

jerked his

hind Mclntyre screeched

at

in a hard

bank

From

to the left.

be-

him: "Dont-ever-fly-over-that-fucking-

building-again!"

The approach

Running from

crew.

power

east to west required

to bear

on the

enemy fighters, and he across the road

and

standing up with an

and

off

to clear a set of

down

aircraft

I

was anxious

pilot

set the ship

as

Huey

for the

bring

to

rooftops. Nevertheless, after getting shot

on the previous pass the Marine

me

Gosden

and then bunt the nose of the

lines

weapons

was causing problems

to the rooftops

up

to neutralize the

swung back

for a rocket run. "I

pushed the nose over

AK-47— shooting

it

could see

I

me.

right at

up

It

guy

this

really pissed

him a face full of rockets. Just when I mashed down on the button and nothing

got ready to give

I

couldn't get any closer

I

.

.

.

happened! The rocket pod was dead."

Gosden

many choices: He could

didn't have

over the top of the

fly

building again, or he could turn off early. Either option licopter a juicy target. "I pulled off hard to the right

105 blond pounds of

her— opened up

made

and

his he-

Mom— all

with that .50 caliber and cut

the bastard right in half."

By now the

unit

on the ground was breaking

loose.

The Huey crew

could see them standing up and cheering and moving farther up the road. Nevertheless,

enemy fire

watching Mclntyre

as

"and

and on

his face.

back

at

It

lashed up at the helicopter.

he was shooting on one

came up through

a bullet

his gun.

still

kind of brushed

pass,"

Gosden

him

him

back, and he had a startled look

couldn't help myself and started to chuckle.

I

recalled,

the floor of the cabin, between

him

was

"I

I

shouted

that this wasn't like shooting at the tire stacks

back

home." All of this

den and

his

had happened

called

and directed them

FAC,

count

about ten minutes, but

crew were running low on

ferent

had enough

in only

to

move two

fuel

as well:

back

to the

Gos-

and ammunition. Mouth

blocks north to work with a

callsign Kool-Aid. At this point fuel to get

still

Gosden wasn't

FARP. The crew did

dif-

sure he

a quick

ammo

Mom had about two hundred rounds remaining, while

Mclntyre was down

to less

than a hundred.

"We

sensus and decided to stick around for as long as

it

took a sort of contook."

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

139

Gosden made contact with Kool-Aid, and minute in

mud

for

him

took

it

to set his helicopter over a pair of Abrams tanks stuck

just off the

highway. They were badly bogged down, and the

crews couldn't dig them out because of the

enemy

Huey crew could

see

ing off wispy

clouds of dust.

little

fire

they were taking.

bullets hitting the big tanks

"Kool-Aid kept telling us to take the bad guys out, and

him

that

I

needed him

mark the

to

target because

I

I

This

all

mark the seemed

target because

pretty ironic to

kept telling

couldn't see

out— literally— over "Finally,"

he was buttoned up inside

me

since

The

and knock-

where the rounds were coming from. He shouted back and couldn't

than a

less

he

said

his tank.

we were hanging our

asses

the top of him, while he was snug in his tank.

Gosden continued,

"the obvious occurred to me.

I

told

Kool-Aid to mark the target with his main gun. There was a dead period for about ten seconds

and then

up onto the highway, turned fired,

and turned

his

pletely

down by

its

turret west,

when

the rubble and heard Kool-Aid

not that building,

it's

Gosden wondered

with the building

swung

south, stopped,

Huey toward

over the radio, "Okay,

north!"

of a sudden a third tank roared

a two-story building into dust."

Gosden banked call

all

to

himself

why

his

it's

the one just to the

crew was bothering

the tanks obviously could have taken

it

com-

themselves. Regardless, they caught sight of the

enemy combatants and

them with

blasted at

the remainder of their

ammunition. Finished, Gosden called Kool-Aid and told him that they were leaving and that

more help was on the way. At

time he heard a sharp cracking noise behind him.

and there was Mclntyre, God

bless

him, with

the door. Screaming and shouting, he

Having stayed much longer than crew made a beeline earlier.

for the

They landed with no

rived just as the last trucks

FARP

at all.

They

set

FARP

they had

were packing up

down

M-16, shooting out

was fighting

fuel registering

his

left

same

turned around

"I

all

his fuel allowed,

man, Captain "Chivo" Camacho, and the

his

the

the

way

out."

Gosden and

his

only an hour or so

on the gauge, having to leave.

ar-

Gosden's wing-

crew didn't make

it

back

to

adjacent to Highway 8 and stayed

140

JAY A.

there until an

LAR

STOUT

Armored Reconnaissance) detachment

(Light

drove up. After fashioning a water bottle into a funnel, the armored boys off-loaded enough fuel from jerricans to get

Camacho

airborne

again and on his way home.

The

fight at

An

Nasiriyah on

Marine

clash of the war.

liest

March 23 was

losses totaled eighteen killed in action.

much

This number would

likely

"We

out to support the fight at

really

went

all

bered Robling of 3rd particularly ugly, but

Tarawa

them

from Tarawa's

call

for

to give

the sharpest and dead-

have been

MAW's

efforts.

we continued

higher without

"The

last

work

to

An

Nasiriyah/'

remem-

week of March was

closely with Task Force

the support they needed.

commander— Rich

air support.

Each night we'd

Natonski

get a

— and he'd thank us

what we'd done that day while he outlined what he'd need the

next." Still,

it

was

a frustrating fight for the wing's aviators.

called the vexation:

urban thing.

fight,

and

it

"An Nasiriyah was our

first

real

Robling

re-

exposure to the

highlighted the fact that aviation can't do every-

Unless you're going to level the entire place, individual

Marines are going

to

have

to

go from house

to

house and clear the

place out."

who make

the Marine Corps what

It is

the enlisted Marines

it is

the staff noncommissioned officers

the enlisted Marines what they are.

women who their

The

staff

structure.

They

turn the officer's orders into action

and

NCOs are the men and

started their military lives as privates,

way up the rank

it is,

— or staff NCOs— who make and then worked

are the hands-on leaders

and who

who

ultimately, through their

own performance, determine whether their officer succeeds or fails. Gunnery Sergeant Robert Hulet had proven himself over a career that

had spanned two decades

as a helicopter

crew

chief.

But

at the

alnew ready submitted retirement papers when he was approached by his Commanding Officer, who wanted to know if he would consider an

end of 2002 he was ready

extension on active duty

to

if

open

a

chapter in his

the squadron was called

up

life.

He'd

for service in

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Iraq.

141

Already a veteran of Desert Storm, Hulet could have easily said

no and wouldn't have received the

slightest bit of criticism.

well respected; the fact that he had

been asked

enough of his

was indicator

to stay

reputation.

"Gunny" Hulet pulled back

Instead

He was

his retirement papers.

When

the squadron arrived off the coast of Kuwait on February 24, 2003, he

was ready less

to

go ashore and get the

unit's aircraft

than a month they were ready

More

many

times over, and so was he.

important, so were the junior enlisted Marines

the bulk of the squadron. These were

whom

out of high school

Hulet spent the

final

UH-1N on

assigned

he and the other senior enlisted leadership day.

two nights before the war sleeping inside

the flight line.

against the border Observation Posts last birds to lift

who made up

young men and women barely

and mentored every hour of every

trained

the

ready for combat. In

his

He remembered the big raid on March 20: "We were among

off— I had been busy checking ordnance and arm-

ing guns so that the rest of the flight could get out the actual attack Hulet

manned

the Huey's

on

time."

During

GAU-17 minigun and

put

seventeen hundred rounds into OP-3. Nevertheless, the assault on

made up only half the terror that night. After slogging airborne muck that filled the sky, his aircraft's crew— like

the border post

through the

most others— had like these, the

to

wave

off their first attempt to land. In instances

crew chief played

a vital role in guiding the aircraft

down. These were some of the very worst conditions Hulet had ever seen.

The

managed

crew's second effort was even to get the aircraft's skids

buttoned up the ship

The

more

hairy,

but they finally

on the ground. Safely down, they

for the rest of the night.

next morning, after shooting up an Iraqi truck-mounted, 12.7-

millimeter machine gun, the helicopter aircraft over a pitiful,"

commander

bedraggled-looking group of Iraqi soldiers. "They were

Hulet recollected. "They looked up

they were afraid

— they were waving

at us

MREs

and

and you could

tell

The crew took and threw down

a tiny white flag."

compassion on the sorry-looking enemy troops packets of

positioned the

bottles of water before flying

on

to their next

mission.

Hulet was also in the thick of the fighting

at

An

Nasiriyah a couple

142

STOUT

JAY A.

on March

of days later

23. Assigned to fly Casualty

CH-46Es, the crew aboard

for a flight of

fierce small-arms firefight

main highway. Once with the

CH-46Es

deep

Evacuation escort

his ship

one of the neighborhoods

in

clear of that hornet's nest, the

until they

was caught

were

safely

on

their

in a

off the

Huey crew stayed

way before

return-

ing to the city and posting themselves overhead the front of the fighting.

moment

For the

then that the not feed

—

they were the only

wingman

the flight

support available.

air

It

would

called out that his auxiliary fuel tank

would have

to split up, or else leave the

was

Marines

unprotected.

Hulet had other ideas and coordinated a plan with the

wingman touched down and Hulet's

raging,

in a field not far

pilot in turn

leap clear and run with his

pilots.

from where the

descended low enough

M 16 and pistol to the other

battle for

The was

him

to

aircraft. After

being around Hueys for nearly twenty years, he knew exactly what

was wrong; the jury-rigged alligator-clip-and-cannon-plug combination

he had

in his pocket

was

After being airborne for so

just the

fix.

long— an

career— it

entire

be running across the dry ground toward the other

to

felt

strange

aircraft.

He

could hear the sounds of gunfire mixed in with the clapping chop

made as it circled in the distance. He was nearly when he reached the other Huey, but he wasted no

that his helicopter

out of breath

He popped open

time.

jumped he

felt

a

broken wire with

away, giving

Hulet

own

felt

his field-expedient device.

crew and in

at the other

him

a

on the malfunctioning ship and

pump churn

the system's electric

he shouted up

his

a panel

thorough dusting

to life. "You're just

Immediately

good

to go!"

seconds they clattered

in the process.

when he turned and saw

very alone, but his spirits lifted

helicopter descending to pick

him

up.

He

ran toward

it

and

with a flying leap was aboard before the bird even touched down. "Automaticall," he said,

"I

wasn't even something that

The war continued fixed

I

my

feet

and behind

to

my

gun.

It

thought about."

just like that for Hulet.

them. Things needed

portant,

was on

Things broke and he

be shot and he shot them. But most im-

he passed what he knew

to the junior

Marines with

whom he

HAMMER FROM ABOVE flew and fought.

proud

of.

"As

it

Of everything that he

happened/' he

see fighting like this.

ginning.

knew

I

that

did, this

143

was what he was most

had waited an

said, "I

These youngsters were seeing

worked hard

to teach

one way or another

them whatever

it

entire career to all

from the be-

could because

I

wasn't going to be around

I

I

much

longer/'

When Gunnery Sergeant Hulet officially retired later that year, the Marine Corps was

better because of what

Marines over the course of many

The

fighting in

the night of nightfall as

and around An Nasiriyah continued

March

23. Indeed, 3rd

LAR

pressed north out of the

it

Marines crewing the LAVs was

violent:

with 25-millimeter cannon

and

chine-gun rounds. call for

he had taught hundreds of

years.

Still

fire

to

be

fierce into

was ambushed

just after

The response from the They ripped into the enemy city.

fusillades of 7.62-millimeter

the effort wasn't enough, and a single-word

help went out over the guard channel: "Slingshot."

radio brevity

codeword indicating that a

being overrun;

It

was a

friendly unit was in danger of

available aircraft were expected to drop their as-

all

signed tasking and respond straightaway. Only minutes later the of more than

fifty sorties

role,

before airpower turned the killing into a slaughter. to 3rd

LAR

and

it

wasn't long

Not only was the

eliminated, but a group of ten Iraqi

tanks a mile or so north of the unit was also found and destroyed.

following morning,

An enormous

first

of aircraft arrived overhead.

Marine F/A-18D crews took on the FAC(A) immediate threat

ma-

more than

1

50

enemy

The

bodies were counted.

advantage that U.S. forces enjoyed over their Iraqi

counterparts was their ability to see at night. For the most part the

enemy had no

night-vision equipment,

and

his effectiveness

dropped

dramatically once the sun went down. This was validated by the ex-

perience of Lieutenant Colonel Steve Heywood's

mixed unit of Hueys and Cobras

HMLA-267,

the

that ultimately saw twenty-three of

144

its

STOUT

JAY A.

twenty-six craft sustain damage:

The

None had been

grew even greater in the darkness.

Corps exploited It

hit after nightfall.

already huge mismatch of forces and capabilities during daylight

at

It

was a factor that the Marine

every opportunity.

was blacker than normal on the evening of March

following the "Slingshot" response. Major skirted the west side of

An

Shawn

24— the

"Bull"

night

Hughes

Nasiriyah as he led his two-ship of Huevs

toward the spot where 2d

LAR

The

marked by the

sky over the city was

was deploved

in a defensive circle.

flashes of

heavy weapons,

while closer to the ground red and white tracers arced back and forth at

each other

as

Marine and

Iraqi

gunners traded

fire.

Near the north-

ern edge of the city Hughes carefully navigated past a batten" of

M198

Eleventh Marines

howitzers

— flying

would be decidedly unwise. Hughes and Jaeski, Jeff

through their gun line

his copilot,

LAR for much of that

"Beaver" Gilliland, had been supporting 2d Earlier,

day.

Captain John

and the crew aboard the other Huev, commanded by Captain

from

directly

overhead the

unit, they

had silenced

enemv gunners who had been laving down fire from nearbv buildings. The spent brass from the UH-1X machine guns bounced off the eight-wheeled LAYs below them. The metallic rattle punctuated the fact that

Hughes and

the two crews were indeed engaged in Close Air

Support.

Now,

despite the darkness, through their night-vision goggles

and

FLIRs, they could make out where the LAYs were circled

just off the

An

Nasiriyah.

western edge of Highway

The

7,

about ten miles north of

drive through the citv hadn't

sired,

gone

and the unit had been directed

up. At that

moment

as quickly as

to wait for

had been de-

everyone else

to catch

they were the verv point of the Marine Corps's

spear.

"Their criminate

whelming

air officer called us fire

or

from

all

directions,"

particularly

wanted the Huevs

and

to locate

said that they

Hughes

kill

the

harassing."

enemy

crews were soon busv rooting around the area.

compounds, made up of

indis-

recalled. "It wasn't oxer-

coherent— more and

were taking

just a few buildings

fighters,

A

The

unit

and the two

couple of farming

each, were across the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE highway

to the unit's east

and northeast. Atop

people in ones and twos, but

was

it

145

several of the roofs

they had hostile

difficult to tell if

intent or were just gawking at the assemblage of firepower.

LAR

time the

to

were

From time

unit fired at targets to the south, but the helicopter

crews could find nothing.

Hughes remembered: "Everyone was

now

couldn't find anything, but by

on

Hughes was

fuel before they

unit.

"You could

tell

forth across the road with

starting to worry that his section

would be able by the

do anything

to

We

volume of fire had picked up.

the

were signaling back and

Also, the Iraqis flares."

starting to get frustrated.

strain in their voices,"

would run low help the

to

LAV

he recounted, "that

they were starting to get agitated."

The two Hueys had been on

station

about

forty

minutes

when the LAVs

crews spotted a pair of headlights about ten miles north of the

on Highway

7.

"Of course, because of all the

"there wasn't a lot of traffic attention getter." attention.

on the road,

fighting,"

Hughes

said,

so a pair of headlights was an

When the driver doused his lights

drew even more

it

As the vehicle continued south down the highway toward

the spot where 2d

LAR

was

circled, the fliers

could make out that

it

was a large bus.

"We

passed what

membered, "and closer."

started

An

was carrying enemy

for the

bus to be on the road

Nasiryah. That

fighters.

The

is,

Iraqis

to reinforce their garrison in the city,

and

the Americans had pushed so far north.

Hughes

"The

recollected:

closed the distance.

farming compound,

LAR

about

ters,

two

.

.

there was

was the

this

A clash his

just northeast of the

.

cles that the

one.

down

Now

no reason unless

had been using Highway 7 first

was bound

crew had

LAVs.

and now

I

I

set

time that to occur.

as the

bus

up over the

had been

flying a

stepped off to the east

a half mile north of their position."

bus and counted

re-

— especially

Marines got ready

By now Beaver and

pattern perpendicular to the road side

Hughes

seeing to the Air Officer,"

counting down the distance as the bus got

There was no reason

given the fighting at it

we were

Hughes watched the

the distance: four kilometers, three kilome-

the bus started to run over and around obsta-

LAR unit had

put on the road to slow

enemy

attackers.

146

JAY A.

This counted as hostile intent

and Hughes passed the word to

to

STOUT

as far as the

ROE

was concerned,

2d LAR's Air Officer. The clearance

TOW mis-

engage was given and a single streak of fire— probably a

sile—rocketed away from the circle of LAVs. "There was a big explosion at the front of the bus," halt/'

Gilliland

their fire into the bus.

crew chief and gunner,

opened up with

.50-caliber

Staff Sergeant

their

GAU-17

machine gun. The

fire

and 2d LAR's

fire

Hughes moved

closer

and

his

Gunther and Sergeant Westminigun and

7.62-caliber

M2

Iraqis tried to take cover in ditches

along both sides of the road and to the rear of the bus.

between the

slowed to a

it

to clear the vehicle.

opened up with rocket and machine-gun

Marines poured

hoff,

Hughes remembered, "and

Immediately about ten adult males hurried

It

was no use;

was now coming from the LAVs and the two

that

gunships there was no escape. Through his FLIR, Hughes watched the scrambling

enemy go

lifeless.

"We spun around and reset again for another attack/' Hughes said, "but there was no movement around the bus." All of the enemy fighters had been butchered. They would never make it into An Nasiriyah. They would never shoot at a Marine. Up north along the highway another vehicle — headlights away. After a

moment

or

two— headlights

and drove away. Hughes checked carrying.

It

was time

to

on— stopped still

on — it turned around

his fuel against

go home. They checked

LAR's Air Officer and made their way back south fire that

The

was coming out of the

First

Marine

Almost immediately

came under

what Gilliland was off station with

attack.

after

city.

engagements

thusly:

establishment of the perimeter

Captain Monclova decisively led

pany, integrating direct, indirect

fire

his

it

com-

with close air support, en-

gaging numerous vehicles carrying personnel south toward Nasiriyah along Route 7 throughout the night. the entire night the

2d

— careful to skirt the

Division's history records 2d LAR's

on the night of March 24-25

miles

several

company engaged

.

.

.

Throughout

the enemy.

the skillful use of supporting arms and a

An

.

.

.

Due

to

high volume of direct

HAMMER FROM ABOVE fire

147

the Battalion was successful in defeating each attempt at

penetrating

its

lines.

As the

the Battalion collected

last

attack was defeated near dawn,

numerous

EPWs

and observed between

200-300 enemy Killed In Action. In addition Action and

Enemy Prisoners

of War, Alpha

to the Killed In

Company destroyed and

2 buses used to carry forces south, as well as 2 trucks

several

cars being used as personnel carriers.

"Just at

sunup the next

overhead 2d LAR."

He

day,"

Hughes

"we were airborne again

said,

took the section of aircraft past the shot-up

bus. There, in various grotesque positions, were the killed the night before.

There were more

were several other vehicles that had after they

had

many more Hughes

left.

The Marines

LAR had

"We

set

down

next to the

a big bear

saved their bacon not only that night, but I

come down

the highway

destroyed them, and

bodies littered the desert. recalled:

mander came out and gave me

day.

they had

inside the bus. Too, there

tried to

of 2d

men

LAVs and

hug— said

all

the

that

we had

through the previous

derived a great deal of job satisfaction from that."

Within twenty minutes they were airborne again and looking fight.

com-

for a

15

The FARP

Without

them, the Marine Corps advance would have cost more

time. Worse,

would have

it

more

cost

lives.

Simply put, the

FARPs — Forward Arming and Refueling Points— were fields

carved out of highways along the

up on captured

Iraqi air bases.

MEF's

They were

very basic

air-

line of advance, or set

the absolute linchpin of ro-

tary-wing operations within Iraq and ultimately serviced almost every

combat

aircraft type in the

Marine Corps

Within days of blasting over the forces

had fought so

far into the

inventory.

Marine ground

Iraqi border,

country that they were already at the

range limits of the Kuwait-based helicopters that were so crucial to the continuation of their assault.

Those helicopters

that

were ship-

based in the Persian Gulf were even farther removed from the leading

combat elements.

Plainly put, the

It

was the FARPs that kept them

FARPs were

all

in the fight.

force multipliers. Rather than flying a

hundred or more miles from Kuwait

to the battle

and then back,

mations of Cobras and Hueys launched from their main base

Salem— or from

warships in the Persian

Gulf— and

for-

at Ali

flew to the

Al

FARP

located closest to the fight. There they topped off while the crews re-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

149

ceived the latest intelligence brief. Following the refueling, the crews

took off again, joined the battle, fired their ordnance, and then

turned to the

FARP

back into the

fray.

for

more

During

passed through a given

fuel

especially heavy fighting crews

FARP

so

many

These quick turnarounds enabled one that

times that they

sometimes lost

aircraft to provide the

would have required two or three

been

re-

and ammunition before launching

or

more had

the

count.

support

FARPs not

available.

The FARPs

in this

campaign were

largely

planned and controlled

from within the headquarters element of Marine Air Group Thirtynine (MAG-39) and

fell

under the

logistics

Support Group Thirty-seven (MWSG-37).

umbrella of Marine

MWSG-37

various subordinate units and laterally from other

together robust teams that set

up and

tore

down

a

Wing

drew from

its

commands to piece number of different

the advance through Iraq made its way northwest. Because the FARP teams were essentially bare-bones airfields-on-wheels, all the many and varied specialties necessary for combat aviation operations sites as

were represented. There were bulk tors,

fuelers, engineers,

communica-

intelligence specialists, airfield operations experts, mechanics,

and more.

among

When

ammunition onto

seemed

And

the fighting got hot, the ordnance Marines were

the busiest of

all

— humping tons of rockets and

lines of

missiles

and

Cobras and Hueys that sometimes never

to end.

who made up these teams were there for the duration. One squadron commander remembered loaning one of his best corporal mechanics to a FARP team prior to the start of hostilities. "It

said.

the Marines

paid dividends for us to send out the cream of the crop," he

"These were the guys who were going

ficult

to

be dealing with the

problems— breakdowns and malfunctions out

dif-

in the dirt that

good amount of in-

to demand some amount of The downside, of course, was that the "borrowed" Marines stayed gone. "We didn't see that poor guy for five weeks," the commander remembered, "and he smelled like a goat when he finally got

were going

skill

and

a

genuity/'

back

to us."

That was because the Marines who worked

in the

FARPs

did just

150

JAY A.

STOUT

that— work. Major Bernard "Woots" Cernosek commanded FARP Team Bravo and recalled, "We did have established day and night shifts but when things got going heavy— which was a lot of the time — everyone

pitched in and got things done regardless of what

just

they were assigned

to."

This

sort of

shift

nonstop schedule working in the

heat on grime-covered aircraft while living in the

made keeping

dirt

clean a challenge. Hygiene was also difficult simply because of the

nature of the FARPs.

Many of them were

before they were taken

down and moved

few days

in place for only a

on the move,

again. Always

the Marines rarely failed to stay freshly shaven, but laundry and other niceties

were problematic, especially when getting the

demanded

And

so

much

FARP

preparation.

to a generation of young

men and women who had grown up

knowing what was happening around the world almost the happened, the

isolation

little

may as

it

instant

it

was odd and confusing. "Our entire world

was the FARP," Cernosek [kilometer] of us,

ready

said. "If

well have

it

didn't

happen within

a klick

happened on the moon; we had

news of what was going on beyond our

a while," he continued, "we'd get the

BBC

perimeter.

little

HF

over the

Once

in

[High Fre-

quency] net and find out about a big fight that our Marines were en-

gaged

in.

Fd plot

it

map and

out on a

realize that the shooting

were hearing was what was making the news!"

and

isolation notwithstanding,

FARPs

we

Dirt, inconvenience,

none of the Marines who manned the

forgot that their brothers doing the fighting

had

it

much more

difficult.

Because the landing area was often

set

up on

a portion of road or

highway, a suitable stretch had to be identified, surveyed, and closed off to traffic.

was repaired

Once if

the appropriate length of surface was set aside,

required, painted,

and "shaved"

it

for air operations.

Shaving the length of the highway involved knocking down lampposts,

highway markers,

signs

Medians were scraped away level as the

Marines could make

In addition to

was

laid

— anything that could

until the road surface

all

hurt an

was

as

aircraft.

smooth and

it.

the runway preparation, expeditionary lighting

out and a provisional "control tower" established.

The

fuel-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE ing and arming points were the reasons the

were

set to service as

many aircraft

at

151

FARP

one time

existed,

and these

as possible.

Generally

them

there were eight refueling points, with four of

set

up

for simul-

taneous rearming.

FARP— especially at night— was

Getting the aircraft safely into the

sometimes a challenge

for the hard-pressed pilots.

vised a lighting system using

glow

a fluorescent

chem

for several

lights:

hours

when

the

components

combined by bending the tube and breaking the them. "These were

great,"

Cernosek impro-

small plastic tubes that emit inside are

seal that separates

he recollected. "They enabled the

pilots to

much greater distance than they otherwould have been able." He recounted how he had tried to sec-

see the landing area from a

wise

ond-guess the supply system and ordered fifteen thousand of the disposable lighting aids to get the five thousand or so that he

mated he would need. Instead he ended up with "I

could have

Of course way and

lit

it

wasn't feasible to take possession of a section of high-

sever the flow of traffic

— especially when that traffic had to

meant

that stout detours capable of routing

traffic off

structed

ing

passable was a full-time

and out of the FARPs

home when

a

UH-1N

the evening of March 30.

veloped the

job— and

combined with the

this activity created,

driven

highway— and then back on — had

the

to

be con-

and maintained. Scraping these out of the desert and keep-

them

ting in

thousand.

the highway to Baghdad!"

get forward to fight. This

heavy

forty-five

esti-

aircraft

The

a

The dust that wind, often made get-

a dusty one.

natural

dangerous exercise. This point was

crashed while

lifting

out of a

FARP on

vertigo-inducing cloud of dust that en-

was the primary reason

for the

mishap.

Of

the

four-man crew, only the copilot survived.

The FARP was first

was the

The

MMT

around the

It

made up

was responsible

site, as

was headed by an ator.

actually

of two major components.

The

MMT— the Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team.

made

for the actual air operations

in

and

well as for ensuring the proper setup of the field. air

boss

It

— usually a major or lieutenant colonel avi-

sense that aviators would

know what

other aviators

would need. Lieutenant Colonel Joe "Shepard" Strohman was the

air

152

JAY A.

boss of

STOUT

FARP Team Echo. A Huey

pilot

to expeditionary operations, to include

by trade, he was no stranger

managing

FARP. He had

a

MAG-29 when his commander called for him only a week or so prior to ATF East's arrival in the Persian Gulf. Strohman recalled: "My colonel said, m g om g 1° oe been tucked away on the

staff at

>

'J

send you in with you.

run a FARP. You're going

to

Do a good

ten days later

and don't get

job

we were

to take a

up your

a stick

Although there were guidelines

means and

for

how

to establish a

materials at hand.

It

is

improvising— making do. "Or," remembered one

straight out of

got

my

best

our

ass

man,

That was

in general, "a lot of the time

and made

it

it

FARP team

always did with

Marine-speak

ended up with

we

pulled

it

work." Strohman remembered,

"I

just

minute be-

Staff Sergeant Pash, at nearly the last

Cernosek's

guys found .

.

.

well,

I

all

my

unit.

of the vehicles and equipment

didn't ask

FARP differed from the

for

officer speaking

cause he was the friend of another one of the Marines in

And where my

it;

task-organized, or built

the teams for the job at hand. Task organization

about the campaign

ass.'

in Kuwait."

and what was required, the Marine Corps did what the limited

I'

team of Marines

we

any questions." The makeup of

others:

"We ended up with

several

Army HEMTTs [Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks] and their crews because we were supposed to be traveling overland initially, and they were good off-road vehicles. The Army guys were a little bit different but we brought them into the fold and they adapted really well."

MMT, the other major part of the FARP team — in

Aside from the fact,

port Squadron, the

MWSS. These Marines operated and

the fuel trucks, the firefighting equipment, the ders

and

their associated

heavy equipment sive

Wing Sup-

the bulk of it— was the detachment from the Marine

for

pumps and

runway

repair

maintained

enormous

fuel blad-

hoses and other gear, as well as

and the

tools required for Explo-

Ordnance Disposal (EOD). This component of

the

FARP was

really a

rough-and-tumble, armed-and-dangerous convention of engi-

neers,

truckers,

above

it all,

mechanics, and heavy-equipment operators. But

they were Marines. In combination with the

MMT they

HAMMER FROM ABOVE made

the

FARPs what they

153

were: effective combat multipliers that

performed nonstop through the entire campaign.

The FARPs became de of

traffic. If

more

way

facto

mechanical malfunction,

often than not limped into the closest

communications or needed new tasking,

who

who

ran out of crew day or

refuge in the FARPs.

just

Even ground

manner

stations, or oases, for all

a helicopter experienced a

FARP.

stopped

it

needed

units

If

at

an aircrew

an FARP.

a rest or a

Fliers

meal took

sometimes stopped through

the miniature airfields for food, water, fuel, or information. After

FARP team was

the

"My

rule for the

that

come

and

I

our

to

Marines of that

Do

it

right,

do

it

safe

because

I

fact

it fast,

the best service you can.

never say no. Keep

in order for us to

from time

to time.

and give the

aircraft

No one says no but me,

need every single one of you

accomplish our mission/'

Iraqi civilians,

their

his

team was: site

all,

tasked to support; they were a service organiza-

Strohman reminded

tion.

it

lost

some curious and some on

a mission, also

found

ways across the boundaries of the FARPs. Strohman recalled

Qualcomm FARP we were approached by a group of Iraqis who were trying to enter our area right at the ASP [Ammunition Supply Point]." He strode out to head them off under the cover of about twenty of his armed and ready Marines. Coming face-to-face one

incident: "At

he found that the thing

else.

Iraqis

"They were

boy hanging

tightly

on

they were just trying to tle

boy a small

were

affable,

welcome

"The overpass attack,"

behind

RPG fire

I

We smiled a lot and

a small

realized that I

gave the

lit-

earlier."

when Lieutenant

one end of our position came under

remembered Strohman. "Our at

3

MEF commander, was visiting the site.

that crossed over

Mk-19 and

with a

who had

LED flashlight that had been given to me by a visiting

General James Conway, the

RPG

us.

second half took place on April

story's

inquisitive than any-

to his leg. After a bit of gesturing

female captain only a day or so

The

and more

led by an older gentleman

security force fired back

the same time one of our snipers called out from

his .50 caliber that

he had the

RPG shooter in his sights." The

rounds stopped and Strohman ordered the sniper

to

hold his

while he and a team of Marines climbed into their vehicles to

in-

154

vestigate.

Under the cover of a

pair of Cobras,

drove out to the nearby village.

remembered, "but we did it

STOUT

JAY A.

was the father of the

"We

Strohman and

didn't find the

RPG shooter/' he

find the individual targeted by our

boy that

little

I

men

his

had given the

LED

sniper-

flashlight

to.

Keeping the FARPs

in business

was

a

complex

task;

it

involved

much more than simply packing up every few days and setting up in a new location. Their business was fuel and ammunition, and the approximately 150 Marines who made up each one of the FARPs dispensed both

at

prodigious

rates.

To keep

the air wing in the thick of

the fight they had to be resupplied constantly.

trucked

was

in, as

much

46s often serviced the nally,"

of the ammunition.

sites.

"The

Most of the

Still,

CH-53s and CH-

53s could carry fuel bladders exter-

explained Cernosek. "The Frogs primarily delivered parts and

The "Sugar Daddy" who kept the nightmare orchestrated, who saw to it that none of other supplies/'

had

away an

to turn

aircraft,

telephone] with

[satellite

"He never

let

did a fantastic job, and

young

FARPs

the

him

was on the

"I

troops: snuff

"I

it

due

did was

worked

in

was on the phone with him hourly.

whenever he stopped by he'd bring things and candy and magazines — that

no small part

as well as they did

to the

squadrons— VMU-1 and first

week

one of the

Qualcomm FARP. There was some that the unmanned aircraft and its

for

sort of stuff." as well

to Lobik."

Unmanned

VMU-2 — used the FARPs

in April

He

FARPs. That the FARPs

was in large part due

Aside from helicopters, the Pioneer

ing the

Irid-

matched

Robling praised Lobik even more highly: "That the war went as

ever

continuously," Cernosek recalled.

us down." Strohman's separate recollection

Cernosek's almost exactly:

the

entire logistical

was Lieutenant Colonel "Diamond

Dave" Lobik from the MAG-39 operations shop.

ium

was

fuel

UAV units

set

Aerial Vehicle

extensively.

up

at

Strohman's

grousing because of all the associated

Dur-

room

equipment required,

but Strohman was firm in his evenhandedness and cut what he believed was a

good compromise

feet of the runway.

membered,

"I

"From

that included the last

two thousand

the overpass near our perimeter," he re-

watched one of the UAVs land, take

off again,

and then

HAMMER FROM ABOVE smack

right into the overpass

— not far from

155

where

I

was standing.

I

immediately sent word down that they could have the extra thousand feet of

runway

Although

that they

had wanted

their role

earlier/'

FARP Marines — like

was support, the

all

Marines — were trained riflemen and encountered some of the same dangers as those troops

came under

head of the

at the

Strohman's team

attack.

once by friendly guns.

artillery fire three different times,

five EPWs (Enemy Prisoners of War) RPG and small-arms fire. For his part, Cernosek had to CASEVAC for three of his men during the first night of

Another time the team took after receiving

coordinate a

the war; they had driven their vehicle into a tank trap. Those three

Marines were among the very It

show

started to

ing

first

casualties of the

ground campaign.

was near the end of March when the MEF's

up Highway

fuel, food,

and ammunition. The 3rd

staffers at

130s and

First

logistical effort

Marine Division was charg-

toward Baghdad and was running thin on

straight

1

the supplies that 1st

and the

The

signs of strain.

MAW was tasked to augment

FSSG was pushing up

the

Main

Surface Routes,

the wing put together a plan that called on the

CH-53Es

to

KC-

seventy thousand gallons of fuel a day to the

lift

units leading the attack.

Key

to the plan

were the

FARP

ceive the supply-laden aircraft. that

was actually designed

Air Force.

It

teams that prepared the

Hantush was

to serve as

was captured on March

supplies from just-landed

a portion of

an auxiliary 31,

1

and by the next day

KC-1 30s were going

straight to the

It,

too, serviced

John "Roady" Skinner, who had been the

first

1

fuel

and

Marines

of a section of

south of Hantush. Strohman's team had put

only ten hours after starting work.

Highway

airfield for the Iraqi

who were carrying the fight forward. The FARP known as Wrigley Field was made up Highway

sites to re-

it

into action

KC-1 30s. Major

Coalition pilot to put a

fixed-wing aircraft into Iraq, was also at the fore of operations at

Wrigley: "The blacktop road that

two

feet wide. Well, the

sixty feet for

the

KC-1 30

book is

made up

the runway was only forty-

minimum runway width of recommended/ " Recommended

says that a

'highly

or not, the Marines approaching

Baghdad were running dangerously

156

STOUT

JAY A.

low on fuel and ammunition. Skinner and simply shrugged "After

all,"

his fellow

Marine

aviators

narrow road and got on with the mission.

at the

he asked, "what's eighteen

feet

among

friends?"

Skinner and the other KC-130 crews flew nonstop missions into

Wrigley

for

two days.

pass crossed the

It

was a challenging

highway

exercise.

A forty-foot over-

touchdown point of the

just prior to the

short three-thousand-foot section of road that was designated as the

Once

runway.

down and

the pilots put the big ships

stopped, they reversed the engines and backed

proach end of the runway; there was no place

much

they off-loaded fuel— sometimes as

lons—into bladders If the

set

up

cargo wasn't fuel

Because there were no

all

the

to turn

as eight

way

got

them

to the ap-

around. There

thousand

gal-

runway.

just off the

was usually water, MREs, or ammunition.

it

forklifts to assist

with the unloading, the crews

executed "combat off-loads" to empty their

aircraft.

"We opened

the

cargo door at the rear of the aircraft and lowered the ramp," Skinner recalled, lots

"and then applied power while we held the brakes." The

then released the brakes, and the

lets sitting

on the

roller

system of the aircraft trundled

while the KC-130 essentially

The

were treasure

pending on the requirements, held either forty thousand

cially

aft

a

KC-130

MREs,

thirty

thousand bottles of water, or

The MREs were

welcome; by the end of March some of the Marines

the fact that

chase

But

in a

at the fore

The

fliers

lost

on

Skinner recalled: "The irony of us.

We

found

we were using Saddam's own

him out

espe-

goods were aware of the importance of

their effort— and the incongruity.

what we were doing wasn't

De-

carried five to six pallets that

tons of ammunition.

skillfully delivered these

pal-

and out

to the infantrymen.

of the fight had been rationed to only one meal per day.

who

The

moved out from underneath them.

air-delivered supplies

more than twenty-two

aircraft leapt forward.

pi-

humor

in

and highways

to

a certain

airfields

of power."

pinch the

FARP teams

didn't even

need captured

or prepared highways to execute their mission.

movement Strohman's

airfields

During one convoy

Staff Sergeant Pash looked into his rearview

mirror and saw a Cobra and a

Huey

flying

low and slow behind the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE train

of vehicles.

He immediately

found that they needed

team prepared

ment he

for the

157

established radio contact and

Strohman recounted how Pash got the

fuel.

two helicopters: "The time

it

took from the

mo-

radioed the aircraft until the time that a safe landing zone

was established on the highway was

less

than three minutes. This

in-

cluded stopping a 120-vehicle convoy, setting up a security block in both directions, getting the crash trucks into position, and having fuel

men

and ordnance

standing by."

were fueled, armed, and on

corpsman had treated

their

short time later the two aircraft

way— but

only after the team's

a crushed finger that one of the airmen had

sustained. Stationary or

convenience

A

on the

go, the

store for the aviator

FARPs were

who needed

truly 3rd

service

MAW's

and needed

it

fast.

Ultimately

it

was evident

to

everyone that the FARPs were one of

the greatest enablers of the entire campaign. Colonel Robert Mil-

commander of MAG-29 who had sent Strohman to lead FARP Team Echo, was steadfast in his conviction as to their value.

stead, the

His

MAG

was

afloat for the first ten days of the fighting,

FARPs were one of

and the

the primary reasons that his aviators were as

fective as they were.

...

I

want

to pile

on and

say that they were the single biggest

contributor to our ability to fight across 450 nautical miles of Iraq!

MWSG-37

ement of

3rd

[and that group's FARPs] was the maneuver

MAW— no doubt about

it.

el-

ef-

16

Going Long

The

First

Marine

Division's three

own tremendous their

traffic

fought through their

jams as well as Iraqi forces while making

way around and through An Nasiriyah on March

lowing day dawned RCT-5 and while RCT-1 prepared to that

RCTs had

-7

worked

move up Highway

had stymied previous invaders. The

Marine commanders were anxious Nevertheless, there was

Elements of the

First

their

still

at

As the

fol-

ways up Highway

1

This was the region

was treacherous, and

what they might encounter.

plenty of fighting

UK Division

7.

terrain

23.

left to

do

to their east.

faced considerable Iraqi forces in

much of their air support they relied Combat Element- 3rd MAW.

the vicinity of Al Basrah, and for

on

I

MEF's

Air

Captain Allen "Grimace" Grinalds and

Cobras — callsign Opah Air Base in Kuwait.

It

15— were on

his four-ship of

their

way back

HMLA-267

to Ali Al

Salem

was 0700 on March 24, and they had spent the

previous fourteen or so hours shooting up targets in the hellhole that

An

Nasiriyah had

become only

the day prior.

"I

contacted the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE DASC(A)

our

for

flight back/'

159

"He gave

Grinalds recalled.

update on various threats along our route of flight;

seem

it

was

all

us a quick matter-of-

fact,

and he

after

reviewing our route and the threats that he had just passed to us,

I

didn't

particularly

concerned about any of

it.

But

we would be flying right by a couple of enemy Roland let him know, and again, he didn't seem as concerned

realized that

SAM

sites.

I

about the threat

as

we

running joke that the

were. This really wasn't unusual, and

DASC(A) had

Saddam Fedayeen and slipped

it

up and broke out

actually

would only be

been

we had

infiltrated

a

by the

a matter of time before they

in Arabic catcalls over the radio."

enemy

After adjusting his heading to avoid the

missile sites,

Grinalds settled back for the remainder of the flight to Kuwait. For this sortie, as the flight leader,

he was strapped into the

aft cockpit.

In

the forward cockpit was Captain Bill "Spyder" Talansky. "Bill was a

super

pilot,"

no one

Grinalds remembered, "but he was from

could ever understand a thing he

in the division

ing the second

New York and said." Pilot-

Cobra were Captain John "Barefoot" Garrigan and

First

Lieutenant Kevin Rusch; the third

tain

Drew

aircraft

was crewed by Cap-

"Smitty" Aylward and First Lieutenant

the fourth gunship was

manned by Major Matt

Mike Blakemore;

"Tinkle"

Dwyer and

Captain Jim "Bung" Mullin.

The crews were

still

getting used to each other.

The

year previously

HMLA-267 to Marine Aviation Squadron One (MAWTS-1), the Corps's

Grinalds had been assigned from

Weapons and weapons and to

Tactics

tactics

schoolhouse. For the war he had been reassigned

HMLA-267, but most

from other units Before the tunity to fly

of the other pilots in his flight had arrived

just prior to their

start

deployment

to

Kuwait.

of hostilities— because they hadn't had the oppor-

together— Grinalds often held

aircraft shelters at Ali

Al Salem.

It

class in

one of the disused

had been badly damaged during

Desert Storm, and no one bothered his crews there. Inside, they

worked on the very

basics.

Something as simple

as

being familiar with

the cadence and inflection of a wingman's speech pattern over the

160

JAY A.

mean

radio could

STOUT

the difference between success and failure. Be-

cause of their lack of experience together, one of Grinalds's

concerns was that they wouldn't be able actions

— and

to anticipate

recognizing the subtleties in a wingman's voice

important part of that. "With the exception of Spyder's accent,

we

main

one another's

We

cracked the nut.

would

sit

I

is

think

there for hours and 'chair-fly'

through different situations over and over again, trying

to cover every

contingency we might encounter. After several sessions they'd rolling their eyes at

fly

As the

flight

rumbled toward the Kuwait border, the DASC(A) asked

was nothing more than anti-aircraft fire

status.

Assuming

flight's status.

a routine

that the request

query whether they had observed

along their routing, he replied that they had en-

countered no enemy

weapons

because they

off,

together only once before the shooting started.

Grinalds to check in with his

any

start

me when I would break out my Close Air Support

umpteenth time." But the work paid

brief for the

would

an

fire

and then passed on the

The DASC(A) responded

flight's fuel state

and

with an immediate Joint

Tactical Air Strike Request (JTAR) tasking in support of the First

United Kingdom Division northwest of Al Basrah. "Lately

of

salt.

I

had begun

We'd

up and

get fired

that the threat

the night. In

blast out to

had disappeared or

some

and had been overcome by

events.

might be another wild-goose chase.

much

make

that everyone

cases, the 'immediate'

ing myself, was pretty

JTARs with

to take these 'immediate'

a grain

contact only to find

had gone

JTAR was many

to

bed

for

hours old

My initial thought was that this On top of that, everyone, includ-

exhausted from flying

all

night.

I

was

skeptical."

While Grinalds copied the fuel

requirement

for

enough on board

DASC(A) minutes nance.

them

to

that his flight

to stop in to

On

the

way

to

make

brief,

John Garrigan calculated the

complete the mission. They didn't have a

good

effort of

it.

Grinalds told the

would take the mission but needed

Busch FARP and take on to the

fuel

thirty

and more ord-

FARP, Grinalds led the

division over

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

where he had helped destroy an enemy Observation Post

Safwan

Hill

the

night of the war. Shot up as

first

ister as

it

Once

men

161

had when

it

was

still

was,

it

manned by

it

didn't look nearly as sin-

the enemy.

the four gunships landed, the practiced Marine ordnance

work slapping more

set to

Hellfire

The

the sinister-looking helicopters.

and

TOW missiles on board

crews kept the engines turning

to facilitate a

quick departure. At the same time, other

nel darted in

and among the

aircraft,

CAS brief with the

of the flight— just like

rest

wrecked hangar back

a million times before in the All during this period the

person-

attaching fuel hoses and check-

ing for damage. "While the ordies were loading us

quick

FARP

DASC(A) made

up

I

went over

we had at Ali

a

practiced

Al Salem."

repeated calls asking

Grinalds and his flight to expedite. Unfortunately one of the aircraft

was extremely slow

in taking

on

fuel.

With

friendly troops in extremis

Grinalds couldn't wait any longer and stopped the refueling. Smitty Aylward's bird was rest

of the

siles,

flight.

three

The

with about twenty minutes'

less fuel

than the

ships were each loaded with three Hellfire mis-

TOW missiles, a pod of nineteen 2.75-inch HE (High Ex-

plosive) rockets, a

three

left

pod of seven 2.75-inch

flechette rockets,

and about

hundred 20-millimeter cannon rounds.

The

four Cobras stirred

as they hurried airborne.

up

a small storm of gray-brown desert dust

The DASC(A)

passed the flight more am-

plifying information, including the fact that they could expect to be fired

on by man-portable SAMs and

them

cleared

direct to

anti-aircraft artillery.

He

then

Contact Point (CP) Bigfoot, approximately

fif-

teen miles northwest of Al Basrah. Bigfoot was actually a bridge across

Hamar Canal— a fairly wide stretch of water that ran roughly eastto-west. Once they neared Bigfoot they were cleared to contact the

the

FAC,

callsign

Manila

6,

on Iron— a

TAD (Tactical Air Direction) fre-

quency. "I

had

bered.

a hard time talking to

"The

Manila or

I

—

it

warbles

and

spit

Iraqis

Manila on

were jamming

Iron," Grinalds

remem-

the frequency, and every time

keyed the mike we'd be overpowered by loud, screeching

made me want

to take

my

helmet

off. I'd

key the mike

out 'Manila switch Steel' really quickly— trying to get

him

to

162

JAY A.

switch to Steel frequency.

It

STOUT

was almost

like a

'Switch Steel! Steel!' Finally he caught on and

bad

we

joke: 'Uh, Steel!

all

met over on

the

other frequency and had a good check-in with no interference."

Approaching Manila's position the flight

came

at Bigfoot,

face-to-face with the

grim

position was taking accurate artillery

Grinalds and the

rest

reality of the situation.

fire.

A

pall of dust

of

The

and smoke

"My heart when I saw what was coming down on them. Everyone was dug

covered the area, and the British unit was taking casualties. sank

in pretty well, but

it still

looked bad," Grinalds recalled.

Manila 6 was Major Stanton Coerr, a reserve signed to a Marine Air Naval Gunfire Liaison

While on

he— like

active duty

from the southwest— had been the First Royal Irish

officer

normally

Company (ANGLICO).

the gunship crews approaching a

Cobra

pilot.

Regiment Battlegroup,

as-

him

He was now attached to army

a British

infantry

battalion that was part of the United Kingdom's Sixteenth Air Assault

Brigade. His job was to coordinate U.S. supporting

fires for

the British

unit.

"Manila," said Grinalds, "was really cool and professional.

he keyed

his

mike we could hear the

shouting in the background. But for

might

as well

arty

rounds exploding and guys

appeared

all it

When

to

bother him,

very impressive." Manila briefed the situation while the Cobras set

an orbit away from the holed up

ily

we

have been having a conversation in his living room

at the

artillery barrage.

The

British unit

— up

was primar-

southern end of the bridge, but had reconnais-

sance elements across the span to the north. Equipped as they were with relatively small 105-millimeter howitzers, they were being out-

ranged by the heavier Iraqi guns. Nevertheless, Manila was able to provide a good grid location to the

enemy

artillery position.

These data were derived from

a British

counterbattery radar system nicknamed, aptly enough, "Cobra." radar detected the

enemy artillery rounds

as they

came

trapolating their trajectories, was able to determine

in and,

The

by ex-

where the guns

were located. "After

Manila completed

his

brief,"

plugged in the coordinates he had given

Grinalds

me

continued,

and realized

that

"I

one of

HAMMER FROM ABOVE made

us had

gave

me

a mistake

— the target was thirteen kilometers away.

two more grids but they

location."

It

alized that

was only

163

plotted out at roughly the

all

after talking to the

Manila wanted the Cobras

FAC

He

same

further that Grinalds re-

to fly nearly nine miles in front

of the British lines to hit the Iraqi artillery tubes.

He had

Grinalds had misunderstood the FAC.

Manila was briefing hidden

The accuracy

nearby area.

in the

there was

his flight to hit Iraqi

no doubt enemy observers were

that wasn't the case.

They

didn't

thought that

Forward Observers (FOs) of the

fires

was such that

calling the artillery in. "But

know where

enemy FOs

the

were;

they just wanted us to go way up forward and hit the guns."

That wasn't

a job for

Cobras over

enemy

flat

desert

a bright,

into

their gunships.

The Cobras were intended

hunter-killer missions. As lightly

armored

enemy

as they were,

such small numbers, they were extremely vulnerable

enemy

day.

to provide close fire sup-

port for ground units rather than ranging deep into

on

sunny

was not how the Marines used

Ranging deep

territory

on

to

territory

and

in

coordinated

air defenses.

Grinalds remembered that he was not happy at terest in

going up there

after those guns.

all. "I

had zero

None. There was

a

in-

good

chance we would get decisively engaged. The weather was great—

which was not good

for us.

And

of course

we

operate right in the heart

of just about every weapons envelope out there. or a

fifty

hundred

some well-chosen sand

Those and

dirty words. If

we were

feet,

factors in

that there

they could knock us

feet,

we

we

If

down

with a big stick or

ran in higher,

maybe

combination with the

was no terrain

support— either Hornets or tion of F/A-18s, but the

two

until after they refueled

—

to

it

lend any help.

without fixed-wing cover.

were going

to lose

at a

thou-

perfect targets for shoulder-launched missiles.

to

fact that

hide behind had

it

was broad daylight

me very concerned."

Grinalds put Manila on hold and tried to generate

were able

ran in low, say

it."

jets

He was able to

would be an

bird

raise a single sec-

wouldn't be able to arrive on station at least thirty

"I really, really didn't

If

If a

Harriers.

some fixed-wing

aircraft

minutes until they

want

to

go up there

was shot down or disabled, we

went down, the operating procedure

164

was

JAY A.

STOUT

attempt to recover the crew, and then destroy the

to

With

zeroizing the crypto equipment in the radios.

piece of equipment

commonly used by

crew were supposed

theory.

aircraft after

carabiner—

rock climbers— the

downed

themselves to a tie-down point on an-

to attach

other aircraft and ride out on the stub wings.

ble—in

a

It all

sounded

plausi-

Grinalds didn't want to have to validate

Still,

for

it

real.

"After about another retrospect,

we were going

there's a fine line just a little bit

I

said 'we're

it'

and decided

be either heroes or

to

between the two, and the

side

goats.

to go. In

Sometimes

you land on

rides

and pointed the four ships north. Only

Manila aborted

their

some confusion with

a

moment

run and called them back. There had been

the British artillery units, and there was a dan-

ger that the gunships might get caught in a volley of friendly

Once "I

the miscue was cleared, they were on the

way

fire.

again.

spread everyone out into combat spread— about two hundred

meters between each along: 130 knots at

aircraft," fifty

Grinalds

"We were clipping right ground." The flight leader

said.

above the

feet

glanced to either side of him. ters

on

of luck." This was one of those times. Grinalds spread

his formation out later

minute

The gunships had

a sinister look. Clus-

of munitions clung to their worn and dirty sides. Slightly nose-

down

as they scooted

terrible

The

and

toward the suspected

target,

they seemed

war-like.

terrain

below wasn't the desert they had been used

more

over up to this point in the campaign. Rather, there was gated agriculture— green and brown fields studded with

compounds and

sorry-looking herds of livestock. All

to flying

mud

irri-

brick

manner of

refugees lined the narrow roads that they dusted with their rotor wash.

There were people on ilies

pushing

carts.

bikes, old

The

luckier

sedans packed to overflowing.

men and women on

foot, entire

fam-

among them rode in small pickups or The traffic flow was north and west,

away from Al Basrah. "The refugees were

like

something you'd see on

the evening news or in Time magazine," Grinalds recalled. After a short

time— at

so low an altitude— the gunships lost radio

contact with Manila. Their rotors glinting in the sun, the Cobras

weaved and banked above the refugees

as they

checked the

first

two

HAMMER FROM ABOVE grids the

FAC had

those 'civilians' was really

all

They found

given them.

making

me

165

nothing. "Flying around

rememwe were really pushing our luck and was ready to and swung the division back around south to try and nervous," Grinalds

bered. "I thought call

it

quits

communications with Manila."

reestablish radio

It

was then that John

Garrigan came up on the radio and reminded Grinalds that there was

one more

still

pause while the

would

There was

grid location to investigate.

pregnant

of the formation waited to see what Grinalds

rest

do. "Spyder

a long

and

talked

I

it

over and decided to head back

north."

Grinalds wheeled the division around again and headed toward the

After a

last grid.

were no enemy

moment

or two

it

seemed apparent

"Then

artillery units in the area.

could see, other than our presence, a started diving for cover.

circled over groups of

The pucker

men

that

factor

was

no reason

for

of the

lot

that there

men on

really

that

I

the road

going up as

we

were running while others did noth-

We were just waiting for them to shoot so that we could shoot back. We knew that a lot of them were ing and

still

others

waved white

flags.

combatants out of uniform and that we were essentially playing

chicken— waiting

for

them

to

Again Grinalds was ready was starting

to

pique his

shoot

first."

to turn back,

interest.

"As

we

Mullin called out some smoke up ahead. the

smoke was coming from the

for."

The guns

that the

but

all

the strange behavior

pressed farther north Jim I

looked and realized that

Iraqi artillery pieces

we were looking

Cobra crews had found were Soviet-designed

D-30, 122-millimeter towed howitzers.

The

battery of guns was in an

southern end.

The berm

open

tive to cultural

and

with a high

berm

at the

stood between the gunships and the enemy.

Only three hundred yards from the

The enemy was aware

field

Iraqi

combatants stood

of the Coalition's Rules of

a

mosque.

Engagement

rela-

religious sites. Iraqis often took advantage of West-

ern sensitivities to civilian casualties and collateral

damage and

placed high-value military hardware in or close to mosques, schools,

and

hospitals.

It

going to be a factor in

By now the

it

was not

Caught by

surprise

often complicated Coalition efforts, but this instance.

helicopters were taking heavy

fire.

166

JAY A.

and with no

STOUT

Cobras charged the

better plan, the four

the artillery guns, Grinalds and his crews could type trucks their rush,

and

and

anti-aircraft guns.

Muzzle

flak bursts spattered the sky

field.

Aside from

make out

several Zil-

flashes blinked against

above them. Even in the

bright sunlight they could see fingers of tracers reaching

Too, the crews could see armed

up

at

them.

men below them letting loose volleys

of fire from smaller anti-aircraft pieces— even from their AK-47s.

and more concentrated the

closer the crews pressed in, the heavier

grew. Grinalds fired rockets into the field from about two miles

fire

and followed them up with running

The

guns.

rockets

TOW

The

made

TOW shots

targets. fire

Grinalds banked the flight away to the west.

The

more

two

last

ships, Smitty

needed about a minute

more

became

"We

still

too heavy and

hadn't done the

Aylward and Tinkle Dwyer, had a

tracking time and destroyed one of the D-30s prior to

turning the formation away.

a

whoosh and then

missiles fired with a louder, deeper

As they closed inside a mile, the enemy

job yet.

at the anti-aircraft

a short fsspt sound, not unlike toy fireworks.

corkscrewed toward their

bit

The

I

didn't

want

to get the division

to

me

break contact but

back together and

set

up

I

for

deliberate attack."

Adrenaline was running

high

among the four crews as enemy

rounds exploded above them and streams of tracers

anti-aircraft

reached out

fairly

like frightful strings

job covering

my

section as

we

of fire. "Smitty and Tinkle did a great

pulled off on that run," Grinalds said.

"Fm sure they saved our lives two or three more times that day." The four crews shouted instructions back and forth at each other over the radio, and then Grinalds marshaled at the

enemy.

On

flight farther in,

run— still

for

was too aggressive and overflew the protective berm.

was, as Marines like to say, one of those

the Cobras passed over the

berm

"Oh

shit!"

fire

to the barrage

from

reaching up

their coaxial

Caught by

moments. As

they crossed over the top of four

T-62 tanks that had been hidden by the earthworks.

added

another sprint

and the gunships destroyed two more of the guns. In

his zeal Grinalds It

this

them

under heavy fire— he pushed the

at the

The

tank crews

gunships with machine-gun

mounts.

surprise, Grinalds turned the division out to the east

HAMMER FROM ABOVE and then banked back around

go

for a

167

The

at the tanks.

volleys of

enemy fire continued to arc out at them. That none of them had been hit was a near miracle. The Cobras pushed in and began engaging

"We

the tanks from about a mile out. Hellfire missiles.

and the guns

From

began

Iraqis

fell silent

break and

to

took out

all

four of

them with

point the tide began to turn in our favor

this

with no crews to

Many

scatter."

man

of the anti-aircraft

them.

At the same time, the gunship crews spotted a group of about

running north

Iraqis

fifty

group toward the mosque. The

in a large

Marines ran them down with rockets and guns.

"It's

sobering to see

the expressions of the people you are engaging but the hard fact of the

matter

is

that they are combatants."

After only a few their

more

short minutes of

remaining ammunition,

membered,

"I started to

it

was time

get nervous

mopping up

the area with

Grinalds

to go. "Again/'

when

re-

we

considered where

I

were and that we didn't have any ordnance left— and Smitty was very low on

fuel.

We

basically pulled

back toward Bigfoot.

It

have only taken about felt like

was

Low on

fuel, the flight

jinked

a thirteen-kilometer run,

five or six

we were measuring

max power and

it

minutes, but that day

all

the

way

which should I

think

we

all

with a calendar."

headed

Busch FARP. As they

directly for

made contact with Manila Mission Report (MISREP) and Battle Damage

passed within radio range of Bigfoot they

and forwarded

their

Assessment (BDA). Manila replied that the

and

that they

were evacuating

Grinalds's flight returned with

of the war. In tanks.

An

it

Iraqi troops

their

artillery fire

had stopped

wounded.

some of the most spectacular footage

can be clearly seen running from

instant later two Hellfire missiles find their marks

their

and the

tanks disappear in spectacular explosions. In a report after the area

noted: "...

I

T-62s in hull

had been secured,

visited the sites

down

smell too good and

positions I

some while

later ...

I

whacked through the

didn't stray too close.

Major Stanton Coerr, Manila

6, also

Army

colonel

saw up

to four

a British

turret. It didn't

." .

.

had high

praise for the

Co-

168

JAY A.

bras of Opah

5 flight. ".

Opah

ators of the fire

1

1

.

It is

.

needed

that bridge to

Opah

5

got to

me

not an exaggeration to say that the

division saved

5

but had to hold on to the

1

STOUT

my

Hamar

We

life.

were taking indirect

Bridge, as three

battalions

rifle

push north out of the Rumaylah

just in

avi-

oil fields.

time to avert what could have been a

.

.

.

real

disaster."

During the mission, Grinalds's the

command and

often

due

tions,

and

had

flight

control system.

It

was

difficulty staying tied in to

common problem

a

to the quirkiness that so often bedevils radio it

was

and control

is

a

communicaon

a challenge that every aviator dealt with

That being

stant basis.

a con-

command

it

must be remembered

that

street,

and the Marines who

staffed the vari-

said,

two-way

most

ous agencies were equally frustrated. Nevertheless, everyone did what the Marine Corps had trained

them

to do: got the job done.

The

ability to

improvise

— "wing

it"

—

has been a Marine Corps strength since the service's birth, and the

men and women who fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom were no different. One Marine who took advantage of the tools he had to get bombs on worked

top of the

in the

enemy was Gunnery Sergeant Troy Mohler, who

TAOC,

callsign Tropical.

There were occasions when there were

no FAC(A)s

were available. Using

that

targets

was ad hoc, but

.

.

.

on

station

and clear them

my

Type

didn't understand

who

I

them

or

had,

I

I

III

CAS.

would describe

to the precise location.

where

I

was and would ask

position was in relationship to the target.

replied that get they

for

pass target de-

effective.

the target to the aircrews and direct

what

and mensurated

Mohler would

with the photos and other imagery

They often

be serviced, yet

to

a carefully prepared chart

coordinates from up-to-date imagery, scriptions to aircraft

needed

or other assets to control or direct the aircraft

was about

1

seemed amazed

When

50 nautical miles or so south of the at the level

of detail

I

was able

I

tar-

to pro-

It

HAMMER FROM ABOVE vide— of course

was due

it

to the

imagery

had.

I

sometimes didn't understand and would ask

ment

Even

of their

bomb

hits

at this early point of the

forced to deal with the hadist fighters.

Most

which they were civilian

ROE

on the

target.

often these

and

.

Even then, they

me

for

so

homes — or families— for early

assess-

.

trickery of the

men

Fedayeen and

were not local

to the

town

Ji-

in

had no compunction against using cover. In

many

cases the Coalition

precluded engaging these ruthless criminals.

enemy fighters adapted

my

campaign, Coalition forces were being

maddening

fighting

.

169

on was

to

wave white

Cobras arrived overhead, then resume fighting

One

tactic the

when AH-1W

flags

after they departed.

Or sometimes they simply walked away. Although the incident described in the First

Marine

Division's history of the

campaign took

place later on, Captain Brian Gilman's recounting of the enemy's reaction to the arrival of 3rd

Whenever out.

It

rotary

wing

MAW airpower

air

is

illustrative:

showed up these guys would

was one of the most frustrating experiences

I've

just

bug

ever had

watching these guys walk away, but they'd disappear and suddenly reappear with no weapons, wearing civilian clothes.

tough but the Marines showed incredible

want more

civilians getting killed.

restraint.

We

It

was

didn't

17

The Storm

The advance and

up Highway

1

-7 pressed northwest.

continued on March 24-25 as RCT-5

And

at

An

Nasiriyah

RCT-1 pushed

north on Highway 7 while Task Force Tarawa stayed behind to continue the killing.

the

enemy

RCT-Ts northward push would continue

off balance

and would serve

to

to

keep

keep the attack moving

along more than one route.

It

was 0530 on March 25, and Lieutenant Colonel Jerry "Badman"

The commanding officer of HMM-268, Driscoll had just led his section of CH-46Es back to RCT-5's headquarters to the west of An Nasiriyah. They had spent the previous sevDriscoll was

eral

out.

hours evacuating casualties back

Now safely on craft

worn

were

deck, he

settled in

mediately asleep.

made

to field hospitals in the south.

certain that his two crews

and

their air-

then crawled into his sleeping bag and

fell

im-

'

..

.'

M->A

:fc

Amphibious Task Force (ATF) East en route

A two-seat F/A-18D

from VMFA(AW)-533

(centerline fuel tank

wingtip

transits the

Suez Canal under

a

hazy sky

to the Persian Gulf. (Robert Milstead)

and only one wing

in the "goofy

bubble" configuration

fuel tank). This aircraft

is

armed with two

mounted AIM-9M Sidewinders, two Mk-83 General Purpose 1,000-pound

bombs, and four GBU-12 Laser Guided, 500-pound bombs. (VMFA(AW)-533

via

James W. Frey]

An F/A-18D bombs,

takes fuel

this aircraft

is

from

a

KC-130

configured with an

Reconnaissance System) pallet

The ATARS via James

W.

(not pictured). Aside from laser guided

ATARS

as indicated

(Advanced Tactical Airborne

by the

slight

bulge below the nose.

system takes the place of the 20-millimeter cannon. Frey]

(VMFA(AW)-533

--«**-

^^p^

AV-8Bs recover aboard the

Bonhomme

Richard.

(VMA-311)

*

***:

An AV-8B

i

recovers aboard the

Bonhomme

Richard

as

a night vision device.

seen through

(VMA-31

1)

An AV-8B

just prior to

starting

takeoff

its

(VMA-311)

roll.

"Objects in mirror

A KC-1 30

." .

.

follows a sup-

port vehicle. (Joe

Strohman)

The

close support that

helicopter crews could provide to their

ground brethren included the

ability to briefs.

The Hantush

(QUALCOM) FARP deep inside Iraq

on Highway

was crucial

to the resupply

of

1st

1

Marine Division

forces. (Joe

Strohman) •

.

*

JSbat!-

land and get face-to-face

(Stephen Heywood)

A door gunner's

position

Huey. The weapon

is

an

on an HMLA-267

M240G

7.62-caliber

machine gun. (Stephen Heywood)

AGM-1 14 on an

Hellfire missiles

AH-1W Cobra.

mounted

(Jonathan

M. George)

A CH-53E

with a suspended load.

viaMAG-16)

(USMC

A

head-on view of an

Cobra armed with

AH-1W

AGM-1

14

Hellfire missiles, 2.75-inch rockets,

and

TOW missiles. A

20-millimeter cannon also adds to the

gunship's lethality.

(USMC,

Jonathan M. George)

\

m P

i

-

«fe

*"


-

rtatek

;^v(

^

;

f

/

^\

Cobra crews were sometimes away

fron

The

Crew

rest

Hall's

their bases for days at a time.

looked like

this.

(Todd Miller)

front

end of Maj. Stephen "Pygmy"

AH-1W Cobra

after

he was shot up

and forced down south of Al Basrah. (Stephen Hall)

Again, dust in the takeoff and landing phases was always a hazard for the tary

? T 99?'

.

An

ro-

wing crews. (Stephen Heywood)

Iraqi "Technical" as seen

AH-1W Cobra. The trucks. (Stephen

Iraqis

Heywood)

9D293

through the weapons system of an

mounted

all

manner

of weapons aboard pickup

IS^V^ ;*sr r

*,

-J

••'

--

-

The crew

of this Cobra survived after crashing to the ground and then

skidding upside

down

across this Iraqi airfield near Samarra. (Jonathan

M. George)

The wreckage Jeff

that was an

AH-lW's forward

cockpit. Capt.

Sykes survived the crash with only superficial injuries.

(Jonathan

M. George)

Many Cobras — particularly

early in the conflict— were operated

from ships

steaming off the coast of Kuwait. (Stephen Heywood)

A VMAQ-1

aircraft

and

a

NAVY F/A-18C

Force refuelers were crucial to the

effort

wait their turn for aerial refueling. Air

and serviced the

aircraft of

both the Navy

and the Marine Corps. (VMAQ-l)

1

r

P"\ Looking past the

ECMO's

KC-135.(VMAQ-J)

position at another

EA-6B

f~

r

?>J.

refueling from an Air Force

«

J^|MM*»

An

interesting view of

an

barrel of the .50-caliber

HMM-162 CH-46E

over southern Iraq. Note the

machine gun protruding from the

aircraft's right side.

(Eric Griggs)

A CH-46E

during a

A VMU-1 RQ-2B

CASEVAC

effort

near

An Numaniyah.

takes off with rocket assistance.

defense batteries in the background.

(Eric Griggs)

Note the elevated

(USMC via VMU-1)

Patriot air

The sandstorm fifty

of March 25 was a once in

years event. Find the

VMU-1

vehicle in this photograph.

support

(USMC via

VMU-1)

Marines race

ammo

to

unload

during the fight

at the presidential

on April

10.

HMM-165)

A wounded

Iraqi awaits

evacuation aboard a

CH-46E

during the fight

at the presidential

on April

10.

HMM-165)

palace

(USMC via

palace

(USMC via

*

'

»C, A group CH-46E

of Iraqi prisoners waits underneath the spinning rotor arc of a

during the fight

at the presidential

palace on April 10.

(USMCviaHMM-165)

Burning and looting gunner's station.

in

Baghdad on

The weapon

(USMCviaHMM-165)

is

April 10 as seen from a

an M2,

.50-caliber heavy

CH-46E

machine gun.

Looking across Capt. Will Oliver

at looting

crowds on the

during the fight for the presidential palace on April

The

10.

outskirts of

Baghdad

(USMC via HMM-165)

landing zone at the presidential

palace during the fighting on April 10.

The

area was just barely big

handle

a single

CH-46E.

enough

to

(USMC via

'

HMM-165)

A censored view of the FLIR video from Maj. Mark

Butler's

AV-8B

as

the Maverick missile he guided in

from Capt. Tyler Bardo's smashes into

Abu

Hanifa

fighting

on

VMA-214)

a

tower

aircraft

at the

Mosque during April 10.

Imam the

(USMC via

It

was hard-charging, hard-working marines

dirt,

these

men and women

never

unprotected. (Stephen Heywood)

An ordnance marine laser

bomb

kit to a

affixes a

1,000-pound

Mk-83 General Purpose bomb.

When will

like this

who

kept 3rd

MAW in the

during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Working unheralded in the heat and the

fight

he

finishes, the

weapon

be a GBU-16, Laser Guided

Bomb. (USMC, Micah Snead)

let their

brothers in the thick of the fighting go

w> §*'* B"

_

.

I

i

fe

t !**..- £1.

iri

Tank crews run from

their vehicles as they

Cobra gunships of Allen Grinalds'

March

24, near Al Basrah.

The AH-1W Cobra

An

Nasiriyah on

Lagoski,

flight.

fire

from the

crews that Todd Miller led against Iraqi fighters

March

Bussel,

AH-1W

(USMC via HMLA-267)

23.

From

left to right

Dan "Shoeshine" Sheehan, Ron

Dave "Fuse"

come under

This engagement took place on

and Todd "BT"

at

they are: Captains Brad "Gash"

"Ike" Cannizzo, Jim "Weasel" Weis,

Miller. (Todd Miller)

,

*

One

of the advantages of rotary winged operations was that the aircrews

could land and communicate face-to-face with the marines they were

Todd Miller communicates with an FAC.

supporting. Here, Capt.

(Todd Miller)

X

hL.jc

(Hps &L/yJ

note that Miller and the

exchanged

FAC

4-Q

Ujs

Urvu

d>&0 The

hu<\£ }

^T

'

X-

T*ic$ lcl^

£ 4-60^

in the picture above.

Noise levels often

made

it

&i&<^ M-f^

easier to

communicate with pen and

paper.

(Todd Miller)

OK ~ ^(L

Ldoic

frti^

-fke.

'TH&fy SUpp*V~

%C*s

C-xt&pAr (Xo

&V{Z.

/Hs
.

^5


3rd

MAWs wing commander, with his assistant commander and the wing's group

commanders. Left

MWSG-37;

to right: Col.

Col. Rich Spencer,

Ron McFarland, MACG-38; MAG-39;

Brig.

Commander, Maj. Gen. James Amos; Wing Commander, MAG-13;

Col. Randolph Alles,

Col. Stuart Knoll,

Cpl. Sarah

An

MAG-16.

"Mom"

MAG-1 1;

(USMC via

Wilson, a

UH-1N

Col.

Mike Anderson,

Gen. Terry Robling; Col.

Col. Robert Milstead,

Assistant

Mark

Win^

Savarese,

MAG-29; and

Robert Milstead)

crew

chief,

was

in the thick of the fighting at

Nasiriyah and proved to be deadly behind her door-mounted gun. (Paul Gosden)

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

Hospital of the

Corpsman Third

the fighting— to provide

comrades

Vann Johnson

Class Michael

Navy Corpsmen attached

Regiment. As a corpsman

Jr.

was one

Third Battalion, Fifth Marine

to

duty called for

his

171

him

be

to

at the fore

of

wounded Marine could be evacuated for more extensive

alive until they

and

aid

first

keep

to

his

treatment. Caring for the Marines was a duty that Johnson relished,

and one

at

which he

of them and vice

felt a

and guidance. As

he had written be

excelled. At twenty-five, he was older than

sense of fulfillment

all right;

own

to his

that

"God had

An

safety

mother

a letter to his

when .

.

.

telling

they

came

to

him

most

for ad-

only a short time earlier

her that he was going to

twisted a guardian angel"

around him. In

HMMWV he was

riding in was struck by an

March 25 RPG; he was killed

poral Quintero, also in the

HMMWV, was badly wounded as well.

the fighting around

had been asleep

Driscoll

"We

Nasiriyah on

got the

and needed

word a

CASEVAC

ing." Driscoll

and the

and

helicopters

so

we knew

that things

might get

"It didn't

Eckerberg and his copilot,

it

showed

also

his

First

1.

commander of

Not only was

it

Lieutenant Ryan

confidence in the junior

officers.

take us too long to find the battalion CP," Driscoll re-

called. "After

Carl

but

interest-

were headed north up Highway

the other aircraft, Captain Aaron "Fester" Eckerberg.

"Jester" Sather,

firefight

of his two crews quickly unbuttoned the two

rest

in short order

for

came.

call

Third Battalion had gotten into a

Driscoll assigned the actual lead of the formation to the

good experience

Lance Cor-

mission immediately. This battalion was the

RCT

lead element for the

instantly.

more than an hour when the

just

that the

the

Mundy,

we landed

I

had

the battalion

being loaded."

The

were impacting

fight

just a

the battalion's return

a short chat with

Lieutenant Colonel

commander, while the

was

still

ongoing.

Enemy

casualties artillery

were

rounds

few hundred yards away, and the racket from

fire

rang in Driscoll's

ears.

The

still-turning en-

gines of his two aircraft added to the din.

"We

put a Petty Officer Johnson aboard our bird," Driscoll

"He was

a

corpsman who had been

killed only a short

said.

time earlier

172

STOUT

JAY A.

and there was that

he and

little

we could do

him with the respect The wounded Marine was placed

other than treat

his family deserved."

on Eckerberg's

Only minutes

ship.

CH-46Es

landing the two

after

were airborne again and headed south. It

was

a short

with Driscoirs

time

"Storm of the Century" caught up

later that the

He

flight.

recalled: "It wasn't a gradual thing. All of a

sudden we were facing what looked really unnerving."

The two CH-46Es

blinding blast of sand and

dirt.

rine

way between

its

on board, made

highway trying

to

and

it

brown.

It

was

collided with the storm in a

Clouds of dust made

Driscoirs aircraft— he could smell

found

like a solid wall of

feel

their

The

it.

his teeth. Eckerberg, with the

way

fine grit

into

even

wounded Ma-

ground and swung away toward the

a dive for the

maintain visual contact with the desert below. The

maneuver was too

He

aggressive for Driscoll to maintain formation.

separated from Eckerberg and immediately transitioned to flying on his instruments; there

was nothing but brown

to see outside his

wind-

screen.

"Once

I

was clear of

Fester,

I

started a

climb

to

clear of the ground," recounted Driscoll. "Also,

Bill

off the disorienting effects of vertigo.

flying in

one

attitude

"Spam"

sure

I

was

thought that per-

I

haps we might be able to get above the worst of the while he and his copilot, Captain

make

the

visibility." All

Pacatte,

were fighting

Their guts told them they were

and direction while

their instruments told

them

otherwise. Following their

guts— the more compelling instinct-

would

their concentration to fight against the

kill

them.

It

took

all

siren song of their instincts

and

fly

according to their instruments.

Climbing through four thousand was

flying into the heart of the

recognized that he

feet, Driscoll

SAM threat;

there was

no way he was

going to get above the shrouds of dirt being flung against his

He

gently descended the helicopter back to two

he and the

rest

hundred

of the crew weighed their options.

"We

aircraft.

feet while

discussed

set-

that

down in the desert right where we were, but there was a danger we might land near an Iraqi unit." The hazard was very real. To

this

point the Marine advance had been concentrated along the roads

ting

and highways

that ultimately led toward

Baghdad. There were un-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE known numbers

From

the highway. to the south

Using

"I

there

made the decision to feel our way over to we'd make our way down to Pac Bell FARP,

along Highway

their

1."

onboard GPS, Driscoll and Pacatte groped through the

sand until they reached the highway. "Not only was the

flying ity

of small, bypassed Iraqi units in the desert. "Finally/'

remembered,

Driscoll

173

awful, but

we were

fighting a vicious

visibil-

headwind and our speed over

the ground was only about twenty-five knots," Driscoll said. At times

scooting along at only fifteen feet, just to be able to keep sight of the

highway, Driscoll kept the helicopter moving south. the rules of the

anyone

else

road— that

is,

we

stayed

on the

"We

played by

right side just in case

was playing the same game and flying north along the

was a simple

means of maintaining some

highway."

It

of

deconfliction. Nevertheless, their biggest threat was the

traffic

if

informal

combination of roadside towers and

traffic

recounted: "There were a couple of times clear of oncoming traffic. faces

on these guys

It

we

as

type

on the highway. Driscoll

when we

just barely lifted

was actually kind of humorous

to see the

passed by each other at almost the same

level."

There were times though and they were forced were setting up

most

set

around

to

that the flying sand

to land.

"I'll

was simply too

land alongside the highway at one point and

down on

top of a poor Marine

his ankles while

million miles from

he tended

home,

in a

much

never forget," Driscoll said,

who had

to his business.

combat zone,

dirty,

caught in one of the worst sandstorms of the past

his pants

"we

we aldown

There he was

hungry, and fifty

years,

a

tired,

and he

movement in peace and quiet. As it was, he didn't even budge — he just hung on to his toilet paper and finished the task at hand while we landed right next to him." couldn't even exercise a bowel

more than two hours, Driscoll and his crew put their down at the Pac Bell FARP. It was quite literally a port in the storm— an assorted collection of Marine and Army helicopters had Finally, after

aircraft

already clobbered their at the

way through the blinding wind

ad hoc staging point. Driscoll was relieved.

aircraft

up

as best

we could and hunkered down

to take refuge

"We covered our

against the

wind and

174

STOUT

JAY A.

dust." Later that

UH-1N Huey came through

day a

for fuel, intent

made

returning to Kuwait regardless of the danger. Driscoll

ments

seem

to get

Johnson's body aboard and back to the

right to leave

Driscoll

to get the

and the prognosis

In the

rear. "It just didn't

wounded Marine on

for his recovery

was

his

Not only were

the blowing sand was

that Eckerberg

way

to a field hos-

positive.

meantime the Marines moving on Highway

devilish time.

arrange-

there in the desert." Later in the day,

drew some comfort from a message noting

had been able pital,

him out

on

1

were having a

the drivers suffering from fatigue, but

making movement almost impossible. In places

the visibility had gotten so bad that Marines dismounted to lead the drivers at a walking Still,

drivers

ment even

were

pace

just to

keep the columns moving forward.

falling asleep at the wheel; accidents

further.

One tank crew was and

sight of the road or fell asleep

lost

when

slowed move-

the driver either lost

rolled off a bridge

and

into the

Eu-

phrates.

One Marine

left his

HMMWV to answer nature's

was so poor he became disoriented and began

ity

would have obliging

it

he stumbled

Huey crew

him

took

The blowing dust was so hole in the body. rags

around

masks

It

we

just sat

He

wander. As luck

The

in for the evening.

fine that

it

got into every crack, crevice, or

even put up with the discomfort of their gas

orangeish,

Ultimately, DriscoH's crew stayed days.

to

visibil-

nearby FARP.

keep from breathing or ingesting the

some Marines vomit up

more

at a

The

was everywhere. Marines wrapped bandannas or

their faces, or

in order to

UH-1N

into a

call.

muddy

stuff. It

made

bile.

bedded down

at the

FARP

for

two

recalled their wait for the weather to clear: "Mostly

around and talked with the other crews who were

stranded out there.

doing— getting

It

was interesting

to see

their perspective of the war."

what they had been

A notable

aspect of this

mission was the fact that Oliver North had been on board Driscoll's

HAMMER FROM ABOVE He was a Fox News

ship the entire time. unit,

and Driscoll recalled

sure to have around. ate,

he

slept

where we

reporter

that the former

He was slept,

175

embedded with

Marine "was

never a prima

donna— he

the

truly a plea-

ate

what we

and he stayed out of our way and never

made any demands. The young Marines loved him; he shared stories with them and never turned down any requests for photos or autographs.

He was

a true

gentleman — I can't say enough good things

about him." It

was

late

on March 27 when the weather cleared enough

and Pacatte

Driscoll

The

pilots

and

back

to bring their helicopter

and put themselves back

Salem

into the war.

3rd

staff at

to Ali Al

for

MAW had been briefed that there was a

sandstorm coming. "We'd seen them before, and we already knew that they

were unpleasant and that they made

work," Guts Robling recalled. "But for us with this one/'

we had no

The maelstrom

it

and

difficult to fly

idea what was in store

of wind and sand and dust that

swept into southern Iraq and Kuwait during the morning of March 25 has subsequently been dubbed the "the Fifty-Year Storm," and described as the sort of event that happens only once or twice during a lifetime. Regardless of this particular

the day

began Robling was en route

it

and operational good

issues.

rate,

"We wanted

to start operating

Tamer wanted me up

liked.

sometimes

.

to the

and things weren't quite moving

because

.

heli-

newly captured

southern Iraq in order to sort out some logistical

would have .

down

— particularly across that portion of Iraq.

airfield at Jalibah in

pretty

often a weather event of this type occurs,

storm was vicious enough to virtually shut

copter operations

On

how

out of there at a

as quickly as

we

there to push things along

having a general walking around ener-

just

gizes folks a bit more."

The sandstorm was

just

beginning

when

Robling's helicopter

touched down. "There was a massive wall of dirt moving down on top of us," he remembered.

maybe

"It

as a special-effects

was

like

nothing we'd ever seen— except

gimmick out of the movies."

It

wasn't long

176

STOUT

JAY A.

before the storm roared into the area and brought operations to a halt.

Wind

hour and

gusts reached speeds of sixty miles per

it

became

nearly impossible to do anything under the brutal crush of the wind-

driven sand.

"I

was with Colonel Mike Anderson, the commanding

MWSG-37, and we

officer of

down. Every once

pound wasn't

the tent pegs back into the

much

else that

Robling was stuck. ertheless, the

with the

we were

He

headquarters was located only a short

company

This could be good;

I

his

way there

ling ran outside the tent

and

a platoon of

dis-

to establish liaison

"when word came

of Iraqi infantry approaching our po-

remember thinking

into a firefight without having to

He found

but other than that there

wasn't there long," he recalled,

across that there was a

tol.

dirt,

other than hunker

would run outside and

able to do."

FSSG, and he made

staff. "I

much

do

wasn't getting out of Jalibah that day. Nev-

MWSG-37

tance from the

sition.

didn't

in a while the youngsters

do

it

from

thirty

I

might actually get

thousand

feet."

Rob-

into the storm with his 9-millimeter pis-

Marines

in defensive positions straining to

see into the whirlwind of sand. "I

was only out there

nabbed

me and

a

moment

or two

almost physically dragged

when

me

the sergeant major

away," recalled Rob-

ling.

"He

The

sergeant major tactfully but firmly brought Robling back from

wasn't going to

general officer get shot on his watch."

let a

the perimeter while the younger Marines guarded against a threat

came.

that never

The storm continued through had only planned on being there

the night. Robling remembered: "I for just a

few hours. All

I

had with

me was my helmet and pistol; had no razor, no toothbrush, no nothing. Plus, had my aide and two security kids with me. At that point I

I

I

probably was more of a hindrance then a help." Ultimately a place

was found

for

Robling

to

spend the night. The next morning three

Army UH-60 Black Hawks were found from

their tent. "It

in the

sitting

only twenty-five yards

was a miracle that they had been able

to set

down

middle of the storm, and extremely fortunate that they hadn't

landed on top of our

tents,"

Robling remembered.

remarkable that no one had heard them

come

in."

"It

was even more

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

177

Three more days passed before Robling was able back

to 3rd

MAW headquarters at Al Jaber.

The Marine who had a sleepover less

to hitch a ride

lost his

way and was hosted by

woke up on the day the storm subsided

than a hundred yards away.

a

Huey crew

for

to find his vehicle

18

Hercules

in

Iraq

None of the crew had ever been shot at, but this mission was going to

make them

craft inside Iraq.

the

first

Coalition airmen to land a fixed-wing

That being the

case, they

were going

air-

to get shot at

a lot.

By the evening of March 24 the Marines had airstrip just outside the

town of Jalibah and made

tions.

Fuel and ammunition brought in

cally

known

as

it

seized the Iraqi

ready for opera-

to the airfield

— now

tacti-

Riverfront— would augment the supplies being

trucked into Iraq over surface routes. Although

it

took the aircraft

away from other missions, resupply by KC-130 was speedy and

re-

sponsive.

That night Iraqi

at Joe Foss

Expeditionary Air Field, just south of the

border in Kuwait, was dry and windy.

From where

side the tent that served as a makeshift operations

they sat in-

and maintenance

center the crew could hear other aircraft coming and going on the

busy desert runway.

It

was very

late in the

"Roady" Skinner cut short the small changing and focused

evening

talk that his

their attention

when Major John crewmen were

on the brief he was about

exto

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Their mission that night was to deliver

give.

of bulk fuel to Riverfront.

they would

fly in to

was a

It

fairly straightforward

and then

into the bladders while saving just

enough

That

is, it

that they

little

for their return flight to

to

be flying their big

an altitude of a hundred

The

aircraft

feet, at

it

not for the fact

50 miles into Iraq

1

250 knots, and under a

anti-aircraft fire that

random groups

make

bypassed Iraqi troops would send up was guaranteed to

even

directly

extra as a reserve.

skuzzy layer of oil smoke.

tie

assignment;

pump their fuel

would have been straightforward were

were going

at night, at

thousand pounds

thirty

the airstrip, taxi clear of the runway, stop adjacent

to a set of rubberized fuel bladders,

Kuwait, with a

179

There was

less straightforward.

of

the sor-

hun-

also the fact that, fifteen

dred feet from each end of the eight-thousand-foot runway, the Iraqis

had dug two deep trenches

in

an attempt

it

unusable. Their

was wasted. Although the shortened runway would no doubt

effort

pose some challenges, the remaining

enough

to

thousand

five

recalled. "Aside

thought were our primary

I

from the

anti-aircraft fire,

I

threats,"

still

enemy

from the entire crew. Those crewmen not

had

to

only

a

hundred

maintain a careful lookout

"keep the

out of the

aircraft

wingspan of the

for

aircraft

enemy

dirt."

would require

climb before they turned

lest

feet

at."

Ingressing

would demand the very

into

best

territory at

Skinner

was primarily concerned

about the extremely low altitude we would be flying

to

were

feet

conduct KC-130 operations.

emphasized what

"I

make

to

at the flight controls

fire

while the pilots had

Additionally, the

133-foot

that the pilots actually start a

they drag a wingtip and

fly

the aircraft

into the ground. In the accident reports these types of mishaps

were

pigeonholed under the category of CFIT: Controlled Flight Into Terrain.

Whatever the name,

smashed

into the

dirt.

And

it

meant

it

that the aircraft

was accidentally

usually killed the crews.

Skinner's airmen were fairly seasoned, and the brief went smoothly despite the hazards that they

longed

to

VMGR-234,

knew were

waiting for them.

They

be-

a reserve unit normally based out of Naval Air

Station Fort Worth, Texas. Both Skinner

and

his copilot,

Major Kevin

"Devil Boy" Cunnane, were reservists

who had been

recently fur-

180

JAY A.

loughed from the same major

STOUT

Skinner remembered that

airline.

seemed odd: "Only about two months

we had been

earlier

it

flying pas-

sengers in to places like Chicago and Los Angeles while being served

by

flight attendants.

During

the fares traveling in

that time our biggest

might eat

class

first

concern was that

Now,

the good desserts.

all

having been activated by the Marine Corps, we were sleeping in cots

and eating

dirt."

Following the formal

brief, Skinner's

assembled outside in the nighttime

air.

crew collected

Each of them snapped

loaded magazine into his 9-millimeter Beretta

checked that the weapon was securely strapped extra

Marines were added

to the crew; with their

provide security on the ground at Riverfront eration got

under way.

"I

any questions," Skinner

asked said.

their gear

when

and then

pistol

to his chest.

Ml 6s

and

a fully

Two

they would

the defueling op-

my Marines one more time if they had "They had none — it was time

to get

some."

The

preflight inspection, engine start,

the dirt runway were uneventful. duties

and markedly

less

and

Much more

taxi

out to the end of

normal

interest in their

banter were the only signs that the

crewmen

Once the takeoff checks were down the runway before he and

appreciated the gravity of the mission.

complete Skinner took one

last

look

Cunnane pushed the aircraft's four throttles all the way forward. It was 0330 on March 25. The big ship moved slowly at first as it overcame the gripping inerof the soft sand that perpetually plagued the expeditionary

tia

airstrip.

The four huge turboprops spun up with a roar and whipped an enormous cloud of dust and dirt into the air. Skinner could hear the pinging clatter that small stones made as they were lifted from the ground and slammed into the fuselage. The KC-1 30 picked up speed even as it

rose

and

fell

on

its

big

tires into

the soft spots that the engineers

could never completely scrape away. Finally Skinner and

hauled the

Cunnane

aircraft airborne.

After checking through the Tactical Air Operations Center, the

crew dropped the big transport down toward Jalibah.

"I

to the

immediately put the

rest

deck and pointed

it

west

of the guys to work watch-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

181

"When

ing for low-flying helicopters and power lines/' Skinner said.

you consider how many helicopters were operating atively small airspace,

what was

in

remarkable that we didn't lose any

it's

a rel-

aircraft

The danger from another hazard that Skinner Army Patriot miscrew made its way deeper into Iraq. The deadly

to midair collisions."

had briefed— being targeted by "friendly" U.S. siles—faded as the Patriots

were a

shot

tally

real

threat— only a few days before they had acciden-

down an RAF Tornado, and Navy F/A-18 out of the

blast a U.S.

KC-130 began

Skinner's

deeper into

Iraq. Still,

to

later in the

war they would

sky.

draw

he drove

anti-aircraft fire as

none of the enemy rounds found

its

it

mark.

"One

of the primary benefits of low-level flight on an extremely dark

night

is

that

it is

virtually impossible for the

see you in time even

he is

said.

not

you

if

enemy on

they are equipped with night-vision goggles,"

"At such low altitudes the horizon hides your

uncommon for the

fly directly

the ground to

bad guys

to

be unable

to see

aircraft,

and

it

you even when

overhead."

Sure enough, the tracer rounds that reached up

at the low-flying

random streams

transport spurted skyward in seemingly

that swept

back and forth through the blackness. Sometimes that randomness put the

enemy

fire directly in their

"We had

path.

to force ourselves

not to maneuver too aggressively so close to the ground," recollected Skinner. Just a minor miscue brought on by haste Iraqi

who

gunners could

not.

There wasn't

a

man on

would do what the board the

aircraft

hadn't already imagined the fireball that their aircraft and fifteen

tons of bulk fuel

would make

if

they should hit the ground.

The KC-130's mass demanded

that

it

be controlled with a combi-

nation of finesse and an ability to predict the future. Unlike flying a fighter that

"Battle

responded instantly

Herk" was an

a comparatively slow to the small

even the very smallest inputs, the

left little

commands

and measured manner. Although

nudges and prods that came from the

deck, those responses the ground

to

aircraft that reacted to the pilot's

still

pilots

it

in

responded

on the

flight

took time. Flying at a hundred feet above

margin

to recover

from a mistake made

onds previously. Anticipating what control inputs were going

five sec-

to

be

re-

182

STOUT

JAY A.

quired was almost an art that was learned only after long and difficult experience.

The flew

it

big transport also

demanded

had some muscle on

essarily fly the aircraft so

At times the

their bones.

much

men and women who

that the

as they

horsed

it

fliers

didn't nec-

around. Even though

the controls were hydraulically boosted, big hard turns required big

The entire crew— except perhaps the two last-minute security add-ons— knew all of this. Each time Skinner and Cunnane made an aggressive move the fliers in the rear of the aircraft held their hard muscles.

collective breath until the big ship

was

back into

settled

straight

and

level flight.

Anti-aircraft

"Our ASE

guns weren't the only threat that worried Skinner.

Equipment] gear kept chirping

[Aircraft Survivability

us— warning

that

we were being

Nevertheless, the low-altitude profile that he was flying possible for the

no

enemy

at

tracked by Iraqi missile batteries."

made

it

im-

systems to achieve a solid firing solution, and

KC-130

pre-

There were obviously no established instrument approaches

into

missiles

were launched

at the

huge

target that the

sented.

CWO-5

the newly captured airfield. Instead Skinner's navigator,

Kevin "Rock" Lampe, had

earlier devised

proach" that would rely on the

Executed

as designed,

five-mile straight-in

men completed

it

aircraft's

would

approach

to the

their checklists

fusillade of tracers erupted

set

from

a "self-contained ap-

Global Positioning System.

Skinner and

Cunnane up

for a

runway. However, as the crew-

and readied

for landing, a

a point just three miles out

wicked

from the

end of the runway. It

was enough

to

keep them from continuing the approach. Skin-

ner remembered: "There simply wasn't an opening in the solid line of AAA [Anti-Aircraft Artillery] that would allow us to line up on the

runway and land. Instead we actually descended then maneuvered to

At the same time,

ward

to the

two

set

up

Lampe

pilots.

for a landing

farther, accelerated,

from the opposite direction."

drafted a quick approach

By now

it

seemed

and passed

it

for-

that every single Iraqi in the

desert surrounding the airfield was wide-awake

and anxious

to

shoot

HAMMER FROM ABOVE down an American

reached out in

tracers that

The

aircraft.

Lampe had

that

night sky was laced with streams of

different directions.

all

had the

After a few minutes Skinner file

devised. "To

ollected.

"The

we were

flying,

now needed

an exact

fix

he

was obvious

on the KC-130. This was on the runway. With

a

heavy— 1 50,000 pounds— and would

than normal, which in turn would require every

faster

at

rec-

to devote the greater part of his attention

load of fuel the aircraft was

be landing

pro-

higher than where

airfield." It

to the task of actually getting the aircraft safely full

to landing/'

much

and most of it arced over the

that the Iraqis did not have

good; Skinner

our approach

was directed

anti-aircraft fire

up on the new

aircraft set

minimize our exposure we stayed

feet for the final three miles of

fifty

183

bit

of runway available. Also, the heavy load was stressing the airframe to

near

its

limits; a

Through

hard landing could tear the wings from the fuselage.

his night-vision goggles

Skinner picked out the subdued

infrared lighting that delineated the trench the Iraqis

the runway. Marines on the ground had put fore.

He double-checked

it

had cut across

in place only

hours be-

and

airspeed.

his alignment, angle of attack,

Maintaining the exact airspeed required was

critical.

"On

the limited

landing surface available, a smooth landing on the touchdown point

would have been worthless

if

we

carried even ten knots of extra air-

speed—we simply wouldn't have been to the trench

Through

able to stop the aircraft prior

on the other end of the runway."

his long career

Finally, just a

Skinner had seldom had

ing,"

he

down

the side of

recalled.

The

my

helmet

infrared lights

under the nose of the KC-130 landing gear.

work so hard.

few seconds before touchdown, he and Cunnane

pulled the controls back toward their laps.

dripping

to

as

as

I

"I

could

feel the

sweat

flared the aircraft for land-

marking the trench disappeared

Skinner

felt for

the runway with the

A gentle shudder announced that the wheels had made The two pilots brought the throttles back to moment to ensure that the big, square-bladed

contact with the asphalt. flight idle, hesitated a

propellers were spinning properly, then pulled the throttles farther

back into reverse and jumped on the brakes. The rapid deceleration that followed threw the

crew forward hard against

their shoulder re-

184

JAY A.

straints,

but

still

STOUT

the far trench was approaching rapidly. Nevertheless,

Skinner was able to hold the shuddering big transport slowed below

fifty

steering, bled off more speed,

way toward where

aircraft

under control. As the

knots he engaged the nosewheel

and then turned the

the fuel bladders

the edge of the runway he could

aircraft off the run-

were stationed and waiting. At

make out

small groups of Marines

guarding against an Iraqi counterattack. Looking skyward, he could still

see

trails

had no idea

of Iraqi tracers arcing over the that

The importance

he was

safe

field.

The enemy gunners

on deck.

of the thirty thousand pounds of fuel that Skinner's

crew off-loaded that evening cannot be overstated. completely that

fill

seemed

to

the tanks of 176

move

into Jalibah, but

was enough

Marine Corps. His was the

many, many more would

ditional Iraqi units

tacks

the entire

It

to

HMMWVs— the ubiquitous vehicle

were bypassed

first

sortie

follow. Particularly as ad-

in the race for

on supply convoys became more common,

Baghdad, and air transport

as at-

would

bridge the gaps between supply and requirements. These sorts of operations boldly underscored the fact that the

complete air-and-ground team.

Marine Corps was

a

19

The Prowler

The storm that swept over the region on March advance up Highway

and

better weather, stiff

resistance

1

by RCT-5 and

pushing out of

after

-7.

An

25 had slowed the

RCT-1, however, had

Nasiriyah encountered

from Fedayeen and Republican Guard

fighters in the 7.

The

RCT's main body

after

town of Al Gharaff, only about ten miles north along Highway

enemy sprang letting the

a

number

of ambushes on the

armored elements that made up the lead pass through

town toward Ash Shatrah. The fighting became especially

when elements tremely heavy

fierce

of the attached artillery support began receiving ex-

fire

from very close

quarters.

Without missing

a beat

the Marine "cannon cockers" lowered several of their guns and fired directly into the buildings

demonstration was quite

from where the

Iraqis

effective.

At the southern edge of town Captain Jason tery

commander, was

hit

ing an advance party. His

he improvised

were shooting. This

Frei,

an

artillery bat-

by a Rocket Propelled Grenade while lead-

hand was severed by the

a hasty tourniquet

blast.

Nevertheless

from a radio handset cord and con-

tinued to lead his Marines against the

enemy ambush. An hour

later

186

STOUT

JAY A.

he was evacuated, near shock,

having suffered a massive

after

blood. Storm or not, the fighting that day was fierce along

By March 26 the worst of the storm had was

still

difficult

and the sunlight

loss of

Highway

7.

passed, although visibility

that passed through the airborne

dust turned everything a freakish orange color.

RCT-5 and

-7

con-

centrated on eliminating Fedayeen elements in the vicinity of Ad Di-

waniyah while RCT-1 continued

Highway

The

running gunfight north on

its

7.

fliers in

continued

to

3rd

MAW— particularly the fighter and attack types —

support the

RCTs

regardless of the weather. This was

possible in part because the storm didn't effect Kuwait nearly so badly

along Highway

as the region of Iraq

On the other hand,

1.

support was sometimes spotty, depending on the

helicopter

visibility

near the

ground.

The United since

States has

World War

tant of these has tronic warfare

on

been the dominant

for a

II

number

been the

and more

opponents. Since 1971 one of

It's

ugly.

(mind you, terror of

When

I

of reasons.

One

EA-6B

its

of the most impor-

effective scale than

most potent

my

wings during the early 1980s

fly

one of the

redeeming factor— a

ances—is the undeniable effective aircraft of

its

fact that

I

lived in constant

unattractive, four-seat "fam-

facet that transcends appear-

it

is

and has been the most

type by a wide margin.

SEAD — Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses.

Its

Looks

primary role

aircraft,

has endeared the

EA-6B and

and has made the Prowler

its

is

aside, degrading

or destroying the enemy's capacity to attack friendly aircraft bility that

its

tools in this aspect of

Fm one of the vainest people on earth),

ily trucksters." Its

any of

Prowler.

was earning

being assigned to

power

nation's ability to execute airborne elec-

a grander

the art has been the

military aerospace

is

a capa-

crews to the pilots of sexier

a "must-have"

when

striking into

heavily defended territory.

The EA-6B executes its mission primarily through the jamming of enemy SAM radars or by destroying those radars with HARMs — High Speed Anti-Radiation

Missiles.

A

discussion that goes

beyond the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE generalities of how the aircraft

and might

is

used

outside the scope of this book

is

easily slip into the classified arena. Nevertheless,

monly known

can provide jamming cover

that the aircraft

while actually part of that particular group of

tance—at

a point that allows a single

ferent strike groups. Naturally a

among

these include,

the

number

ation.

form

It is

systems alive

is

187

EA-6B

number

for a strike dis-

one or more

dif-

of factors dictate the tactics;

enemy

others, the

com-

from a

aircraft, or

to cover

it is

threat

and

his capabilities,

of EA-6Bs available, the geography, and the friendly situ-

should also be understood that the effectiveness of the

SAM

such that enemy if

plat-

crews often will not operate their

they believe that there are EA-6Bs in the vicinity. Staying

even

a priority,

among

this very desirable effect

is

the nation's opponents. In pilot-speak

called a "soft

kill."

Grumman A-6, Navy and Marine Corps EA-6As

Derivations of the

flew protective sorties during

much

of the Vietnam conflict and were

which began

ultimately replaced by the EA-6B,

service at the tail

end of that war and has since undergone massive and continual upgrades.

During the

Force retired left to

take

its

early 1990s, following Desert Storm, the U.S. Air

own

up the

ter facilitate the

tactical

jammer, the EF-1

role for the entire

increased

tempo

11,

and the EA-6B was

Department of Defense. To

bet-

that operations over the former

Yugoslavia and the Persian Gulf demanded, the Marine Corps's sin-

VMAQ-2, was

gle large squadron,

divided into four smaller units:

VMAQ-l,-2,-3,and-4.

During

this

campaign the Marine Corps's Prowlers were based

Saudi Arabia

at

Prince Sultan Air Base.

the international identifier of

the military aviation strategic asset,

community

installation carries

universally

as "Pee-Sab."

known among

"The EA-6Bs were

to his

a

in Saudi Arabia with other

"We had

to

list

them

ATO staff could use them as they saw

General Moseley was good

we

is

Robling remembered.

excess sorties so that the

Prowlers

PSAB and

and we put them down

strategic resources,"

own

The Saudi

in

all as

fit.

But

word— whenever we needed

our

got them."

Captain Dave "Shoe" Mueller was

a pilot with

VMAQ-1, one

of

188

STOUT

JAY A.

Marine EA-6B squadrons

the two

had flown missions over

at the base.

Iraq in support of

Already in his career he

OSW and ONW during

two different periods. During OIF, however, the pace had been

more

hectic.

drew

to

He remembered

his

workload

as the

an end: "During the previous week

proximately double the

amount

aging seven hours a day in the

of time

air

my

month

and only about four

I

its

it

doesn't have to rearm to execute

systems hold up, and

if

is

no reason

mission of

March 26 was one

that

is

and if

for the aircraft to return to

Because of this the crews were often pressed

The

aircraft

mission. If the aircraft

its

An

there are refueling aircraft available, and

the crew can stay awake, there base.

was aver-

in the rack."

advantage that the Prowler enjoys over most other tactical that

March

time was ap-

flight

spent sleeping.

I

of

much

would

to their limits.

Mueller and

tax

his

crew beyond what they had ever experienced. Although the "how and what" are

classified,

an outline of the mission's conduct gives an idea

of the effort the crew put into that day's

sortie.

The fliers had already been at work for about five hours when they made their way to the flight line. Briefings began four hours prior to takeoff.

That

didn't include the time that

some

brief beforehand. Fortunately

ing the

went

efficiencies

into preparing the

were gained by keep-

same four-man crews together during the majority of the cam-

paign. "This could be a blessing or a curse, depending

ended up

with,"

remembered Mueller.

"I

on who

a

guy

got pretty lucky; Major

Bob

XO [Executive Officer] and one of the most tactically proficient ECMOs [Electronic Countermeasures Officers] 'Hadji'

in the

pert

Bader was the

community. Captain Chris 'Smokey' Robinson was another

ECMO. Our

'Cess' Poole.

crew was rounded out by

He had

a

though Mueller was the

complex systems

jamming

that

He had no combat

good

attitude;

pilot,

it fell

made

last

the Prowler what

it

few hectic

experience but

he was a quick

to the three

ex-

Lieutenant Matt

joined the squadron in those

weeks before we had deployed. was a sharp guy with

First

learner." Al-

ECMOs

to

run the

was: the best tactical

aircraft in the world.

Aside from being a craft division officer.

pilot,

Mueller

As the

flight

also served as the squadron's air-

went through the maintenance

HAMMER FROM ABOVE shop

to sign for the jet,

he took a few minutes

189

to catch

up on what was

we

going on in his department. "The guys were as tired as

were.

They'd been working nonstop since we'd come into theater and were performing miracles

to

keep the

new monthly

in the midst of setting a aircraft

of

Indeed, the squadron was

jets flying."

flight-hour record for a five-

Prowler unit: more than seven hundred hours for the month

March

2003. "That

made me extremely

He and

had been blessed with competent Marines

I

happy," Mueller remembered.

crew got airborne uneventfully and headed north

his

through Saudi Arabian airspace. After a quick rendezvous with an Air Force refueler, Mueller topped off the pointed the crew into Iraq for their

first

aircraft's

mission.

tanks and then

The

visibility at alti-

tude was outstanding, but blowing sand blocked their view of the

ground below. "From radio

it

seemed

all

the action that was being relayed over the

that the Close Air Support aircraft

tough time working through

but they were

it,

still

were having a

trying," recalled

Mueller. Fortunately, the Prowler's electronic tools were essentially

impervious to the blowing dust. I

MEF

and

its

aircraft

was

just

The

support the crew provided to

one more component that was sup-

porting the drive north out of An Nasiriyah. It

was sometime during

craft's

this early

portion of the flight that the

navigational system decided to take a hiatus. "It was discon-

certing to hear a Persian controller

come up on

us of encroaching on the 'Iranian Empire,'

nothing quite per hour.

from

air-

like

"We

Iran,"

being

lost

the radio and accuse

" said

Mueller. There

is

while traveling at several hundred miles

got on our basic instruments and got headed away

Mueller recalled, "and then got the Air Force

to give us a vector to the tanker."

During the

trip to

AWACS

the refueler

Mueller and Poole got the navigational system realigned and working properly. "Actually," recounted Mueller,

"we were

at the

end of our sched-

uled mission and were looking forward to heading back to getting

some good Air Force chow

in

our

bellies."

PSAB and

But the

situation

had changed. The deteriorating weather had scrubbed the launch of the aircraft that was supposed to relieve them. Furthermore, a

190

B-l

bomber had

just

checked

Baghdad. The Air Force

During the years

after

eliminated most of the

and was headed

in

for

"downtown" —

needed jamming protection, and

aircraft

Mueller offered up the crew's

by

STOUT

JAY A.

services.

Desert Storm, the Coalition had effectively

SAM

threats in those sectors of Iraq covered

OSW and ONW. Baghdad, however, had remained essentially un-

touched during

that time.

all

On paper, at this time

in the

campaign,

the defenses over the capital city looked formidable. So fearsome

were they postulated

to

be that the area over and around the

MEZ" — a

Super Missile Engagement Zone.

demarcated

as a

On maps

was crosshatched with overlapping red

it

"Super

SAMs

picted a system of

dared to penetrate After

all,

the

it

circles that de-

any

so seemingly deadly that

aircraft that

would face certain annihilation.

enemy SAM

system operators had learned a great deal

during the previous decade and were considered a craft that

was

city

dared penetrate into the heart of

Iraq.

real threat to air-

On

the other hand,

the Iraqi operators had also learned that their counterparts in north-

ern and southern Iraq aircraft

was

still

who had

had ended up dead.

actively tried to

Basically, at this point in the war, there

no good idea of how severe the

dad was, and

it

engage Coalition

was more prudent to

anti-aircraft threat over

treat

it

Bagh-

with respect than with

dis-

regard.

In this particular instance the coverage provided by Mueller's crew

was sufficient

to

sion unscathed.

way back

ensure that the Air Force bomber completed

The

effort

went

well,

its

mis-

and the EA-6B was soon on

its

to the aerial refueler as night cloaked the battlefield. After

topping off with gas another time Mueller took his crew back over Iraq for a mission in general support of ongoing operations. Nevertheless, those operations

were dropping

off in

volume

as the sand-

storm that was stymieing the ground advance was also frustrating the support that could be provided from the

air.

Finally, their obligations complete, Mueller's

the return trip to

crew prepared

for

PSAB. They were quickly informed however that

the Saudi base was closed because of foul weather; they would have to divert into Ali Al

Salem

in Kuwait. "This

was not what

I

expected

HAMMER FROM ABOVE or wanted/' said Mueller.

and the

"The Marine Corps flew helos out of there

operated some

Brits

diverted into Al

but

jets,

Jaber— about

it

would have preferred

I

fifteen miles south of Al

where most of the Corps's fixed-wing Ultimately

191

assets

didn't matter. Just as the

to

have

Salem. That's

were based."

crew was descending into Ali

Al Salem they were called back for another mission into Iraq. Again they refueled and provided jamming. Finally, they were ready to turn to base.

looked

The weather

"We

home

base,"

marginal, though, and

still

it

Force controllers were going to send them away

like the Air

again.

PSAB was

at

re-

really didn't

want

to divert into

anywhere other than our

Mueller explained. After some

slick talking they

con-

vinced the controllers to allow them to head back to Prince Sultan Air Base. ter

"We had

missions to

help them from

PSAB

we had no maintenance

fly

the next day and our

jets

could bet-

from some outlying base where

rather than

troops."

Their luck went sour about 150 miles from the Saudi base; the

them

to

Kuwait, where the weather was supposedly better.

"I

Air Force controllers there turned

head back all

to

but begged them to

Mueller.

"I

make our

let

us continue to

even called back

case, but

pleas were getting

it

was

them away and

to the

all in

directed

PSAB," remembered

squadron and asked them

to

vain." Finally, realizing that their

them nowhere, Bader

called

up

the rear of the aircraft: "Okay, Shoe, turn the

to

jet

Mueller from

around— they

don't want us here." Mueller reversed course and drove the crew

back toward Kuwait. The

salt in

the

wound came when

they heard

the Air Force controllers clear an Air Force aircraft for the approach

back

to

PSAB.

When Mueller finally brought the EA-6B

back

found that the weather there was worse than Still,

in

landing.

degraded

More than nine hours

in Saudi Arabia the

Marine

once we landed," Mueller well."

he brought the

visibility,

The crew was

after

fliers

it

to Ali Al

had been

jet in for

Salem, he at

PSAB.

an uneventful

having taken off from their base

crawled out of their

jet.

"Actually,

recalled, "the Air Force treated us pretty

provided with the gear they would need to spend

the night in reasonable comfort and given a good meal to hold

them

192

STOUT

JAY A.

over until morning

when

they would launch on another day

full

of

missions.

For Mueller, the icing on the cake was the sleeping arrangements the Air Force provided for the evening.

had

from

to contract

vendors for

civilian

Hello Kitty sleeping bags looked

slumber

little girl's

face since

night— snuggled best sleep he'd

The

party/'

he

we had walked

next day,

into his

like

recalled.

to the

little

was obvious that they had

much

they had

jet

come

straight

first

just astride the line that

that of the

bag— Mueller

and more comfortable

were

city's

dreds or

a

moment

it

Boaz immediately passed

VMU-2

.

the

region

it

belonged

to the

Army. Ma-

who informed him

for the

was supposed

to

Fedayeen and

that their

be occupied by hun-

of the fighters. this

vision's intelligence section,

from

.

HUMINT Exploitation Team in

stadium was a staging area

more

.

separated the Army's area of operations from

Nate Boaz headed

weapons. Just that

get-

at crossing

own boundaries to be crossed Ad Diwaniyah sat in that nether

the vicinity and was approached by an Iraqi the

got the

started.

Marine Corps. Technically

rine Lieutenant

my

the previous morning." That

boundaries and allowing their process was not yet perfect.

from a

smile on

27, proved that although the services

ting better at joint operations

'The

of the bedding.

"They put the

pink sleeping

had since the war

March

It

information to the First Marine Di-

which

in turn directed a

to investigate. Iraqi informants

but that wasn't the case in

this instance.

Pioneer

UAV

were often unreliable,

Imagery from the Pioneer

confirmed the presence of armed Fedayeen inside the stadium. Because the target actually

fell

inside the Army's battlespace, however,

the division had to pass the request for an air strike

MEF, which

CFLCC

was obliged

to pass

it

farther

up through the

up the chain

to the

(Lieutenant General David McKiernan's headquarters).

The Coalition Forces Land Component Commander sent the data down to the Army's V Corps headquarters. The V Corps staffers felt compelled to confirm the validity of the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE report themselves

and sent

a

Hunter

Sure enough, the Fedayeen were target

was passed through the

The stadium was

struck

still

CFACC

UAV

and ultimately the Air Force.

much

over an ignorant and foolish enemy.

overhead the stadium.

there in numbers. Finally the

and scores of enemy

success illustrated the fact that too

193

fighters

were

bureaucracy can

killed. still

The

prevail

20

A

Million

Ways to

Die

was a war that relied on speed to confuse and demoralize the It enemy. Where and when the Iraqi commanders decided to challenge the Coalition hardly mattered; by the time the decision was

made, the Americans had already overrun and

over, though, the

that point

and more. Over

Americans were learning that bypassed pockets

of Iraqi fighters had to be neutralized. All the tools in the Marine

Corps's chest were used to complete this task— including tactical

They had been days now.

flying their missions

Sundown was

on the "night page"

their sunrise, dinner

was

jets.

for several

their breakfast; like

vampires they crept back into their sleeping bags before the sun rose too high above the horizon. Captain Neal "Rudy" Rickner

and

First

Lieutenant Chris "Sparky" Clark of VMFA(AW)-225 crawled out of

bed

in the early

evening of March 27 anticipating a hot shower and

some decent chow. The two young

amount

of rest because by

provide the

MAG- 11

conditioned shelters.

officers

had gotten

a

decent

now arrangements had been made

aircrew with sleeping quarters inside

The

setup didn't endear

them

to

some of

to

air-

the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE young

enlisted

open

tents

men and women who

to the

195

were sweating

it

environment; on the other hand,

out in canvas

it

make

didn't

sense to put fatigued, red-eyed aircrews into the cockpits of million-dollar aircraft loaded with tons of high-explosive "After

we showered and

ate," recalled

Rickner, "Sparky and

vided the work that needed to be done before

sion—scheduled

for early the next

was moving so

replotted

on

fast,

their charts

I

di-

we went out on our mis-

morning." Rickner was assigned

the section leader that night, and Clark was his fight

fifty-

bombs.

WSO.

as

Because the

the positions of friendly units needed to be

and the

latest

FSCMs

nation Measures) needed to be studied.

The

(Fire

daily

Support Coordi-

SITREP

(Situation

Report) that Major General James Mattis wrote was also a "mustread," as

it

delineated his highest priorities and guidance to his subor-

commanders. Additional data were collected more informally

dinate

from face-to-face meetings with other aircrews and through an archive of e-mails that listed lessons learned from mistakes

previous

sorties.

Planning

for their particular mission

Tasking Order. ered

The ATO was made up

began with

Amplifying information was provided

individual flight as well as special instructions that iad topics.

It

it

was essential

projection of what the battlefield

conduct of the

to the

in the

would look

often required adjustments.

not— took

each

encompassed myr-

because the war never stopped, and because

it

for

fly

took training and time to navigate through the cumber-

some document, but

riod,

a review of the Air

of hundreds of pages and cov-

the fixed-wing sorties that the Coalition was scheduled to

all

for the given period.

Still,

made on

like

it

air war.

was built on a

during a given pe-

Those adjustments— as often

place once the crews got airborne.

"We found our

as

mission

ATO and planned to all the relevant data but we were still pre-

pared to

flex to

happened

something

different

if

directed," Rickner said. "It

had

several times during the previous week."

Assigned the callsign of Waxen 67, the two-ship of F/A-18Ds had

been detailed

to

conduct

AR

(Armed Reconnaissance)

near Al Kut. Simply put, they were to proceed to the tion of the stroy

Baghdad Division of the

Iraqi

last

in a killbox

known

posi-

Republican Guard and de-

what they found. "Our intelligence shop provided us some more

196

STOUT

JAY A.

definitive coordinates to look

at, as

well as

some

very dated satellite

imagery," Rickner said. After briefing with the other two Marines

would man the second and the other two

fliers

Rickner and Clark

aircraft in their section,

headed

who

for their aircraft.

Rickner led his section airborne

0350 on March 28 and pointed

at

northwest toward Al Kut, approximately two hundred miles distant.

Clark worked the radios and brought them through the several

differ-

ent controlling agencies that would ultimately authorize the flight to operate in the battlespace.

To extend

had fragged the two Waxen 67 of fuel each from a

minutes or so

Once

KC-1 30

would

this

their

on two thousand pounds

The

orbiting over southeast Iraq.

give

them

ATO

time over Al Kut, the

birds to take

extra ten

could be valuable.

in the killbox

the nighttime refueling evolution was complete, Rickner

eased his formation away from the tanker and then pointed northwest again, climbing to save gas. that they

was only a few minutes

It

were contacted by the

been discovered, and the

TACC: A high-priority target had

pair of Hornets

Force Tarawa was taking harassing

counted Rickner.

"All of us

were needed

artillery fire at

Iraqi city

and

killed."

An

to kill

it.

just

"Task

Nasiriyah," re-

were very aware of An Nasiriyah because

of the fighting that had taken place there on

Marines had been

though,

later,

He

March

23.

A

lot of

turned his aircraft south toward the

was directed to switch frequencies

and contact

FAC,

a

callsign Pooh.

Rickner remembered: "As soon

heard his voice

I

I

realized that

Pooh was Major Robert Tooh' Warshell.

We had worked regularly to-

gether during the previous year back at

Miramar,

fact,

Rickner had seen Warshell working in the

billet at

Al Jaber only a

into the fight,

and

he was assigned

week

earlier.

after the casualties

in

San Diego." In

TACC

in a nonflying

But Warshell was eager were counted

at

An

Nasiriyah

to a unit in the field.

"Pooh gave us

a set of coordinates that defined

an area he wanted

us to search," Rickner said. "Although he didn't have eyes artillery

he had

making

certain that

units

to get

a general idea of

Waxen 67

on the

Iraqi

where the gun or guns were." After

flight

knew where

the nearby friendly

were located, Warshell turned Rickner's two Hornets

loose.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE "I

put our

SAM

wingman above

us in a high-cover position to watch for

launches or AAA/' he remembered. "At the same time, we

dropped lower and Sparky It

197

started searching the area with the

FLIR."

took only a few short minutes before Clark discovered an artillery

tube in a revetment not

A

passed.

FAC

what the

far

from the coordinates that Warshell had

lower pass overhead the gun confirmed that

was

it

was indeed

after.

This was exactly the sort of target that was vexing the Coalition forces.

Both the Army and the Marines had been passing through the

city since

March

22,

and although

cured the appearance of heavy

artillery fire

Marines of Task Force Tarawa by it

wouldn't be the

surprise.

It

wasn't the

Warshell,

who

any other

targets in the

artillery

subsequently cleared the flight to engage

about ten miles

immediate

at

dropped

GBU-16

their single

time and

vicinity.

tube back to it

as well as

Rickner recounted:

"We

southwest and then turned back

to the

bound." Traveling

target.

first

had been bypassed or ignored.

Clark read the coordinates of the newly found

offset

almost

hundred

five

at a

knots,

the two

into the

in-

fliers

range of about four miles from the

Both of them anxiously watched the FLIR display waiting

the explosion that

se-

must have caught the

time that the various Marine units were sur-

last

prised by forces that

hadn't yet been completely

it

for

would mark the thousand-pound bomb's impact

enemy gun.

Instead, they

were disappointed

bomb dudded

puff of dust where their

into the

to see a sad little

edge of the revetment.

With no more precision-guided ordnance on board, Rickner brought his wingman down

Although the second

to play.

aircraft

wasn't equipped with a FLIR, the crew could drop on a set of coordinates while Clark their

and Rickner guided the bomb

own FLIR. "We

repositioned and then pushed our

out in front of us while

Once

into the target with

we followed

in trail,"

the second crew called that they had released their

Rickner and Clark again gave their

They weren't

full

disappointed; the Iraqi

wingman

Rickner remembered.

attention to the

gun disappeared

GBU-16,

FLIR

display.

in a brilliant

explosion.

Knowing that there had

to

be other targets in the area, the two Hor-

198

STOUT

JAY A.

net crews continued to circle overhead while they searched.

"It

was

the worst time of the day to go trolling for targets," recalled Rickner.

"The sun was

just starting to rise so that

our goggles up

headed

we

if

we were

constantly flipping

ran to the east, or snapping

them down

west/' Regardless of how they tried to compensate,

difficult;

it

was too bright

to see well with

them

potential targets

point that the

to see well with the goggles

it

if

was

we

still

on and too dark

Too, the temperature differential between

off.

and the surrounding

FLIR was becoming

had decreased

terrain

and

less

to the

less effective.

Warshell was getting impatient on the ground and advised Rickner that

he was ready

what they could

to

push two

find.

AH-1W

Cobras into the area

to see

Clark got ahead of the game and told the gun-

ship crews to enter the area and describe what they found. Almost im-

mediately the Cobras reported that they had the destroyed target in sight as well as three large military trucks parked nearby that ap-

peared to be unscathed. "They tried talking our eyes onto the trucks as

we

were, and with the sunlight reflecting off of the haze and dust,

we

but the

just

visibility

couldn't see

was hopeless," explained Rickner. "As high

much

of anything.

Even the

Tigris River was barely

visible."

The Cobra crew the target for

them with

and positioned himself

ment later that he saw me.

I

made

Waxen 67

advised

that they

to

"mark"

a Hellfire missile. Rickner rogered the call

to

watch

for the Hellfire.

It

was only a mo-

a missile apparently arcing skyward. "It startled

instantly put out chaff while

I

started to defend.

I

should have

a professional call for the section to react but instead the only

thing that

came out

of

my mouth

was:

'Uh

.

.

.

Almost immediately Rickner realized

that the

was defending against was the Cobra's

Hellfire.

as

were going

he watched the missile

Keeping the explosion

do you see

SAM He

that!'

he thought he

recovered his wits

back over and detonate into the ground.

tip

in sight,

to deliver a string of three

hey,

he rolled

in

from

fifteen

thousand

feet

unguided thousand-pound Mk-83 bombs.

The accuracy of Rickner's bombs caught the Cobra leader off guard. He remembered the gunship pilot's radio transmission: "Waxen

67, we're going to

.

.

.

Holy! [radio microphone unkeys then

HAMMER FROM ABOVE rekeys]

.

.

.

Waxen, those were

direct hits, those trucks are

there are secondary explosions likely that the trucks

199

gone and

over the place. Nice hits!"

all

had been carrying ammunition

for the

It

was

gun

that

the flight had destroyed earlier.

was only a short time before the Cobra crews found another

It

of trucks. This time they fired a Hellfire for Rickner's as a

mark. After

was in to

his dive,

Waxen 68

spotted the explosion

wingman

and called

set

to use

he

that

Rickner and Clark watched as the Hornet continued

drop toward the earth. Finally the nose of the other

aircraft started

back up, and continued up. Confused, Rickner and Clark watched for the set of three explosions that

should have marked their wing-

man's bombs. There were none. "Our wingman's nose continued up looked

until

it

nally

we saw

he was

like

flying almost vertically,"

the aircraft slice back

appeared

the other

jet

the radio:

"They

to

be

down toward

fully recovered,

said that they

were

fine,

Rickner

said. "Fi-

the horizon."

When

Rickner called him over

but bingo— low on gas and

ready to go home." After checking out with Warshell, the two Hornets

Al Jaber.

On their way they enjoyed a spectacular sunrise; the

mountains

in Iran

we

got back

stick,

forcing

came

it aft.

we found out what had happened off his

slid

of the

to

our wing-

NVGs

[night-

in the control

worse was that he had to pull the

Then, when they broke

forward and he had to grope around his feet to get

way before the

The There

in his dive his

helmet and got jammed

What was

further aft in order to dislodge them.

they

or-

rising sun.

man," Rickner explained. "While he was vision goggles]

to

distant

were beautifully silhouetted against the reddish

ange ruddiness of the "After

headed back

control stick

would move

stick

loose,

them out

again."

incident underscored the fact that every aviator lives with: are a million ways to die in

an airplane.

21

Convoy Escort

The Iraqi Army was notable during the campaign for the incredible fact that

never really showed up.

it

I

could find no account that de-

scribed an encounter against a unit even so modest in size as a fully

organized and equipped battalion.

shucked

their

positions.

great

It

of the Iraqi soldiers simply

uniforms and deserted as the Marines closed on their

should also be noted that American airpower vaporized a

number

of Iraqi formations before they could even start toward

the fighting, while

never

Many

some enemy

units just chose not to

do

battle

and

left their garrisons.

Instead,

most of the fighting

gaged in took place units or

in the

that

Marine ground

units

became

en-

urban environment against small army

bands of Fedayeen or foreign

credit, realized that their forces

were

fighters.

far

from

a

The

Iraqis, to their

match

for

American

firepower on the battlefield. Rather than getting slaughtered in the

open,

many

towns, and roads,

The

of those

cities. All

who chose

to fight gravitated to the villages,

of the population centers were situated on major

and the American advance moved along those some highways.

built-up areas along these routes were perfect for setting

up am-

bushes. Throughout the entire war, these attacks were the only con-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE sistently effective

way the

Iraqis

found

201

slow the Marines' sprint

to

to-

ward Baghdad.

A number of factors made the urban areas good ambush sites. Foremost was the

fact that the roads

funneled the Marines into very nar-

row and predictable avenues of advance. Once caught

between multistory buildings, there was

attack, often

the heavily cles

mechanized

and concentrated

units to

fire

maneuver

compounded

that the Iraqis used to their advantage

rain"

room

for

or escape. Disabled vehi-

"ter-

Concrete structures offered tremendous protection

itself.

door was a potential fighting hole

extra

ammunition stashed under

same

building.

With

from position

it:

for the

Marines clearing urban areas

It

fighters

cities

to carry

wasn't unusual

to find stacks of guns,

RPGs, and

windows

several different

arrangement a single enemy

this

in the

fighter

could

shooting as he went.

to position,

through the towns or

which

"Every window and every

bad guys."

Another problem that confounded the Marines

enemy

little

was the very nature of the

out an attack. As one infantryman put

shift

an urban

the problem. Another factor

against small-arms fire as well as multiple points from

for

in

was that

it

from noncombatants.

was

as they

pushed

difficult to distinguish the

Many

of the Iraqis didn't wear

uniforms; instead they clothed themselves casually in slacks and sport shirts.

An unarmed man who

dashed from one side of the road

to an-

other in the middle of a firefight very likely could have been an

enemy

soldier in civilian clothes

who was

simply moving from one

armed strongpoint to another. Or he could have been trying to get

back

to his

home and

family.

Unfortunately, killing combatants holed

meant demolishing the

building,

noncombatants who were stirred

up hatred

welcoming. And Additionally, to

it

in a it

a worried father

and

also inside.

up

in a building often

this often It

meant

killing the

was unavoidable, but

it

populace that otherwise might have been more

made

for

could take a

bad press

toll

in the

on morale;

it

Arab world and beyond. wasn't hard for a Marine

empathize with people whose houses and belongings— and per-

haps their loved

ones— were

little

more than

bits

of rubble in the

street.

Add

to this the fact that

anything that

moved

in the street

during a

202

JAY A.

became

firefight, hostile or not, lies

STOUT

a target. This guaranteed that fami-

and

riding in civilian vehicles were accidentally targeted

That

happened was the

this

fault of the

enemy

killed.

they typically

fighters;

traveled in private automobiles for the simple reason that anything that looked remotely military rarely survived even a few minutes after

being detected. Finally, the

wing

urban

aircraft for

CAS. With

18s and AV-8Bs were

Employing even the

away the option of using

fight often took restrictive

ROE,

also

much

because of the enormous damage

The

as the

F/A-

not be used.

five-hundred-pound bombs was

relatively small

quarters that friendly troops were in as

and

such

an option because the fighting took place

typically not

wrought.

fighters

that frequently could

tools

fixed-

danger

that the

at

such close

as the

bombs

enemy,

generally

targeted building might go down, but so might two or

three other nearby structures.

Attack helicopters, on the other hand, could be more useful. Their ability to stay

also

made

aside, the

it

made them more vulnerable, and destroy enemy targets. That

low and slow, although

them

easier for

to find

weapons they carried were

able for fighting in pent-up areas.

"Daaaamn," Captain

less destructive

These

ognized by the ground commanders,

movements through urban

it

attributes

who

and more

were readily

suit-

rec-

often requested that their

areas be covered by

AH-1W Cobra support.

Kristian Pfeiffer thought out loud to his copi-

Doug

"Sweaty" Lindamood. They, and the other three

HMLA-169 Cobra

crews he had been leading since before 0600 on

lot,

the

Captain

morning of March

They had been

28,

were

now

it

— exhausted.

convoy below

Highway

7 while the

The Marines who manned and

as possible.

HMMWVs

The

RCT-1 and

its

for nearly

command

of the two-hundred-vehicle convoy decided what

tankers,

to

just tired

was almost dark. They were scribing a slow

lazy orbit in the sky overhead

do.

Not

flying in support of the

twelve hours, and

ment

tired.

the

huge assemblage of

it

ele-

wanted

to

trucks, fuel

were charged with moving north as rapidly

supplies and drive north.

equipment they carried were

essential

HAMMER FROM ABOVE wanted

Personally, Pfeiffer

some

rest.

eling

and rearming

Already his

stops

An

notorious stretch of

go back

had then pushed

31,

to

one of the FARPs and get

had made

five different refu-

and had escorted the convoy through the

Nasiriyah that, even this early in the cam-

dubbed "Ambush

paign, had been cles

to

Clancy

flight,

203

Alley."

The

line of support vehi-

twenty-four miles farther north into the small

town of Ash Shatrah. There the lead elements had already reached

when

the far side

and heavy machine-gun buildings that

RPG, and among the

vehicles in the middle began taking mortar,

made up

fire

from

fighters

hidden

the center of the town.

perhaps in a display of loyalty, had chosen to

in

The

make

Iraqi defenders,

their stand

under

mural of Saddam. But rather than smashing through the

a garish

tack, the

convoy commander had

somehow— and

turned the long snake of vehicles back upon

back through the attack

to the south. Pfeiffer

for

itself

and

at-

some reason —

and beat

a retreat

his flight of

Cobras

had engaged the enemy defenders with Hellfire missiles and gunfire, but there was no way to

tell if

Regardless, the convoy

they had been routed.

commander

received orders that reiterated

the critical nature of the mission; there was no choice but to continue

north immediately. Accordingly, the formation was repositioned and poised for a flight

new

would be another

of Cobras sent out to take over for us/' Pfeiffer recalled, "but

there was just

wanted the the town. it

attempt. "I was hoping that there

no one

flight of

"I told

else available."

Cobras

him

to

The

convoy's

FAC

desperately

cover the next effort to smash through

we needed fuel and that he needed to sort we had no choice but to leave," said Pfeiffer. flight there longer than I should have— getting that

out immediately, or

"Actually, all

the

I

held the

way back

to the

FARP with

the fuel

we had would have been

a

very near thing." Finally a voice rang out over the radio net: "We've got your fuel,

sir!"

Sure enough,

Pfeiffer spotted a

break in the middle

of the line of vehicles where a pair of fuel trucks was being positioned to service the Cobras.

the situation.

A hard-charging staff NCO had taken charge of

"The way the

trucks

were rushing back and forth

minded me of the

"We

set

down

all

made room, and

the

to get ready for us, well,

parting of the

Red

Sea," Pfeiffer

it

way people kind of

re-

remembered.

next to those trucks and started taking on fuel right

204

JAY A.

went on. "We were forced

there along the highway," he

about every rule in the book

STOUT

as far as putting pins in

to

break

our weapons and

And we

maintaining the proper distances and things of that nature.

open

actually gravity-refueled with hose nozzles straight into our

tanks while our engines were running." Regardless, this was

and

was anxious

Pfeiffer

make

to

made

out and

combat

things happen. After twelve hours in

the cockpit, he was fatigued to the point of being

"While they were putting

just

fuel in

my bird,"

a quick 'leak check' while

I

punch drunk.

he remembered,

stretched

my

"I

legs.

I

got

was

The convoy had started through this nasty little town and then it had turned back. Then we had hit the enemy, and now— several hours later— we were still waiting around while higher headquarters tried to make up their minds. Any surprise or momentum we may have had was gone. If we didn't starting to get frustrated with the

get relieved

it

While he

was going

made

his aircraft.

an epiphany.

"It

bered. "Here was this

very scared.

It

was your

was obvious

to

be a very long night."

to

was refueling

it

thing.

shake twelve-plus hours of kinks out of his tired

tried to

body, the Cobra pilot

but

whole

small talk with the young Marine

was

point that Pfeiffer experienced

at that

classic

'Hallmark

young kid with

Moment/

"

a very serious look

He was the

driver of that particular truck.

time he was going to be taking

burn

to

death

young man." less

of

how

It

if

he got

was

tired

he remem-

on

his face,

me that he was trying to mask the fact that he was It

was a

multiwheeled, bag-of-fuel, high-explosive target and in

to

who

into a

just a short

known ambush and was going

Frightened or not, he was a very brave

hit.

at that

it

big, fat,

moment

that Pfeiffer decided that regard-

he was, he was going

to see the

convoy

all

the

way

through.

He and

his division of

in the dark, they set

up

Cobras did

to the

just that. After getting

airborne

southwest of the town and watched the

line of vehicles advance. Just as the

Marines on the ground reached

the southern edge of Ash Shatrah, Pfeiffer's gunships salvoed two Hellfire missiles into

an enemy bunker that guarded the approach.

plume of dust, smoke, and

fire

marked the

spot.

It

A

was dead. The con-

voy continued past the Iraqi position toward the point where the orig-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE inal

ambush had

forced the entire

column

205

into retreat just hours

earlier.

By now

a

second

Pfeiffer's division.

fort

flight of three

Combo

gunships had arrived to augment

43 was assigned

to cover the rear of the ef-

while the original four Cobras provided protection for the

ward elements. Tonight more firepower was better than

The enemy was fire until

eral

still

there, but

for-

less.

he didn't take the Marines under

the lead element was nearly clear of the town. This time sev-

segments of the long line of support vehicles came under

fire at

The Marines returned fire and pressed ahead. There was little back— the convoy had to get through, and if not

once.

sense in turning then,

when?

Corporal Garrick Tracy was one of the Marines on the highway

below cle

Pfeiffer.

System)

power

He

was

at the

— essentially

unit, with a long,

wheel of a Mk-48

LVS

(Logistics Vehi-

an enormous, diesel-powered truck, or heavy flatbed

trailer.

On

this night

he was

carting two

huge bulldozers. During normal driving the Mk-48

about

as fast

and maneuverable

ers,

was even

it

less so,

from both

fire

else.

fire

he

Mortar rounds dropped close

by,

and rocket grenades ripped

sides of the road.

He

ass,"

I

was running

"We were

just

punching

he remembered. "There were blown-up

semis and buses in the road. there.

into the vehicles

could hear the sharp ping of bullets

ricocheting off the bulldozers behind him.

through it— hauling

Hauling two bulldoz-

and now with the convoy taking heavy

was wishing he was somewhere

and machine-gun

as a strip mall.

It

was

like a

off the road left

and

slalom course going through right."

The column was made up of more than two hundred manned by Marines just like Corporal Garrick.

It

was very dark now, and

lace through the

of return

fire

is

Pfeiffer

gloam and

vehicles

watched the screen of Iraqi

into the caravan of Marines.

from the Marines increased

tracers

The volume

until at times the lines of

206

STOUT

JAY A.

tracers almost

he threw

watch long before

a solid sheet. Pfeiffer didn't

Cobras into the

his

fight.

He

called for a cover-the-break, or

and brought the four ships

attack

trail,

made up

in

from the south on

northerly heading that paralleled the highway. "It was a

down

there.

The bad

a

madhouse

guys on the east side of the road were pouring

kinds of fire into the convoy."

all

The Cobra crews

dived toward the

enemy

night-vision goggles the low-light conditions pilots to

make out

their

and

The four gunships let loose

cannon added

a

of the rockets and clattering staccato

new dimension

its

come out

up

at the

of their firing runs.

Marine

From

helicopters.

Cobras dived down on the

millimeter tracer

Lindamood

lift

of the

fire

split

the night sky.

Red

column — it was flight

we

until there

killed

all

them

enemy

was no return

fire.

all," Pfeiffer said,

fight-

"They

"because

done was coming from the supply

one-sided."

of Cobras reset to the west of the highway to regroup.

Stoked by the excitement of obliterating the ambush, the crews to take a

moment

to

"Right about then," recalled

Out

streaks of 20-

pressed to within two hundred yards of the

the only shooting that was being

structure

enemy rounds

followed the rocket trajectories. Pfeiffer and

and sprayed cannon rounds

tingle."

skyward as the

and again the white-

east side of the road,

fire

either stopped shooting, or

The

None

the east side of the

mark, and Pfeiffer called for another attack. Again the four

bright flash of rocket

ers

of

to the chaos.

road he could see parts of the curtain of tracers

found

booms

turned his ship hard to the west and watched the other

three Cobras

Iraqis shot

that tore

fortified positions that lined the eastern side of

The whoosh

Pfeiffer

difficult for the

and 20-millimeter cannon

a fusillade of 2.75-inch rockets

the road.

it

individual targets. "Finally Sweaty was able to find

these guys on the FLIR," Pfeiffer recalled.

into the buildings

shooters, but even with

made

calm down and

Pfeiffer,

"my

it

was time

plot their next

for

move.

'Spider Senses' started to

of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a towering

and realized

that

he was leading the

flight directly into a

course of enormous power-line stanchions— not just the spindly sort that fed the local

power supply but the massive, multilegged monsters

a

HAMMER FROM ABOVE that

207

suspended the enormous cables that powered the national

grid.

In the low light there was a better chance than not of one of his crews

smashing into either the cables or one of the towers. They wouldn't have survived.

Pfeiffer

remembered: "We got lucky; the cables had

we managed

ready been knocked down, and

chions themselves."

had nearly done

been able

The

Still,

moment

what

a

town

of inattention

of Iraqi fighters hadn't

full

to do.

shootout

Ash Shatrah was only one of

at

several that Pfeiffer's

fought during a nearly twenty-four-hour period that covered

flight

most of March 28 and stretched into March trying to accurately recount the fired

to stay clear of the stan-

he realized that a

to his flight

al-

and the

targets they

29.

numbers and

engaged

is

He

candidly says that

types of

near impossible.

weapons they

They were

air-

borne too long. Following the escort through Ash Shatrah, his Cobras covered the convoy through another Rifa. Finally,

when

at

Camden

at the small

RCT-1,

Pfeiffer

and

his crews returned to the

Yards after logging a total of twenty-one hours of

time and fourteen hours of actual

"ass in the seat"

heretofore unheard-of stretch. "After spending so that supply

column we

ment," said

Pfeiffer.

idea of leaving

town of Ar

the entire line of vehicles was safely within the

protective perimeter of

FARP

ambush

time—

flight

much

time with

actually developed a sort of emotional attach-

"We had adopted

it

and simply couldn't stand the

them unprotected. You

just don't leave

your com-

rades."

One Marine it

was

lost

during the

movement

of the convoy. Although

was amazing that more weren't killed, that fact

friends

is little

solace for the

MWSS-

and family of Sergeant Fernando Padilla-Ramirez of

371 whose truck was overturned near the reasons that

escaped to

still

tail

end of the caravan. For

are not clear, although other

safety,

Padilla-Ramirez was

left

Marines on the truck

behind.

the Iraqis. His body was recovered in early April.

He was

taken by

208

The

STOUT

JAY A.

period encompassing the

or so of April

came

to

be known

blitzed across the border

few days of March

last

Operational Pause. Having

as the

and plunged much deeper

into Iraq than

planners had anticipated, the forces were tired and logistics

were hard-pressed on both the Army and Marine Corps isn't to

say that the forces were not

their part, the

was no need

Marines

were ready

insisted that they

regroup and

to

to take

for

refit.

Their fuel

they had plenty of ammunition, the equipment

off,

Mattis was decidedly

it.

This

to press on; there

was holding up, and most important the troops were itching with

efforts

sides.

combat— they were. And

for

no requirement

to halt,

tanks were topped

fit

day

to the first

on

to get

unhappy about stopping; he was anxious

advantage of weaknesses in the Iraqi defenses and was fearful

enemy generals might fix them.

that the

Nevertheless,

McKiernan

or-

dered his land component commanders to stop in order to consolidate their gains and secure their lines of communication. Part of the

consolidation was particularly distasteful to elements of RCT-5.

had pushed up Highway the airstrip there. tant to

The

abandon

When

their

1

all

the

way

the order

hard-won

They

to

Hantush and had captured

came

they were extremely reluc-

prize.

idea of a pause wasn't necessarily bad. Certainly the troops

would benefit from

a few days of rest,

and there was no doubt

that

pockets of resistance— such as those in bypassed towns like Ash Shatrah

and Ar Rifa— had

to

be cleared. But

it

was the way that

it

was

re-

ported in the press that galled the Marines the most. After having

gained so

much

territory in

such a short time, they were disgusted

hear terms such as bogged down and quagmire.

some segments of

was almost

for a

to

as if

of the media took a perverse pleasure in seeing the

Baghdad delayed It

It

fall

few more days.

didn't help, either, that the administration

and the Pentagon

played semantics. Denials that there was a "pause" were constant

when

in

Still, it

fact— for whatever reason— the advance had been reined

wasn't as

if

the fighting stopped completely. Bypassed

forces were cleared.

And although RCT-5 and

in.

enemy

-7 generally stayed

put

HAMMER FROM ABOVE along Highway

Highway

RCT-1 continued

1,

advance toward Al Kut on

7.

All of that aside,

nothing

to

209

else,

what

didn't slow

down was

the air campaign.

If

the pause was a great opportunity to methodically shape

the battlefield rather than trying to keep

pace the ground forces had

up with the lightning-quick

set in their race to

Baghdad.

I

was a guest

on the Fox News Network on March 30 and was questioned by show host Laurie

Dhue

as to

what

I

believed was taking place.

opportunity to describe the beating that

were taking from the craft

air.

were "turning the

work did not

invite

me

More

specifically,

fall

is

of Baghdad.

above— almost armor-on-armor

none of the

thought the enemy forces I

stated that Coalition air-

The

net-

what took place. Coalition

air-

Iraqis into hair, teeth,

exactly

crews kept up around-the-clock attacks the

took the

and

eyeballs."

back.

In fact, that description

until

I

I

literally

all

through the pause and

Saddam's divisions were smote from

out of existence. There were no massive

battles or earthshaking artillery

Iraqi armies survived.

exchanges because

Most of their equipment was blown

up, and their troops ran away or were killed.

22

Rodeo

Fuel Bladder

The

CH-53E

aircrews call the giant

odd but affectionate appellation shape of the

aircraft;

it is

name— Sea

hard-core pilots

who

three-engine

it

—

is

through

a bit too pretentious for the

just

is

the largest rotary-wing aircraft in ser-

Capable of lifting

can hoist and transport an

thirty-two tons, the

Ml 98

armored vehicle, or even another CH-53E the big machines

becomes disabled

with a top speed of

1

about every assignment

a helicopter.

CH-53E

vice with U.S. forces. licopter

Stallion

finesse

Marine Corps can give

The

derived from the big, boxy

is

reminiscent of an old-fashioned outhouse.

Also, the official

the

helicopter "the Shitter." This

50 knots

it

is

huge he-

howitzer, an LAV-25

in the event that

one of

in the field.

And

one of the

fastest military heli-

despite

its

size,

copters operating today.

The two huge CH-53Es rumbled through

the dusty dark only a hun-

dred feet or so above the desert. Suspended below each were three five-hundred-gallon fuel bladders. Their destination was the

Fenway

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

211

FARP, near Qalat Sakar, not far from where RCT-1 was moving north along Highway

Fighting

7.

at

nearby Al Kut had been ferocious dur-

ing the previous couple of days, and the

Cobra gunships

the

FARPs had

to

fueled, armed,

be kept

and

like

from resupply by truck

fully stocked; aside

On this evening, March

Fenway were keeping

in the thick of things. In turn,

on supplies brought

transport, they also relied

ing his section's two

FARPs

in

by helicopter.

Captain Andrew "Gus" Byrd was lead-

30,

CH-53Es

at a

speed of 120 knots. At

faster air-

speeds the fuel bladders slung underneath the aircraft

became

unstable. "Visibility," he recalled, "was only about a mile or

so— very

crummy. There was

a lot of dust

Even though we were wearing blended right into the sky and

it

and haze and very

little

moonlight.

goggles, the featureless,

was very

difficult to

flat

desert

keep from getting

vertigo/'

Crossing the Kuwaiti border into Iraq, Byrd cleared the

weapons checks.

A moment

flight to ex-

ecute

its

ship's

two .50-caliber machine guns boomed above the combined

later the blasting report of his

growl of the three engines and the enormous seven-bladed

and

his right,

somed

from

slightly aft, the tracers

his

wingman's guns

in his night-vision goggles as they streaked

slammed

into the desert.

He and

his copilot,

to

spoof

enemy

radars

and

To

blos-

downward and

Captain "Cletus" Rich,

ejected chaff and flare decoys, checking that their

was ready

rotor.

ALE-39

dispenser

missiles by ejecting chaff

bun-

dles or flares.

Although

their route of flight took

them over

territory that

was

technically under Coalition control, the reality was that the Coalition forces only controlled the

towns, and

bypassed

little

enemy

or

highway routes up toward Baghdad,

none of the countryside. There were small

a few

units of

fighters scattered all across the desert.

"Flying low like

we were enabled

us to stay undetected by most of

the radar-guided anti-aircraft guns and missile systems that were

"On

still

it also made us vulwe happened to fly to close to them. Other aircraft had been ambushed this way. It also required us to keep up a really good lookout to ensure that we didn't get

out there," recounted Byrd. nerable to the smaller,

the other hand,

more mobile weapons

if

212

STOUT

JAY A.

scraped out of the sky by power lines or radio towers." All of these threats, in

combination with the poor weather, were demanding the

most of the two crews.

what

Byrd's goggles magnified

showed the black murk licopters

powered

level fluctuated,

their

in front of

watch

him

and

As the he-

as a greenish glow.

way through dust of varying

density, the light

and the scene glimmered and scintillated— exacer-

bating the vertigo he was fighting. to

natural light there was

little

for obstacles

and enemy

It

took every bit of attention he had

while at the same time check-

fire

ing his charts and cross-checking his instruments. At the speed and titude

he and Rich were

inattention to

on board and

ried a

flying

would take only an

it

smash the big machine

into the dirt.

in the bladders slung

The

instant of

fuel they car-

beneath them would ensure

merry funeral pyre.

The two

transports

were about

sixty

miles inside Iraq

when

pened: "All of a sudden the nose pitched way up, while time the

The

yawed and

aircraft

my

entire life

rolled about thirty degrees to the

left."

was regaining control of that

to steady

it.

to gain

some

Andrew Byrd

aircraft.

my altitude rest

more than passengers on what had

become

pilots that the

that

just

had

I

in

tried

me up

of the crew were

little

a deadly carnival

United States Marine Corps.

at the aircraft's caution/advisory

panel told the two

Automatic Flight Control System, the

made normal

wasn't

climbed away

and backed

on the instruments." Byrd, Rich, and the

A quick glance

I

I

altitude as a safety cushion while

[Captain Rich] called out

ride, courtesy of the

hap-

same

helicopter was out of control, and Captain

from the ground

it

at the

sure that he wasn't going to die. "At that instant the only goal

it

al-

set of

control inputs possible, had gone out.

computers

Along with

the hydraulic servos that provided boost to the flight controls— the

equivalent of power steering— had also failed. control a large ship with a canoe paddle.

than

five tons

It

was akin

to trying to

A large flying ship with more

of fuel swinging crazily under the belly.

"After about thirty seconds or so,

or less," Byrd recalled.

Corporal Sablar, and

"The guys

HM2

I

finally got

it

settled

down, more

in the back, Staff Sergeant Brady,

Davenport, were really hanging in there.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE They had no

213

control over whether they were going to live or die, but

they remained professional the entire time." During the wild gyra-

had

tions that followed the system failures, the fuel bladders

swing well beyond their disposition to

started to

Nevertheless Brady kept Byrd apprised of

limits.

and called up directions

began

until the oscillations

dampen. Meanwhile Sablan and Davenport checked what me-

chanical components they could in order to troubleshoot the emergency.

Byrd remembered, "By the time

ought

to jettison the fuel bladders,

Besides, If

the

if I

FARP

dumped

the fuel

it

occurred to

it

we were out

would never make

didn't have fuel, our guys

me

that

maybe

I

of immediate danger. it

up

FARP.

to the

on the ground might not get

the support they needed."

Good

knew

intentions aside, Byrd

make

that he'd never

Qalat Sakar with the aircraft malfunctioning as

it

up

it

was. In fact, he

wasn't certain that he wasn't going to crash. "Without the servos

took about forty pounds of force to

move

push the nose down

I'd try to

tally

I

aircraft

and we'd end up

tried to

counter

that, I'd

acciden-

overcorrect and we'd start climbing toward the clouds."

Byrd and Rich continued

to wrestle the big ship until they

pointed back around toward their base at Ali Al Salem. "After

used to

it,"

wouldn't ball Byrd's

Byrd recounted, it

up

"I

fly in

Still,

had I

it

grew

maybe we

started to think that

after all."

wingman, Captain Chris "Rudy" Dalton, was

closest friends.

and

was so

caused huge control deflections.

a degree or two,

When

pointed into the ground.

it

the controls an inch or two.

But without the Automatic Flight Control System the sensitive that just the smallest input

to

still

"Rudy made

a

good

and offered

call,

front of us. His aircraft out in front

visual reference point in the

haze

— I'd

would

have one

also

one of his

to take the lead

give

less

me

a

good

thing to worry

about." Byrd agreed, and Dalton powered his aircraft into the lead.

The immediate danger was to

where

over and a decision had to be

to recover the sick bird.

than Ali Al Salem, but

mechanics and

tools

if

"The

we landed

and

airfield at Jalibah

there

it

would take

parts flown in to fix

it.

made

as

was closer

a while to get

And

it

would be

214

STOUT

JAY A.

longer

still

before we'd be able to deliver the fuel to Fenway." Ulti-

mately Byrd decided to

come

all

the

way back

"By now/' he

said,

fly

the bucking rhinoceros his aircraft had be-

Salem.

to Ali Al

"Cletus had gotten part of the Automatic Flight

we had

Control System back online. All

tremendous control burning and sure

at

forces.

one point

we were going

to

I

worry about was the

to

These were wearing us

up Rudy and

called

make

it.

He

out.

told

called back that

My arms were

him

I

wasn't

we looked

steady

that

as a rock."

Finally the two

CH-53Es rumbled

over the boundary fence at Ali

Al Salem and detached the fuel bladders into the loading zone. safely

on the ground Byrd and

his

bered out of the traitorous ship.

"That

aircraft

part of it.

had

just tried to kill

immediately asked

I

crew grabbed was

"I

for

me

their gear

fired up,"

and

I

Once

and clam-

Byrd remembered.

wasn't going to have any

another bird and within an hour

we

were on our way again."

Now headed

on board to the

a different helicopter,

Byrd and Rich

lifted off

and

pickup point on the north side of the airbase. There

they hovered in place while Brady lowered the tethered hook and the

crew on the ground attached the After a few minutes they were

Except

for a

their radar

eventful.

on

sling that held the fuel bladders.

their

way back

few "tickles" indicating enemy

warning

Although the

lief

became

was

visibility

dotted with

less difficult to

navigation

became

anti-aircraft activity

receivers, the transit across the desert

was

still

more

trees

flat

and brush; the

extra terrain re-

pick up with the night-vision goggles, and

easier.

As the formation rumbled up

Fenway FARP, Byrd had to

was un-

and barren, the land-

Nevertheless, in this case easier than very difficult was

posed

on

poor, the terrain changed as

the formation continued north. Rather than

scape

into Iraq.

a

to the small airstrip that

still

difficult.

made up

the

tough time identifying where he was sup-

drop his load of fuel bladders;

response to his repeated radio

calls.

it

didn't help that there was

Communications

no

in this austere

environment were problematic and would remain so throughout the conflict. Finally

Byrd spotted a collection of vehicles and equipment

and slowed the two-ship formation.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE "As the

we

FARP

got closer,

while

I

53E whipped up it

I

detached Rudy and he

215

up an

set

orbit east of

The huge CHtwo crewmen settled

transitioned to a hover," Byrd said.

a whirling shroud of dirt as the

toward the ground. Watching out the right-side window, Byrd

picked up a reference point on the runway and tried to hold the helicopter steady in the swirling dust as he settled the load of bladders on the ground.

When

Byrd called

rest,

Brady called up that the bladders were

for the load to

safely at

be released.

Nothing happened.

The

mechanism

release

the hover.

The

happened. Byrd

release

and Byrd and Rich were stuck

mechanism was

in

nothing

tried again. Again,

— or any pilot, for that matter— could only hold the Sand and

aircraft steady for so long.

his

failed,

view and making

it

Recognizing

started to take hold.

dirt

thrashed against

it,

obscuring

impossible to hold a solid hover. Vertigo his limitations

and

afraid of rolling

the helicopter into the ground, Byrd applied collective and lifted the aircraft

The

and

its

up and away.

load

night just

seemed

to get longer

briefed over the intercom with Brady

and

and

longer. Byrd

up

set

and Rich

another run.

for

Again, the helicopter gently settled the badly needed fuel bladders on the ground. Again, the big, seven-bladed rotor's

miniature dust storm. "I

load.

couldn't believe I

And it,"

downwash

created a

again, the external load failed to release.

Byrd recounted.

"I really

wanted

rid of that

thought about sidestepping the bladders once they were on the

ground, and then landing alongside, but the combined sling and tether were only about twenty feet long

and there

just wasn't

enough

room." Feeling himself falling victim to vertigo once more, Byrd

yanked the load away a second time.

On the next attempt the crew briefed for an emergency release. An explosive charge

would shear the

bulkhead inside the

aircraft, just

made

of the big ship. Byrd

bolt that attached the cable to the

under the transmission

a third

approach and

in the "roof"

set the bladders

on

the ground while holding a hover in the maelstrom of dust that once

more threatened

his vision

certain that the load

mand and

and sense of equilibrium.

had made contact with the

heard a sharp pop

as the

charge

dirt,

fired.

When

he was

he gave the com-

216

JAY A.

STOUT

His helicopter was free of the bladders. Byrd lowered the nose of the aircraft, flew forward a hundred feet or so, and set down.

moment

only a

took

It

or two for Brady to run out of the aircraft, collect the

suspension rigging, and climb back aboard.

bird's

Byrd hauled

his helicopter airborne

and made room

Dalton

for

to

drop off his fuel bladders. Like Byrd, Dalton also fought with the storm of dust. Unlike Byrd, he was able to shed his load on the try.

Within

two

a minute, the

aircraft

formed and

started for

first

home.

Regardless of the fact that the two crews had completed their mission,

everyone on board was aware that

enemy gunners and bad luck— they could home. For that reason Byrd kept up

mattered not

this fact

get just as dead

a sharp watch.

at all to

on the way

"We headed south,

almost on a heading direct for Ali Al Salem," he remembered. "And

we

stayed fast and

As

much

route, there

from every

he

as

low— about seventy-five

feet."

little

along their

tried to steer clear of the built-up areas

was no way that Byrd was going village

be able

to

to stay

away

and farming compound. And where there

were buildings, there were people. And often the people had guns they wanted to shoot at Americans. northeast of An Nasiriyah

chine-gun

fire

Byrd recalled,

surprised "I

when

Only ships

a

I

was able

called out,

flight

was about twenty miles

the bright staccato flash of heavy

them from ahead and

around a technical [armed

gun mount.

The

to

make out two

civilian

Two

or three guys

pickup truck] with a big machine-

o'clock low, cleared to

their .50-caliber

foolish

down

into the truck

men who crouched near it for cover. After several sec-

onds of the high-velocity rounds there

likely weren't

any enemy com-

see or hear the two helicopters arcing

batants

left alive to

the

of the abortive ambush.

Byrd's

fire!'

machine guns. Wicked-fast

ropes of tracers and armor-piercing rounds sliced

site

huddled

second or two passed before the starboard gunners in both

opened up with

and the

ma-

slightly to their right.

bad luck held. Only

a

moment later, again from

away from

in front

and

to the right of their flight path, the two big ships were taken under fire. "I

larger

mud

hut and flashes from

as well,"

he recounted. Once

could see a cluster of guys around a

weapons, and some smaller ones

HAMMER FROM ABOVE again he cleared the flight to return

fire.

217

This time only Dalton's gun-

ner opened up. As the tracers ripped into a small band of enemy

Byrd could make out another

ers

gunner adjusted

hut. "Rudy's

set of

his fire

men

fight-

rushing out of the

mud

and walked those guys

right

house and through the door— really shot them up.

back up

to the

Then he

sprayed the hut and the entire thing burst into flames/'

Byrd wondered lieve that they

knew

at the

ignorance of the

enemy

troops. "I can't be-

could have seen us that well in the dark. As

we

far as

they didn't have any sort of night-vision goggles. I'm almost cer-

tain that they just reacted to the noise

tion—they Except

truly

for

some heavier

our general direc-

against."

Anti-Aircraft Artillery flashes in the dis-

home was

the big ship safely on the ground. first

fired in

had no idea what they were up

tance, the rest of the trip

he had

and

It

uneventful. Byrd was glad to put

had been nearly nine hours since

gotten airborne. After wrestling with an emergency in

nighttime weather that alone could have killed him, and getting shot at twice

— not to mention the fuel bladder rodeo at Fenway— getting

back on the ground seemed

remember

"I

just

dawn and

down

good

idea.

out of the aircraft and stretching.

the sun was a beautiful yellowish pink.

up from the back of the airplane with

port walked his face.

getting

like a

He

said,

'I

guess

we earned our pay on

HM2

It

was

Daven-

a great big smile

on

that one, didn't we,

" sir!'

Byrd returned his crewman's smile: "That we

we

did."

By

this

time in the fighting,

were getting more

and

at least

settled, the

on the aviation

more smoothly,

and the players was becoming more

Captain Anthony "Curly" Bolden was a

VMFA(AW)-225, and

his daily

schedule had

missions each day beginning right at

him

side, the routines

coordination was going

familiarity with the plan

ingrained.

Davenport, that

did,

to coordinate with the

the various ground units.

FACs

Many

of

WSO

with

him conducting FAC(A)

first light.

These

or Air Officers

them were dear

sorties required

embedded with friends,

and he

218

JAY A.

couldn't help but worry about

STOUT

them and pray that they were

though he knew that they were smack

The

worst of it

is

the uncertainty as

morning. Did everyone make going

to

answer the radio when

feel just a tiny bit of

every time the

going to to

tell

phone

them

I

even

middle of harm's way:

we make our way north each through the night?

call?

I

Who

can only imagine that

is I

what our wives and families go through rings or the doorbell chimes.

that their

be coming home?

it

in the

safe

My

husband or

God, what

Is

someone

father or son isn't going

a torture. Fingers Feringa,

Hamster Hobson, Peg-Boy O'Connell— these

are just a few

now are on the ground slugging it out with the enemy. These are the Marines that we talk to every day. These are the Marines who are our link to the thousands of other Marines that are down there. Each and every morning that we fly the dawn patrol, our greatest fear is that we will make that first call and someone that we don't know will names of very dear friends

answer.

that right

23

Napalm

a wA ape." Napalm. The word was a marriage of two other words: 1

1 naphthalene and

earliest mixtures. It

men

of oxygen as

World War

II,

but

it it

palmitate, the two major

was the roasted

fiery,

wasn't until

ers burst as they

ture

of jellied

that

robbed

alive.

evening news showed canisters of the fighters as they raced

weapon

Napalm was first used during the Vietnam War that the terror that wider American consciousness. The

them

was napalm was seared into the

skin-cooking

components of the

stuff

tumbling from screeching

low over the enemy. The small,

silver

contain-

skipped across the ground, and the combustible mixfuel

that

erupted from

them— still

traveling

hundreds of miles per hour— splashed across an area the

at

size of a

football field in a great, horrible fireball.

Krispy Kritters was the

macho-morbid term attached

ing, flailing, soon-to-be-dead troops

made — able

to

— or

among

civilians if mistakes

stumble out of the roiling firestorm.

convention banned napalm in 1980.

to the flam-

were

A United Nations

The United

States

was not

the signatories, but the last U.S. stockpiles of the corrosive in-

flammable were destroyed

in California during 2001.

220

STOUT

JAY A.

Ahmed

At Kuwait's

crowded

Al Jaber Air Base, the F/A-18D crews that were

into the alert tent that evening

were chattering more than nor-

mal when Captain Dale Douglass* pushed back the

The Air Tasking Order for the

inside.

planned, preemptive

strike prior to

and stepped

flap

night of March 31 directed a pre-

RCT-5's advance across the Tigris

River in the vicinity of An Numaniyah. Douglass remembered: "This

was an on-call mission, which meant that a

flight of crews briefed

it

and

stood by to execute until they got the call to launch or until they ran out

of crew day.

If

it

didn't go,

it

was passed on

the third batch of crews to pick that

it

up

would be canceled before

The excitement was tion to the

it

another

to

this mission,

flight.

and most of us thought

was flown."

fuel tanks

and multiple

each of the four F/A-18Ds was loaded with three

air-to-air missiles,

Mk-77 Firebombs. The five-hundred-pound Mk-77

moderately more

"Our

it

flashes.

target

was

pri-

the mixture inside; rather than gasoline, the

is

flammable component is

canisters are

napalm weapons used during Vietnam. The

derivatives of the

splashes,

were

centered on the assigned ordnance. In addi-

normal load-out of two external

mary difference

We

jet fuel,

which has

a higher flashpoint

Regardless, in practice

stable.

It is

a

is

a frightful

it

and

crashes,

it

weapon.

checkpoint or troop concentration

at a

bridge

that crossed a canal to the northeast of RCT-5's position," Douglass

remembered. "The attack had tended

a

to clear the area of Iraqi

number

combatants prior

ting

there— and without damaging the

that

napalm would

remained; and

frighten

of objectives. to

First,

it

was

our Marines

bridge; second,

it

in-

get-

was believed

and demoralize any enemy troops who

finally, all that

heat and

fire

and noise — right

in front

own troops— would remind our guys that the wing was committed to doing what they needed, when and where they needed it." The order to launch came just as Douglass and the rest of his flight came on duty. "We briefed the bare basics in about twenty minutes. It

of our

*Not

name. Because of the very strong emotions

his real

palm and napalm-like weapons, the participants,

pilot asked that his

and the squadron number not be

that surround the use of na-

name, the names of the other

identified.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE was evident from the going to work against

month. Worse, the from

five

The moon was down during

visibility

thousand

the calendar and the weather were

start that

us.

221

that part of the

was horrible and there were cloud layers thousand

to twenty-three

This meant that

feet."

Douglass and his comrades would conduct their attack using nightvision goggles at low altitude in very low-light conditions.

gerous

but

it

was

"Our

a

requirement

and formation.

The

frequency for RCT-5's FAC.

prior to the attack for

exercises,

for this mission.

each

brief included the targeting assignment for

attack heading, altitude, tact

Such dan-

would have been prohibited during peacetime

flight

We

aircraft,

the

went over the con-

also

plan was to contact

him

just

any last-minute coordination." Preparations

complete, Douglass, his Weapons Systems Officer, and the other three crews

made

their

way out

to the flight line to preflight their jets

in the dark.

Dark

different.

is

The

simplest tasks take longer, and the smallest

misstep can cause grave errors. others

combed

their aircraft

With

this in

mind, Douglass and the

and the loaded weapons, intent on mak-

ing certain there was nothing that could sour the mission.

checks complete, the four crews taxied their way.

"We

jets to

With

their

the end of the run-

took off at ten-second intervals," Douglass recalled. "After

getting airborne, getting joined

we snapped our

up

in that

weather was

clouds, there was a lot of haze

more than

a

goggles still

and sand

down

over our faces, but

a circus. Aside

from the

in the air. Visibility wasn't

couple of miles." Through their goggles the aircrews

looked for the greenish blob of light that was the aircraft in front of

them. Finally the clouds. "As

flight joined

and punched

its

way through the

we climbed out we fumbled through

a

phone book's

worth of radio frequencies and

finally got clearance to press

the target area," Douglass said.

"The

through

They

different agencies

toward

we checked

made sure that we didn't run into other Coalition aircraft. made sure that we didn't get engaged by friendly air de-

also

fenses."

The westbound

fighters finally

powered above the weather and

spread out into a tactical formation.

The

lead pilot and Douglass po-

222

JAY A.

STOUT

sitioned themselves a mile abreast, while their respective

wingmen

tucked themselves close. "The target was only about 250 miles from

our base

Al Jaber, so

at

wasn't long before

it

we were

closing the for-

mation back up so that we could drop through the clouds together. was about

time that we got word about a suspected SA-3

this

aircraft missile site

southwest of the

target.

We

It

anti-

altered our course ac-

cordingly/' Douglass recollected.

down we switched frequencies to check in with RCT-5 FAC. As soon as we made contact, I recognized him as an "After starting

squadron buddy. filled in

the

last

I

could even

made

its

a cold!

old

Anyway, he

for a

moment

way down through the mess

that the

couple of details

or so as the flight

he had

that

tell

the

and we chatted

for us

weather had become."

Thick clouds made

extremely

difficult for the

To make matters worse, the enemy SA-3

together. their

it

warning systems

as they

The

descended.

formation to stay radar was tickling

idea that they might be

engaged by one, or perhaps more, of the big Soviet-made missiles

down through

while they were slogging

the

murk put them

all

on

then

re-

edge.

Douglass gained

it

lost sight

when

of the formation leader for a

the four

"Then my wingman

layers.

last layer,"

into a clear area

"The

to

maneuver

rest

we were

lost sight as

Douglass recalled. As close

was no time joined.

popped

jets

in

moment

as

an attempt

between cloud

passing through the

they were to the target, there to get the fourth aircraft re-

of us turned to the final attack heading, spread back

out to a tactical formation, and pushed our airspeed up as off at five to get

hundred

feet. All

leveled

my wingman was trying his best

back into the formation."

By now Douglass, just

the while

we

his

WSO, and the other three

above the desert floor

hauling

ass at

bumpy now,

at

too.

it

from releasing

five

hundred

about twenty miles out from the

We were being jolted

bulence that was kicking up At the speed

more than

all

crews were racing knots.

target.

It

"We were was

really

up and down by the same

the dust and creating

all

tur-

the weather."

was making, the formation was only about two minutes its

firebombs; the crews started their final checklists.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The

mission was a dangerous combination of contrasts. Douglass

and the other crews were snugly strapped

complex machines

incredibly dirt

223

that

into the close confines of

were rocketing

had been the domain of the camel not, as

low and

fast as

for

over the

just barely

and dark and cold of the oldest nation-state on

earth, a land that

thousands of years. Snug or

they were hurtling toward the target, the crews

were only an instant of inattention away from death. Douglass went over the weapons checklist with his

time he executed

all

WSO,

step by step. At the

same

jet

from

splat-

A

quick scan

those instinctual tasks that kept his

tering across the desert in a thousand flaming pieces:

outside through the grainy green-black of the goggles to check his position in the formation; a split-second

to

make

glance at his Heads

minute altitude correction;

a

a

peek under

Up

Display

his goggles at the

barely illuminated checklist strapped to his knee; back outside at the

came without

formation; minute throttle and stick corrections that thinking; another look back to the

he couldn't make out anything

HUD — even through the goggles

in front of him;

another check outside

at the rest

of the formation; a hurried glimpse at his digital displays to

check

weapons; a split-second look

his

glowed up

at

him from between

at the navigational display that

his legs. All of this

tomatic to Douglass and the other three crews; itively after years

By now the

wingman had regained Douglass and the

on. "It got pretty hectic as recalled.

came almost

intu-

of training.

lost

to catch up. In front,

he

it

and more was au-

we

"We made one

contact and was hurrying

rest

of the formation pressed

got to about ten miles from the target,"

last

check with our radar

for

enemy

air-

reminded

me

Star Wars movie,

when

the good guys were

fly-

ing across the Death Star." Douglass's

WSO

slaved the radar to the

craft

and then switched

a little bit of the

first

target coordinates,

into the air-to-ground

and both of them

tried to

mode.

It

make out

the objective,

without much success. "We were getting pretty busy; we were less than a minute from the target. By now it was obvious that our wingman wasn't going to catch

albeit

We

couldn't

bombs while

trying to

up, so he was ordered to stay clear and out of the way. risk losing

the crew

if

they flew through our

224

JAY A.

STOUT

drop their own. From the tone of their reply

it

was obvious that they

were disappointed."

Coming up on

the target,

was apparent that the Hornets had

it

gone undetected. Other than the glow coming from

and

outposts, there were

no

lights

— no

isolated

anti-aircraft fire,

homes

no SAMs.

Nothing. In the dark the outlying Iraqi posts received no warning of the Hornets' presence beyond a chest-rattling roar as the aircraft

swept overhead and then disappeared into the night.

"By now," Douglass

recalled,

"we had given up on the radar and

switched to our Forward Looking Infra Red pod, our FLIR. right

on the

seconds

—

target coordinates. At four miles started

I

counting down the range

ning with the FLIR. Finally small building and

some

and — with

thumb

watched

on

his right

As the

as

my

WSO kept scan-

we could make out what looked

pound

like a

vehicles." Douglass refined his steering

poised on the

bomb

release button

aircraft

reached that point in space where

appropriate physics reached a perfect convergence he

on the button and

We were

twenty-five

—

cue marched down the steering line glowing

as the release

HUD.

his

out— about

felt

the aircraft

jump

all

the

mashed down

as the three five-hundred-

canisters fell away.

"Just then,

through the FLIR, we could make out a group of

running in the target

area.

looked for somewhere

I

could only imagine their terror

to hide."

By now the bombs

men

as they

were in midflight,

whistling toward the earth, only a second or two from exploding into

scorching, all-consuming fireballs.

Douglass watched with a

enemy

troops raced across the FLIR's field of view. Rather than run-

ning away,

fate directed the Iraqis directly into the center of the des-

ignated impact area.

"I

Douglass remembered.

because

back

slightly to

same time,

again

when

saw a bright "It

make I

their

sure that

looked for the

bombs

flash as

was foolish of

my goggles washed

sions,

the

sort of detached, fearful fascination as the

I

me

our bombs exploded," to

watch

out completely.

I

for the explo-

nudged the

was climbing away from the

rest

stick

dirt.

At

of the formation and got blinded

exploded."

Douglass hadn't been the only one

who had made

that mistake.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

225

Blinking to regain their vision, the crews climbed and banked their jets

away from the

target. In his

who had been unable "Fuck, fuck, fuck

.

.

to

disappointment the

bombs— broke

drop his

last

wingman —

radio discipline:

carried over the airwaves.

."

Douglass reflected on the mission. "Once we got back on top of the clouds

knew

calm down. This was the

started to

I

for certain that

good knowing

that

I

had

my

killed

friends

through that area with

what the Marines would find

people— because

I

saw them.

on the ground might be able

or

little

mission where

first

no

resistance

and

I

To

in the target area.

also

to

I

I

felt

push

wondered

this day,

I

still

don't know."

In press briefings Pentagon

palm was used nalists

spokesmen consistently denied

against the Iraqis, while

knowing

full

that na-

well that jour-

were asking about the instances when Marines had employed

Mk-77 Firebombs. Although

technically they were correct, the Pen-

tagon denials were hairsplitting absurdities. This was particularly true

when

the Marines had

Colonel Randy "Tex"

no compunction against

Alles, the

commanding

telling the truth.

officer of

MAG-1 1,

de-

clared in direct terms that the approaches to the bridges across the

Saddam Canal "They were

at

An Numaniyah were

Iraqi soldiers there.

Napalm. Firebomb. To the the semantics were irrelevant.

It's

no

Iraqis

"napalmed." great

way

He went further:

to die."

who burned

to

death that night,

24

Precision Strike

was the very first few minutes of the It Marines of VMA-3 1 1 had been flying their infantry brothers for

more than

last

day of March, and the

their Harriers in support of

a week.

With the

rest of 3rd

MAW they had concentrated on prepping the battlefield the ers

RCTs

as well as

who had been

role in this effort.

Officer,

helping to clean up the pockets of

bypassed.

They would continue

his

squadron had

young men and women aboard the

Commanding an

settled into

that

USS Bonhomme

made up

his

effective

maintenance department

Richard were keeping the

condition. Jets that were in good condition were sorties.

targets

more

fight-

rhythm. Operations afloat were always a challenge, but the

battle

more

enemy

to play a valuable

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Hile, the

was pleased that

in front of

More

sorties

jets in

killed.

good

that could fly

flown meant more targets engaged.

engaged meant more enemy

live

jets

More dead

Iraqis

More meant

Marines.

His pilots were becoming more effective as well. During the

few days of the fight

ROE,

the

a

number

command and

first

of factors including the weather, the

control system, and their

own

limitations

HAMMER FROM ABOVE had kept the

fliers

from being

227

as effective as Hile

more and more

Nevertheless, that period was past and

crews were demonstrating to the Iraqis and to the

what an

would have

liked.

the Harrier

of the Coalition

rest

effective attack platform the aircraft was.

Hile and eleven other

VMA-2 1

1

,

had finished

pilots, five

from VMA-311 and

a quick late-night breakfast

from

six

and were

listen-

ing to the normal series of pre-mission briefings. First was the weather forecaster;

he reviewed the

latest satellite pictures

over Iraq as well as

the forecast conditions for the northern Persian Gulf during the

scheduled launch and recovery periods.

The

had clobbered the area

had cleared, and now mete-

a few days earlier

orological conditions were

favorable.

The

and included an update of the friendly

brief followed

ground and that

at the

situation

on the

Marines were prepar-

in for several days, the

march on Baghdad while

operations

Although the MEF's

day's active control measures.

advance had been reined ing to

much more

sandstorm that

stifling

same time hunting down and

crushing pockets of resistance to their rear and flanks.

Next up was the intelligence

brief. It

Iraqi forces as well as potential threats. anti-aircraft

guns— the

Iraqi Air

covered the disposition of the

These were mostly

SAMs and

Force hadn't been heard from since

the start of the war. Last were the instructions from the Landing Sig-

He was

nals Officer.

aircraft ballet that

Richards

first

Before the

responsible for choreographing the twelve-

would launch and recover as

LSO

could

finish, the senior

the brief and relayed the fact that the

part of the

MEF. The two

new

watch

officer interrupted

orders had just

come

in across SIPRchat.

Except

for the fact that

it

still

coming

was secure and pro-

computerized tool— the Secret Internet Protocol Router—

much

different

from the

normal eighth-grader might about boyfriends and tion's

from

town of Ash Shatrah, about twenty-five miles

north of An Nasiriyah. Details about the objective were

was not

in

squadrons aboard the ship were being retasked to

hit critical targets in the

tected, this

Bonhomme

wave of the day.

typical Internet chat

visit.

girlfriends, the

rooms

that a

But rather than sharing gossip SIPRchat was used by the Coali-

planners and operators to help execute the war.

228

It

STOUT

JAY A.

MEF's intent— and

wasn't long before the

target— became

the specifics of the

an assault

clear. In preparation for

to clear out

Ash

MEF wanted the Baath party headquarters in the center

Shatrah, the

of the town destroyed by a predawn

strike.

Although American units

had advanced well beyond Ash Shatrah by smaller units were

still

this time,

convoys and

being ambushed. Late on the night of March

28 a Marine had been dragged from a convoy of support vehicles and then

later killed

and dragged through the

was becoming ap-

streets. It

parent that the Baath party was playing as big a role in fighting the Coalition as was the Iraqi military.

With

this strike

ratory fires— and a subsequent raid into the

RCT-1 —the AV-8B

and other prepa-

town by elements of

MEF hoped to cut off the head of the Baath party snake.

Harriers were selected for the mission because their Liten-

ing targeting pods provided the fidelity required to surgically attack specific points without destroying sensitive structures nearby. Hile

commander and planning began immedi"The MEF wanted eight targets hit, and we intended to do that

took the role of mission ately.

with eight Price

aircraft.

— MAG-

1

3's

didn't waste

I

WTI

any time and assigned Major Will

[Weapons and Tactics Instructor]— to begin

the target area analysis. This

meant

that with

my

guidance and con-

currence he would construct the actual plan of attack— who, what,

when, where, and how."

Without in-flight refueling the mission would take the AV-8Bs near the limits of their range. In order to stack the deck in their favor, Hile

needed

to

ensure that he took advantage of every bit of help that the

Bonhomme

Richard's

commander could

provide. "I sent Captain

Matt Heafner, one of the more experienced LSOs, ship's location

would the

and heading

ship's location at the

would

crucial, but the ship until all the aircraft

reposition

constricted

for the

also

midway through

the

scheduled takeoff time." Not only

commencement have

were airborne.

to coordinate the

If

maintain the same heading

to

the

effort,

of the launch be

Bonhomme

the attack

Richard had

would

fail.

In the

and shallow waters of the northern Persian Gulf

would not be an easy

task.

to

this

Hile also charged Heafner with devising a

compressed launch scheme so that the

aircraft

would burn

as little

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

229

fuel as possible at the start of the mission. Like every portion of the

mundane

plan, these seemingly

were crucial

details

to success. If

even the simplest thing went awry, the operation could unravel before

it

got under way.

Hile tasked Captain

Thomas Hodge, MAG-13's

cer, to get the latest available

exact

DMPIs,

points

on

or Desired

imagery

Mean

intelligence

and

for the targets

Points of Impact.

offi-

to plot the

These were precise

specific targets— for instance, the northeast corner of a tar-

geted building. For this sort of operation, a photo was absolutely

The

sential.

were being tasked

pilots

individual buildings,

to

and expecting them

to

es-

portions of

hit certain

execute their mission in

the middle of the night against targets they had never seen was unrealistic.

On

the flight deck the maintainers from both squadrons looked

over their aircraft with even greater care than usual.

The ordnance

The

lead aircraft of

load for each aircraft was

hung and

each section would carry only

GBU-16, while

inspected.

a Litening

wingmen would

the

hundred-pound LGBs. The intent was with the

bombs on

for

pod and carry

two GBU-12,

only the

ship,

The tanks optimum perfor-

full.

Also, because they

arrangements were

made

to

would be operating have the

aircraft

with fuel after they had started but just before taking

Within

five-

to drop,

of the Harrier's engine during takeoff and landing were

double-checked

from the

wingmen

the lead aircraft available as backup.

that held the distilled water so crucial to getting

mance out

thousand-pound

a

a short

ticularly worried

time the plan began

off.

to take shape. Hile wasn't par-

about what he and his Marines could control;

what they couldn't control

so far

topped off

it

was

What was of particular DMPIs were close enough to sensitive were CDE, or Collateral Damage Esti-

that bothered him.

concern was that two of the structures or areas that there

mate, concerns. This meant that the targets would have to be ap-

proved

at the theater

commander's

making the ultimate decision would

go.

as to

level;

CENTCOM

whether or not

He had seen much simpler challenges pull

Once complete,

would be

Hile's mission

a plan to pieces.

the plan was briefed to the crews.

A

short time

230

STOUT

JAY A.

they pulled on their flight gear and headed topside. With the

later

preflight inspections

accomplished they climbed into

seemingly chaotic commotion of confusing

it

terior integrity of

by

to fix

named every

each

it

checked the

ex-

troubleshooters in green jerseys stood

aircraft;

ship's refuelers, nickshirts,

taxied toward the rear of the ship;

deck handlers, or "yellow

shirts,"

topped off

and the

flight

directed each aircraft into position

time for launch approached. Ten minutes prior to takeoff Hile

called over the radio: "Gator Tower,

Waxen

Eleven point zero on the fuel with a

full

homme low

and arm waving

shirts

"grapes" because of their distinctive purple

before

a

everyone had a role and knew

any last-minute discrepancies; the

aircraft:

as the

aside,

lights

Plane captains in their distinctive brown

well.

and

deck was the scene of

started their engines. In the dark, the flight

and running about. Appearances

their jets

Richards control tower rogered tending his

shirts

jet

up and

his transmission,

down

broke

flight

ready.

bag of water." The Bon-

and the

yel-

the tie-down chains that

tethered his aircraft to the deck. Hile followed their signals and taxied

launch position

into

at the stern

of the ship. His wingman, Captain

Jason "Bearclaw" Duncan, and the rest of the flight followed. In the

meantime one of the

couldn't be fixed in time to

had considered

Hile's plan

Harriers developed a problem that

meet

its

takeoff window. Fortunately

this possibility: the spare pilot

craft—already briefed and started— took the broken

At the back of the ship Hile went through

jet's

and

air-

place.

his last-minute checks.

Everything was in order except for what most concerned him: Clear-

ance

to hit the

more thing

ment

for

CDE targets had not yet arrived, and him

to

or so before launch Hile

felt

Bonhomme Richards CO, Captain into the prevailing winds.

map

it

would be one

worry about once he got airborne. Only a mo-

A quick

the ship heel over to port as the

Jon Berg-Johnsen, brought her

look

down

at his aircraft's

moving

display reassured Hile that the ship's crew were executing their

portion of the plan perfectly.

Once

safely airborne

and with Duncan

Hile started for Ash Shatrah. As he fall,

across

Kuwait and

into Iraq,

made

in position off his left wing,

his

way northwest

to land-

he went through the usual commu-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE nications

After switching from the

drill.

231

Bonhomme

Richard's fre-

quency he contacted Green Crown aboard one of the ships

With

trolled a given sector of the airspace over the gulf.

Green Crown

ment

directed to contact

its

radar

Foe equip-

verified that Hile's Identification Friend or

was "sweet," or in working order.

that con-

From Green Crown, he was

Red Crown— another ship — and then Karma,

the

AWACS aircraft that controlled the airspace over southern Iraq. All of the switches went smoothly and finally Hile

Waxen 25— was

— as

directed to contact Tropical, the

the flight lead of

MEF's

Tactical Air

Operations Center. Hile was growing impatient. There was no word yet that his strike

had been approved, and he

didn't

want the hard work and planning

He checked in with Tropifragged." The answer came

of his Marines to have been for nothing.

Waxen

"Tropical,

cal:

25 airborne as

back: "Waxen, Tropical,

we have you sweet and

cleared to switch to terminal control. targets has

sweet.

CENTCOM approval for your

planning process had fallen into place.

As he led Duncan deeper into

Iraq, Hile

down

looked

at the land-

scape below him. Because his night-vision goggles enabled

even the barest

may

or

bit of illumination,

may

he could pick up

last,

him

to see

flashes of light

not have been fighting as well as the steadier illumi-

nation that marked the towns and villages

power. At

are

been received. Good hunting/'

Finally, the last piece of the

that

You

still

enjoying electrical

north of An Nasiriyah, he set up a left-hand orbit

fif-

teen miles to the north of Ash Shatrah and waited. Just as briefed, the following three sections of Harriers at

ten-minute

intervals.

The

checked

in

plan called for the four pairs of aircraft to

establish themselves in four separate holding patterns at cardinal

headings

— north, south, east, and west— from the target at a distance

of fifteen miles. There would be one section of two

To

jets in

each

orbit.

further deconflict, each section was assigned a different altitude;

this

would reduce the chances of a midair

collision should

one

pair

of aircraft stray out of their assigned airspace.

At 0458, exactly two minutes prior

to their

planned

TOT or Time

on Target, the eight AV-8Bs accelerated out of their holding patterns

232

STOUT

JAY A.

toward the Baath party headquarters section leader slaved his Litening

compared what he saw on viewed during the target in

FLIR very

much like another.

ready

room and

pod

DMPI

to his assigned

and

photo that he had

his display against the

is

Each

knots.

re-

"Acquiring a specific

particularly difficult.

When

the

mixture of greens and blacks, one building looks

a

is

more than 450

earlier brief. Hile recalled:

an urban environment

display

at

one thing

It's

to

review a

quite another to correlate

it

photo

satellite

in the

against something you're

looking at on a cockpit display in the middle of the night while you're racing toward a target with only seconds to

The

decisions

made by

the

the flight leaders

onds each

hand turn back toward

The time

mal, but

it

ter of

swung around

their orbit points.

in a hard right-

Turning away from the

it

tally, just as

hit the target the eight jets

would continue

before

one

bomb

bombs

to

last

four

after the first

streaked back toward the cen-

Just as before, the four sections delivered four

just as

before,

failure of

tar-

took to travel back to the push points was mini-

could be found and struck. Only four minutes

more bombs, and

to

all

four scored direct

hits.

Coinciden-

failed to detonate.

detonate was one that had plagued and

plague both the Harrier and Hornet communities

through the entirety of the Hile could do about

marked

jets all

fourth failed to detonate.

allowed the smoke to clear enough so that the

Ash Shatrah.

The

The

direction was another safeguard against a midair

collision.

bombs had

to drop.

mark; three of the four shattered a

its

Wasting no time, the eight

DMPIs

weapons were ready

wingmen released their GBU-12s while guided them into their targets. Within thirty sec-

building or portion of a building.

same

con-

like the other

the

bomb had found

get in the

DMPI. Duncan,

that his laser-guided

moment

pilots that night

like the other section leaders,

centrated on locating his assigned

At the correct

the correct decision."

Bonhomme Richards

were right on the money. Hile,

wingmen, ensured

make

it.

He

conflict.

At any

rate there

was nothing

called for a check-in over the radio

off all eight pilots as they responded. Satisfied with

how

and the

mission unfolded— and doubly satisfied that Ash Shatrah's Baath party headquarters was in ruins

homme

Richard.

— he

headed back toward the Bon-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

Ash Shatrah was taken Iraqis still

dead and the

that

same day

in a battle that left scores of

region's Baath party officials— those

who were

alive— on the run. The attack Hile led was a direct contributor

the success of that

effort.

The

First

Marine

.

.

it

thusly:

the nominated targets were struck, and 7 of 9 were de-

The precision of the strikes marveled the who turned out into the streets in droves to

popu-

stroyed.

local

lace,

witness the

demonstration of both firepower and

to

Division's record recog-

nized the excellence of Hile's attack and recorded

.

233

restraint.

25

POW Rescue

first sniff,

Atkept

it

at 3rd

that the

The

stank badly. fact that

it

only thing that

had come through

MAW headquarters. Guts was good at putting up

commonsense screen

schemes

It

from stinking worse was the

Guts Robling a

the tasking stank.

against

some of

the

.

.

.

wing was sometimes saddled

Colonel Stuart "Pitbull" Knoll,

less

well-considered

with. Nevertheless,

Commanding

Officer of

accompanied

his orders.

didn't like the sketchy details that

MAG-16,

As the leader of one of the three Marine Corps rotary-wing groups, or

MAGs,

in the theater

high-priority effort to rescue a

Nasiriyah. His

MAG

he was being directed

air

to support a

POW somewhere in the vicinity of An

was headquartered aboard the

USS

Boxer, an

LHD now steaming in the northern reaches of the Arabian Gulf, just east of Kuwait.

Knoll didn't

POW was

a

make much

Distanced

as

he was from the wing headquarters,

know much more about Marine lance corporal or sense to

him — he

been captured. Neither did a joint operation with the

it

the mission; supposedly the private

first class.

That

didn't

wasn't aware that any Marines had

make

sense that this was supposed to be

Army, the Air Force, and the Navy's SEALs.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The whole tempt

to

more than

thing smelled

235

slightly like the disastrous at-

snatch U.S. hostages out of Iran in 1980. After months of

planning, that effort had failed while killing eight of his fellow

vicemen, and wounding

known. Knoll

still

many more. Some

remembered

of them were

ser-

men he had

the shock and embarrassment that

settled over the entire nation after that debacle. All that aside, his

Marines were already heavily committed drive toward Baghdad,

from

their ability to

and

meet

this

to

supporting the division's

rescue operation would only detract

that all-important mission.

was afternoon now, 1530 on March 31, and the rescue was

It

scheduled

and the

to kick off the following night. In less

rest

of the participants would be either heroes or goats. Being

a goat wasn't

with that in

an option that he or

mind Knoll

started to

put myself in charge of

"I

than two days Knoll

called, referring to

this

Marines could stomach, and

his

make

things

happen immediately.

thing right from the

MAG-16's component of the

start,"

he

re-

"Not

overall effort.

my aviation skills were indispensable, and not just because my style to lead from the front, but wanted to make sure that we

because it's

I

had enough horsepower

to say

no

if

the folks putting the plan to-

gether started to get stupid."

Straightaway Knoll selected Lieutenant Colonel Gregg Sturdevant

Sturdevant— a veteran of recent combat

as the assault flight leader.

Afghanistan— was the

CO

of

HMM-165. He would

in

be tasked with

the hands-on planning and flight lead duties for the helicopters of the

Marine sibility

force, while Knoll

of the

same

force.

would maintain

By 2130

other planners were piloting two Tallil,

overall

command

that evening Sturdevant

CH-46Es

respon-

and three

to Tallil Air Base.

about a dozen miles west of the heart of

An

Nasiriyah in

southeastern Iraq, had been captured only a few days earlier.

mer

bastion of the once formidable Iraqi Air Force

MIG

A

— bristling

for-

with

fighters— Tallil had been heavily hit during Desert Storm

twelve years earlier. Stifled by the Coalition's Operation Southern

Watch, the

end of tion

Iraqis hadn't

been able

that earlier conflict.

Now

to

do

much with the base since the

the planning for the rescue opera-

was being led from one of Tallil's shattered

aircraft shelters.

236

STOUT

JAY A.

More information

through

filtered

remainder of that day and into the was an Army private

and was being held Nasiriyah.

The

first

to

Knoll and his

As

next.

turned out, the

it

POW

who had been injured in an ambush Saddam General Hospital in embattled An

class

at the

city straddled the

Euphrates

and Army were using

ply route the Marines

staff during the

as well as the

main sup-

advance northwest

to

to-

ward Baghdad. During the previous week the Marines from Task Force Tarawa, a brigade-sized unit, had been engaged in fierce combat with irregular elements of the Iraqi

Baath party

The

forces.

close-quarters fighting

Nasiriyah than anywhere

Every convoy that

where the

made

its

fire.

still

1,

way through An Nasiriyah encountered Those

areas of the city off the

And

main route

Indian Country was

CH-46E into a wingmen lifted away

Colonel Stewart Knoll swung

and watched

from the Boxer. With

as the last of his four

his

the helicopters of his flight safely in tow, he

all

his aircraft west

and

started for Tallil. Cruising at three

dred feet above the water, Knoll led his formation across the coast of Kuwait near the spot

Bubiyan Island before

it

down

to

dumps

into the gulf.

Once

cently installed

GPS

backup system was

his

their fourth

set

ship.

Although

decade of service, more

him

of eyeballs

floor.

—

to

navigate.

Still,

re-

his

in combination with a set

The

princi-

changed much since the days of the

sailing

of charts, a compass, a clock, and his airspeed indicator. ples of navigation hadn't

he

westerly heading and dropped the

systems helped

own

muddy

past the delta

only a hundred feet above the desert

were pushing into

hun-

where the Euphrates bumps up against

turned the formation on a more

his aircraft

—

POW was being held.

left-hand arc

flight

An

infested with hostile elements.

considered "Indian Country."

At 1600 on April

banked

killed at

fe-

although most of the environs of that route

city,

various levels of enemy still

had been the most

Ultimately a route had been punched

else.

dubbed Ambush Alley— were

were

well as Fedayeen and

point— more Marines had been

rocious of the war to that

through the

Army as

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

237

In the diminishing light of late afternoon, the gray-brown desert

had

a dirty concrete sort of look to it— barren except for the straight

and the occasional shepherd

lines of rusting oil or gas pipelines,

camps surrounded by bands of camels

A low berm, and

windblown garbage.

or dusty sheep,

not

much

else,

and

piles of

marked the bor-

der between Kuwait and Iraq. Deeper into Iraq, and closer to the Euphrates River, small villages and mud-walled farming

became more numerous.

It

was from these types of small farms that

Knoll and his units had taken hostile "Usually

it

was small-arms

old asshole with an

AK-47

stuff/'

firing

he

fire

They were

"Some

nineteen-year-

from the doorway. There was noth-

house and wipe out an entire family

we were

during the previous week.

recalled.

ing to keep us from killing them, but

taking potshots at us.

compounds

just

we

just

weren't going to level a

because some

idiot kid

ignorant— they didn't know what

about."

Knoll took his formation into the captured Iraqi airfield

where they unloaded an engine

for

ued on

their way.

It

at Jalibah,

one of his MAG's other CH-46Es.

After a quick squirt of fuel they clattered airborne again

down

was

was dusk when Knoll's

at Tallil Air Base; in the distance

and contin-

five helicopters

they could see

An

touched

Nasiriyah,

only a dozen miles away. After shutting their birds down, the Marine pilots

went

straight to the small cinder-block building

where the plan

was being fine-tuned. The enlisted aircrews— two Marines

in

each

bird— stayed behind on the disused high-speed taxiways where they had landed, and immediately turned

to the task of

preparing the he-

licopters for the mission.

"Except

for a four-hour break,

the other planners

nonstop clear to

to

we had

Lieutenant Colonel Sturdevant and

sent out the day before had

been working

help put the operation together," Knoll recalled.

them

that our piece

was

was only a part of what was a very com-

plex operation and that no matter there were a lot of points at

"It

which

a few minutes of landing, Knoll

how good this

and the

the preparations were,

thing could unravel." Within rest

of the Marine contingent

received an overview of the plan then set to work putting on the finishing touches.

238

STOUT

JAY A.

were

Knoll's officers

The

correct:

were any number of opportunities

to

plan was complex, and there fail.

The

participants included

contingents or representatives from Delta Force, the Marine Corps, the Navy's SEALs, the Army's Rangers, and various government agencies including the

CIA. "There were

of different haircuts run-

all sorts

ning around the planning spaces," remembered Colonel Knoll. "And there wasn't

but

it

much socializing going on.

was obvious that

I

names of some

got the

I

folks,

names of others. Or

wasn't going to get the

even what organization they were representing."

The

were being put together

forces that

fell

under the mantle of

Task Force Twenty. Task Force Twenty was charged with specialized operations in Iraq to include finding and capturing political leadership, locating

weapons of mass

The

sensitive missions.

and included air defenses;

a

destruction,

component

air

Marine EA-6B Prowler

USAF

AH-1W

several

Marine AV-8B

copters

augmented by four more

and

Harriers; four

finally Knoll's six

provide the force's heavy

The

jet aircraft to

actual rescue

was extensive

suppress

to provide

enemy

high-powered

A- 10 Close Air Support aircraft on

alert— just in case; two Marine

60s;

for this mission

two Air Force AC-1 30 gunships

aerial cover; ten

and other important but

Cobra helicopter gunships;

Army AH-6

MH-6

CH-46Es and

strip

"Little Bird" heli-

helicopters; five

three

Army MH-

CH-53Es, intended

to

lift.

force— those troops who would be put onto the

ground — included approximately 60 Special Forces personnel and 280 Army Rangers.

It

was the Rangers

would be charged with

whom

inserting into the

Knoll's helicopter crews

Landing Zone, or LZ. The

Rangers, in turn, were tasked with securing the perimeter around the hospital

and repelling any counterattacks the enemy might mount.

Midnight on April

ment when

1

was designated

the Task Force

as

L-Hour. This was the mo-

Twenty Special Operations troops would

be landed atop the hospital. From there they would descend into the building until the

POW

was located and evacuated. The plan

quired supporting and diversionary

fires

re-

from the Marine Corps's

The Tarawa Marines were enemy forces in and around An

Task Force Tarawa.

already engaged in

blasting out the

Nasiriyah.

The

bar-

rage would serve to draw attention away from the hospital during the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE actual rescue,

and was

be

to

239

initiated following a strike at

L-Hour

minus twenty minutes by the Marine AV-8Bs against one of the main highway spans across the Euphrates.

Once tillery

AV-8B

the

strike

barrage was under

way

AH-1W Cobra

two Marine

around the

was complete and Task Force Tarawa's

L-Hour minus

at

gunships were to

The Cobras were loaded

city.

primary mission was

quired, but their

to

fifteen minutes, the

up

set

a clockwise orbit

to suppress

enemy fire

make noise— to

the Iraqi combatants to the sound of helicopters and

proach of the main

force.

At L-Hour minus cut.

The

entire city

tal—assuming

its

would not only

make

it

five

They were

desensitize

mask the

would be plunged

to the city

was

to

be

This

properly.

organized resistance, but also

sort of

easier for the helicopter crews to find the hospital

lighted structure in the

ap-

into black except the hospi-

emergency generators operated any

as re-

rotary-wing attention getters.

minutes electrical power

disorient

ar-

— the only

city.

At L-Hour minus two minutes the AH-6 gunships would tear overhead, ripping the night as required with their miniguns— prepping the zone in advance of the

MH-60s. Then,

the defenders had their heads down, the insert the Special

"Our

in the pitch black while

MH-60s would sweep

Operations forces precisely

at

L-Hour.

job was to put the Rangers in place," Knoll

"We were scheduled

to land the first

plus five minutes, and at

ping off the

first

wave,

we were

remembered.

wave of 135 Rangers

L-Hour plus

in to

at

L-Hour

thirteen minutes. After drop-

tasked to go right back to Tallil, pick

up the next 153 Rangers, and bring them back. "There was one part of the early plan that continued. "Originally, hospital. Well,

we were supposed

we had been

on the hospital grounds, and

getting shot

up

mission was,

it

we were coming

wasn't important

fenseless helicopters

I

hadn't liked," Knoll

land right in front of the

briefed that there were Baath party fight-

ers billeted

just as

to

I

could easily imagine us

in to land.

enough

As important

to risk putting relatively de-

— helicopters full of troops — right in the middle

of a potential ambush. There were concerns about the licopters that tial to

as this

would be operating

get very dangerous in

in the area, too; this

and of

itself.

Earlier

I

number

of he-

had the poten-

had passed

my

240

JAY A.

concerns

Sturdevant and

to

STOUT

was glad

I

to see that the

made adjustments more to our liking." The three CH-53Es of Knoll's force hours

after

he had brought

in the five

planners had

arrived at Tallil about two

CH-46Es.

"Originally, the

planners had called for using only CH-53s because they carry a lot

more/' Knoll

said.

CH-53

are, the

"But

as

vulnerable as most transport helicopters

even softer— it has absolutely no armor protection

is

CH-46Es

whatsoever. So the plan was to put the

some armor, and sticks of

in the event that the

first.

taking

them somewhere

After everyone

assets

first

we

few

had,

up with the CH-53s,

the plan, there was a

which the Marines were able

the opportunity to heat

Nevertheless their

follow

the

else."

became comfortable with

short period during

them took

we could

They've got

fire

Rangers in the CH-46Es, along with the other

could clear the place out so that or land

LZ was

in

up something

commander was

still

to relax. to

Most of

eat— an MRE.

harboring some nervous

skepticism. "To be quite frank," Knoll recalled, "I kept waiting for the call to this, a

cancel this thing. So often, with an operation as delicate as

mission that

is

contingent on so

many different parts,

being overtaken by circumstances and terminated.

I

was

it

ends up

really sur-

prised that the call never came."

With mealtime

over, the intensity of the preparations increased as

Crew chiefs checked their aircraft more times. The Rangers and Special Opera-

the hour of execution approached.

once, twice, and three tions troops likewise

went over

viewed and rehearsed

their gear and,

more important,

their plan. Last-minute coordination

was made

with those units supporting the operation from outside the

The

final air

to

myself that

straight out of the movies," Knoll said.

guys,

and Marines, and

long

hair.

We

all sorts

something

Immediately

off of a

it,

was something

Ops guys and

civilians with

a makeshift briefing

and bare lightbulbs overhead.

Hollywood

after the

this

"There were Navy and Army

of Special

were gathered around

charts duct-taped onto like

air base.

mission brief got under way at 2100.

can remember thinking

"I

re-

main

board with It

was

just

set."

briefing, Sturdevant reviewed the

lift

plan for the Rangers, and then Knoll gathered the Marines around

HAMMER FROM ABOVE him.

them

"I told

that

what we were about

to

pulled this off we were going to be part of the

World War save the this

By now

II.

life

I

was

of one of our

would be

committed

fully

own— and Then

a fantastic feat.

I

do

241

do was important.

If

we

POW rescue since

first

to the plan; if

we could

without killing anyone

it

tried to

put

it

all

—

back into per-

What we were doing was just a simple insertion, something we had all done many, many times before. There was nothing

spective.

that

sexy about

need

it,

nothing

for heroics,

we'd be

As

it

and

There probably wasn't going

slick. if

we

to

be any

executed our portion of the mission

just

just fine."

happened, the night was perfect

for the mission.

The

level of

illumination was near zero, and the Iraqi fighters would have a hard

time detecting,

let

alone tracking, the elements of Task Force Twenty.

"We could have landed

just

about on top of the bad guys and they

wouldn't have been able to see Knoll remembered.

equipped with

On

the

ANVS-9 Night

us. It

was

a black, dark-ass night,"

other hand,

Knoll's

Marines were

Vision Devices. With these goggles

they would be able to see well enough through the dark to execute the entire mission without any external lighting— lighting that might attract the

The

enemy and mark them

operation,

complex

as

it

as targets.

was,

depended simply on everyone

completing their assignments— as basic or

Once

the final briefs broke up, the

had no choice but their

men

to trust that their

difficult as

set off to

teammates did

teammates likewise had no option but

theirs. All

do

they might be. just that.

They

their jobs,

and

to trust that they did

of these tasks, as Knoll had noted earlier, were potential

failure points.

Knoll's lead

element of three CH-46Es was formed up into an eche-

lon, with Sturdevant's bird in the lead. His

own

aircraft

was

offset to

the right side where he could monitor the progress of the overall mission

and "watch Sturdevant's back." The three helicopters had

off precisely at

L-Hour minus seven minutes with

their fully

lifted

armed

complements of Rangers. Just as

planned, two minutes after the Marines had gotten

air-

242

STOUT

JAY A.

borne, the city went dark at L-Hour minus

five

been charged with taking down the power task.

The

Whoever had

minutes.

grid

had completed

their

diversionary barrage that Task Force Tarawa was throwing

against targets

on both

sides of the

now. Bright flashes from bursting

An

night and backlit the

Euphrates was well under way

rounds ripped the black

artillery

Nasiriyah skyline.

Under

the onslaught,

buildings and bunkers and vehicle hulks blazed with a brilliance that lit

way

the

for the

approaching helicopters. "The illumination from

the high-explosive rounds alone was giving us what igate by," Knoll recalled.

gun rounds, was a

"Added

as well as shells

unit's

classic no-holds-barred display of

was awesome." Above

it

all

armored elements. This

combined arms firepower— it

orbited a section of AV-8B Harriers. Their

and linked

specially modified Litening pods videoed the operation to the various

commands

Three minutes

on

"Once

Little Birds arrived

the Little Birds arrived

sweeping the area with

up through our goggles

AH-6

wicked fusillade from

station ready to let loose with a

started

it

in real time.

later the Special Forces

7.62-caliber miniguns.

nav-

were mortar and machine-

to that

from the

we needed to

on

their infrared pointers.

like bright pencil

their

Ml 34

station they

These showed

beams — really

dazzling,

al-

most otherworldly," Knoll remembered.

Here and there comparatively feeble

flashes twinkled

back

at the

Marines, but the Iraqi defenders were putting up nothing to effectively

challenge the overwhelming firepower that was ripping the

area apart. fire

It

was easy

pouring out from

the mortars, heavy torrents of red

to

its

mark Tarawa's

units.

position from the

Aside from the big

artillery

machine guns rained what appeared

and white

to

slugs into the Iraqi positions.

velocity rounds ricocheted out of the impact area in

all

volume of

rounds and

be nonstop

These highdirections in

a Fourth of July display of terrifically hot firepower.

Approaching the

city

from the southwest, Knoll's helicopters navi-

gated a gauntlet of obstacles at an ingress height of two hundred

This altitude was a compromise ing from the ground, yet gate easily

and

it

was

stay out of the

to

feet.

keep them away from obstacles

still

ris-

low enough that they could navi-

employment envelopes

of a variety of

HAMMER FROM ABOVE weapons.

anti-aircraft tos

243

a collection of radio towers rose like stilet-

Still,

from the desert alongside the Euphrates. Each one of those towers

was held erect by a helicopter.

web

a

of cables, any one of which could bring

There were no accurate

charts that

Knoll and his crews were depending on what had, their

The

three

first

CH-46Es made

the Special Forces AH-6s,

saw the various helicopters

it

met

It

Marine

pilots

could see

was a carefully orchestrated ballet that

their assignments.

treated. Knoll

and over

across the Euphrates

come dangerously Squads of

way down toward the second

their

information they

MH-6s, and MH-60s grinding overhead the

hospital in a circular pattern.

all

little

of them;

all

Night Vision Devices, and luck.

the city without incident. In front of them the

they

showed

down

floor

close to each other as

men

were already making

where the

and the other Marines found

POW was

their designated

being

Landing

Zone— a

section of floodplain separated from the rest of the city by a

low

"Now

dike.

that

different explosions

enough

settle his bird full

closer, the light

was so bright that

it

bloom from

to get in."

Then,

of the

able

colonel was about to

he spotted

dirt,

hicle immediately underneath his aircraft.

we were

the LZ,

just as the

of Rangers onto the

all

was washing out our goggles,"

we slowed and approached

Knoll said, "but as to see well

we were

He

wrecked ve-

a

quickly sidestepped

the obstacle, put his helicopter down, and turned to watch as the

Rangers raced off the

exit

ramp and rushed

into the

was then that the shout rang out over the

It

been

city.

radio: "I think I've just

by a SAM!" The call came from Captain William "Fester" who was flying in the echelon of CH-46Es behind Knoll. An

hit

Oliver,

impact had rocked Oliver's

The young

aircraft, rolling

captain and his copilot,

tled against the controls

violently to the right.

Shannon "Cookie"

and brought the

In the rear of the aircraft, the

it

Fields, wres-

stricken bird back upright.

Rangers— who had bungee-corded

themselves to the floor of the aircraft rather than buckling struggling to disentangle themselves from each other Knoll's heart was in his throat as

he strained

tion over the radio. "Getting hit by a

was one of the few things

I

SAM

on

to

and

in— were

their gear.

hear more informa-

a black night like that

wasn't overly nervous about.

My

biggest

244

STOUT

JAY A.

concern had been an ambush chief worry was that

Zone and

that

right after that

a

that,

was troubled about

I

all

Landing

in the

the

my

dark—

damn

towers

were out there — obstacles we didn't know about. But

SAM was way down on my list."

getting hit by an

In the

and

bunch of dust

bird over, or run into each other in the

roll a

midair collision. After

and wires

in the zone,

we might kick up

meantime Oliver and

his copilot

had gotten the

aircraft fly-

ing toward the objective again, seemingly none the worse for wear. After checking the engine instruments

mal, Oliver noted the large flying over, under,

verifying that

all

was nor-

of towers that his formation was

and through. And he realized

SAM, he had

being struck by a

many dozens

number

and

hit a

that rather than

guy wire, or cable— one of the

strung back and forth across their flight path.

Later inspection would show that the

aircraft's

landing gear had in-

deed caught a cable. Fortunately the helicopter had enough mass and energy to snap

before

it

it

had been thrown

snagged the cable anywhere their cargo of Rangers

else,

it is

inverted.

he and

likely that

would have ended the mission

Had his

Oliver

crew and

in a fiery ball

on

the desert below.

Knoll

whooped

a silent sigh of relief

when

he had actually struck a wire and that the the Rangers

46Es

now

out of his

in his formation

aircraft

was

still

flying.

he and the other two

into the air

They had been on

With

CH-

and cleared the zone

the ground for less than

seconds.

By now the

POW had been

were rushing her

to

ment. Clearing the ants

aircraft,

rumbled back

for the following echelon. sixty

own

Oliver called out that

had

fled only

an

found and the Special Forces troops

MH-60 specially prepared with medical

rest

equip-

of the hospital, they found that Iraqi combat-

hours before and had

left

behind arms, equipment,

maps, and other documentation— evidence that they had been using the hospital as a headquarters from which to fight the Marines.

Although the Rangers and Special Forces troops outside the hospital

were taking sporadic

fire,

no one but the medical

staff

remained

inside. It

was someone from

this staff

who helped

the Special Forces to

HAMMER FROM ABOVE their

245

second objective— the bodies of eight other Americans. These

Army soldiers had been

killed in the

same ambush

been captured from. Six of them were buried

that the

POW had

in the dirt outside,

while two more were in the morgue. Without shovels, the Special Forces attacked the ground with their bare hands and raced to trieve the bodies of their fallen

re-

comrades.

Meanwhile the follow-on formations of Knoll's CH-46Es and CH53Es had finished the insertion of the any further problems. Knoll and the back that

to Tallil at three

hundred

at Tallil, the

rest

wave of Rangers without

of the

hoping

feet,

had nearly turned the mission

ground

first

first

echelon egressed

to stay clear of the cables

Once

into a disaster.

safely

ond wave of Rangers came on board.

Just a short

was airborne again and completing

a

Within an hour of delivering the

Rangers,

first

time

later the flight

second uneventful

sky toward

An

Nasiriyah was

still

insert.

the Marine heli-

all

copters were back at Talil waiting for the call to return to the

The

on the

colonel looked back over his shoulder as the sec-

city.

punctuated by the flashes from

Task Force Tarawa's intense bombardment. Knoll was back aboard his aircraft, readying

barely

it

for the extract flight.

make out shadows

next part of the mission. His two enlisted

checking the

aircraft, just as others

Finally, as the time

reached up or

to the

larger

main

he could

at Tallil

crewmen were

were doing on

approached

overhead console

APU. This small

Here

racing about in the dark, readying for the

their

hurriedly

own

birds.

to retrieve the Rangers, to start the Auxiliary

Knoll

Power Unit,

turbine engine provided the power to start the

engines.

With

a practiced

switch and listened for the familiar

hand he

lifted

and threw the

thrumming whine

as

it

came

to

life. It

didn't happen.

silent.

The APU responded

with a weak

moan and

fell

Immediately Knoll's two enlisted crewmen, Corporals Joseph

Gerard and Stephen Metzger, leapt up and took turns pumping draulic piston in order to build pressure in the

another

start

attempt.

The

APU

a hy-

accumulator

entire aircraft rocked gently with

for

each

246

STOUT

JAY A.

muscled stroke that the Marines forced utes later, with the

ahead

to

APU

A

into the system.

few min-

Gerard gave Knoll the go-

fully charged,

throw the switch. Again, a teasing hum, then silence. The

helicopter sat dark on the ground with the crew inside struggling to

bring

it

to

life. It

was

useless.

"We must have tried to get that thing "My poor crewmen were a

started six or seven times," Knoll said.

sweaty, worn-out mess by the time

Knoll had a decision to make. bird that was already crewed

The

spare crew

knew

I

"I

them

told

to give

it

could have jumped into the spare

and ready

to go,

but

decided against

I

the brief, and they were trained and

they were just as capable of executing as

and taken the bird myself

it

I

was. If

I

was

It

I

wanted it

many

as

was,

I

the general— Gregory Peck plays

him—

movie Twelve O'Clock High. You know, where he

that control tower

and counts each

aircraft as

it

sits

couldn't do anything except wait and pray, and try to take the fact that

world.

He

Still, I

my men made up some

didn't like

didn't like

it

in

comes back home.

This was perhaps the most important mission of my career and

fort in

told

on without me/'

difficult. "I felt like

in the old

ready—

had booted them

people as possible to be able to participate. As hard as to press

it.

probably would have caused more con-

fusion than good. Plus, this was a historic mission;

them

up."

now

I

some com-

of the best aircrews in the

it."

for the better part of another hour.

POW

With the

safely out of the hospital, the Special Forces finished pulling the last

of the bodies out of the

dirt.

execution went as planned.

The Marine "I

counted the

times that night," Knoll remembered. ally

missed the

last

bird back, a

have been an awful note

aircraft arrived

"It

CH-53.

to finish

up

1

aircraft

was

still

back

on time; the to Tallil

so black that

was nervous

as hell;

man

I

in every other

actu-

would

on." Nevertheless, before

every aircraft was safely on deck at Tallil with every Ranger

embarked. Likewise, every

it

two

dawn

who had

element of every other

made it back; there were no casualties. Most important, the POW was now in safe hands. The mission had been accomplished. The celebration was tempered by the nature of the mission. Despite the successful rescue of the POW, the exhumed remains of the service

HAMMER FROM ABOVE fallen

Army

soldiers

first

to

I

"He

apologize but Fve had

rather shake your

hand

sacri-

shake the hand of one of the Special Forces

sergeants," Knoll recalled.

'Colonel,

The

were a grim reminder of what the ultimate

went

fice really was. "I

247

my hands all

and then

told

me,

over dead people

— Fd

hesitated,

" later.'

dramatic rescue of Private First Class Jessica Fynch received

publicity

and scrutiny well beyond what any of the

participants

had

imagined. This surprised and to some extent embarrassed Knoll.

"With some good planning and attention healthy dose of

luck— we

we were

the playing

We

field.

got

execution— along with

did our job. That's

People like to say that we're heroes. the Super Bowl,

to

just the

them

I

all;

don't see

it

we

a

our

job.

that way. If this

was

just did

bus drivers that drove the team

to

there and back in a safe and efficient

manner."

Modesty

aside,

ments who played

Colonel Knoll and the other Marine Corps a role in the rescue

pride in their performance.

ele-

can take a certain measure of

26

The Son Goes Back to the Fight

Major General Division, into April

—

it

James Mattis, the commander of the

was time

reality, his forces

to kick off the next

had not been

"pausing" along Highways all-out

First

Marine

had had enough of waiting by the time March turned

moves toward the

phase of the campaign. In

entirely idle but 17.

They

Iraqi capital.

Now

1, 7,

and

had been aggressively

just it

had not made any

was time

for those

moves. Rather than continuing to push toward Baghdad on Highway

RCT-1

the plan called for

to attack north

attention of Iraqi forces in Al Kut. In the

highway

airstrip at

start reinforcing

RCT-5 and through

The

An

-7

Hantush on March

1,

up Highway 7 and keep the

meantime RCT-5

seized the

31; this allowed 3rd

the division with supplies brought

MAW to

up from Kuwait.

would then race up Highway 27 and prepare

to

punch

Nasiriyah and across the Tigris.

battlefield

had been well prepared by 3rd

MAW.

During the

previous several days the wing had taken advantage of the pause to systematically obliterate everything that could be found around

Nasiriyah, Al Kut, and Baghdad.

The

Al Nida Republican

An

Guard Di-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE vision

was

249

and intelligence estimates concluded

hit hard,

that 80 per-

cent of the Baghdad Republican Guard Division's heavy weapons

had been destroyed. This was

all

good news

to the

Marines on the

ground.

Captain Jim "Morris" Isaacs had been leading a section of

Hueys most of the morning of April through the

of An Numaniyah.

city

through the

craft tore

air like great

1

UH-1N

RCT-7's attack

in support of

Around and above him other armored birds over

air-

a huge, burn-

ing trash heap. Iraqi combatants and civilians alike scuttled through

A long,

the streets as they ran either to or from the fight.

of vehicles, most of

and

starts

toward the

dirtied the sky as

Iraqis

trailed

might

set

few of them tan, moved

and black

rose in gray

by RCT-7, smashed

mission was to act as the

enemy

RCTs

eyes.

He

made

that

artillery

The

ensee

noise they cre-

certain that their pres-

this point.

and AAA pieces earlier— the

chine guns whenever the

RCT had

fire

Iraqi

Petrucci. Petrucci

knew

the

They had

with their .50-caliber ma-

called for

it.

Aboard

RCTs scheme

his aircraft,

Major Andrew

of maneuver; getting a

ground that the unit would be traversing only

good look

at the

time

was invaluable.

It

was

like

shot

crews had already

was carrying RCT-7's assistant operations officer

later

what he was

secret.

though, things had gone well up to

fled— and had provided suppressive

hand.

led the two ships

were hidden from the troops on the ground; on the

ated as they clattered from point to point

Isaacs

way through

it

other hand, they were also loud, tempting targets.

up some

pillars that

made him edgy. Certainly the helicopters two crews to move quickly from place to place, and to

ence was no

fits

alleyways— anywhere the

up an ambush. Although he knew

into positions that

Still,

its

in

around the Marines on the ground and checked

at intersections, rooftops,

doing was essential, abled the

Smoke

a

city.

in a protective orbit for the

river.

RCT-5,

the confines of the Isaacs's

them green but

snaking line

peeking

at

a short

another player's poker

250

JAY A.

Once

the

RCT

STOUT

had pushed across the

two helicopters down alongside the

Huey, Captain Pat "Puc" Gallogly and

Here he and

Post.

Captain Mike 'The King" Lawlor, and the

copilot,

brought his

Tigris, Isaacs

Command

his

pilots in the other

Lieutenant Keith

First

RCT staff.

Thorkleson, received a face-to-face brief from the

delin-

It

Huey An Numaniyah

eated the planned route of advance and further tasked the

crews for road reconnaissance to the southeast of

along Highway 6 and the Tigris River toward Al Kut. After a quick trip back to tion, the

Qualcomm FARP

two helicopter crews made

their

and then struck out ahead of RCT-7's lead

had been assigned. "We

tried to stay in

to

fighting at feet,

from

between the

river

and the

they were

6,

less

might be moving toward the

Iraqi units that

An Numaniyah.

An Numaniyah

trace along the route they

highway," Isaacs remembered. Offset from Highway likely to take fire

and ammuni-

for fuel

way back

Flying southeast at a height of only

fifty

they scanned the area for anything that might threaten the

RCT's coming advance. Below them they saw the highway or working in the

walking along

civilians

but there was very

fields,

little traffic

on

the road and no sign of the Iraqi Army.

Until they approached the mosque.

was

"It

sort of a

first

one

so to their front

to see the artillery pieces."

and

brick

remembered. "Puc

color with a shiny, turquoise-green dome," Isaacs

was the

mud

The mosque was a

offset just slightly to their right,

mile or

toward the

river.

Gallogly talked Isaacs's eyes onto the long tubes of the Type 59

130mm

guns. These were Chinese copies of the Russian-made

and had exceptional range (seventeen miles) and were exactly the type of threat that

hitting power.

the Hueys had been sent

M46 They

to

un-

cover.

There were three guns and two trucks arranged started literally

in a line that

from up against the northeast side of the mosque and

reached toward the highway. After taking a quick look position from a distance, Isaacs wasted

little

positioned for a run at the artillery pieces. 1

50 feet away and slightly in

checked that

his

trail

on

at the

enemy

time in getting the

He

set

Gallogly up about

his right-hand side

two gunners were armed and

flight

and double-

ready. After scanning

HAMMER FROM ABOVE more time

the area one

dropped the

Isaacs

for anti-aircraft

down

guns or ambush positions,

to twenty-five feet

and took up

would put the right-hand gunners of the two Hueys

ing that

sition to fire

we

"As

flight

251

on the truck and gun

were

that

got into range," recalled Isaacs,

straight into the

forms."

That

so

"we could see guys running

many enemy

a sport shirt

was not a

ing on Coalition forces.

and others

had stopped wearing uniforms

fighters

to vex

uniform was clearly identifiable

and

river

mosque. None of them were wearing uni-

was a frustration that continued

slacks

in a po-

from the mosque.

farthest

away from the guns— some of them ran toward the

went

head-

a

as a

American bona

fide target.

legal target unless

The gunners

forces.

An An

Iraqi in Iraqi in

he was actually

fir-

in Isaacs's flight did not shoot at

the fleeing enemy. Instead the

fire

that erupted in a

booming

chatter from the two

guns sent hundreds of Armor Piercing Incendiary rounds into the

gun and

closest

its

tow and ammunition truck. Traveling

at greater

than three thousand feet per second, the ounce-and-a-half projectiles

smashed

into the targets with a fantastic force that tore the truck to

shreds in just seconds.

The

artillery

gun, although

its

was too

barrel

thick to penetrate, was rendered unserviceable by the rounds that tore into

its

cillary

breech and operating mechanisms. As

turned out,

damage was moot. The incendiary characteristics

caused the ammunition in the truck

went up the

it

aircraft

of the bullets

go high order. "The truck

in a fantastic explosion with massive secondaries that took

gun with

Still

to

this an-

it,"

recounted

Isaacs.

worried about the possibility of an Iraqi trap, Isaacs pulled his

hard around in a left-hand turn away from the mosque and

reset the formation to the west.

when he

The

truck and

gun were

still

pointed the two Hueys back toward the mosque.

of expended

ammunition lingered

virtually the entire aircraft

burning

The

stink

in his nostrils despite the fact that

was open

to the outside.

Looking back into

the cabin, he could see his two gunners readying for the next pass.

Petrucci— who

pated—was

likely

was seeing more action than he had

straining to see out past the gunners while

stay out of their way.

still

antici-

trying to

252

The second of the

from the guns of the two

fire

hitting projectiles.

logly

back

one had,

than

to

make

Although it

didn't disappear

it

was wrecked by the hard-

a third predictable pass

and because the

direction,

mosque— less

ships.

entire weight

There was one gun and one truck remaining.

Because he was reluctant

same

Type 59 absorb the

pass saw the middle

in a blinding flash as the first

the

STOUT

JAY A.

five

last

gun was

so close to the

feet— Isaacs crossed the Tigris and put Gal-

in a trail formation.

Ever watchful

for

enemy

anti-aircraft

guns, Isaacs arced the two aircraft back over the river and

menced

a final run against the Iraqi position. Flying in

south, the two last

moment. For

com-

low from the

Hueys popped up over the top of the mosque

fusillade of API

from

just at the

the final time that day the gunners let loose with a

rounds that turned the truck into

tatters

and wrecked

the remaining artillery piece. Isaacs continued

on the northerly heading, crossed over the high-

way, and pulled the nose of his aircraft up to clear a set of power lines.

warning

Just at that instant the

the if

same

the

principle as a

filter gets

was the airframe

light illuminated. "It

fuel filter caution for the right engine/' filter for a

he

recalled. "It operates

car engine.

And

clogged or blocked the engine

is

just like

on

with a car,

going to stop." Isaacs

wasn't particularly keen on the idea of losing an engine at just that

moment. While tain flight

on

the

UH-1N

a single engine,

capability that Isaacs just

wanted

technically has it is

some

marginal— and

to test in

capacity to main-

it

and among

certainly wasn't a folks that

he had

been shooting up.

And it wasn't just the one engine he was worried we had taken bulk fuel straight from a 970 [M-970 that wasn't necessarily configured

and

I'd lose

"We immediately turned

refueling truck]

tested for aviation fueling.

was worried that we may have been loaded with batch of gas and that

about. "Earlier,

a

I

contaminated

both engines.

straight

back up the highway— northwest

toward the lead trace of the RCT," he continued. While he and

Lawlor went over their checklists and discussed logly

and Thorkleson

Warning

in the

second

aircraft

light notwithstanding, the

their options, Gal-

kept an eye on their ship.

engine continued

to

produce

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

253

power. Isaacs and Lawlor took care not to overtax

back

to the lead trace

"When we tween

a

continued

finally got there

HMMWV and a tank.

I

I

it

to narrow. set

was

down on

the highway right be-

damn happy to

remembered. The two crews got out and discussed that they

while the distance

be there/' Isaacs

their options.

Now

were back among friendly forces the consequences of losing

an engine were

been out

than they would have been had they

less dire

in Indian Country.

The crews decided

to press

still

back

to

Qualcomm FARP. There

they would have a better chance of getting

the ship repaired, and the

RCT wouldn't be burdened with providing

security for their sick aircraft. After a short at the at

RCT-7 CP,

Qualcomm

by

the two

Hueys made

hop

their

to

drop Petrucci back

way south and were back

late in the afternoon.

made his way toward the two helicopters; they might be able to give him a ride back to First Tanks. He had hitchhiked this far, and the Hueys might be able to take him the rest of the way. His father, Master Gunnery Sergeant Guadalupe Sergeant Jovan Denogean

Denogean, was going a massive

to survive despite the fact that

head wound, the

loss of parts of his

he had sustained

hand, and injuries

to his

back.

For Jovan's part, he wanted to get back to his comrades and into the fight.

"Sergeants

we

got

Moore and Merson

on deck,"

Isaacs said.

got to work

on the

aircraft as

soon

as

"Although they were gunners, the great

majority of their work and experience was actually oriented toward

maintaining the

aircraft;

taining to do than there guts of the aircraft,

suspect

and

lot

more main-

The two Marines

got into the

during peacetime there's a is it

gunnery."

wasn't long until they had pulled out the

filter.

"There wasn't anything wrong with fect,

we had screwed

ourselves.

it,"

Isaacs recollected. "In ef-

The packing that seated

the

filter

and

254

kept

we

STOUT

JAY A.

it

from leaking was broken when

didn't have a replacement.

back

at

home

it

was removed, and of course

We made

contact with the squadron

base but they weren't going to be able to help us any-

time soon."

was

It

sergeant recalled

back

at this point that

Denogean approached

Isaacs.

"A young

came up to me and introduced himself as 'Sergeant Dino,' " Isaacs. "He was a real nice, outgoing guy who was headed

to his unit after

war near Basrah."

having spent the

had been

his dad. His father

last

week

hard

hit pretty

Isaacs told the enlisted

or so watching over

beginning of the

at the

man

that indeed they

were

anxious to head back toward where the fighting was but that they

were stuck waiting as

day turned

warning

to night.

light to a

theless, they

for a part.

still

the vital

stayed close by the two crews

Moore and Merson meanwhile had

needed

a packing to reinstall the fuel

Denogean approached him

component went on: "He asked me,

pilot explained that

would ensure

traced the

chafed wire, which they quickly repaired. Never-

Isaacs recollected that

The

Denogean

it

a tight seal

was similar

between the

to

'Sir,

filter.

as the

hunt

for

what's a packing?'

an O-ring, something that

and the

filter

rest

of the

com-

ponents that fed fuel into the engine.

Denogean blinked about gaskets and

at Isaacs.

seals

stupid," Isaacs said,

and

was a tank mechanic; he knew

"He looked

at

me

like

"and he pointed out toward where long

vehicles were driving past the

were carrying repair

kits that

what we needed."

was

It

He

O-rings.

FARP and

told

me

a revelation.

ered the crews and put together a

But

it

was also

game plan

all

was

lines of

that a lot of

would probably have something

I

them

close to

late. Isaacs

gath-

for the next day.

Early the following morning Isaacs and Gallogly hooked up with a pair of MPs with a

and

HMMWV. "We made our way over to the highway

started chasing

down

a convoy.

from a herd— they weren't stopping

It

was

like trying to cut cattle

for anything.

I

guess you just

don't stop a hundred-vehicle convoy in the middle of a war." Eventually,

though, the line of vehicles halted for some other reason and the

HMMWV pulled up next to an AAVR7, the recovery version of the tracked

AAV7. These amphibious tracked

vehicles are workhorses.

a

HAMMER FROM ABOVE They

give the

Marine Corps the

255

make

ability to

a

beach

beach— and

carrying troops from larger ships to the

assault

by

obviously well

beyond.

"We banged on

the hatch/' said Isaacs, "and a crusty old staff

sergeant stuck his head out.

It

took

some

what we were doing actually made

talking to convince

sense.

came up with a couple With their hard-won prizes

the broken packing and he like they

climbed back aboard the

lots

back

it

developed,

AAV

Isaacs

of parts that looked

hand the two

in

pi-

HMMWV and had the MPs take them

fit.

Huey. Denogean watched over to

fit.

do

a

little

In fact,

it

in

didn't leak at

to

it

augment

combination

to

it

all

at First

for the

Tanks

wasn't

the

AAV

provided a

all."

By midmorning the two Hueys were airborne and en route

RCT-7

adapt

their shoulders.

cutting and

But somebody had the smarts

some rubber bands and

snug

Merson and Moore

didn't take long for

remembered: "They had

part with pretty

it

parts to the

quite a perfect

port

that

to their aircraft.

As the

might work."

him

Anyway, we showed him

to sup-

remainder of the day. Along the way they stopped

to reunite

Sergeant Jovan Denogean with his unit—

small detour that was well worth

it

for the

liked him," Isaacs said, "and was glad for

help he had given.

him

that his father

"I really

was going

to survive."

At a ceremony almost two weeks

Center

in Bethesda,

Denogean,

father of Sergeant

other Marines, ident

later at the

National Naval Medical

Maryland, Master Gunnery Sergeant Guadalupe

became

Denogean and brother

to 170,000-plus

a citizen of the United States of America. Pres-

George W. Bush and

First

tearful proceedings. Afterward,

Denogean was embraced

dent and thanked for his service.

thanked Denogean's family

Lady Laura Bush were there

The

for the

by the presi-

president also recognized and

for their sacrifices:

"Gracias a ustedes."

27

Destruction By FAC(A)

Al

Kut was rumored

to

be where Marine forces would encounter

Republican Guard units

for the first time.

"Consequently,"

re-

membered Captain Fred "Chewy" Pierce of VMFA(AW)-225, "we had been bombing the shit out of it all week." Dawn of April 2 found Pierce and his WSO, Major Karl "Grumpy" Hill, orbiting overhead Al Kut while lead elements of

Highway

7 toward the

town of Al Hayy

city.

RCT-1 worked

The ground

units

had

their

way north on

just left the

a short time earlier with the objective of fixing— or

trapping— the Baghdad Division of the Republican Guard This would allow

RCT-7

would have nowhere

To Hill.

this point, the

They were

to attack the city

in Al Kut.

from the west. The

Iraqis

to escape.

mission hadn't been overly busy for Pierce and

flying as a single-ship

borne); Pierce had earned his lier, just

smaller

FAC(A)

Forward Air Controller qualification a few

(Air-

weeks

ear-

before the fighting started. As the sun rose farther above the

horizon they both released their goggles from where they were

mounted on reached up

the top front of their helmets. Reflexively the two

to

massage

their

necks— at

the

fliers

same time shrugging and

HAMMER FROM ABOVE flexing their shoulders.

It

would take

257

work the

several minutes to

knots out; the few ounces that the Night Vision Devices weighed like

felt

twenty pounds after a couple of hours.

They had launched out of Al time

slot that

get used to

It

was the

they were normally assigned, and they were starting to Still,

it.

Jaber at 0300 that morning.

they enjoyed a chuckle before the brief when they

noted their randomly assigned callsign on the

ATO

for that day:

Awake XX. "During the previous couple of weeks we discovered that particular

time of day was never predictable in terms of what

we might

see," Pierce said. "It

breaking loose.

morning tact with flight.

it

We

rarely experienced

seemed very

quiet.

sort of action

was either dead calm or

much

all

hell

was

in between."

On

that

They had been maintaining

Lieutenant Colonel John "Jake" McElroy for

"He was

Pierce recalled:

him, but we had heard about him from other guys.

who had

left

much

the Marine Corps years

I

had never met

He had been an earlier. Then he

ditched his civilian job to go back into the Marine Corps this fight.

of the

the regimental Air Officer and was

keeping us updated on the situation on the ground.

F/A-18 pilot

radio con-

— just for

We thought that was honorable."

From where Pierce and Hill were guarding it— several miles overhead—the long column of vehicles that was the lead trace of the RCT seemed to be moving almost in slow motion. Ahead of them a bridge crossed a canal that marked the southern outskirts of Al Kut.

On

either side of the

Some one

of

The

in sight.

in the

highway were bunkers and fighting

them had weapons ready Iraqis

had

.

ian vehicles

.

.

this ain't

home

to stay

McElroy 's voice crackled over the

radio:

work" so early

altogether.

Suddenly

"The lead tank

just hit a

good." Almost immediately

a

swarm of civil-

— including a white bus— appeared out of nowhere and

converged on the bridge. The bus turned the northern edge of the span. Behind a stop,

positions.

be manned, but there was no

either not yet "arrived for

morning, or had decided

mine, boys

to

and soon

a

crowd of

Iraqis

it

itself broadside

a large

mobbed

bridge; they were waving white flags.

and blocked

group of cars came

to

the northern end of the

258

JAY A.

STOUT

Pierce and Hill watched the action below with renewed interest.

made us nervous as hell/' Pierce remembered. "We had been over An Nasiriyah about a week before when the Iraqis had pretended to surrender and then shot up a bunch of our Marines. Then, we had been helpless to do anything, and now it looked like we "The

situation

were going

be

to

up

set

new

stopped to consider the destroyed,

it

would slow

To engage

On

situation. If the bridge

advance

their

RCT

the highway the

was blown up or

significantly.

the flag-waving Iraqis without provocation would be

murder. But the

dropping

for a repeat."

RCT wasn't about to

do something

so foolhardy as

guard. Regardless, the crowd had to be dispersed and the

its

bridge had to be crossed. McElroy's next call over the radio echoed the thoughts of the crew circling overhead:

"Oh

no,

I

think this

is

going to be bad." "I

believe that

RCT

we

all

thought the

Iraqis

were going

into close quarters with a false surrender

to try to lure the

and then

try to

drop

the bridge," Pierce recollected. Reinforcing that theory was the fact that groups of Iraqis

were now crawling over and around the structure

that supported the span.

Then an

idea occurred to Pierce.

Awake."

radio: "Jake,

"Send

it,"

at

McElroy over

the

rhymed.

if

we

take a look around there before you push up?"

it."

Pierce looked

and the

called to

the Air Officer answered.

"Do you mind "Have

It

He

down through

glint of the

the bright

morning sky

green canal that passed underneath

at the it.

bridge

The

white

object that was the bus stood out in keen contrast to the dusty black asphalt of the road beneath

it.

A very slight hint of haze

the sharp-edged relief of the landscape below. ing

northbound— and west

tight right-hand turn

and

let

of the

failed to dull

From where he was

highway— he

fly-

rolled over into a

the nose of the fighter drop toward the

ground. Simultaneously he pushed the throttles up

to,

but not

through, the afterburner detents.

The

jet

accelerated quickly in the steep dive despite

its

load of two

Mk-82s, a single Mk-83, a single GBU-16, and two external fuel

HAMMER FROM ABOVE tanks.

As

it

picked up speed the aircraft began to shudder slightly and

became almost

hypersensitive to control inputs. "Jake," Pierce called

any helos down there?"

out, "are there

helicopter could tear

The nose

it

A low,

supersonic pass over a

to pieces.

came back

"Negative"

the reply.

down

of the Hornet pitched

ever so slightly as

through the sound barrier and continued sonic,

259

to accelerate.

it

powered

"We're super-

Grumpy."

Hill didn't answer.

He

looked through his binoculars

crowd

at the

on the bridge — only

a couple of miles distant. For their part, there

was no way that the

Iraqis

hurtling

down

at

would have been able

to see the fighter

them.

Pierce leveled the aircraft just above the green foliage that lined the north side of the

canal— as low as he dared

so fast so close to the ground.

HUD

The

faint

displayed his airspeed: 1.28

go.

He had

green glow of the

never been

digits

on

Mach. Behind him he could

his

see

the shock wave from his aircraft ripping across the Iraqi countryside.

Dust and debris were torn from the earth

in a single, great whirling

tornado.

The

Iraqis

looked up

time to see the gray, twin-tailed fighter

just in

rocketing only barely over their heads in seeming silence. later the

concussive energy of the shock wave broke over

An

instant

them with

a

wickedly loud kaaa-raaack that rang their ears and overpressurized their sinuses;

nose,

and

it

felt as if

they'd

their guts literally

been dealt

a collective

trembled from the

punch

effect.

in the

At the same

time a shower of glass exploded from the windows of the vehicles in a

tremendous,

glittering eruption.

Over the

radio Pierce

and

Hill could

hear McElroy and his Marines shouting and laughing. Pierce snapped the stick of the Hornet back and gravity

smash him down

felt

seven

g's

of

in his seat. Established in a thirty-five-degree

climb into the sun, he looked back over his shoulder. "The cars and people

all

began

to scatter.

One

T-boned by another. The bus took

car started back north a turn too hard

and was

and flipped

over.

It

was pure pandemonium down there."

A

short time later

McElroy

called

up

his thanks

and congratula-

260

STOUT

JAY A.

tions;

RCT-1 was making

found out later," Pierce

way across the bridge toward Al Kut. "We

its

said, "that the bridge

had been rigged with

ex-

plosives."

When

night

came on

April 2, the First

Marine Division was on the

An Numaniyah. Enemy forces in the south particularly in Al Basrah, were now wholly and com-

north side of the Tigris at of the country, pletely cut off

from Baghdad. Al Kut had

though there were

still

also

been

isolated,

and

al-

small groups of fanatical fighters hiding out in

various small towns, resistance in the south was being gradually and systematically squashed by Task Force Tarawa. All the

way

to the east,

the British maintained a stranglehold on the area around Al Basrah.

After fourteen days of fighting, the

had found air wing's

their stride.

By April

command and

3

F/A-18D crews of VMFA(AW)-533

the rough edges that had slowed the

control procedures during the

first

few days

of the campaign had been honed smooth and operations were moving apace. Lieutenant Colonel L. Ross "Migs" Roberts and Major

John "JP" Farnam were airborne

day on a

at the very start of this

and west

single-ship Forward Air Controller (Airborne) mission north

of Al Kut. units still

It

was 0100 — their

had learned

surviving was at night. This

Coalition aircrews.

enemy chose of vehicles

time

It

made

little

to

fly.

By now

Iraqi military

had any hope of moving and

for

good, clean hunting for the

was good hunting because

to leave his hiding places. It

there was very

it

was the time the

was clean hunting because

civilian traffic late at night; odds

were that

moving during these hours was made up of Iraqi

The F/A-18D FAC(A) crews Corps's only two-seat tactical mission, and it.

favorite

that the only time they

its

the

fighters.

to kill.

The Marine

F/A-18D was well

suited to the

existed to jet,

a line

hunt and

crews were the only Marine

jet aviators

who

Specially trained, only the most experienced pilots

practiced

and

WSOs

HAMMER FROM ABOVE earned

For instance, Roberts and Farnam together

this qualification.

brought more than cockpit.

When

it is

five

261

thousand hours of F/A-18

flight

time into the

considered that most sorties during peacetime are

only an hour or so in duration, the breadth of their expertise becomes obvious.

The most

the squadron

junior aircrews in

commander, had allowed

than two thousand combined F/A-18

VMFA(AW)-533 to

that Roberts,

be qualified possessed more

flight hours.

Further increasing

the effectiveness of Roberts's crews was the fact that he kept

teamed

together. This helped eliminate the "getting-to-know-you"

friction that

sometimes took

a while to

smooth out when the makeup

of the crews was constantly changing. That Roberts also kept ing during the

same

efficacy even more.

Prior to the

other two F/A-18D squadrons in theater

war the FAC(A)

had key

and control

Understandably the

fol-

aviators of

MAG-1 1 had

air

division's

the capabilities that the wing

spent a great

Marine Division. The

with experienced aviators whose job

billets filled

to coordinate

fly-

good reasons.

for

deal of time working with the staff of the First division

them

part of the twenty-four-hour cycle increased their

The

lowed the same practices

was

them

it

support requirements with the wing.

plan was influenced to some extent by

would be able

to provide.

This interface

between the wing and the division was invaluable: Not only did the aviators

become

intimately familiar with the planned ground

of maneuver, but in faces of the

many

instances they also

benefit inherent in the

unique organizational structure be overrated. In fact,

It

the

scheme

names and

ground commanders who would be executing that same

scheme of maneuver. This

that

knew

it

is

would be

were ultimately won on the

Marine Corps's

difficult to quantify

a

but can hardly

key component of the successes

battlefield.

was nearly 0500 now. Roberts and Farnam,

had spent the previous four hours directing

as callsign

Degree 60,

a series of Marine

and Air

Force aircraft against an Iraqi armored battalion that had been hiding in a grove of date palms.

pummeled

the

enemy

The

train of air-delivered

unit into a shambles.

One

munitions had

pair of Air Force

262

STOUT

JAY A.

F-15E

Strike Eagles alone

had dropped

a total of eighteen

GBU-12,

five-hundred-pound Laser Guided Bombs.

With

few minutes of fuel remaining, Roberts decided

just a

some reconnaissance along Highway

6,

to

do

the east-west road that ran

where RCT-5

between Al Kut and Baghdad. This was

just in front of

had stopped the night previously only

a few miles west of Al Kut.

"Looking through

my NVGs,"

Roberts recollected,

"I

spotted five

groups of closely spaced lights on the road heading east toward 5."

Describing to Farnam what he had spied, Roberts put the Hornet

from where they had been cruising

into a thirty-degree dive

thousand

him a

feet. It

was

still

to identify the vehicles with his

group of the

lights

through his

NVGs. He

it

might be

artillery." It

more shooting As the

Farnam

Type 59

lights the

shells.

had made

it

down

These

The

clear that

division

fuel

the identi-

and provided

each towing a

five trucks,

he believed there was a good

Mattis,

possibility that the

as the Marines pushed past Al

Iraqi divisions that

Marines and the capital

Baghdad— perhaps likely to start

pass, Skipper,

make

commander, Major General

Kut and toward Baghdad. The two Mattis's

to

particular guns were capable of firing

might use chemical weapons

tween

good

up over the

the road over one of the several

two Marines counted

artillery piece.

chemical

Iraqis

this a

was important

called

opportunities for the enemy.

aircraft streaked

groups of

carefully designated

consumed precious

fication early; multiple passes

light for

HUD, and Farnam was subsequently

intercom from the rear cockpit: "Let's make looks like

at fifteen

enough

very dark, and there was not

able to capture the targets with the FLIR.

it

RCT-

city

now

stood be-

were the Al Nida and the

the most loyal of Saddam's units.

And

the most

chemical warfare.

Roberts pulled the aircraft skyward and started a left-hand turn to circle

back toward the

that the trucks

Iraqi convoy.

had pulled

noise of the twin-engine off the

jet.

off the road,

we could

still

see

most

likely

Roberts remembered:

highway they turned

idea that

He and Farnam

off their lights.

spooked by the

"After they pulled

They probably had no

them with our FLIR and

ready marked their position with the GPS."

could both see

Still,

that

we had

there wasn't

al-

much

HAMMER FROM ABOVE that the

two

fliers

could do

enemy

to the

263

procession.

They were

nearly out of fuel and had only eight 5-inch rockets; unguided, these

were practically useless

at night.

Blacklist, the Direct Air

no Marine

Support Center,

units this far forward. After

friendlies in the area,

meantime the

fuel, the

crew arranged

on more

back

to

making sure

that there

were no

call to the division's Fire

to secure clearance to

engage the

tar-

zone of responsibility.

had taken

Iraqi artillery battery

Keeping one eye on the

again.

take

division's

a quick call

confirm that there were

to

Farnam made another

Support Coordination Center

get—it was in the In the

Farnam made

for a

Iraqis

and another on

to the road

their

remaining

rendezvous with a Marine KC-130

to

gas. Just as they raced off to the east— toward the big

tanker— they marked the

spots

where the enemy vehicles had again

pulled off the road and into an adjacent field on the south side of the

highway. Roberts,

who had

previously served as an artillery officer,

recognized what the Iraqis were doing.

wouldn't be long before

It

they began to emplace in preparation to

fire

on the RCT.

On

the

when he and Farnam

other hand, they wouldn't be difficult to find

re-

turned.

While Roberts worked the radar and coordinated the rendezvous with the tanker on one radio, Farnam arranged with Blacklist to get

armed

aircraft sent their way.

the tanker

we could

"As

we were

joining

on the

left side

of

see that there was a section of Harriers, callsign

Demob

67, finishing their refueling

on the right-hand hose,"

Roberts.

'They hadn't seen any action

yet

normal complement of bombs; the lead

and were

aircraft

still

said

carrying their

was loaded with a

sin-

GBU-16 and a Litening FLIR pod, and the wingman had two GBU-12s." Once more Farnam worked his radio magic and got the two AV-8Bs assigned to his new target. He passed them the coordi-

gle

nates

and cleared them

to strike the target

Roberts watched as the two

little

attack

on

their

jets

own. Both he and

sidled

away from the

tanker and arced west back toward the Iraqi position.

"We knew

that their three

target," said Roberts,

bombs wouldn't be enough

to kill that

"but just one good hit would cause the

the Iraqis to lose their guts and clear out."

It

rest

wasn't long before the

of jet

264

JAY A.

had taken on ket,

STOUT

He backed

a full load of fuel.

out of the refueling bas-

it

turned away from the tanker, and started

"While we were

recollected:

watched through the FLIR exploded

just as

had found towing

order.

as the

after the

AV-8Bs.

out from the target

fifteen miles

He we

howitzer in the center of the battery

was being detached from

The

a truck."

Harriers

mark. Along with the gun, the truck that had been

their

disappeared in a blindingly brilliant blast that continued to

it

and erupt

flash

it

still

Wingo

as the

ammunition

that

it

was carrying reached high

32, a pair of Air Force A-lOs that

had been sent

to help,

called out the fireworks from forty miles away.

"The

had scored

Harriers

a nice hit," Roberts

remembered, "but

Had

they been the only

they weren't responding to us on the radio."

working the target

aircraft

this

would not have been much of a prob-

lem, but there were two A-lOs inbound and job to coordinate the attacks. This lack of

it

was the F/A-18D crew's

communication with

their

fellow Marines was a concern for Roberts and Farnam; a slapdash grope-fest in the nighttime sky

might very well end

through their FLIR, they watched two more bombs riers

and onto the

detonate.

quency. It

Iraqi artillery.

A moment

later the

They were out

was time

had been put

to

One

fell short,

in disaster. Again, fall

from the Har-

and the other

failed to

two AV-8Bs reported up on the

of ammunition and headed home.

put the A- 10s to work.

The awkward-looking

aircraft

into service during the 1970s at the height of the

War. Designed

to take

fre-

on Soviet armor

in the event of a

Cold

Warsaw Pact

invasion of Western Europe, the slow but heavily armored aircraft was

bomb dump

practically a

truck.

It

carried

all

manner

of munitions

and was designed around the 30-millimeter GAU-16 cannon. The

GAU-16 was could est in

field.

a fast-firing brute

and could take on anything the

Iraqis

Unfortunately the A- 10 hadn't been updated with the

lat-

nighttime targeting devices. This would create work for Roberts

and Farnam, but

The

it

was work that would be well worth the

section of A-lOs checked

in with four

in:

effort.

"Degree 60, Wingo 32 checking

Mk-82s, two IR Mavericks, and a thousand rounds of 30-

millimeter each."

Farnam knew

that the A- 10s

had seen

Demob

67's

bombs

hit ear-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Her.

He

265

answered: "Wingo 32, Degree 60, understand you have the

by

target area in sight, stand

"Wingo 32

for

updated target coordinates."

ready to copy."

is

Farnam passed the coordinates and then

built a verbal picture of

the target in relationship to the still-burning artillery piece. pilot of

Wingo

The

lead

32 flight declared that the brightness of the burning

truck was washing out

Maverick

his

dark form approximately

fifty

display,

but he could make out a

yards to the east of the

fire.

Farnam con-

Wingo was describing was another Iraqi artillery piece and cleared him to engage. But Wingo 32 was taking no chances. A-lOs had mistakenly killed firmed that the shape

several

Marines

earlier in the

campaign, and

this pilot

wanted

to

make doubly

certain that the target he was about to engage was in-

deed

"Wingo

hostile.

called for us to

mark the

target with our

held infrared designator," remembered Roberts.

IZLID

(Infrared

Zoom

The

hand-

designator, or

Laser Illuminator Designator), emitted a very

beam of energy much like the laser beams popular at rock concerts. The difference was that night-vision goggles were required

precise

beam. Roberts continued:

to see the

"I

held the aircraft in about a

fifty-degree angle of bank in a left-hand turn while JP

pushed the rub-

ber boot of the flashlight-sized designator up against the canopy.

Once he had

it

the target."

wasn't as simple as

It

positioned he fired the

ignator spilled back into

and he had

to rely

my

trying to get said:

"Up

oooohhh

.

a .

.

Famam's

on Roberts

beam and

all that,

... a

to fine-tune the

little

right,

aim

on

point. "It

my

was

like

back," Roberts

up, up, no that's too far

.

.

.

yeah, that's just right"

A moment or two

later after

beam was Wingo 32 lead

confirming that the IZLID

illuminating the form he saw on his Maverick display, repositioned his aircraft and called the target in sight.

him

on

it

cockpit, washing out his goggles,

wife to scratch the right spot

little

tried to steady

though. Light from the des-

Farnam cleared

to attack.

"Wingo

32, in hot," the

A-10

followed that transmission with another:

erupted from underneath the

A few seconds later he "Rifle." A bright flash

pilot answered.

aircraft's

wing

as a

Maverick missile

266

JAY A.

STOUT

streaked toward the Iraqi artillery tube.

and the big gun and of white-hot

its

The

mark,

attached truck disappeared in a dazzling burst

a

downside

though.

to the successful hit,

tion caused by the brightly burning fires

made

it

The

illumina-

almost impossible

A- 10 pilots to discriminate anything else in the target area.

was too bright to

its

fire.

There was

for the

found

missile

bomb with unaided vision. They would

FAC(A) crew

to talk

them onto more

After an abortive attempt to

have

to rely

on the Marine

targets.

mark more of the enemy

FLIR

pieces with the laser designator in their aircraft's

and Farnam decided

to use the rockets they

the A- 10 pilots a visual reference point.

With

a

new

fires.

Like the A- 10

dered near useless by the onto his

HUD.

light;

pilots, his

set of Iraqi jet

down

the ground and

a line

seven thousand feet Roberts

pickle button

and

tried not to look directly

instant later he reefed the nose felt

to-

goggles were ren-

whooshed away

into the white-bright motors of the four rockets that

An

guns

he relied solely on the data projected

Passing through

mashed down on the red

jet.

to provide

Behind him, Farnam had the FLIR centered on

of Iraqi vehicles.

from the

artillery

pod, Roberts

were carrying

captured in the FLIR, Roberts pointed the nose of the

ward the burning

It

and Mavericks, but not bright enough

for their goggles

up hard away from

the blood start to leave his head as seven

g's

of

gravity pulled hard at his body.

The

rockets hit just north of the line of trucks

Almost immediately Wingo 32 called

Farnam answered without one hundred.

I

want

all

spacing— oriented from

out,

delaying.

four of your

and

"Contact mark!"

"From the mark, northwest

bombs

in a

32's rolling in,

"Wingo

32, you're cleared hot,"

contact mark."

Farnam answered.

Roberts and Farnam watched the ungainly A- 10

The

flashed

string— fifty-foot

east to west."

"Wingo

east.

artillery pieces.

roll in

from the

infrared reflective strips that ran across the aircraft's wings

up

at the pair

of Marines as they followed the attack. As he

dived, the pilot of Wingo 32 ejected a series of flares to preemptively

decoy any enemy

missiles.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The

bombs

four

hit the

ground

the south by a hundred yards.

wingman: "Wingo

the A-10

"Wingo 33

Wingo

"Okay,

bombs on

the

33,"

same

in rapid succession but missed to

Farnam wasted no time and contacted

33, call contact lead's hits."

contact lead's

is

267

Farnam

hits."

replied,

line, east to west,

"from

but

lead's hits

move

it

I

want your

hundred meters

a

north."

"Wingo

33's in

"Wingo

33,"

With

from the

east."

Farnam answered,

"you're cleared hot."

his lead's hits as a visual reference,

up on the same heading but adjusted

Wingo

his flight path slightly to the

north. Pointed at the gray-green void that was the

had

to rely

little

the right

moment he

released his

bombs and

slammed

At the same time the

jet.

ground below, he

on but the guidance the Marines had passed. At

as small explosive charges

from the

33 set his aircraft

felt

the four

aircraft

just

the aircraft shudder

bombs down and away

seemed

to

jump— suddenly

lightened of two thousand pounds of deadly ordnance.

Roberts and Farnam had their eyes glued to their

Suddenly four bombs appeared on

nows

in formation.

Great

Wingo enough tle

all

on

screen— almost

slammed

display.

min-

like

exactly into the line

red-hot shrapnel ripped through

fire as

at incredible velocities.

Farnam get!

instant later they

them

of vehicles, setting

them

An

their

FLIR

called out over the radio:

"Wingo

33, that

was right on

tar-

hits!"

came back on the net: "Degree for one more pass. Do you mind

32

gas

Wingo 32, we've got if we saw things up a lit-

60,

with the cannon?"

Farnam cleared their big guns.

spectacular.

was

left

the two A- 10s to let loose into the

was

It

like

same area with

shooting a dead man, but the show was

The heavy depleted-uranium rounds slammed

into

what

of the Iraqis with incredible results. Molten metal shot high

into the night sky.

A short time later Wingo flight declared themselves bingo and nam

cleared

Battle

them

to depart the area

and passed them

Damage Assessment. This was an

estimate of the

Far-

BDA, or number of vetheir

268

hides the

FAC(A)

Wingo

checked

10s,

had damaged or destroyed and was

flight

part of the

duties.

Just as

the

STOUT

JAY A.

Muddog

flight departed,

another section of A-

14,

Farnam. "Do you have the target area

in with

in sight?"

WSO asked.

"Affirmative, from forty miles." Night-vision goggles were almost like

magic.

Roberts and Farnam quickly discussed their worsening fuel situation

ten

and decided

that they could afford to

more minutes. They put together

target a

truck-gun combination a

the brightly burning

bit

remain on

game plan

a hasty

nates.

would

that

south of the others, farther from

fires.

GPS

Using the FLIR, the two Marines derived accurate

to

about

station for

"Muddog," Farnam called over the

radio, "advise

coordi-

when

ready

copy target coordinate."

"Muddog's

ready."

"Grid Alpha Tango 23412 98345, elevation two hundred tack from south to north.

I

your wingman's. We've got

want your IR Maverick just

enough

you Ve got the target well hand the area

"Muddog copies— we'll be

followed by

first

fuel for your

first

copies, ten seconds

tillery

piece in

"Great

and now

its

was time

to the

"Muddog

target

.

Muddog

and the

Again a Mav-

14, rifle."

Iraqi

hot."

Army had one less ar-

inventory.

"Muddog, you have more gun

.

Muddog!" The A-10

hit,

it

its

.

14 has one

fire."

Farnam answered. "You're cleared

erick missile crashed into

Once

there in two minutes."

truck and artillery piece just south of the

"Muddog

pass.

to you."

A minute later the A-10 flight lead called out: "Muddog "That's your target,"

feet. At-

for Roberts

pilot

had done an outstanding

and Farnam

to

control of the target area.

west of the center

head back

Be advised

to

job,

Al Jaber.

there's

one

fire."

copies, thanks for the work."

Roberts and Farnam landed about an hour after sunrise a very long night.

The weary

fliers

—

climbed down from

it

had been

their jet

and

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

269

high-fived their ground crew while they described their latest exploits.

A

them

small crowd followed

into the

maintenance spaces where

Roberts had earlier arranged for a video machine to be placed.

important that the squadron's Marines were able to see the

he

their labors/'

cused on their

was

fruits

"This paid huge dividends in keeping them

said.

They were

jobs.

"It

of fo-

typically putting in sixteen or seven-

teen hours a day on the flight line, and being able to watch the

mission tapes reinforced to them the importance of what they were doing.

Watching the success of our combined

tremendous

efforts as a

well in front of the advancing

Army from

the air—

Marines— was an undeniable

factor, in-

deed perhaps the most important Controlled

effort.

much

a

them."

satisfaction to

This type of continuous destruction of the Iraqi

as

team was

factor, in the success of the

of the time by F/A-18D

ground

FAC(A) crews such

Roberts and Farnam, Coalition airpower was an unrelenting and

unstoppable force. Quite simply put, the Iraqis were never able to

mass

enough

in units large

was sometimes

lost

to

slow the American advance. This fact

on ground commanders whose awareness of the

battlefield

was often no more than what they could see from the road.

They had

little

were

littered

have had

or

with

to kill

no idea

much

of the Iraqi

themselves

on an around-the-clock

that the deserts

if

that time

means

it

first

that they

who

would

flew overhead

basis.

of a

command and control mea-

had been

refined,

for controlling

CAS

was

and

it

became one

and interdiction

a matrix of grids

of the predominant

flights.

The KI

(Killbox

demarcated by drawing

along the 00- and 30-minute lines of longitude and latitude.

These five

Army— units

around them

seen widespread use during Desert Storm. Since

Interdiction) system lines

fields

not for their brothers

The killbox system was an outgrowth sure that had

and

lines

produced approximate squares measuring roughly

miles per side.

Each one of these squares was

into nine smaller squares

such that

it

thirty-

in turn subdivided

resembled a telephone keypad.

270

JAY A.

A row

STOUT

of killboxes was given a numeric designator, such as 84, while

a specific killbox was given a two-letter designator, such as

AW. Then

the individual keys were numbered.

With the advances this

both on the ground and in the

in navigation

system was supremely useful to

trol entities. tirety,

all

of the various

For instance, killboxes could be shut

air,

support con-

fire

down

in their en-

or just certain portions of the keypad could be put off limits.

Airborne

FACs could

direct supporting aircraft to proceed to a given

key on the keypad and await further instructions, or could use the

tem

to

help describe a target: "... a pair of T-72s

sys-

north of the

just

road intersection in the northeast corner of 84AW-9." As the concept related to Close Air Support

The

its

use was cleverly dubbed "Kick CAS."

system wasn't foolproof, as had been dramatically illustrated

campaign on March

earlier in the

27.

One

of

RCT-Fs command

groups was mistakenly attacked by an Air Force A- 10 near the section of

Highways 7 and

had requested rect grid

air support,

17.

An RCT-5

it,

the

friendly unit as

to the Air

RCT-1 command group was

bogus grid designator.

up

in a firefight

and somehow during the process an incor-

zone designator was passed

would have

unit caught

inter-

Somehow

enemy and

Force

pilot.

As

fate

located exactly at the

the Air Force pilot identified the

received clearance to engage.

He

up

tore

the Marine unit with his 30-millimeter cannon— but amazingly no

one was

hurt.

It

was while he was climbing

tack—this time with

quency and aborted

to

reengage for another

bombs— that someone came up on his run. In the

were wondering what had happened

the

at-

fre-

meantime the RCT-5 Marines to their air support.

Stupid things happen during war. This war was no different. Hours after

Roberts and Farnam had landed, a pair of

VMA-3 1 1

Harriers

was working with an F/A-18D FAC(A) near the Tigris when they covered a row of fighting positions dug into the bank.

The

dis-

positions

were empty, but there were several cars moving suspiciously up and

down

the line. Curious, the crew aboard the Hornet dropped low to

investigate.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Reacting to the diving

them the

at

high speed

river.

The

pilots

down

fighter, the Iraqi cars

the

wrong

271

scattered— several of

side of a road that ran alongside

aboard the Harriers watched with an interest that

turned to dark

humor as

The

resulting

jam trapped the

built

up behind the wreck. Out of fuel, the Harriers turned

the lead car struck

oncoming traffic head-on.

cars that followed,

and

without dropping their ordnance, but with an interesting

traffic

for

story.

soon

home

28

GAS on Highway 6

April 4

all

three

RCTs were on

the north side of the Tigris.

The

Byrace for Baghdad was back on. After Al Kut had been taken on April

3,

RCT-1— in one night— had

way

7,

join

RCT-5 and

backtracked south

down High-

turned west onto Highway 17, then north onto Highway 27 to -7

on Highway

6.

Saddam's forces were now caught

between the pincer that was the Army attacking from the south and the Marine Corps attacking from the east.

"The ATO had us scheduled of Baghdad,"

go plinking in a killbox

MAW

fliers

where they were turned loose

effort that

Iiams.

used to describe those mis-

to destroy

whatever they could

find within a set of geographic coordinates. Usually

tempo

just to the east

remembered Lieutenant Colonel Kevin "Wolfie"

Plinking was a term that 3rd sions

to

allowed them to work on their

own

it

was a low-

terms without

exercising a great deal of coordination with their ground counterparts.

A seasoned veteran of Desert Storm,

Iiams was

now assigned

as the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE MAG-11

273

operations officer. As Colonel Alles's right-hand

was charged with coordinating and

man, he

combat operations

facilitating the

of the five Marine F/A-18 squadrons at Al Jaber, as well as the twentyfour

KC-130s

that daily ranged

back and forth across the

theater.

this day, April 4, just as

he did nearly every day, he was taking time

from those duties and

flying

wingman

Devils. As

be able the

to

an F/A-18C from the

how

VMFA-232 Red

the fight was progressing.

there," Iiams explained, "it

through the different

off

Captain Byron "Shreck" Sullivan, he would

to get a firsthand look at

way up

On

TAD

"On

was pretty quiet and we surfed

[Tactical Air Direction] nets looking for

an old Red Devil buddy of ours."

They

didn't find their pal, but

on one of the frequencies the two

Marines made contact with an F/A-18D FAC(A) from 225.

The

two-seater crew

had found

guns that were in a

a battery of

position to threaten RCT-5's advance west along

FAC(A) gave

us a quick brief

had been shot fenses]

at

on the

by a couple of

and some

AAA

target area

MANPADS

but otherwise

it

VMFA(AW)-

Highway

and the

[Man

"The

6.

threat; they

Portable Air De-

wasn't a big deal," Iiams re-

counted. Almost immediately the original FAC(A) was out of fuel and

was relieved by another F/A-18D crewed by Captains Matthew

"PWOC" "We

Shortal and

set

up

Anthony "Curly" Bolden.

in a lazy left-hand circle,"

recounted Iiams, "and started

dropping Mk-83s on the guns." Sporadic bursts of sky around them, but the

menace. To

fire

their east along

AAA

marked the

was poorly aimed and not yet a great

Highway 6 the

pilots

could see the

hurtling west toward their ultimate objective: Baghdad.

RCT

Hundreds of

green and desert-tan vehicles sped along the highway, weaving

moving— and fast. "Those mean they were driving like

through and around obstacles, but always guys were hauling

ass,"

Iiams recalled.

"I

they were late!"

The Scout of vehicles.

Platoon of Second Tanks was leading that racing column

The head

of any attack or patrol

is

the most dangerous

place in the world. After two weeks of combat the

men

at the

van of

274

JAY A.

RCT-5 knew mander,

it

STOUT

Zummo, had been

Lieutenant Matthew

First

wounded and evacuated. The ambush they encountered was First

Marine

pened

Scout Platoon com-

firsthand. Just the day prior, the

Division's history of the

An

fierce.

seriously

excerpt from the

campaign describes what hap-

next:

Second Tanks continued the

attack along

Scout Platoon in the lead. In the

Highway 6 with the

vicinity of the 65 easting, the

enemy ambush. In the process of engaging the enemy, the new Scout Platoon Commander, First Lieutenant Brian M. McPhillips, was killed by an enemy sniper. scouts uncovered another

The two on the a

FAC

single-seat

Hornet

when

artillery pieces

traveling with

pilots

had each dropped

a call for help

RCT-5. Iiams

came

a pair of

Mk-83s

over the radio from

recalled: "Evidently, all hell

had

broken loose down there. The lead elements on Highway 6 had run into

an ambush and been

were taking heavy

machine-gun

fire

hit hard.

Marines were wounded and they

When the FAC

fire.

and shouting

in the

keyed his mike we could hear

background."

Sullivan and Iiams in their two aircraft, and Shortal and Bolden in the F/A-18D, quickly posted themselves over the top of the

halted train of ting

the

combat

vehicles.

"You could

tell

that things

were

now get-

amped up down there," Iiams said. "There was a lot of chatter on radio, and down on the ground we could see smoke from where

the lead element was engaged." Approximately three to the east of the fight the rest of the

began

to

herringbone off

to

RCT,

led by

both sides of the road.

ground FAC's voice telegraphed the

hundred yards

Second Tanks,

The

strain in the

intensity of the fighting to the

aircrews orbiting overhead.

"We were

eager to give the guys

fighting was too close.

some

help," Iiams said, "but the

The enemy was holed up

only a few meters off

the northeast side of the road." Dropping their thousand-pound

83s on the Iraqi

Mk-

positions would certainly obliterate them, but doing

HAMMER FROM ABOVE so

would

to

be another option.

also kill the

Marines they were trying

"The ground FAC came up and

"He

Iiams.

said there

was

275

to protect.

There had

told us to stand by/' explained

a section of

Cobras on the way." The Hor-

nets arced overhead in a loose orbit that contrasted sharply with the

men who

tight anxiety gripping the

below was growing

A few fire;

minutes

in intensity,

later the

were flying them. The fighting

and there was no sign of the gunships.

word was passed

Cobras had taken

that both

one had been forced down, and the other was too damaged

continue the mission. thing. In the

The F/A-18

to

crews were desperate to do some-

meantime Shortal and Bolden had descended

to a thou-

sand feet in order to get a complete picture of what was happening.

Going

as fast as the aircraft's

scanned the road, trying

two engines would push them, they

to locate the epicenter of the

ambush.

Bolden remembered: "As we reached the convoy we could see

bunch of men miles

in recently

dug trenches behind the only

a

tree line for

— only about fifty meters off the road."

Iiams looked sitions. "It

down

in frustration at the

enemy

fighters in their po-

was right about that time," he remembered, "that someone

pointed out that

we could probably use our

bulbs illuminated above the heads of every

crews had been operating under the

guns." Figurative light-

flier

restrictive

over the

ROE

they had nearly forgotten about the five hundred or

RCT. The

for so

long that

more rounds of

20-millimeter high-explosive incendiary ammunition each aircraft carried.

The

prohibited

firefight

below met the

criteria to

them from descending below

five

waive the rules that

thousand

feet.

"We had

Marines in contact with the enemy, and they were in danger of ting overrun," said Iiams.

The

"That was

all

the reason

get-

we needed."

ROE allowed aircrews to do what they needed to help ground

forces in extremis; this was

one of those instances, and the Hornet

crews were anxious to get into the

fray.

Bolden, the

seat aircraft, quickly coordinated with the strafing runs. In addition to their

RCT FAC

to set

up the

20-millimeter ammunition, he and

Shortal were carrying 5-inch rockets; they dropped target for Sullivan

WSO in the two-

and Iiams. "By now the

down

to

anti-aircraft fire

mark the was

start-

276

STOUT

JAY A.

ing to get pretty heavy/' recalled Iiams. "Along with the

we could make out muzzle reaching up toward us." Shortal dived the mark, but

down and

still

on the ground, and see

flashes

sent the rocket

so close that

it

AAA

on

its

way.

It

was

bursts tracers

right

on

threw shrapnel against the vehicles

The FAC(A) crew asked for— and reground unit's Commanding Officer. This

of the lead Marine element.

ceived—the was

requirement

a

of the

initials

when employing ordnance "danger

was deadly, deadly business;

killing

friendly troops

This

close."

was a gut-

wrenching tragedy with consequences that ranged well beyond the deaths themselves.

"We

lined

up

for

over the top of the

we were

our strafing runs so that

highway on the north

side

— flying from

RCT," explained

parallel to the

east to west, diving in

Iiams. "As long as

we kept our

rounds on the north side of the road, we would be sure not friendlies." Shortal

"The

made

the

first

any

to hit

watching from

pass, with Iiams

my mind

from

right

about then," he

recalled. "I realized that everyone else in the flight

was the son of a

above.

stupidest thing entered

Marine Corps general!

PWOC's

dad had worn

a star or two,

more, and had flown more than three hundred F-4

nam. Shreck's dad had

also

been

a fighter pilot,

maybe

sorties in Viet-

and again, had

also

flown F-4s in Vietnam. Likewise, Bolden's father had flown A-6s in the

same war before going on

Corps astronaut. Hell,

to

become

my dad was an

a fairly

famous Marine

insurance guy from Louisiana."

Iiams quickly decided that the relevance of military legacies in the

ment.

He

watched

dived on the

enemy

certain that his dive was

more

typical ten or fifteen.

would

have

mo-

position from eight thousand feet

and

Had he been more

dirt

be considered

above

five

hundred

knots.

steep— thirty degrees rather than the from where the enemy was

in a shallower dive, the explosive bullets

and fewer

fight-

would

Iraqis.

Iiams concentrated on putting the pipper of his gun sight the northern edge of the

He

This would guarantee that his rounds

clear the edges of the holes

hit

to

his airspeed quickly accelerate

made

ing.

at just that

was not something that needed

flight

just

on

enemy emplacements. At approximately

HAMMER FROM ABOVE three thousand feet the cueing

on

his

277

HUD flashed IN RANGE.

Iiams

squeezed off a one-second burst, letting the pipper wander slightly over the

front of

enemy

him he could

After pulling back

his

positions in order to get better coverage. In

swarm of cannon rounds racing

see the black

ground.

for the

flares,

just

he had

cannon

of smoke

on the

his aircraft

fire

rose

and putting out

stick

heading skyward again.

a salvo of chaff

and

He checked where

had hit— a hundred or more small dusty-gray plumes

from the ground where the

Iraqis

had been

Be-

firing.

hind him Shortal and Bolden plunged toward the ground in another rocket run.

With the weapon on

its

way

they, too,

climbed back

titude.

"We continued taking turns for several more

Iiams.

"PWOC

hear too

crews that the for his

and Curly cleared us

much from

FAC

the ground FAC."

was

'hot' It

likely shuttered

runs," recollected

each time but we didn't

soon occurred

up

to al-

to the

F/A-18

and fighting

in his vehicle

life.

Shortal and Bolden were just pulling out of a run

caught sight of the

when

had by now developed

anti-aircraft fire that

virtual wall just north of the fight. If they

executed a

they

into a

normal pullout

they were going to be shot down. Shortal brought the stick hard

ward

his gut,

in midair.

slammed

it

and

to the left,

virtually pivoted the aircraft

Bolden simultaneously called Sullivan out of

keep him out of the same ambush. were clear of the enemy

fire,

to-

A few

seconds

later

his dive to

both

aircraft

having only narrowly escaped flying into

the trap.

"By now we were "Along with

all

all

the

launched our way.

pretty excited

AAA,

and breathing hard," Iiams

there had been a couple of

All of that in

combination with the

said.

MANPADs fire

on the

ground and the chatter over the radio had gotten our adrenaline

pumping head the

pretty good."

Once more

the three fighters cruised over-

RCT while the crews caught their breath.

Below them they

could see that a group of vehicles from the main body of the

had pushed forward

"We

to the

got the call then,"

RCT

engagement.

remembered

Iiams, "that they

had the

fight

under control but that there were wounded Marines who needed an

278

STOUT

JAY A.

emergency CASEVAC." Bolden and Shortal immediately got on the radio

and

started coordinating the effort.

The buzz

of anxious radio

among multiple players continued back and forth came from the RCT that numbed the Hornet pilots. The calls

CASEVAC

that the priority for the to routine:

The most badly

until a call

RCT asked

mission be changed from urgent

injured of the Marines were dead.

"Every one of us in that mission fought back the urge to puke," Iiams said. Their entire raison d'etre was to support those Marines on the ground; they

felt a

What

sense of failure. Worse, what

they had shot up their

own

wickedly effective fusillades of 20-millimeter

fire?

the casualties?

if

if they

had caused

brothers with their

"We came up on the radio and asked if they needed any more help. They thanked us and said that they had evIiams remembered:

erything under control." Getting low on fuel, the three aircraft

pushed

to

another objective area near Salman Pak to drop their

maining bombs a massive fire

re-

before they returned to Al Jaber. There, Iiams started

when he blew up

a heavy truck. Neither felt

any

a fuel tanker. Sullivan also destroyed satisfaction,

and the return

flight felt

longer than usual.

Back on deck Iiams gathered

all

the participating crews together

"We went over what we thought we might have done wrong, or what we could have done sooner or better," he recollected. "After all, it wasn't too often that we heard, Thanks, but they're dead,' come from the guys we were supporting. When they die

for a

.

.

.

thorough debrief.

well,

I

guess you have self-doubts and tend to second-guess every-

thing you're doing." Nevertheless, the review of their flight revealed

no

significant mistakes or failures.

Knowing

that

word of the

casualties

would

get back to Alles,

and

that Alles would have to be ready with answers, Iiams walked to the

MAG-1

1

headquarters tent and gave the

to-face report. Alles in turn sent

him

to

MAG-1 commander a facedebrief Major General Amos 1

and Brigadier General Robling. Robling recalled the meeting: Wolfie coming and told Tamer, 'Here's a guy

pumped

up.' "

The two

"I

saw

that needs to be

generals had already gotten word from Major

General Mattis that the division had

lost

an

officer in action

and

that

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

279

the Hornets had done a great job helping to get the situation under control.

'Tamer immediately picked up on

Robling, "and reassured

much

from getting

him

worse.

had kept

that the flight

Tamer was

Wolfie's distress/' said

really

good

a

bad situation

at this; the

way he

understood and dealt with his Marines was one of the key reasons he

had

so

much

respect and credibility from his subordinates."

commander's message from the lier sting that

the sky over

The wing

RCT helped assuage some of the ear-

Iiams and his comrades had taken back with them from

Highway

6.

Meanwhile, RCT-5 kept barreling toward Baghdad. This was

all

stop

about speed, and the deaths of two Marines weren't going

paign that did not

VMFA-1

5

1

Truman,

creasingly

The

fall

under 3rd

fighting in the

cam-

MAW's command. VMFA-323 and

fought from the decks of the Constellation and the Harry respectively.

adequately equip

ings.

to

it.

There were two squadrons of Marine F/A-18s

S.

fight

its

Because the Navy lacks the wherewithal

aircraft carriers

with

drawn on the Marine Corps

aviators

its

to

own

squadrons,

make good

its

it

has in-

shortcom-

from both of these squadrons fought alongside

Navy comrades with

distinction.

to

their

29

"We're Not Going to ."

Get Shot Up

** Today, we're not going

.

.

to get shot up/'

It

was the way Major

Jason "Droopy" Adkinson of HMLA-267 always started his pre-

I

mission

briefs.

Not

that

it

had made much of a

difference; in the two

weeks since the war had started he'd already brought bras that tive

had been holed by enemy

thinker,

fire.

home two Co-

Nevertheless, he was a posi-

and he liked the simple declarative nature of the

statement.

On tion.

this particular day, April 4,

Now, leading a

Three Rivers FARP

he had made the same proclama-

AH-lWs and headed north from An Numaniyah toward where RCT-5 was

division of three at

charging west on Highway

6,

he wasn't so

certain.

miles southeast of Baghdad, the lead trace of the

Only about twenty

RCT, Second Tanks,

was pushing through built-up areas along the highway toward where Iraqi

elements had

set

up an ambush

site.

On

the

TAD frequency he

recognized the voice of Captain Kristian "Penguin"

Cobra

pilot

from

his sister squadron,

HMLA-169.

Pfeiffer, a fellow

Pfeiffer

and

his

HAMMER FROM ABOVE wingman were working with dug

fighters

the

281

Second Tanks

FAC

fire.

Just

two of Pfeiffer's wingmen had staggered clear of the

and

out the

along the road ahead of the armored unit. Both the

in

Cobras and the tanks were taking heavy

to stay

to root

moments

earlier,

area, too shot

up

fight.

Adkinson remembered the scene: "We crossed the Tigris River and angled up to the highway, then paralleled ing west.

The

it

on the south

radio chatter was kind of a garbled

contacting the FAC,

mess and rather than

who was

spoke directly with Penguin,

I

about out of fuel and had

to leave."

The two

side head-

just

conducted

flight leaders

a battlefield handover; the departing ships egressed eastbound

on the

north side of the road while Adkinson led his flight west on the south

remember," recalled Adkinson, "that Penguin

side. "I

factly fire

mentioned

and

that

that there

He sounded

like

MlAls

AAA RPG launches and possible MANPADs/

he had been taking 'heavy small-arms and

had been

he could have been talking about the weather."

Approaching the lead flight into

just matter-of-

trace of

Second Tanks, Adkinson swung

an orbit while he assessed the

situation.

He

his

could see the

shooting their heavy 120-millimeter main guns into targets

along the highway, including into the high berm that paralleled the north side of the road. Muzzle blasts from small-arms

fire

marked the

enemy fighters where they hid along the top of the and among the buildings that lined the highway. Far-

positions of the

berm, and

in

ther west he could see

where two burning black

trenches inter-

fire

sected the road from the north and south. Behind these trenches was

where additional elements of enemy road, almost in

between the two trenches, an

the loser of a duel with the Marines

Adkinson didn't

like the setup.

the highway and was by

ran alongside. This

meant

as

bad

for the

were dug

in.

Iraqi tank sat

On

the

burning—

on the ground.

"The

RCT was pushing straight up

no means clearing the that there

and AAA, and RPGs who could Almost

fighters

villages

were plenty of

target us

and towns

folks with

on our run-in

that

AKs,

to the target."

crews were the 150-foot-high power lines that

sagged along and across the highway. These and the towers that supported

them could

easily drag a helicopter out of the sky.

Too, they

282

STOUT

JAY A.

forced the crews to cult to

higher than they

fly

dodge behind a building or

wanted— where

it

was

diffi-

a grove of trees. In effect, the wires

forced the gunships up high where everyone could see them.

And

shoot at them. Regardless of the threat, Adkinson's Cobras were charged with sup-

RCT as

porting the

up

to attack the

would lead the

moved toward the ambush site. He set the flight enemy positions behind the northern fire trench; he it

flight in

from the

wingman, Captain Erik were going

east,

south of the highway.

'Slats' Bartelt,

on

my

right side

to pull off to the left after the firing run."

lead ships from behind were Captain copilot, Lieutenant

"I

my

because we

Covering the two

Dave "Spanky" Moore and

Colonel Brad "Woody" Lowe. Adkinson's

Captain Jason "Jekyll" Gibson, and

had

his

copilot,

Major Pete

Bartelt's copilot,

Calogero, had gone facedown into "the bucket." This was the

TSU —

the Telescopic Sight Unit.

They had

through the smoke and

behind the northern trench and were

fire

waiting for their lead to take

them

already picked out targets

close

enough

to

launch

their

weapons.

"By now," Adkinson to engage.

cle against the

bush

site.

said, "the

This was Type

The

friendly forces

enemy

III

fire,

Second Tanks

and too

best he could

FAC had

CAS— he was buttoned far

back

up

to get his eyes

cleared us

in his vehi-

on the am-

do was confirm that we knew where the

were and where the enemy was, and then clear us

to

engage."

The

plan was for Adkinson and Bartelt to attack the Iraqi positions

TOW missiles, 20-millimeter cannon

with

fire,

and 2.75-inch

aerial

their

Moore was expected to follow them from above and behind, out and suppress enemy fire as the first two ships launched weapons and turned hard away from the target. From a point

just a

hundred yards

rockets.

and

to call

or so

beyond the lead tank and only about

from the burning trenches, Adkinson rolled Bartelt

was close

behind on

was

like

someone was

called Adkinson.

The

Cobra

into the attack.

his right side.

The enemy rounds smashed "It

his

a mile

into their ships almost immediately.

hitting the aircraft with a baseball bat," re-

helicopter shuddered; in the front cockpit he

HAMMER FROM ABOVE saw Gibson— startled by the sudden impacts the

TSU. Shooting weapons had

just

283

— pop his head up out of

dropped

far

down

their

list

of

priorities.

Hit on the right side, Adkinson broke the ship into a hard

scending turn,

he had been

hit

matched

well,

at the

same time

and was

his turn

still

calling over the

taking heavy

fire.

left

de-

TAD frequency that Bartelt, hit

badly as

and followed him south away from the high-

enemy

way. Finally, over an open area and out of range of the

guns,

the two crews assessed the condition of their ships. Adkinson's aircraft

was rumbling more than least the next

should have but

it

few minutes.

seemed

it

flyable for at

however, was in trouble.

Bartelt's bird,

"His transmission was seriously damaged; the temperature was up

and the

oil

pressure was down. If

Spanky, in the other

aircraft, didn't

Moore's ship had taken two

hits

it

failed

he was going

appear to have been

although they weren't

to crash.

hit."

In fact,

critical.

Realizing that Bartelt's Cobra wasn't going to stay airborne for

much

longer,

and turned miles

down

Adkinson led the

east

down

back

to the

highway

About three

the road Bartelt found a patch of dirt and landed literally

only a few feet away from the the

flight straight

the line of advancing Marines.

column of friendly

vehicles.

same time he shut the engines down, hoping

mission before

it

cooked

itself

beyond

repair.

Almost

at

to save the trans-

Adkinson

set his heli-

down adjacent to Bartelt, but left his engines turning. Moore and Lowe continued to circle overhead in a protective orbit. copter

"Slats

hopped out of his

aircraft

and walked over

son remembered. "His face had blood on

round had gone through

his canopy.

cheek up." Calogero — in

his

close brush. His

was

hit

The

it

holes

TSU when

also

had

a

the device

by another round. Fortunately he hadn't been injured. Bartelt

down and crawled out. There were all up and down the tail boom and

it

a 7.62-millimeter

cockpit— had

in the

looked the lead ship over and signaled that shut

mine," Adkin-

shattered Plexiglas had cut

Bartelt's front

head had been down

where

to

it

was a mess. Adkinson

7.62-

and 12.7-millimeter

in the belly.

The number

two hydraulics system behind Adkinson's head had also been shot up, as

had the right-hand engine. As damaged

as the tail

boom

was,

it

284

STOUT

JAY A.

didn't appear that anything that

had been back

FARP

than leaving

for repair, rather

in Indian Country. start relays in

aircraft

from

Adkinson climbed back aboard, intending

hit hard.

to the

would keep the

It

didn't

happen; the

flying

to get

it

alongside the road

it

had shot out the

Iraqi bullets

the belly, and the engines wouldn't even turn.

He

was

going nowhere.

"So

Jekyll

and

few minutes with drive

got out of the aircraft and kind of stood there for a

I

up the highway.

and joked

that

at

Moore and Lowe, the two aircraft were

needed

to

few minutes

him

the Marines

Slats— at his bloody

in for a Purple Heart.

me

said that he'd shoot

if I

circling overhead, relayed to the

down

cheek—

He

did."

DASC that

with battle damage and that a recovery fuel,

ef-

they departed.

as a

Cobra mechanic. He looked the two

A

"Shit,

sir,

you guys

ships over

aren't going anywhere."

Unbe-

Adkinson, one of his control tubes was nearly shot in

had been

just

UH-1N Huey from their squadron landed next to The Huey's crew chief, Gunnery Sergeant Alvarado,

and reported back:

It

and

put

all

later a

was also qualified

to

me

still

to

at

be put together. Then, low on

the two Cobras.

knownst

looked over

I

was going

I

kind of glared back

fort

and Pete Calogero, watching

Slats

half.

a blessing that the aircraft wouldn't start. Otherwise

might have ended

in a ball of flames

he

somewhere on the route back

to

the FARP. It

was becoming evident that the two crews and

be stranded site

for a while.

The

RCT had punched through the

and was continuing west. As big

hicles was,

"Pete

it

their aircraft

would eventually

as the

pass.

column of Marines and

They would need

HMMWV

ve-

protection.

Calogero," Adkinson said, "ran out and flagged

Command

would

ambush

down

a

and got on the radio with the Blue Diamond Forward Post.

They chopped

a

CAAT Team— four

anti-armor

HMMWVs out to our position to provide security until a platoon of LAVs came out and Marines

in their

set

up

a perimeter

around

armored vehicles made us

us.

The

sight of those

feel quite a bit

more

se-

cure."

By

came

late

afternoon the bulk of the

RCT had passed and the road be-

heavily trafficked by Iraqi civilians

on

foot

and

in buses, cars,

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

285

— even on donkeys. Almost all of them waved a white T-shirt or

vans

sheet to

mark

their status as

noncombatants.

had landed across the road from an

bras

and the

civilians

watched

on the highway soon

Ironically, the

started looting

two Co-

compound,

Iraqi military it.

The crews

even refrigerators

as furniture, generators, air conditioners,

were ripped out of the buildings and thrown into trucks and vans.

The two damaged

aircraft also attracted a

were simply curious, but one bate.

Adkinson

man

"He only had one

recalled:

few

Iraqis.

Most of them

attempted to engage them in a deleg.

He

said that he'd lost

the other during Desert Storm. Anyway, he was arguing pretty forcefully that

away. us."

He

we were only

in Iraq to kill civilians

and that we should go

actually spoke very good English and that kind of surprised

Eventually the

commander

man, and he and the others soon

LAR

platoon approached the

dispersed.

CH-46E landed

Finally, near sunset, a

the transport to pick

of the

nearby; the

DASC had sent

up the Cobra crews. Adkinson was reluctant

leave his ships behind.

The CH-46E commander

told

him

that

to

he

could do what he wanted, but that he was getting low on fuel and was going to leave regardless.

on

that guy's 'to do'

the

list,"

LAR platoon would

"We were

Adkinson

probably just

recalled. After

making

Rivers

five or six

certain that

be remaining with the two Cobras until a

covery crew arrived, Adkinson and the three other

CH-46E. Moments

number

later they

fliers

re-

boarded the

were airborne and en route

for

Three

FARP.

Despite his pre-mission declaration, Adkinson's flight had indeed gotten shot up. Reflecting on the sortie, Adkinson summarized:

"When

I

sion—we Still, it

combat

think about

it,

guess that was a fairly unsuccessful mis-

we

didn't even fire a shot."

had been only one mission. During

flights

a total of thirty-four

over the course of the campaign, Adkinson and the

crewmen who manned in

I

got defeated by the bad guys and

and then some.

the rest of his division got their share of licks

30

GASEVAG

Across

the Tigris and with no organized threat behind them, the

men

of the First Marine Division looked northwest toward Bagh-

dad. Although the fights,

it

campaign thus

was thought that the

long, protracted,

and bloody

far

men who made up

siege.

their ranks

where the American dominance play so big a part in the ing to

make

a series of short, sharp

battle for the capital

coming

could turn into a

Saddam's divisions had

materialize in any coherent form, and the

been

it

was believed by

had been withdrawn in

some

that

into the city

advanced weaponry could not

clash. Perhaps the Iraqis

the Coalition pay for

failed to

were prepar-

Baghdad house by house

in a gru-

eling urban brawl.

There was another Storm the

Iraqis

failed to use

factor worrying the Americans.

had huge

During Desert

stockpiles of chemical weapons, but

had

them. The Coalition had destroyed great caches of these

weapons immediately

after that

war during 1991, and the

UN

re-

Saddam divest completely himself of them. But no one in mind believed that the chemical weapons were completely

quired that his right

gone. That being the case, was

it

possible that the Iraqis

would choose

HAMMER FROM ABOVE to use

them now

as the

gates?

The men

in the field

had worn

The

for

fighting

287

Marines and the Army approached Baghdad's

— in

chemical protective

more than two weeks— wondered

suits that

they

at the possibility.

on the morning of April 4 had been

furious.

Almost

from the time that Second Tanks had rumbled across the Line of Departure about six miles west of Al Aziziya on

Highway

the unit and

6,

those

who

was

mixed bag of remnants of the Al Nida Division of the Republi-

a

followed were caught up in constant combat.

can Guard combined with Fedayeen and Jihadi

fighters

The enemy

from

all

over

the Middle East. Casualties had been heavy; there were scores of

wounded Marines and clever.

A

emerged

several dead.

The enemy was

tenacious and

Syrian combatant hiding underwater in a canal had to

ambush and

kill

Corporal Erik

bayoneted and shot the Syrian

Now, only

Silva. Silva's

comrades

to death.

ten or so miles from the edge of Baghdad, the fighting

was especially intense.

"We had spent the night before in an Iraqi school," remembered CH46E pilot Major Michael "Gogo" Gogolin of HMM-268. "It was interesting. I remember that all of their Saddam stuff— the paintings and banners and of like

flags

we would have

and such— was

this

kept in a special closet, sort

stored holiday decorations back

obvious that they only brought

On

all

it

home.

It

was

out for extraordinary occasions."

morning Gogolin and Major Michael "Flash" O'Neil —

commander of the other aircraft in his section— were briefing with the RCT-5 staff at their headquarters on Highway 6. The souththe

eastern edge of Baghdad was only twenty miles or so to the northwest.

Colonel Joe Dunford, the day.

The bulk

RCT commander,

vancing, and he intended to

Following Dunford's their crews

passed his plan for the

of his Marines were already heavily engaged and ad-

brief,

move

his headquarters

by midmorning.

the two pilots returned to where the rest of

were waiting with the two

aircraft.

Gogolin recounted:

288

JAY A.

"We were the

word

middle of a cup of coffee awhile

in the

that there

we needed

that

STOUT

when we

later

got

was something happening farther up the road and get ready immediately." Gogolin

to

and O'Neil

grabbed their charts and other planning material and hurried back the

RCT headquarters while

to

their crews prepared the aircraft for the

mission.

"We were Gogolin

given a grid location, a frequency, and a callsign,"

recalled.

"They

didn't have

much

else to pass other

than that

there were Marines in contact and casualties that needed to be

moved." After the two

pilots

raced back to their helicopters,

it

was

a

matter of only minutes before the two birds were spun up and readied for takeoff. After a

leader that

quick update from the

day— led

RCT, O'Neil— the

section

the flight airborne. At seventy-five feet and 120

knots the pair of CH-46Es, callsign Grizzly 40, paralleled the divided

highway while

offset slightly to the northeast.

award the crews earned that day reads

tification for the

Approximately three minutes into the a possible missile

of

Highway

6.

jus-

as follows:

avoided

flight the section

launch from a building on the southwest side

A tank round

that

was

way 6 simultaneously destroyed the Gogolin and

An excerpt from the

his copilot

were

fired

from below on High-

building.

flying just

behind and

to the right of

O'Neil's ship. "There was a big flash from the top of one of the buildings to our

left.

Major O'Neil broke hard

right across

my front and we

followed." After wheeling over into an aggressive turn, their rotor

blades clawing at the

from the explosion

at

air,

the two aircraft continued to head away

only a few feet above the ground. After about

fif-

teen seconds they started a turn to the northwest and eased back alongside the highway.

The

route was littered with

craft artillery pieces,

numerous destroyed enemy

armored personnel

carriers,

pieces from RCT-5's advance. There were lines ranging

from 30

feet to

200

feet

and

antiairartillery

numerous power

along Highway

6.

The

vis-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE was hindered due

ibility

smoke created from Both

It

aircraft

flares

plumes of

large black

trenches set on

oil

expended multiple

fire

on

along Highway

ingress.

.

.

6.

.

was obvious that there had been recent fighting along the route.

"We were dodging

in

and out of plumes of

Gogolin, "and could see shot

numerous

to

289

up

or abandoned.

day, the

smoke made

cially true

homes

all sorts

And

of Iraqi equipment that had been

although the

things a

smoke," explained

oil

little difficult

fairly

Power

good

fairly built

lines

that

This was espe-

in places."

because both sides of the road were

as well as industrial buildings.

was

visibility

and

up with

light posts fur-

The crews kept a sharp lookout for byenemy fighters— a well-aimed RPG or a shoulder-fired SAM could bring down one or both of their ships.

ther cluttered the highway.

passed

A series of sharp

flashes

and

gunner engaged an

side of O'Neil's aircraft as the .50-caliber

sponding cle.

a thin wisp of smoke

machine gun. An

set of flashes as the

instant later

alarmed

Iraqi

BMP with his

Gogolin spotted a corre-

clear,

but the

fliers

could

watching them from doorways and windows at

right

rounds slammed into the enemy vehi-

Below them the road was

civilians

marked the

still

— no

see

doubt

the clatter of their rotors and the occasional bursts of gun-

fire.

Fox Company, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines— attached

ond Tanks— was ambushed into

Baghdad.

Unknown

fighting in held a

at

to Sec-

an intersection along a route that led

to the unit's

Marines, the sector they were

huge cache of enemy ammunition and arms. In the

exchange of fire there was a spectacular explosion and the company's first

sergeant,

Edward Smith, was wounded

in the head.

Smith, thirty-eight, was a twenty-year Marine whose retirement

had been put on hold by the as a police officer

proud

to serve his

service. Despite a

he had taken

promising

new

his orders to Iraq in stride;

country and his fellow Marines.

career

he was

Now he was on the

ground mortally wounded. His fellow Marines worked

feverishly

290

STOUT

JAY A.

under

fire to

wound was

save him, but their heroic efforts were not enough.

too severe. First Sergeant Smith died and

left

The

behind a

wife and three children.

The

flying that Grizzly

40

flight

was doing, especially right down a

major urban highway, would have gotten them States. In Iraq

was how they survived;

it

most SAMs, and arms or

RPG

their

speed

made them

Nevertheless

fire.

their

it

jailed

back

low altitude thwarted

a difficult target for small-

was hard, loud, and busy work.

"Somewhere along the way we had

let

ourselves get

left

behind on

the radio during one of the frequency changes," Gogolin bered. "As

we

quency and radio, flight

got closer to the

LZ I knew

it

some mental gymnastics, and

managed

to get together

the

remem-

was too quiet on the

had no idea what was going on." Using

I

in the

"number of

their

fre-

second

the day/' the

on the same frequency as the

FAC who

was running the landing zone. "Pita was the callsign of the

eyes onto the vehicles

all

LZ

FAC," Gogolin

we approached from

as

"He

talked our

over the place, but south of a major road intersection

there was a cluster of

HMMWVs in the right-hand lanes not far from

where an Abrams tank was parked flight across the

approached the that the

said.

the southeast. There were

highway

LZ

in the

median." O'Neil swung the

to the west then banked back around and

from the north.

zone was too small

for

He

realized almost immediately

both ships. Goosenecked light poles

reached out from the median, and power lines ran along both sides of the road. O'Neil sent Gogolin to orbit over a field to the southwest

while he took on the

first

load of casualties.

At the intersection, RCT-5's commanding officer was in contact with

enemy

forces

from three

HMMWVs circled

in the center

He and his Marines covered the section's apLZ. The landing zone had 30- to 50-foot power

of the intersection.

proach into the lines

along both sides of the road, friendly tanks approaching

the intersection from the southeast along

Highway 6 and

light

HAMMER FROM ABOVE poles in the center of the road tersection.

The

291

on the northwest

section received

enemy

entered the southwest side of Highway

small-arms

6.

.

.

and

feet,

an

started

his aircraft

The

orbit.

they

fire as

.

Gogolin hooked away from O'Neil, dropped only twenty-five

side of the in-

down

to

was lined by

field

buildings on three sides and was only about 150 yards in length;

hemmed

he was, he could maintain no more than about ninety

in as

knots. "I tried to orbits

I

make

decided to mix

us as difficult a target as possible. After a few it

up

a

and we

little

When we'd flown a few of those I

started flying figure eights.

just started

unpredictable profile." As tiring as

it

was keeping up the crazy gyra-

tions in the constricted confines of the field,

simply setting down. easy target,

The

turning the aircraft in an

Gogolin decided against

stationary helicopter

would have been an

and, separated from the Marine-controlled highway as

they were, there was no guarantee that help would they were

come

time

in

if

hit.

"Every once in a while," Gogolin recalled, "we'd pop up fifty

feet or so

still

in the

and peek over the buildings

to see if

to

about

Major O'Neil was

LZ."

Grizzly 40 was on deck for eight minutes as the casualties were

loaded onto the

aircraft.

urgent, three priority,

The crew

of Grizzly 40 evacuated four

and one routine from the

LZ. There

initial

was numerous small-arms, crew-served weapons, and Rocket Propelled Grenades being fired around the side of the intersection. Grizzly

"I

climbed

rotor as

he

just a little bit

started to

lift off,"

proach the

were nine

LZ

his ship

to see

.

.

.

Major O'Neil's

remembered Gogolin. O'Neil his load of

out of the

from the north.

field

"Initially

that there

got

aft air-

wounded Marines while and arced around

to ap-

they had told us that there

casualties," explained Gogolin. "I

had taken eight and figured

to the northeast

40 departed the LZ.

and was able

borne and headed south with

Gogolin brought

LZ

knew

that

Major O'Neil

was one more

left for us."

292

STOUT

JAY A.

Gogolin's crew chief had the corpsman operate his .50-caliber ma-

chine gun while he helped guide Gogolin and the copilot clear of the different obstacles

and

much

recalled, "very

into the

like

Landing Zone.

an approach

was

"It

at the ship

tight,"

Gogolin

except with power

And shooting. Although he was Landing Zone to pay much attention,

lampposts, and buildings."

lines,

busy with getting into the

RCT was still

Gogolin put the

corpsman leapt out of the

aircraft

all

Pita

and he confirmed a

[Killed in Action] to our north

and they wanted us ninety seconds.

I

"I

were no more

that there

to sidestep

to recover the body.

remaining

of the casualties had been

evacuated by O'Neil's crew. Gogolin recalled:

was

him

down. Immediately the crew's

aircraft to coordinate getting the

casualty aboard. But there was none;

KIA

the

fighting for control of the intersection to his north.

After a delicately executed approach that required into the zone,

too

and

got on the radio with

injured. Rather, there

east along another

MSR

We weren't on the deck even

got the corpsman back aboard and

we

lifted off

and

headed north."

meantime O'Neil was

In the

retracing the flight's earlier route back

toward RCT-5's headquarters. There, procedures directed that they

would

transfer the

60 Black of the

wounded Marines

Hawk "Dust

way

to a pair of waiting

Army UH-

Off" helicopters that would relay them the

rest

"Good Hope" Shock Trauma Platoon south of the on Highway 1. On arrival, though, the UH-60s weren't

to the

Tigris River

able to accomplish the transfer, and O'Neil lifted off again and sprinted south. In the rear of his aircraft the crew tended to their regular duties as well as taking care of their stricken comrades.

The

casualty evacuation

back of the

corpsmen worked

aircraft providing life

diligently in the

support services on the urgent

care casualties and priority care casualties during the 35-45-

minute, 80-mile transit to a gunshot

wound

"Good Hope." The

to the jaw

injuries included

and neck, another through the

neck, an abdominal wound, a chest wound, a back wound, and

two more gun shot wounds

to

Marines' hands. Their perfor-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE mance during Marines with

a

293

a highly stressful evolution provided the injured

calming

effect that

had

a direct

impact on

their

survival.

Anxious

to get to

where Fox Company was Gogolin

front of RCT-5's advance,

way

6.

They were headed

wrong way. copilot

new

a

at the very

Baghdad. And

for the heart of

it

grid location

was the

my

and

good catch and got us turned around." Because the

landing zone was

an armed

engaged

dash straight up High-

set off in a

had gotten confused about the

"I

made

still

escort:

still

Deadly

"hot,"

Gogolin and

33, a section of

his

crew were assigned

AH-1W

Cobras. After

re-

versing course back to the south and then turning northeast at the

contested intersection, Gogolin and his crew were on their way.

One

of the Deadly 33 Cobras pushed out in front of the

slightly offset to Gogolin's right,

hind and

to the left.

only twenty-five the

enemy was

he was pushing

feet. "Pita still it,

Marine vehicles

that

at

HMMWVs on the road between 30-foot power lines on

HMMWV road.

fast as

25 feet above the ground and 120 knots

that crossed perpendicular to the

caliber

As

he overtook from be-

both sides of the road, having to bunt over several lines

side."

barely clearing their rooflines.

Major Gogolin flew over the

road at

MSR— that

to stay over the

from positions on either

be-

the rattling rumble of Gogolin's ship no doubt star-

tled the drivers of the

hind—only

aircraft exactly over the

had warned us

fighting

him from

while the other covered

Gogolin kept the

CH-46E

shooting

TOW

machine guns

Deadly 33 broke

trees to the left of the

missiles

and

into the buildings off

and began

main

MSR as

to

road.

sets

of power

There was

a

others shooting .50-

on the

left

side of the

prosecute targets in the

Major Gogolin

arrived at

the LZ.

"Pita

had briefed us

that the unit with the

road near a smokestack," Gogolin said, "and

we

spotted

it

as well as a

group of

KIA was

it

located on the

wasn't very long before

HMMWVs

on the road nearby."

294

JAY A.

The LZ

that

had been

laid

STOUT

— sixty

out was small

feet— and circumscribed by power

lines

on

all

by two hundred

four sides. But as un-

dersized as the zone was, the immediate vicinity was tention, for a

and Gogolin

more

didn't

want

to take the

fastidious by-the-book approach.

in con-

still

down

luxury of slowing

Doing so would make the

ship easier to shoot down. Instead he reduced power and at the

time brought the nose of the

aircraft

up while holding the

same

down.

rear

In this cocked-up attitude, with the belly of the helicopter acting as a

huge speed brake, Gogolin slowed the

aircraft

from 120 knots

to al-

most nothing very quickly.

There was some

maneuver too wires,"

early,

the technique, however. "If

risk to I

wouldn't have enough energy to clear the near

he remembered. "On the other hand,

there was a good chance wires, or

started the

I

I

if I

would have flown us

started

it

too late,

into the far set of

even into the group of vehicles and Marines beyond."

Nevertheless Gogolin and his copilot brought the ship in perfectly.

Immediately a group of four Marines hurried toward the helicopter with the body of First Sergeant Smith strapped to a stretcher. Their leader, their friend,

he was gone now. "After

crew chief called up 'good that the area

Once

to

go/

"

less

than a minute

my

He checked maximum power.

Gogolin remembered.

around him was clear and applied lifted

the aircraft away from the embattled

Marines and swung back around

in a right-hand turn to the southwest

clear of the wires

he

and back over the road. The two gunships

that

made up Deadly

33

joined in escort, positioned at his ten and two o'clock. At the intersection with

made First

.

.

Highway 6 the Cobras detached

a hard left turn

to

and pointed himself,

engage a

his crew,

Gogolin

and the body of

Sergeant Smith southeast away from the heaviest fighting.

.

displayed extraordinary courage under

fire,

hesitating life-saving actions in the face of

demonstrated superior

It

target.

exercised un-

enemy

fire,

and

tactical airmanship.

was one of the deadliest days of the war, with several dead and

scores of

wounded. That more of the injured

didn't die was

due

in

HAMMER FROM ABOVE part to the aggressive

and

skillful flying

evacuated them back to

safety.

He'd been a warrior

more than

maimed. But

like

many

well,

kill

War

twenty-five years.

from

kill

who

crews

Guts Robling had never

aviators,

and they

CH-46E

of the

and the maiming. Airmen

close to the killing

They

for

295

killed

really

a distance.

a lot, but they rarely see the bodies

kill

and

been

and

the blood and the wounds. Rather, these gruesome sights and experi-

ences are the burden of the ground warrior.

The

Three Rivers FARP sheltered

tent at the

Treatment Center. Whereas Level battlefield,

Level

II

care

is

more

nurses,

and other medical care

cility's

objectives

to

is

care includes

aid

on the

intensive. Staffed with physicians,

professionals,

one of the Level

transported to a

Three Rivers FARP

at the

Casualty

II

first

life-threatening injuries

treat

wounded can be stabilized and for more complete care. Robling was

I

a Level

to

II fa-

that the

so

permanent

hospital

help troubleshoot part of

the tactical operation. There was always something that needed

The

tention.

fighting

on the approach

Baghdad was

to

fearsome, and there had been significant casualties. casualties

were being treated

This side

trip to

in the tent

he was about

getting

Some

at-

more

of those

to enter.

see what was going on with the Level

II

folks

was

almost an afterthought— made more out of curiosity than anything else. "I

flap,"

wasn't ready for what

he recounted.

episode.

"It

was

I

saw

like

There were wounded

when

I

stepped through that tent

something out of an old all

M*A*S*H

over the place. Surgeons and

nurses were working frantically. Right at

my

feet there

was a Marine

poncho— he was missing a leg. There was blood all And it wasn't like he was being neglected; he was just behind other Marines who needed treatment worse than he

sprawled out on a over the place. in line did."

Robling didn't tarry long

inside.

At that

wasn't doing anything for anyone and he

than anything

else. After

making

his exit

felt

moment more

and taking

his

like

a few

presence

an intruder

moments

to

296

digest

JAY A.

STOUT

what he had seen, he realized

tant supporting role in

that the

what was taking place

wing played an impor-

inside that tent that very

many of wounded Marines would be dead Marines — Marines who

instant. If not for the efforts of the wing's helicopter pilots,

those

would have no use

for a Level

II

Casualty Treatment Center.

31

Lost Heroes

Lieutenant Colonel Steve "Woodman" Heywood fell into his cot at the main helicopter base at Ali Al Salem in Kuwait. As the Com-

manding Officer of HMLA-267, he was apprehensive. Less than two weeks into the war twenty of his twenty-six aircraft— a combination of Cobras and

Hueys— had been

hit

by enemy

fire.

Through

skill

or

luck or both, not a single one of his crews had been injured. Nevertheless, as

knew

much

as

that the odds

he wanted the squadron's good fortune were against

it.

the fact that the Coalition was quickly In fact, six

made

he

moving

to encircle

Baghdad.

HMLA aircraft had been hit that very day, April 4. Only

several hours earlier

barely

to hold,

This was especially so in light of

it

back

two Cobras had been shot up so badly that they to friendly lines before they

had

to

put

down

along an advancing column of ground forces. Essentially the Iraqis

had shot them down, although they'd made

Making pair

sure that the crews were

a half-assed job of

unharmed and arranging

it.

for the re-

and recovery of the two ships had consumed much of Heywood's

day, although after a

quickly

week of chasing

becoming "business

as usual."

after the

same

tasks

it

was

298

JAY A.

He

STOUT

was dog-tired that night and due

to

go back out on combat op-

erations the following day. After a short time,

The

three Cobras

dark

murk that made up

of April

5.

The

he was

asleep.

rumbled north above the desert and through the the sky over Iraq in the very

first

few minutes

blackness that was the ground below was marked by

the bright orange flares of burning wreckage, and by bursts of occasional gunfire. In the distance a refinery

the

rest.

lots'

All of

it

blossomed and flashed

burned more

than

in the grainy green of the pi-

night-vision goggles as they flew toward areas

were engaged with the enemy

brilliantly

at the very

where Marines

approaches to the Iraqi cap-

ital.

There was another bright explosion on the ground, but was

different.

Major Andrew Groenke, the

the radio for his two

wingmen

to

check

this

one

flight leader, called over

in.

Only one of the crews answered.

One

who made up that crew was Captain James "Pinky" Finnegan. It was Finnegan who had written about the emotion that he and his friends had felt as the Dubuque steamed out of of the pilots

sunny San Diego Bay with them aboard more than two months

on January

lier

"It

was shortly

up,"

ear-

17.

after

midnight when

Heywood remembered.

"It

my cell phone

rang and woke

was Major John Wilson over

me

at the

MAG and he didn't have good news. There was a Cobra down near Baghdad, and

it

looked

like

it

was one of mine." After pulling on

his

made

his

flight suit and lacing into a pair of boots

way over

quickly

to the headquarters tent.

"Information was already streaming art

Heywood

in,"

he

recalled. State-of-the-

information technology on the battlefield was no longer

glossy advertisement in a defense magazine; in the thick of

combat. "Very accurate

quickly via Microsoft

Chat from

it

facts

just a

had become

a reality

were coming

in very

units in the field,"

he remembered.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE "The was

basics

were that one of the crews had gone down and that there

a fireball.

there had

The

rest

been no radio

Heywood had

of the flight had circled the crash calls indicating that

anyone was

He knew that the life.

site,

but

alive."

previously been in units that had lost crews, but not

during combat and not while he had been the

his

299

next few days would be

"The most important thing

was get word back

to the wives

needed

I

Commanding Officer.

some of the most difficult of to

and families

do

right that

as quickly as

moment I

could."

This was crucial because technology and journalistic insensitivity

make certain that bad news traveled fast. Another squadron, HMLA-169, had lost three Marines in a Huey crash a few combined

to

days earlier. Secretive word began to

who

hadn't been killed.

tious

phone

Those

calls or e-mails

families

filter

who

went through

back

to the wives

about

hadn't received surrepti-

a horrible hell of waiting

until the official notification took place.

"We called back and passed the details to the notification team," Heywood recounted. The Marine Corps, during peacetime and war, has specially trained personnel called Casualty Assistance Calls Officers

(CACOs)

Marine

is

standing by to notify the next of kin in the event that a

killed or seriously injured.

chaplains and senior officers ficers.

This was particularly

Marine Corps

These personnel often include

— and usually the wives of the senior ofdifficult as the

in the sense that they usually

spouses were part of the

had many years of expe-

rience because of their association with their husbands, but they

had no

official

role

or authority.

Rosanna, went with the team It

to take

In this case

Heywood's

still

wife,

on some of the dreadful burden.

was a horrible, life-wrenching task that shook the strongest

men

and women.

The two dead men were Captain Travis A. Ford of Ogallala, Neand Captain Benjamin Sammis of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

braska,

Both were married. Ford had a two-year-old daughter. "These were

Heywood said. "Travis was the classic, stoic, hardworking midwestern kid. Ben was a little more outgoing and animated— he was one of our WTIs [Weapons and Tactics Instructors]. Together they made up a great crew and they both both outstanding officers and Marines,"

300

had

JAY A.

STOUT

By now morning had

a lot of friends."

his sergeant major, Phil Freed, bring the

arrived

and Heywood had

squadron together

for a for-

mation; he needed to pass the word.

Three months

earlier,

during the

out to the Persian Gulf

transit

Heywood had briefed the squadron to be prepared for this very eventuality. They were going to war, and no matter how capable the enemy was, or was not, his and then again

just before the

men— and women — could

war

started,

needed

to

be prepared.

"After the sergeant

Now

to gather

knew— that we had

just lost

I

it

It

was

of the

coming

be expected and they

to

had happened.

major formed the squadron,

and ordered them

of that lecture

come out

hardly hope to

conflict without taking casualties.

around me.

I

them

told

two good warriors. And

had given them on the way

put them

I

over,

as

at ease

much

as

I

reminded them

I

and

that as painful

And I told them that they should be prepared for more. We talked about how it was okay to grieve but at the same time they needed to stay focused— we had a war to fight. as

our

loss was,

it

Working on the was

still

wasn't unexpected.

was

flight line

still

a

a dangerous job. Everything

and there were plenty of ways

dangerous

job. Flying missions

we were doing was dangerous,

to get hurt if a

person didn't give 100

percent of his attention to his work. Most important,

them

that

we were

get worse before

it

closing

on Baghdad and

got better.

Now more

I

reminded

that the fighting

than ever

I

would

needed them

at

their very best."

Talking to the troops was

difficult.

Writing

was heartrending and perhaps the most his

life.

wanted

The

the families

he had done

in

were private and not something that Heywood

letters

to recount.

There now were myriad

come obvious days,

letters to

difficult thing

and

I

that

I

details to attend to.

"By now

wasn't going back out on operations

it

had be-

for a

few

rescheduled Captain Al Grinalds and his division to go

out in place of mine,"

Heywood

said. "After flying

and fighting hard

during the previous couple of days he was already out on the line getting ready to

go again.

and the family asked

that

flight

He had been very close to

Ben Sammis,

be read

at the service

he write

a eulogy to

HAMMER FROM ABOVE that to

was scheduled

make.

back home." Heywood had

for

"I felt horrible,"

he remembered.

and sense of obligation

loyalty

301

"I

Ben and

to

a difficult decision

was pulled between

my

my

re-

and by

his family,

commanding officer." The commander made his way out to the

sponsibility to Al as his

found Grinalds already

Here the poor guy had

him

right

buddy to

back out

boot.

Cobra.

in the cockpit of his

just

and

to kill people.

And then I dumped this load on

ceptional officer, took

it

in

good

stride

was awful.

"It

returned from combat and

to get shot at

where he

flight line,

was sending

I

He'd

good

lost his

him." Grinalds, an ex-

and promised Heywood

that

he'd pen a memorial to his fallen friend sometime during the next

couple of days.

More information continued aircraft

had

fallen near the

southeast of Baghdad.

come

to

in

from the crash

town of Al Aziziyah, near the

By now

it

site.

The

Tigris River,

had been secured by headquarters

personnel from the First Marine Division— they were waiting for the

wreckage

to cool before they

learned that Travis and into a radio tower,"

enemy

reacted to

had

just

been

attempted to recover the bodies.

Ben hadn't been

Heywood

shot

and had accidentally turned

fire

flying straight

and

level

when

color as the surrounding sand. In the night sible to see. Still, the crash

"They

lost

had been

it

they had

hit,

was un-

had been almost impos-

a very near thing. it

about three feet of rotor blade, and

it

to control their crash

into the tower, or

— painted the same tan

and the Cobra had struck

feet tall,

flown

recounted. "Whether or not they had

known." The structure had been camouflaged

been 394

down— they'd

"We

by turning into the wind.

The tower had

at the 370-foot

looked as

It

if

probably

mark.

they tried

just wasn't

doable." It

was

late that

day before the bodies were brought back to Kuwait

and Heywood was faced with more corts

back with the bodies. Again,

rections. Treating the

remains with

dignity that they deserved cort

I

difficult issues. "I

had

to

send

all

the compassion, honor, and

was a foremost consideration. And an

was absolutely essential

for that.

war— right that very instant we were

es-

was torn in a dozen different di-

But we were

flying

still

es-

fighting a

combat ops and now I had

302

JAY A.

up two

to give

And

pilots as escorts.

also conflicted— they

wanted

STOUT

of course the pilots

honor

to

I

chose were

their buddies, but they

wanted

to fight, too/'

end Heywood sent Captain Aaron Marx

In the

body, and

men

"Those young world to

to

Sammis's

to escort

Lieutenant Brian Grant to escort Ford's remains.

First

They

did a tremendous job.

be available

to the families in order to

help them through their grieving. You can

traveled

around the

answer questions and just picture

how

the

emotions must have been running. I'm proud of how such young

men acted with

such wisdom and understanding.

When

I

heard back

from the next of kin about how Marx and Grant gave so completely of themselves,

made me

it

very

proud— and

glad of the decision

I

had

made." Personal effects also had to be gathered, packaged, and shipped.

The downed

fliers'

completed

friends

this

duty with care and rever-

ence. However, receiving the personal items that were recovered

from the wreckage was a more delicate task— one undertaken by the

commander met

himself. "It bothers you ... to handle the wallet, or hel-

bag, or whatever another person had with

killed.

It's

burned

something

you'll never forget. In this instance all of

crash— even the

in the

mory even though they were Aside from written

letters to

and sent

to write exactly

spite the effort

pistols.

Those

I

had

it

was

to return to the ar-

useless."

the wives, there were letters that needed to be

And

to the parents.

what he wanted

of course

to say to

it

took

Heywood time

each of them. Even then, de-

he took and the emotions he spent, Heywood couldn't

help but

feel that the letters

families

felt.

the squadron

him when he was

were inadequate

All of this took time

commander.

the tragedy with

all

Still,

he

for the loss

from Heywood and felt

he knew the his duties as

that treating the families

and

the dignity and caring he could muster was what

was most important.

Technology has made the job of dealing with

more

difficult for the

ple, there

casualties

commander. During World War

II,

for

much exam-

was no instantaneous communication with the next of kin.

They might not know for weeks

that a loved

one was

killed or missing.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE And seldom,

if

ever,

were the bodies of

home— there

303

aviators recovered. If they

The fallen were usually buried in the land where they fell. It says much for the preeminence of the American military that the nation now can afwere, they weren't sent

honor her

ford to It

was four days

fallen

It

for escorts.

servicemen in such a manner.

after the crash before

past the wreckage. find that hadn't

was no need

Heywood was

able to even

fly

wasn't that there was anything he could do or

been done or found

already. Rather,

he

felt

it

was

his

duty to put his eyes on the place where his Marines had died. Already the unit that had secured the area had forces

had fought through

mopped

up.

over the

site,

The

vicinity

peering

still

considered dangerous. After flying

at the tower,

few seconds of Ford's and Sammis's

The him to

and

lives,

him noted

practical side of

cause

adjust his unit's future tactics.

he had seen

all

that

he

impossible to quickly accept the sudden loss of a comrade or

loved

one— habits and

over time.

It

hurts to

expecting to see the has

trying to imagine the last

those elements that would

wanted.

It is

on. Although Coalition

several days earlier, they hadn't stayed or

was

down

moved

little

expectations die only in

remember and lost face

it

among

fits

and convulsions

takes time before a person stops

the

rest. Still,

a

squadron

at

war

time to reflect and mourn. Each individual handles losses

differently,

and

lost friend or

life just

loved one

goes on. Eventually the relationship with the is

cleaned and cataloged and put in a special

place in the heart from which

it

can be retrieved and reviewed and

loved and wondered at from time to time.

The squadron held

Heywood returned to flying combat operations on April 9. On that day he met up with Al Grinalds; Grinalds still had not written Sammis's eulogy. Heywood remembered: "At the Three Rivers FARP I met up with Al. The poor guy had been flying almost continuously. When I caught up with him he had

a

memorial

service

just finished a series of sorties

on April

7.

where he had been shooting

off

304

his

JAY A.

weapons

as quickly as

STOUT

they could be loaded.

He apologized for not

having written the eulogy, but the memorial service was scheduled for later that sat with

a

day back in the

States.

him while he put pen

computer out there

We

to paper.

in the field

chatted for a

When

and e-mailed

home.

it

nificent—after the service Grinalds was told that

been more

Heywood Iraqis.

bit,

and then

I

he finished we found

it

It

was mag-

could not have

perfect."

spent the next

Taking

lives,

something different

six

days flying

combat operations— killing

despite the fact that they were to

him now.

enemy lives, meant

32

The Pioneer

** I

t's

a small point

but

it's

one

that really got

my Marines fired up,"

I recalled Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mykleby, the officer of the

UAV

VMU-1

commanding

"Watchdogs," one of the two Marine Corps

squadrons deployed for the war. "What happened too often

is

we would run a great mission and the video would show up on CNN or some other news channel. That was fantastic, but invariably it would be described as having come from the Air Force's Predator

that

UAV." Mykleby's Marines'

sensitivities

were victimized by the ignorance

of the media and the steamroller that was the Predator's public relations effort. In fact the

UAV,

or

Unmanned Aerial

Vehicle, that stood

the Marine Corps in such good stead throughout the campaign was

RQ-2B Pioneer, a modification of a design that was first fielded in 1986. In unmanned aircraft terms, 1986 is practically the ice age, but

the

a series of improvements

and

at the forefront of tactical

a lot of hard

work have kept the Pioneer

UAV operations.

306

STOUT

JAY A.

The Marine Corps became serious about UAVs during the early 1980s. The simple, relatively inexpensive platforms available then offered great potential at low cost without putting Marines at early intent

was

and coordinate covering an sition,

for

them

ahead of ground

to scout

onto emergent

fires

enemy tank column,

targets.

the

it.

UAV operators

The Pioneer aircraft.

It

and reconnaissance

it

a

tail

Electro Optical/Infra

just less

air,

or naval

UAVs promised

a very

capability. Israeli

pusher propeller, a single two-piston, two-

booms, and

a conventional wing, to carry

Red (EO/IR) video camera

measures barely fourteen

than seventeen

po-

fix its

design actually evolved from an even earlier

combines

stroke engine, twin

Small,

could

dis-

Indeed, equipped with a camera capable of

providing day and night imagery, these early flexible surveillance

The

For instance, upon

then coordinate with friendly assets— artillery,

gunfire— to destroy

risk.

units to discover

feet;

it

tips

an

in the nose section.

feet in length, while

its

wings span

the scales at 450 pounds.

The

sim-

ple engine/fixed-pitch propeller arrangement delivers a cruise speed

of seventy knots while a a

maximum

full

load of fuel can keep the aircraft aloft for

of four to five hours depending on

how hard

it is

flown.

Although the aircraft can execute a conventional runway takeoff, normally hurled airborne with a pneumatic launcher that looks cross

between

(RATO)

units

a

heavy

rail

and

can be affixed

to

a catapult.

it is

like a

Rocket Assisted Takeoff

improve performance and

reliability;

these are nearly always preferred. Although a simple net system was

used by the Navy to recover

Corps nearly always lands

and

its its

aircraft

back aboard ship, the Marine

Pioneers using the

aircraft's

tailhook

a set of cross-runway arresting gear pendants.

The Army and ing Desert Storm

the Marine Corps used the system extensively durin 1991 to provide battlefield surveillance

the

Navy from the

re-

Damage

Assessments.

battleships Wisconsin

and Missouri,

connaissance, as well as post-strike Battle

Launched by

and

the Pioneers also delivered invaluable service as naval gunfire spotting platforms. In fact, there was a well-publicized incident that Iraqi troops surrendering to a

time the

Army and Navy have

Navy Pioneer— a

UAV first.

had

Since that

retired their systems, while the

Marine

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Corps has implemented improvements

them

erate

he wanted the capability that the

UAVs was

its

own and

intends to op-

until at least 2009.

MAW commander, knew that

Major General James Amos, the 3rd

knew

to

307

outsized

— more

Mykleby

"Essentially,"

his

VMU squadrons could bring, but he also

normal operating and

said,

order to trim our size so that

logistics footprint to

than he could afford to

"he told us

we could

support the

into theater.

do what we had

to

still

lift

give the

to

do

in

MEF commander move so The VMU-1

the capability he wanted, but with the ability to stay on the that

we could support

Marines did

and

just that.

a revised

the division as

They developed

"Scoot Tactics."

It

it

in

combination was dubbed

down

their system in less than four hours,

through hostile areas, and then quickly

erations—again, in flew a record

of employment

provided a robust tactical competency while en-

abling the Marines to break

convoy

new scheme

a

squadron structure that

advanced."

it

less

number

than four hours.

And

it

set

it

back up

worked

well.

for op-

VMU-1

of flights during the campaign at a rate that was

more than seven times

the normal pace.

After arriving in theater in early February, erations out of Tactical

VMU-1

Assembly Area Coyote

started flight opin

north-central

Kuwait. Their missions by doctrine were reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, indirect

fire

adjustment, Battlefield

Dam-

age Assessment (BDA), and rear area security support. After a few sorties to

unlimber the systems,

earnest to support the

OSW.

VMU-1

Pioneers began operating in

Information was also collected to support

coming campaign— to include

a

detailed reconnaissance of

southern Iraq.

The camera

that the small aircraft carries

system's capability.

An

Israeli device,

the

is

perhaps the heart of the

POP-200

sensor provides

color optical video imagery for daylight sorties and infrared imagery for nighttime operations.

said

Mykleby.

"We were

"The

fidelity

of the optics was pretty good/'

able to count individual road wheels

on

tank from more than seven kilometers [approximately four miles]."

a

308

JAY A.

Nevertheless,

it

STOUT

wasn't road wheels that

were counting during

daytime

a

the start of the offensive was

still

sortie

scheduled

Matthew Venaleck, one of our imagery wellheads on

"One

fire in

the

VMU-1

on March

Rumaylah

for

's

imagery analysts

20.

March

On

that date,

23. "Sergeant

analysts, observed several

oil fields/'

Mykleby recounted.

of the chief objectives— all the way up to the White

was preventing an economic and ecological

had happened when the

Iraqis

House —

disaster similar to

torched the Kuwaiti

Desert Storm." Certain that the wellheads were

oil fields

afire,

what

during

VMU-1 imme-

diately transmitted the alarming information to higher headquarters,

where

it

evoked an instant response. The military equivalent of an

Are you sure? immediately came back

down

to the unit.

There was no

doubt. Venaleck quickly reassessed the imagery and confirmed that the Iraqis were destroying their

formation— from

a

Marine

own

oil fields.

This crucial piece of in-

UAV unit— was a key part of the decision

ground campaign the following

that started the

much

head

start likely

same

sort of calamity as the

saved

day. This two-day

of the region's environment from the

1991 catastrophe— a tragedy that has

left

lingering impacts throughout the Persian Gulf.

Once tions

the war was under way, the nature of the Pioneer's contribu-

became more

tactical.

The crews became

especially adept at

ranging out ahead of the advancing RCTs, finding targets, and then coordinating artillery strikes against them; these were called hunterkiller missions.

Nasiriyah.

the

and called

UAV

March 27

separate batteries of Iraqi

guns were detected by

artillery

GPS,

Two

Typical was a sortie on

crew quickly

for a fire mission

In short order the heavy

a

VMU-1

Type

in the vicinity of An

59-1 130-millimeter

Pioneer. Using the system's

fixed the locations of the

two

from the Eleventh Marines'

Marine weapons delivered

Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions

batteries

Ml 98 guns.

several barrages of

that devastated the

Iraqi batteries.

The

nature of the Pioneer system, with

its

ability to provide real-

time corrections for friendly fires— without placing Marines

made

it

at

risk—

particularly useful. Further, the capability to capture

and

transmit live images of a target being destroyed— also called real-time

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

309

BDA, or Battle Damage Assessment— made it the darling of the MEF's G-2, or intelligence, cell. The video from the system was so detailed that the imagery analysts could not only confirm the or destruction of a target but also count the

Mykleby nating I

"We

recalled:

fires

it

came

damage

the dead.

got so efficient at finding targets and coordi-

against those targets that

MEF when

wounded and

we

often received priority from

to the allocation of artillery fire missions."

This hadn't always been the case. "Back in the States," recounted

Mykleby, "we were kind of the half-forgotten, ugly

way we were

joke within the squadron about the

the Marine Corps was always

stepsister.

The

treated by the rest of

VMU? VMU who?' But once they saw

what we could do, they couldn't get enough of us." This scramble

VMU-1

support from both conflict

and

sister unit,

its

VMU-2,

up and down the chain of command. The

belonged

to 3rd

created

MAW and as such were tasked via the ATO just as

day missions invariably had them flying

staff

some

units technically

any other squadron would have been. However, because

components

ferent

for

that

made up

just in front of the

the First

UAVs

many

dif-

Marine Division, various

elements from both the division and the

the temptation to try to task the

their day-to-

MEF

directly.

often yielded to

"We would be

in the

middle of executing one mission," recalled Mykleby, "and then some staff

officer— who was in no way connected to the current sortie

would send voice sion was

would

or e-mail tasking telling us that his particular mis-

now more

try to retask

important. This happened

all

the time; people

us right in the middle of a mission without coordi-

nating through the

TACC." Mykleby

these "requests out of nowhere,"

when attempts were made

and

to get the

's

it

unit couldn't

comply with

created quite a bit of friction

rogue requesters to route their

quirements through proper channels. Ultimately the pressure port outside established doctrine

was a 3rd

—

lot of fighting

became

a real distraction.

re-

for sup-

"There

over us," said Mykleby, "and people from outside

MAW seemed to forget that the MEF had other reconnaissance

and surveillance Indeed, the

UAVs

assets

available— such as the F/A-18s and AV-Bs."

MEF's G-2 personnel became

so

enamored with the

that they tried to insert themselves into the

maintenance and

310

supply issues that the staff

wanted

to

UAV

VMU squadrons dealt with on a daily basis; the

their purview,

support had

system and

its

maximum

ensure the

was wholly beyond tant

STOUT

JAY A.

become

importance

but

availability of the system.

to the

further illustrates

it

MEF. The

to the

This

how impor-

capabilities of the

ground commanders remained a

very emotional issue, and ownership and tasking were never wholly settled to everyone's satisfaction.

The two

VMU units became so adept at destroying emerging tar-

gets that their presence alone often units.

D-30

On March

28, near

artillery battery in

Suq Ash,

to neutralize Iraqi

tell

an

a Pioneer discovered

exactly

when

Iraqi

UAV

got

the buzz of the

air-

the process of displacing. As the

closer the Marine operators could craft's

was enough

unique two-stroke engine reached the ground; the faces of the immediately turned skyward.

Iraqi soldiers

The crew

Personnel Carrier dismounted and began to

fire

of one

Armored

toward the UAV. Hav-

ing no success, they clambered back into their vehicle and raced out

of the area. Recognizing the Pioneer for what

Iraqis— those

who were

portation was close at

more than the

quick

it

was, the remaining

enough— climbed

into whatever trans-

hand and

also cleared out. Essentially, nothing

and sound of the

sight

Iraqi battery useless. Regardless, a

Pioneer

crew— followed

single

Marine

UAV

artillery

had rendered the

strike— cued by the

almost immediately, destroying the guns and

the remaining Iraqis.

"There was another incident during hot in

An

Nasiriyah,"

Mykleby

one of our crews spotted

a

recalled.

March when

"On

no

real

way

things were

this particular

group of Iraqi paramilitary

bling on a street. There was artillery right at that

late

to get at

fighters

them with

moment so the crew brought the

and didn't get back together

that night." As the

gressed this type of reaction by the Iraqis

assem-

aircraft or

down to They scat-

aircraft

about seven hundred feet and flew right over their heads. tered,

evening

campaign

became more and more

pro-

the

rule rather than the exception.

On

April

5

the Marines of

VMU-1

worked with

the Eleventh Marines to accomplish a military

mander Major

Sal

Cepeda and

his

artillery units

first.

crew discovered an

of

Mission comIraqi

MIG-23

HAMMER FROM ABOVE fighter

311

parked on Al Rashid Air Base on the southeastern outskirts of

Baghdad. After calculating an accurate geo-location, Cepeda coordinated a

UAV

mission with the Eleventh Marines. With the Pioneer

fire

orbiting a short distance away, the

and waited. Only

their screens

their mark.

was the

It

first-ever kill

Ml 98s a UAV-

of an aircraft by

nature of the campaign kept the unit moving constantly;

was ceaselessly on the heels of the for

or two later they saw the

combination.

artillery

The

moment

Marines watched

explode in flames as the big rounds from the Marine

Iraqi jet

found

a

VMU-1

First

Baghdad gathered momentum. In

paign began until April 15,

VMU-1

Marine Division

total,

work and

skill

that

went

as the race

from the time the cam-

operated from

tions—mostly sections of road or captured

movements demanded

it

six different loca-

Iraqi air bases.

These

the most of every Marine. Aside from the into breaking

down and packing

the aircraft,

ground control vans, and various support equipment, the squadron's Marines and nel)

had

to

(VMU-1 had

Sailors

move

all

of the

a small contingent of

Navy person-

common logistics material that every com-

bat unit needs to operate: food, water, ammunition, and, in their case,

100LL AVGAS a

thorough

UAVs. Before each move Mykelby conducted

for the

tactical

convoy briefing that included everything from the

scheme of maneuver Briefing complete,

to the

all

preplanned

CAS

targets along the route.

vehicles were topped off with fuel, radio

ammo were

checks were accomplished, and weapons and "I

was

really

proud of those Marines and

Sailors,"

inspected.

Mykleby

re-

counted. "By the end of the campaign, they became so adept at per-

forming the that

tactical

we were

breakdown, movement, and setup procedure

routinely able to tactically displace within two and a half

hours of receiving orders.

and get a

Once we

stopped,

we were

able to set

up

UAV back in the air, again, in less than two and a half hours.

This was an all-hands

effort that

came about only

after a lot of train-

ing and experience."

Of course, moving losing people or before, the

the squadron through hostile territory without

equipment was

a feat in

itself.

As has been described

Marine RCTs often punched through an area without

312

JAY A.

clearing

it

STOUT

of the enemy. Units that followed often had to fight their

way through the same

"We made

territory.

ourselves as fearsome a tar-

get as possible," said Mykleby. "All of our squadron vehicles were

hardened with sandbags

mines and RPGs. Ev-

to protect against land

Ml 6s

eryone rode facing outboard with

at the ready,

and

several of

our larger vehicles were sandbagged and armed with .50-caliber machine guns and the smaller 7.62-caliber

Marine had been trained

own

in his

M240G machine guns.

specialty,

Each

but foremost, each and

We looked formidable— during all of our movements the enemy never chose to engage us." A testament every one of them was a rifleman.

to

VMU-l's

ability to

execute

its

more than

fact that the unit traveled

convoy miles and still— working

went without

rarely

Although tillery units,

it

VMU-1

compassed the

Imam Abu

its

in concert with

battle in

VMU-2— the RCTs

Baghdad— the

Saddam's palace,

effort.

— Pioneer

shootout that en-

as well as the clash at the

UAVs

flew overhead to help

sky, this rarely

UAVs and manned

posed a problem

aircraft in the

for the

Marines.

Mykleby remembered: "Most of the time we flew above the copter way.

traffic

And

Corps's in

and below the fixed-wing guys,

for the

most part we were

command and

so

Iraqi

control system.

will

heli-

rarely in the

Marine

We were also quite often flying

aircraft; these operations posed few,

Freedom

we were

fully integrated into the

and out of the same forward operating bases

by manned

as

Although there are certain airspace chal-

lenges associated with operating

same piece of

self-escorted

worked with F/A-18s and AV-8Bs on occasion

fight for

CAS

hundred

hunter-killer missions primarily with ar-

Hanifah Mosque

support the

fifteen

UAV coverage.

executed

During the April 10

well.

recently developed tactics was the

that if

were being used

any, problems."

probably be marked as the

first

campaign

in

UAV made major contributions through the whole of the Mykleby, an AH-1W Cobra pilot during most of his career, has

which the effort. little

doubt

as to the

importance of the role that the Marine Corps's

own RQ-2B Pioneer system the

VMU

that

was a key contributor

played. "I

would

state

unequivocally that

squadrons proved Pioneer to be an essential system, one to the

MEF's many

battlefield successes in

HAMMER FROM ABOVE As

Iraq."

aircraft

to the future,

he sees armed UAVs complementing manned

with the ability to not only guide the munitions of other

tems, but also to carry their

own weapons

time and again, saw the need for

when

this type of

fleeting, high-value targets

escaped because we couldn't get attack

sys-

in the event that a freshly

discovered target must be neutralized immediately.

bility

313

"VMU-1

crews,

immediate attack capa-

were detected but ultimately aircraft or artillery

on them

in

time."

There can be add

a

little

doubt that future

dimension of warfare only hinted

during the campaign in

Iraq.

UAV systems at

and

tactics will

by the experience gained

33

Death on the Diyala

April 5 the Marines were hard

Byfor a place to enter the stacle to their crossing

city

up

against

from the

east

Baghdad and looking

and north. The chief ob-

was the Diyala River, which ran from north

to

south before joining the Tigris in southeastern Baghdad. Although there were two bridges in the southern part of the battlespace that

might be usable, those spans were

and the

division

also likely to

be heavily defended,

wanted the option of crossing from somewhere

ther north. Elements of the ternational Airport

Army had

already raided the

In-

on the southwest edge of Baghdad, and the

Marines were anxious

to get into the city

ations in order to keep the pressure

from

on the

their

Weapons Company,

1st

LAR

5

own

area of oper-

Iraqi capital.

Major Randy "Fester" Nash had been an F/A-18 ten years. But on the afternoon of April

with

Saddam

far-

pilot for

he was serving

Battalion,

more than as

an

FAC

RCT-5. Instead of rock-

eting through the sky in one of the sleek, twin-tailed fighters that he

knew

so well,

he was perched atop an

LAV-C2— the command and

HAMMER FROM ABOVE control variant

tage point

315

on the LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicle. From

his van-

on the eastern bank of the Diyala River he looked over the

water and scanned the

far side for

enemy

activity.

Here, east of Bagh-

dad, the battalion was taking part in the encirclement of the Iraqi capital.

He had

received orders for a quick nonflying stint just the previous

year and had anticipated that he would be staying close to

home

in

San Diego, but timing and circumstances had dictated otherwise.

The buildup

for the assault

Camp

ported aboard

on

Iraq started shortly after

he had

re-

Pendleton. Just before the campaign began

Nash was given the opportunity

to serve as a very senior

FAC

with a

He jumped at the chance. He remembered that day on the Diyala: "We had been moving

front-line unit.

most of the night before, and now we were tasked with scouting ahead of the main

place for the division to cross the

from the

far

and the company commander, Captain Dave Hudspeth, had

or-

river.

side

The

effort to find a

were sending over sporadic mortar

Iraqis

dered his Marines to seek out and engage the executive officer, First Lieutenant Steve crossing

site."

From where he

of low-hanging

sat in the

palm fronds — Nash

St.

fire

enemy while he and the

John, studied a potential

LAV— screened by a canopy

listened to the radio net while

he

kept an eye on the far bank.

The murky water that made up the river stretched about thirty yards across. The banks rose steeply up both sides and were covered with a combination of reeds, high grass, and scrubby palms. paralleled the river

on the

far,

A

road

or western, side. This landscape was

markedly different from the desert topography RCT-5 had traversed in southern Iraq only a

week

or so earlier.

A motion on the western bank caught Nash's attention. There, a across the river, a squad-sized trolling

on

foot.

'These weren't Fedayeen

guys in blue jeans

can Guard "St. John,"

element of

was pa-

fighters dressed in black, or

and tennis shoes with AK-47s, these were Republi-

soldiers in full uniform."

Nash

Iraqi soldiers

just

recalled,

Nash caught

St.

John's attention.

"headed up the company's Fire Support

Team [FST] and he immediately got a

mission under way for the 81-

316

JAY A.

STOUT

An accurate grid position was passed, and it was only a moment later when a salvo of mortar fire dropped right on top of the enemy patrol. "Five of the Iraqis went down immediately, millimeter mortars."

while the

rest

ran toward a

palm

grove.

They

nately across the river at us while they ran,"

meantime the

In the

enlisted

fire

looking the

Nash continued

alert for

Nash

described.

Marines assigned

team and climbed

quickly formed a river.

fired sort of indiscrimi-

to

LAV had

to Nash's

to the top of a bluff over-

monitor the radio net and kept

anything that might require the harder-hitting punch of air-

power. At the same time Sergeant Clayton Blankenship from Nash's

LAV opened

fire

on the enemy

soldiers

who had

barrage. Clayton recalled his shooting: "As

the I

main

tree line

noticed the

fired again I

I

first

I

didn't waste

saw them advancing

to

any time putting rounds downrange.

three impacts a bit low

watched one

I

escaped the mortar

and adjusted

[Iraqi soldier] fall

down

my

aim. As

I

immediately, then

waited for the next one to pop up." After a short time Blankenship

and the

rest

of the team had dispatched the remaining

enemy

sol-

diers.

Nash tracked the company's

fight visually

and over the

radio.

Since

the start of the campaign he had controlled several air strikes, and

though he was anxious that

employing any

to play a part in this particular clash,

sort of

al-

he knew

airpower would be overkill in the short,

sharp engagements that were going on around him. It

was almost a case of deja vu when a small white pickup truck

drove up, then stopped nearly patrol

had been taken under

usually Toyotas or Nissans Iraqis.

to

at the fire.

— served

same point where the

Iraqi foot

These small white pickups— as

modern-day camels

for the

Ubiquitous, they were used for hauling everything from sheep

melons, but

lately they

had been carting Fedayeen and mortar

rounds. Three Iraqis dressed in civilian garb climbed out of this particular vehicle.

back

to the

they saw and heard the fighting they rushed

cab of the truck, where they each pulled out an

sault rifle— a fighters

When

more modern

AKM as-

version of the AK-47. Just as the three

were stepping away from the truck they were caught up

volley of fire

from one of the Marine LAVs. Nash watched

in a

as the ex-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

317

plosive 25-millimeter rounds tore into the Iraqis

where they

Another short burst blasted the pickup

stood.

some

sequently exploded as

ammunition — caught Still,

and dropped them

no

there was

fire

for

Nash

He watched the Marines around him let

airpower into the

burned It

as the

was

just

ammunition

about

this

fight.

use the right tools for the task at

loose with a

into a

so, a pair

of

TOW missile at an Iraqi The

T-72 that was moving toward the engagement.

mark and turned the enemy tank

sub-

order.

to call

hand. To the south of him, only fifteen hundred yards or

LAV-ATs (Anti-Tank variants)

It

inflammable cargo — probably

sort of

and reached high

need

real

truck.

huge

missile

fireball that

inside continued to

cook

found

its

burned and

off.

time that Nash and some of the other Marines

caught sight of a Navy F-14 Tomcat arcing low overhead. Nash

checked

his Tactical Air Direction

tact the friendly crew.

recognized the Navy

There was no reply

pilot's intent

the F-14 circle the area and

LAVs. "As

myself

a pilot

frequency and attempted to con-

I

and became anxious

make another

knew

that they

Nash

to his repeated calls.

as

he watched

pass over the

were trying

Marine

to figure

out

if

our LAVs were friendly or enemy; they wanted to drop their bombs,

and from the get/'

he

air

our unit must have looked

Nash quickly switched through

tried to establish contact with the

cide, or casualties

every

had been

killed

so earlier

when

didn't

F-14

by an Air Force A- 10 their

AAV had

in over the net asking

fire,

know

it

at

fliers.

was

a

The

tragedy of fratri-

nightmare familiar

to

at the time, several

Marines

An

week

Nasiriyah only a

been misidentified

Nash wasn't the only one who was

came

several different frequencies as

caused by friendly

FAC. Although he

like a very attractive tar-

getting

about the F-14.

as

an

Iraqi vehicle.

concerned— other there was

Still,

or

calls

no reply

The big, swing-wing fighter swept into another turn and pointed down toward the LAVs again. This time a fivehundred-pound GBU-12 fell clear of its underside. There was a loud, chest-rattling ka-ruuummmp and the two LAVto his

urgent

calls.

y

25s that

had just destroyed the Iraqi T-72 disappeared behind a cloud

of fire, smoke, and dust. his throat.

The sound

of the blast sent Nash's heart into

Amazingly, the two vehicles,

still

intact,

emerged from the

318

JAY A.

STOUT

dissipating shroud of airborne debris left

behind by the explosion.

The bomb had hit just between the two LAVs, but a few yards to their right behind a berm that paralleled the road. The earthen rise had absorbed most of the

blast;

other than ringing eardrums, a gash to the

forehead of one of the Marines was the only injury.

The

chatter over the radio net turned

was ordered

to

ensure that

These pinkish orange recognized from the

By now Nash had

who crew.

in turn

air

more

and

finally

were able

and the unit

panels were deployed atop

all

vehicles.

were intended

to

be

stretches of fabric

air

desperate,

mark the

to

made

easily

displaying units as friendly.

contact with a section of F/A-18Ds,

to establish

communications with the F-14

When told of the near calamity the Navy fliers slunk off beyond

the horizon and were not heard from again.

They were never

identi-

fied.

Several minutes later Nash's heart was

with the Navy crew and knew

that luck

still

racing.

He was

furious

was the only thing that had

kept those aviators from killing several of his fellow Marines. Using

airpower casually or indifferently was akin to handing a toddler a

loaded machine gun.

It

made everyone nervous and was

and sundry. Nevertheless,

all

on.

The company's

it

a danger to

was nothing he could afford

to dwell

skirmish with the Iraqis was ongoing, and

the current fight was finished the unit rations for the assault into

Baghdad.

when

would be busy making prepa-

He needed

to

ensure that he was

able to bring on the air assets that would be required.

It

was on

this

day that

airfield at Jalibah.

The

MAG- 16 moved

its

helicopters ashore to the

were needed deep inside Iraq were beginning lematic to effectively operate from the ships.

to It

Corps doctrine: the seizure of advanced bases wider operations.

Gulf to where they

distances from the Persian

become

was

too prob-

classic

in order to

Marine conduct

34

Al

The

British

Basrah Adventure

commitment

to

Operation Iraqi Freedom included

nearly a third of the land forces— an affirmation of the traditionally strong alliance

dom. Since the

between the United

start

Faw Peninsula and

of the war, the into

Umm

States

UK units had swept across the Al

Qasr, clearing that port so that hu-

manitarian supplies could be brought into to secure the strategic

Rumaylah

city

approaches

to

whenever and wherever they

came

also

helped

alongside their Marine

week of April they con-

desired. For a variety of reasons the

siege of Iraq's second-largest

was that the

first

They had

Al Basrah and were making raids into the

Coalition leadership did not want to

blown

Iraq.

oil fields

Corps counterparts. By the end of the trolled all the

and the United King-

commit

city.

Not the

the British to a

full-

least of these reasons

UK forces might be required if the battle for Baghdad be-

overly costly.

Before they had been briefed earlier that

had checked

Mattis's

SITREP on

morning— April

the First

Marine

6— they

Division's

web-

320

STOUT

JAY A.

page.

Most of the action had been centered on Baghdad,

AH-1W Cobra

crews of HMLA-169 were a

(Joint Tactical Air Strike Request) to

mored

units

"Pygmy" for the

Al

in

Basrah.

remembered

Hall,

Cobras had

surprised

when

they

Salem and were assigned two separate

got airborne out of Ali Al

JTARs

little

so the four

The

work with

Major Stephen

leader,

flight's

British ar-

that by this time in the conflict, the

essentially

become

of twelve lines that essentially told

ATO

a recurring "cut-and-paste" set

them when

contact for tasking once they had done

so.

to

launch and who

to

There was seldom any

clue as to what they'd actually be doing on a particular day.

"We called.

of the his

up

split

city."

He

flights as

we approached

Al Basrah," Hall at the

re-

north end

sent Lieutenant Colonel Lloyd "Shooter" Wright and

wingman, Rich

umn

two

into

"The two columns we were supporting were "Astro" Lawson, to

while he took his

work with the easternmost

own wingman, Captain David

col-

"Slant"

Blassingame, to work with the western group. Hall remembered their

"The

tasking:

Iraqis that

Brits

were playing

had been sniping

and mortar

fire.

neighborhoods

at

them and

They suspected

in the north

cat-and-mouse game with

a sort of

that the

taking

that

might

and northwest of the

front— and they wanted us

affect their

movement toward

the northern end of the

rocket

bad guys were holed up

use us as armed reconnaissance. Essentially their eyes out in

them under

city.

They wanted

we were supposed

to kill

to

in to

be

whatever we found

the Shatt Al Arab River at

city."

Hall led his section on a series of hard-turning sweeps a mile or two

out in front and to the flanks of the British tanks. Flying below two

hundred

made

a

dustrial

the

city.

feet

and

at

speeds in excess of

tremendous racket

and It

residential

was

as

1

30 knots, the two gunships

they clattered just above the mix of in-

neighborhoods that made up that portion of

a beautiful

day and Hall could see his helicopter's

shadow racing along the ground then leaping on top of buildings and then back to noise

street level again.

and commotion from

Except

for the startled looks that the

the two Cobras generated, there ap-

peared to be nothing threatening or even out of the ordinary.

two crews stayed

alert,

and Hall ensured

Still,

the

that they never repeated

HAMMER FROM ABOVE from the same direction. Staying unpredictable

their passes

environment was a key

up with

got joined

Safwan

FARP

more

to get

that serviced

While the four

rah.

in this

to surviving.

we hadn't seen

"After nearly two hours,

"We

321

Shooter's section

gas."

Safwan was a

much

a thing/' Hall recalled.

and then headed over

to

British-Marine Corps

joint

of the rotary-wing activity around Al Bas-

aircraft

were refueled Hall rebriefed the crews,

and before long they were airborne again.

DASC(A), they were again

After checking in with the

"When we showed

support the two British armored columns.

Hall remembered, "we found that they hadn't gone

dred meters since the time that part of

we had

directed to

more than

a

up,"

hun-

This reluctance on the

left."

ground units— even armored columns — not

to

advance with-

out helicopters to scout ahead was vexing for the Cobra crews. wasn't that they were afraid," Hall said.

were

of noncombatants and the

full

enemy

"It

was

it

up ambushes." Indeed, the armored

to set

gone anywhere they wanted and leveled everything killing

It is

them

difficult to

men on

Still,

units could have in their

way while

after

convince a people that you have come

you have

killed their families

homes. Having the Cobras available the

very easy for the

anyone they wanted, but doing so would have created more

enemies. erate

towns

just that the

ROE made

"It

to scout

to lib-

and destroyed

their

ahead made the job of

the ground easier and cleaner.

none of the Cobra

copters—liked

pilots

to operate in the

— in

their relatively flimsy heli-

urban environment; every house or

we were ever taught," city. But when our 'earth

building hid a potential ambush. "Everything Hall said, "told us to beware the fight in the

men' brothers decisions.

call for help, there

One

is

often a very fine line between two

of those decisions can result in a person being ac-

cused of 'being a cowboy' and taking on too

much

risk.

cision can result in a person being called a coward.

prefer to put

on the ten-gallon

The

We

other deall

would

hats."

Hall coordinated with the British column, and

moments

later his

section of Cobras was scouting the British flanks as well as the

way

ahead. To the west, Wright and his two gunships were doing the

322

JAY A.

STOUT

same. This time they were tasked with investigating a group of stadi-

ums that made up

part of a sporting complex.

The helicopters hunted

and pecked around the area and came up empty-handed. Hall and Blassingame were away from the to

column

was while

It

that things

began

"We had made about two or three sweeps and were a couof miles out— near the Shatt Al Arab River— when we got a call

happen.

ple

that the Brits

were 'taking

RPG

and heavy machine-gun

fire/ "

Hall

remembered.

He

turned the section south back toward the column and almost

immediately gained sight of the smoke and

"The FAC with the

British position.

taking

from

fire

their north

building was unique

Blassingame picked gained sight of

arms

Shooter,

same

— almost

now marked

the

out that they were

The FAC was

correct.

Oriental in appearance— and

out quickly. "At about the same time that

it

this place, Slant called

coming from the

fire

that

a tall white structure with a dis-

recounted Hall.

tinctive, shiny black roof,"

The

— from

fire

Brits called

who was about two

I

out that he could see small-

building,

and almost simultaneously

or three miles to our west, called out the

thing."

Hall formulated a plan of attack. "After

headed south — I turned wanted

to

run

at

it

from

east to

we

passed the building—

make room

east to west."

for

our

firing

run

—

When he had created about two

miles of separation from the target, he started a climbing left-hand turn through the north and back to the west in preparation for his tack.

his

It

was while he was leading Blassingame through

master caution light illuminated.

He

this

took a quick look

at-

turn that

down

into

the cockpit and noted that his transmission chip light was on. This

was an indication that mission,

which was

would have aborted

in

slivers of

metal had been detected in his trans-

danger of coming

his

apart.

During peacetime he

run immediately. This was not peacetime.

"I

checked and the engine was indicating about 108 percent torque.

Normal was 85 "I

was

in

100 percent." Hall pressed his attack.

about a twenty-degree dive headed toward the building.

came back on per of my

to

the power to extend

my tracking time,

HUD just below the building while

I

I

and put the pip-

looked for a good aim

HAMMER FROM ABOVE was

point." Hall's plan

to

put a pod

323

of 2.75-inch rockets into the

full

building and to follow that up with a good dose of 20-millimeter can-

non

fire.

What he saw

match up with what he had planned.

didn't

men and women and

nothing/' he said. There were

around arms.

as if everything

children walking

was normal— people with groceries

was Mister Rogers' neighborhood. Not wanting

It

saw

"I

in their

to

the

fill

scene below with the thousands of razor-sharp flechettes that the rockets

would unleash, Hall broke

who had been

for Slant,

off his attack,

climbing turn

started a hard left-hand

offset to

my

to

back

right,

added power, and watched

to the east. "I

and he pulled

off target

without firing as well." Hall continued his turn back toward the east and rolled wings level

while he gained separation again and tried to formulate his next

move. "It

was then that

It

was

as if someone

had taken

them

loons and started popping

membered. "We were

NTS

was

his ship

hit.

bouquet of those giant party

a

my

right in front of

face,"

getting hit hard in the nose section,

[Night Targeting System] caught

fire

bal-

he

re-

and the

and the cockpit started

fill-

ing with smoke." Hall was worried about his copilot, First Lieutenant

Dale "Amish" Behm. "At

"He was shouting

least

like hell

up

out and between that and

all

and the radio noise It

I

I

knew he

wasn't dead," he recounted.

there, but the intercom

had been shot

the explosions and the caution tones

couldn't understand a word he was saying."

wasn't just an isolated burst of fire that caught Hall's aircraft.

"We

kept getting hit mostly in the front section but also in the main fuse-

and

lage

tail

boom — at one

skid to the left as

where the away tion,"

to

fire

one

he

if

a giant

bat.

I

could

feel the rear of the aircraft

hand had swatted

it."

Hall couldn't

tell

to turn

side or another, or reverse course. "In that sort of situa-

said,

like

I

was coming from and didn't know whether

"our tactics

through the ambush, and kind of

point

call for us to just

that's

what

I

did. It

keep driving

straight

was a helpless feeling-

being in a dark room and being beat up with a baseball

was sure we were going

to crash right there

"

Hall finally brought the Cobra out of the trap. Although the cock-

324

was

pit

STOUT

JAY A.

full

of smoke and most of his engine gauges were shot out or

reading zero, the aircraft was flying surprisingly well.

my

miles away flying parallel to me.

I

took a deep breath, found

'he-man' voice, and called out that

Wright rogered

Hall

his call

we had been

managed

Cobra pointed west toward the

to get his

to find the

The

put down."

all

along both sides and

it

also taken several as Hall. "I

man-

posted at the same point.

and

I

couldn't find a place

set

He

down

it

ran

south until he found a break in the wires.

doubly relieved when he saw a

into the wind,

had

damaged

road was built up above the marshy terrain

through, and he followed felt

aircraft

as heavily

British ar-

road that the Brits were on," he remembered, "but

there were power lines

Hall

that Hall's ship

fairly heavily.

hits— was in tow but not nearly

to

my best

hit pretty hard."

and "helpfully" pointed out

mored column. Blassingame— whose aged

looked out

he remembered, "and could see Shooter about two

right side/'

was smoking

"I

Challenger tank

British

slowed the stricken helicopter, turned

in the

middle of the road only a few yards

from the tank.

He the

recounted:

shouted up

"I

bird— see how bad

and made

a quick turn

it

was."

at

Behm

a slicing

to get

out and take a look at

lifted his

canopy, crawled out,

around the Cobra. The look on

Hall that they were lucky to have

made

Amish

motion across

made

it

his face told

as far as they had.

one hand;

his throat with

it

Behm

was the

sig-

nal for Hall to shut the aircraft down.

As the Cobra's two engines wound down, Hall climbed out and joined I'll

Behm

in a quick survey of the

damage. "For Bell Helicopter

do advertisements, commercials, infomercials

want, for free, for the rest of my airplane flew for as long as able."

holes

The all

more than miracle.

front of the

through a

it.

it

life.

To me

it

did as well as

.

.

.

whatever they

was impossible that that it

did

—

it

was unbeliev-

Cobra had been shot up and had multiple

That Behm,

in the front cockpit,

had nothing

handful of metal shavings thrown into his lap was a near

There were holes

casings, in the tail

boom,

in the belly of the aircraft, in the in the

main and

engine

rear rotors— virtually ev-

erywhere. Especially unnerving was a huge hole where nearly half of

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

325

the driveshaft to the rear rotor had been torn away. Fuel drained onto the pavement, and the entire

of the aircraft was covered in

left side

oil.

"At that point

whole thing was

was pretty relieved/' Hall

I

over."

He walked

and introduced himself

even get out

the few yards to the British tank

to the crew.

much

they seemed pretty

get

"They were nice enough but

to take a look at the aircraft,

some

whole

indifferent to the

around and give us some security and

we could

was glad the

said. "I

thing.

They

but they did agree to

and get word out

to try

stick

so that

sort of aircraft recovery organized."

wasn't long before Wright and Blassingame landed their Cobras

It

next to Hall's ship. Wright's

wingman remained overhead

high cover. "Shooter and

looked over

started putting together a

had

didn't

I

list

airplane again and

we

of parts that would be needed in case

we

to fix the thing right there.

started to feel

I

up, and technically the schedule

mission

had

The handful

minded him later

that

"It

their

really shot

listed as the

was leading." After the two

for his

fliers

M4

him

carbine and wished

of extra rounds was a wake-up call for Hall; they re-

he wasn't exactly

Wright and Blassingame

behind with

I

bad — it was

day had Shooter

of spares, Wright gave Hall the two magazines of

list

ammunition he was carrying luck.

for that

commander even though

tallied the

my

to provide

new

was then that

they had taught us

I

in friendly territory.

lifted off,

and Hall and

A few minutes

Behm were

left

British best friends.

started trying to recall all the infantry stuff that

when we were second

[The Basic School]," Hall

said.

lieutenants back in

Both he and

Behm

TBS

retrieved the

M4

carbines they kept stowed in the aircraft for just this sort of emergency. Hall sent

Behm

over to the eastern edge of the road, where

there were what appeared to be

From

some neglected

there the copilot could see across the marsh that ran adjacent

to that part of the road. Hall posted

was nothing

to

do but

The southern edge

himself on the west

side.

There

wait.

of Al Basrah was about two miles north of the

two Marines and their crippled

up

fighting positions.

bird.

That portion of the

about thirty feet above the wetlands that abutted

it

city

was built

to the south.

326

JAY A.

STOUT

Hall could see crowds of people standing on the high ground looking

and pointing he noted

where he and

at

were

sitting.

Curious onlookers,

to himself.

was maybe half an hour

It

Behm

Not only

getting bigger.

him. "We're not talking

when he saw that the crowd was was starting down the road toward

later

that,

it

forty or fifty folks,"

he remembered. 'This

crowd was huge — probably seven hundred of them. There were old

men, women, young men — it was the

Could he

we had seen news

days

talked about shields.

how

fire

do?

How

reports that described suicide

telling

few

women and

children as

what these people intended— there

He

started

ROE in his head. A war crimes trial was not something

that interested him. It

last

bombers and

could have been a hundred guys in there with RPGs." going over the

would he

warning shots? "During the

the Iraqis were using

There was no

entire neighborhood!"

What would he

Hall started getting nervous. stop the crowd?

kids,

wasn't nearly

He counted

enough

thanked his lucky

ammunition.

had gotten

if I

stars that

his

"I

had 112 rounds.

into a shooting match."

the British tank was

still

He

backing him up.

was then that Wright and the other two Cobras showed up over-

It

head.

The

crowd

for the next ten

three gunships

made

low, threatening passes over the

minutes but with no

ROE

Basrah trusted the Coalition

too

effect.

The people from Al

much — not

that

it

mattered

anyway. Wright and the other two ships had shot up most of their am-

munition

at Iraqi

armor during the time since they had

left

Hall on

the road. After a short time they were out of fuel and gone.

And the crowd kept coming. Hall remembered: "I wasn't sure what their intent was, but when they got inside of about five hundred meters

I

stroy

be

climbed up onto the tank and told the our

fine,

aircraft

and haul our

by

to de-

that

would

Of

course

Brits to stand

asses out of there.

They said

but again didn't seem particularly concerned.

there was the simple fact that they were sitting

inside one of the best

MBTs

jumped back down

[Main

Battle Tanks] in the world." Hall

the road, and he and

Behm

to

returned to their respective sides of the

road and watched the crowd press on. There was no sense standing

out in the open where a sniper might have been able to pick them

off.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE The about

Iraqis

continued

to rally south

to write off his aircraft

when

down

the road, and Hall was

the roar of two British Scimitar

tracked armored vehicles caught his attention.

behind

327

They raced up from

in a line-abreast formation, split their formation as they

passed the Challenger and Cobra on either side of the road, then

stopped about a hundred yards in front of the Iraqi throng. "A couple of guys got out with engineer stakes and police tape and strung off the road," Hall recollected.

and

"And

it

worked— they crowded up

against

it

didn't pass."

It

actually

worked

British Scimitar

cannon

startled

by

sev-

boom-boom-boom! The

fire:

gunners put four salvos of three rounds each into

the road just ahead of the

mob

The guns were more

tape.

few minutes. Hall was

for only a

eral bursts of 30-millimeter

of Iraqis

effective

who had broken through

the

than the tape, and soon the rab-

ble was milling in retreat. "It

was then that somebody in Al Basrah started shooting mortars

at

The rounds weren't hitting very close, but that didn't mean that they couldn't make corrections," Hall recalled. Only a few minutes later the British upped the ante a notch when they targeted the morus.

tar positions

with 155-millimeter counterbattery

fire.

Things were

getting interesting. "I

was starting

needed

a

wonder

to

if

anyone had gotten the word out

of assistance.

little bit

I

had known Shooter

he wouldn't have

and was

pretty sure

Hall. "I

had expected

a recovery

team by

faced with a potentially dangerous aircraft

under the middle of an

power on It

was

scene.

mob

for fifteen years

hanging," remembered

that time." Instead

he was

Fortunately he had

fire-

his side. at

about

The

British

this

time that another vehicle rumbled onto the

had sent

a tank retriever to grab Hall's helicopter.

swung out from the bed — it was charge of the operation was immediately. "At

and

we

while he babysat a shot-up

artillery duel.

"This thing was pretty neat," he recalled.

bird

me

left

that

lift it

first

up,"

all

"It

had a crane-like arm

really heavy-duty."

that

The engineer

in

business and started his crew to work

he wanted

remembered

to

put a couple of straps under the

Hall.

"But the

aircraft

would have

328

crushed

we had

itself

to,

we

under lifted

own

its it

minutes had fashioned a

A short time

retriever It

and

weight, so

bolted straight into the American

later Hall's aircraft

and

for Hall

Behm

was

safely

to leave.

Hall said, "and said our good-byes.

good work

for us,

and now

I

The

was

citement was really over." By and large

were trucked down

detachment there. bat.

rotor

arrangement and within twenty

at the

rig that

him that when head/' The British

explained to

fit-

aboard the bed of the

tied fast.

was time

pretty

I

up from the top by the

engineer took a quick look

ting.

STOUT

JAY A.

to

"We thanked

Brits really

had done some

fairly certain that it

was.

everyone,"

the day's ex-

The Cobra and

Safwan and turned over

to the

its

crew

Marine Corps

A few days later Hall and Behm were back in com-

35

Gunning Down the Fedayeen

April 8 the First

Marine Division was

and

across the Diyala

in-

Byside the outer limits of Baghdad. Although the RCTs were ready to

plunge into the heart of the

higher than the ators of 3rd

various considerations at a level

city,

MEF were holding them back. For their part, the avi-

MAW

continued to provide support— flying whatever

missions their grunt brothers required. Nevertheless, as the enemy's territory shrank, so did the

by 3rd

MAW's

fixed-wing

number jets.

of targets that required servicing

As the Army and the Marine Corps

strung a noose around Baghdad, the physical proximity of their units to

each other grew closer and

closer.

Originally the section of two F/A-18Ds was scheduled for

duty south of Baghdad on the morning of April just

been shot down and we were assigned

the low-flying Air Force

up the 533.

pilot,"

HH-60 Pave Hawks

remembered Major

Jay

8.

FAC(A)

"But an A-10 had

to act as a radio relay for

that

"Chewy"

were en route

to pick

Frey, of VMFA(AW)-

330

STOUT

JAY A.

An

Iraqi

SAM, most

Jim Ewald's

likely a Russian-built SA-16,

hut

I

think

I

engine and 77

need

Major

his shoulder as the aircraft disinte-

grated around him. Well after the fact he joked:

is,

hit

an A-10 of the USAF's 110th Fighter Wing.

aircraft,

Ewald remembered looking over

parts falling off the

had

it.

I

thought,

A short time

".

I really

later

I

.

.

don't

could see

little

know what that

he ejected from the mor-

tally stricken aircraft.

Frey and his their

pilot,

Major Scott "Weeds" Wedemeyer, along with

squadron mates in the other Hornet, reconnoitered the area

where the Air Force

jet

had been downed

as well as the route that the

rescue helicopters would take out. Traveling at nearly five hundred knots at ten thousand

FLIR pod In the

feet, this

was a

difficult task.

Even using

their

they couldn't guarantee that the route was clear.

meantime Ewald had parachuted

cover in a dry canal.

He

to the

ground and taken

could hear engine noise

as vehicles ap-

proached; nevertheless he stayed hidden, as he knew that there were

enemy

troops in the area.

were speaking Iraqi.

Then

It

wasn't long before he heard voices; they

in English, but

he couldn't be sure that they weren't

there was a shout: "Hey, pilot dude!

Americans." Ewald realized that

this

group most

Come

out.

We're

likely wasn't

made

up of Iraqis who spoke good English. He had indeed been found by the good guys. Within minutes he was scooped

up by

soldiers

from

the Army's Fifty-fourth Engineer Battalion.

Finding nothing threatening, Frey and Wedemeyer passed their information to ter.

Warhawk

Warhawk — the Army's

Hornets and directed the Marines

FAC

Air Support Operations

Cen-

assigned a pair of Air Force aircraft to relieve the two to contact Bullet 39,

an Army

attached to a convoy stopped in Al Hillah. Bullet 39's convoy

was taking rocket and mortar

fire

from

a pair of

compounds on

the

north side of the highway that ran to Karbala, twenty miles or so to the west. "Bullet 39 and his convoy were under attack," Frey recalled, "but

he couldn't tell from where." The area was dustrial structures— a

a

mix of residential and

in-

jumble of buildings, any one of which could

have held squads of enemy

soldiers.

Here and there earthen berms

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

331

had been scraped up around blocks of buildings. These were obviously intended to serve as defensive positions for the Iraqi Army.

Bullet 39 could do no good without being able to put his eyes on

who were firing into his convoy. Likewise the Hornets help him if they couldn't see the enemy. Finding the Iraqis

the Iraqis

couldn't

from above was proving clouds at about

six

to

thousand

be

difficult;

feet,

and

it

there was a broken layer of

was hazy below. "Bullet asked

come down and take a look," Frey recalled. "Weeds left our wingman up above the cloud deck and took us down; we raced up and down the highway looking for the bad guys." Although they still us to

were unable fire

to spy the

enemy, Bullet 39 reported

had stopped. Perhaps

enough

to

cause the

just the sight

enemy

that the

and noise of the F/A-18D was

troops to cease their shooting.

"By that time we were running low on fuel and had tanker track,"

remembered

incoming

Frey.

"We promised

to

bingo to the

Bullet that we'd be

back, and then headed out to get gas. At about the

same time, an

Army OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter showed up. We passed what little information we had to those guys before we left." The Marine KC-130 that the two F/A-18s rendezvoused with was nearly out of "give." There was only birds,

and Wedemeyer sent

his

provide help for a reasonable to

enough

fuel to top off

wingman back

amount

one of the

to Al Jaber. Better to

of time with just one ship than

show up with two and leave almost immediately. After filling his aircraft,

Wedemeyer backed

the

out of the

jet

drogue, retracted his refueling probe, edged away from the big tanker, then descended distant.

and turned back toward Al Hillah,

Frey switched frequencies immediately. "As soon as

in,

the Kiowa crew

hit

by an

had been

RPG hit,

came up on

they had located the

fire

Army

arrival

mark

it

checked

Even though they

helicopter been shot

He

passed their estimated

overhead the enemy position, and the with a mortar just

to pass us a

again as well. Frey immediately

started formulating a plan with Bullet 39.

try to

area.

enemy and managed

decent grid location." Not only had the

time of

I

miles

the radio and told us that they'd been

and were clearing out of the

up, but the convoy was taking

sixty

a few seconds prior

FAC

agreed to

to their arrival

332

JAY A.

would help

time. This

STOUT

them both

to give

a

common

point of refer-

ence.

we approached

"Just as

passed, a mortar

round

the grid location that the Kiowa had

on the north

hit

side of the road, right be-

tween two bermed compounds," recounted

mark and Bullet 39 responded

Frey. "I called out the

that our target was the westernmost of

the two compounds."

Wedemeyer wrapped

the Hornet around in a hard

down

turn and brought the ship

"We could

bered:

mounted

over the

left

compound. Frey remem-

see two white pickup trucks with mortar tubes

in the beds.

These were the kind of vehicles

that the Feday-

een favored, and there were a couple of dozen of them the trucks.

descending

in

and around

We could see their faces turned up and looking at us as we

flew over the top of them."

Wedemeyer snapped the jet into a steep climb while both he and Frey looked down behind them through the haze to keep the enemy position in sight.

On

the

main highway

to the west of the

Fedayeen

compound Frey could make out the twenty-five or so vehicles that made up Bullet 39's convoy. He called the Army FAC as Wedemeyer increased their altitude. "Bullet 39, Anubis 45, the western

enemy

personnel.

get." Bullet

at

compound IVe

We re

got eyes

1

call as

sight. In

on two technicals and multiple

going to conduct Type

39 rogered Frey's

have you in

III

Wedemeyer

CAS on

that tar-

leveled the Hornet

approximately eight thousand feet and then swung the

around

Type tially,

in a right-hand turn in preparation for a rocket attack. III

CAS

once the

was the most permissive of the three pilot or aircrew

cute his attacks at his for

him

own

discretion.

to get approval to

variants. Essen-

was certain of the enemy's position

and the positions of all nearby friendly

ment

aircraft

troops,

he was cleared

There was no further

to exe-

require-

employ weapons.

"While we were climbing we watched some of the Fedayeen get into the trucks while a

remembered

Frey.

hand turn and

bunch of others ran

into

one of the buildings,"

"Weeds brought us back around

started a dive

pickups." For this attack

from the north

Wedemeyer

in

another

right-

directly toward the

two

had decided to shoot four 5-inch

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

HE rockets.

333

Streaking earthward in a fifteen-degree dive at nearly five

HUD on the two closely parked vehicles. The rockets were unguided — not much hundred

knots,

different

from the

War

II.

he steadied the illuminated pipper

had been used during World

aerial rockets that

They could

find their

in his

mark only

aimed by the

if skillfully

Wedemeyer waited until the jet passed through six thousand before he mashed his thumb down on the control stick's red

pilot.

feet

bomb

same button was used

release button; the

rockets.

to fire the aircraft's

Four of the rockets whooshed out of the pod on the

jet's

right-

hand wing. At the same time, Wedemeyer pulled back on the control stick and pointed the

craft's

"Weeds was

recounted Frey. "He didn't miss too often,

right on,"

and both of the trucks were sued on the ground;

it

was

The two Marines could positions

and running

air-

skyward again.

jet

hit

as if

see

and caught

someone had

A commotion

fire."

stirred

up

en-

a nest of rats.

more Fedayeen climbing out of fighting

two of the bigger buildings.

into

"By now the weather had improved," recounted thousand

a scattered-to-broken layer at about five

Frey.

but

feet,

above and below. Our attack pattern evolved into a

"There was it

was clear

sort of cloverleaf.

We would hit them from one direction, then come off target and turn ninety degrees to get

some

separation.

with a 180-degree turn and

come

Then we would

right

back

reverse course

at the target for

another

run.

Wedemeyer climbed

This time

feet before leveling off. fire

He and

the Hornet

up

to twelve

thousand

Frey both checked for anti-aircraft

or missiles before rolling over into another attack. Their target

was one of the two buildings the Fedayeen had scuttled into safety.

However, the structure would

five-hundred-pound into

GBU-12

that the two fliers

from the

were going

to

put

it.

In a thirty-degree dive

grow bigger actly

offer little protection

for

as

Wedemeyer watched

he carefully steered the

jet until

under the fluorescent green pipper

atop the

jet's

glare shield.

target designator cursor

Wasting no

the

that

enemy compound

the building was ex-

glowed

time, he pressed

on the right-hand

throttle

and

in the

HUD

down on

the

started a pull

334

JAY A.

STOUT

out of his dive— at the same time following the steering line that ap-

peared in the

HUD.

Immediately upon Wedemeyer designating the target through

HUD, same

FLIR pod

the Hornet's

his

automatically slaved directly to the

target. In the rear cockpit

Frey took control of the pod and

squinted into the gray-green display to confirm that the device was actually looking at the correct building.

he

felt

tion.

and heard

thunk

as the

GBU-12 dropped

he

felt

the onset of the four-g pull that

started

climbing back

With the building troller to

bomb

clear of its

later

wing

sta-

display's steering

the pod straight at the target. In the

diamond

same

Frey's control

was

energy from

head on

it.

"The place disappeared

in a massive ex-

he remembered. "Fire and smoke and dust— I don't know survived that blast."

Before the smoke even began to dissipate,

Wedemeyer

pulled the

back around and dropped the nose down toward the com-

pound once more. Again he designated

GBU-12, and again

Frey's control of the

ond building was destroyed nothing

fired laser

instant the seeker

started guiding to

perfect.

how anyone could have aircraft

hand con-

exactly centered.

detected the energy reflecting off the structure where the

Fedayeen were hiding and

plosion,"

the ground Bul-

positively identified, Frey used his

keep the FLIR

bomb

On

drop into the compound.

to

Simultaneously he squeezed the trigger that

the

few seconds

call out, "One away," Wedemeyer put on the

to altitude again.

39 waited and watched for the

let

a very

At the same time, he heard Wedemeyer

and then jet as

a

Only

of

left

When

the

and made

it,"

the target and dropped a

bomb was

just like the first

"The

flawless.

sec-

had been— there was

he remembered.

smoke cleared Wedemeyer dropped the

a high-speed pass over the

jet

down low

compound. He and Frey both

spotted a group of about half a dozen Fedayeen running out of the

complex and toward the wall of another compound about two hundred yards to the west. Frey contacted Bullet 39 and asked him what

he wanted the two Marines the call that

Keeping

came

to

do with the small group.

"Kill

'em" was

back.

sight of the

enemy

soldiers

was

difficult,

and Wedemeyer

HAMMER FROM ABOVE worked hard

them

to

keep the

in the dust

and haze. He reached up

selected air-to-ground aircraft fire,

gun

jet

gun

his

he didn't

lose

to his left-hand display

and

so that

weapon. Checking

as his

he wrenched the

and put the pipper of Iraqis.

enough

aircraft close

335

for

enemy

over into another right-hand turn

group of fleeing

sight over the small

Their black uniforms contrasted sharply with the tan

"If Weeds

terrain.

was good with rockets, he was even better with the gun,"

Frey recalled. "He set up the

any of them

anti-

run very carefully— we didn't want

first

to get away." Flying in a very shallow dive,

Wedemeyer

waited until he was almost too close before he squeezed the trigger on

He

his control stick.

held

it

for only a second.

Vulcan cannon responded with aircraft

and sent

the small group.

a

The

a vrrrrrrrrrr that

six-barreled

M61

buzzed through the

hundred 20-millimeter, high-explosive rounds

at

The pattern of projectiles tore into the running men; enemy fighters emerged from the cloud of smoke

only three of the

and

dust.

Mindful of the fort for a pilot

for

a

fact that their

who had been

morning had

shot down, both Marines kept a lookout

enemy missiles and anti-aircraft fire

as

second run. "There was only one guy Their third and

final

gun run

Bullet 39 reported that that

started with a rescue ef-

Wedemeyer set them up for

left after

killed the

that pass," Frey said.

remaining

against his convoy

all fire

Iraqi.

had ceased and

he was continuing west along the main highway. He thanked the

two Marines and cleared them

to switch frequencies.

Meanwhile the encirclement of Baghdad ground "Fester" Nash, the senior

LAV

at the

FAC

with

object in the distance.

It

black dishdasha. Nearer to the dead lifeless Iraqi

1st

was

on.

Major Randy

LAR, peered from atop

his

a body, clad in a traditional

man he realized his mistake. The

had no clothes on; the black robe had instead been

cloak of thousands

a

upon thousands of flies.

As a Marine aviator fellow Air Force and

this

Navy

was something that separated him from fliers.

saw firsthand the gruesome

Rare were the occasions

effects of their

when

handiwork on the

his

they

battle-

336

JAY A.

field.

To be

honest,

wasn't an "every-career" occurrence for Marine

but the nature of their service put them in a position

aviators, either, to

it

STOUT

do so more frequently. Having been

fighting,

He I

in the thick of

Nash had seen many bodies on the march up

much to

of the

Baghdad.

recollected his thoughts and feelings:

can never

recall feeling repulsed or

any sense of remorse.

was mostly indifference — other than trying

why

that particular Iraqi

admit that

if

would stand and

and when there was time

dered about that individual,

stances—perhaps his family, or

may

more

was

if

fight.

make

to reflect,

he was only caught up

that

I

likely

to fight.

at least

often

I

will

won-

in circum-

his best attempt at earning a living for

he was forced

There were

his children, especially.

demanded

I

It

sense of

Although

to fight.

This of course

not have been the case with the Fedeyeen

more than happy ily,

it

to

who seemed

also thoughts of his fam-

Being the father of a four-year-old

consider that.

36

Fight for the Palace and Mosque,

Parti

The

first

couple of days

were a wild

after the

Marine Corps's entry

Baghdad, the young Marines fought through Baathists

and Fedayeen

as liberators at another.

at

one

turn,

thing

"Tamer and

came down.

agreed that

no idea It

to

I

I

it

were

in the

down by

TACC

a jubilant

watching

can remember that we looked the end.

would drag on

with the

like

it

It

was

all over.

crowd on

CNN when that

at

each other and

Of course we had

has."

Combat Teams were

able

across the borders of their various zones of responsibility.

The

was on April 10 that

meet

firefights

Robling remembered watching the famous

we had reached

that

Baghdad

and were cheered and mobbed

video of Saddam's statue being torn April 9.

into

Army's soldiers in western

roller-coaster ride. Like the

all

fierce defense of the city

the Regimental

by organized elements of Saddam's armies

never materialized; instead the Americans were hit by Fedayeen ulars

and

irreg-

scattered regime loyalists. Simultaneously the celebrations by

the long-oppressed population erupted into widespread looting by

citi-

338

JAY A.

zens and criminals

crossroads. Liberators

crying need for

And

The

a

still

streets

and

someone

need

The

alike.

for

STOUT

division's

victors they

to

Marines were

may have

confusing

at a

been, but there was a

simply maintain law and order.

someone

to fight.

and alleyways were

no option

so narrow that there was

other than to crush everything in the way. Stair railings and steps, bicycles,

units

and small market stands were destroyed; even air-conditioning

were snagged and ripped out of their window mounts. The line

of tracked mechanical dinosaurs was

of the First Battalion Fifth Marines.

made up It

of the tanks and

was bound

for

AAVs

Saddam's Az-

imiyah Palace on the banks of the Tigris, in the heart of Baghdad.

From where he was standing in the troop compartment of "Track 109," Captain Shawn "Spaz" Basco squinted through his night-vision goggles at the doors and windows of the buildings that pressed in on

both sides of the column. Five Marines, weapons ready, lined each side of the long

open hatches

heavy beast.

at the top of the

shy of 0200 on the morning of April 10 and quiet,

it

was very

was

quiet.

just

Too

seemed.

Basco had been trained like that

it

It

of

all

That was long

Marine

as

an F/A-18

officers,

past now,

pilot,

but his

initial instruction,

included infantry training and

and he had spent the

last several

ing through the sky far from the wet and dirt that

tactics.

years rocket-

marked duty

in the

the call came for volunteers to fill FAC billets, Basco He was due for a stint in a nonflying position anyway, and doing time as a FAC appealed to him. It was a duty that could only be held by a pilot, and as a FAC he would be responsible for coordinatfield. Still,

when

put his hand up.

ing air support missions for the ground unit to

Basco's previous three weeks of

Bravo

Company of the

world

to

him.

It

First Battalion

through the head

as the

sport shirt— had raised an

command

which he'd be as the

vehicle.

Just the previous

man — dressed

RPG

FAC

had opened up an

was an environment that had called

Marine Corps had taught him. Iraqi

combat

launcher

assigned.

assigned to entirely

for every skill the

day he had shot an

in polyester slacks

to fire

new

and

a

on the company's

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Basco turned in the dark

was

at this very

to say

It

the most

enormous explosion

"An

RPG slammed

mushroom cloud

of

fire that

its

into Basco's

path."

to the

company gunnery

night turned to day.

"It

was

ever seen or heard" he remembered.

I'd

into a tanker [fuel truck]

ating everything in

smashed

something

moment that the

sergeant.

339

swept up and

An

and erupted

down

into a

the alleyway inciner-

instant later the burning shock

AAV. "When

regained consciousness

I

huge

I

wave

was on

the floor of the track in a pile with everyone else and flames were cas-

down through

cading

the hatch.

In the dark hull of the

We were going to die."

AAV more

than a dozen stunned Marines

writhed in the dark, gasping for the

sumed.

It

was a hellish nightmare of

about

thirty

catch

my

seconds

—

it

seemed

However,

breath.

I

the fireball had con-

Basco recalled: "After

forever— I was

me

and helmet had been blown

in

one

off and

eye.

I

was a mess;

my gog-

my Ml 6 had been thrown to

the forward end of the troop compartment."

AAV, dazed and

finally able to

couldn't hear anything, and the flash

from the explosion had blinded gles

like

air that

a scene.

The Marines

inside the

disoriented, stumbled over each other trying to re-

gain their bearings. Outside, a solid sheet of machine-gun tracers stretched

up and down the

alley;

The American rounds burned Fiery rooftops.

trails

white tracers marked the Iraqi

fire.

There were more white than

red.

red.

of RPG rounds also blasted

down from

the windows and

Many were shot from such short ranges that they failed to fuse

and explode. "Rather than blowing up," Basco recounted, "they

just hit

and burned. Sometimes they hit our rucksacks— we had them fastened to the outside of the

vehicle— and

just

burned our

stuff up."

In the tight confines of the alley, there was nothing that air support

could do for the

fight. Still

his eyes to focus,

unable

to hear,

and having trouble getting

Basco grabbed a spare

M16

strapped to the AAV's bulkhead and added his

from where

fire to

it

was

the maelstrom.

Complex on the southern edge of Baghdad had been a training base for some of Saddam's most elite fighting organizations. That had been before the war. Now, less than

The Rasheed Fedayeen

Military

three weeks into the campaign,

it

was serving

as the First

Marine Di-

340

STOUT

JAY A.

Command Post. Like bees to honey the Marines had staked out their CP on the complex's lush playing field — the first real

vision's

Forward

grass they

had seen since leaving the United

Gunfire

46E near

rattled

from somewhere

were able

and

onboard medical

to use the

and he blinked

The

smell, though. thirty or

more

had

transport helicopter

off the floor of the aircraft.

light

far off in the dark. Inside his

It

was

its

stretchers as cots

years of Marines

and

and

men

stay

up

several hours before day-

still

into the dark, not able to see

old bird stank of

benefits; the

jet fuel

much. He could

and hydraulic

their cargo.

It

fluid

and

wasn't a bad stink.

Hurst and his friend Captain Larry Brown were on alert.

CH-

the CP, Captain David Hurst rolled over in his sleeping

Crewing on the old

bag.

States.

CASEVAC

Larry was asleep just a few feet away, as were the rest of the crew.

And although he couldn't see it, Hurst knew that only about fifty feet or so from their own helicopter squatted the other aircraft in their section. Inside

it,

Captains Will Oliver and Jeff Dansie and their crew

were also catching up on

To

this point the

sleep.

campaign had been

a

wearying grind

for the

crews of HMM-165; they had flown day and night nearly nonstop on a

wide range of missions.

some of them had in the

It

Some

not. Still,

squadron was

tired.

Hurst was

fought their way out of the It

was a

tired.

For that matter, everyone

He yawned and went back

Company

was daylight now, and Bravo

grounds.

of the sorties had been dangerous;

ambush and

of the First Battalion had into the

twenty-acre development with

Azimiyah Palace

a grand palace for Sad-

dam and two lesser palaces for his sons Uday and Qusay. east

bank of the

Tigris River,

it

to sleep.

Situated

was surrounded by a twelve-foot

on the

wall.

Outside the walled compound, elements of Charlie and Alpha

Companies were engaged Fedayeen and foreign Basco's chest;

in a

fighters.

deafening battle against hundreds of

Concussions from heavy guns

machine guns and

RPG blasts added to the din. He had

recovered sight in both of his eyes, and his hearing had well.

Not

rattled

come back

as

that his hearing was very useful at this point. "It was so loud

HAMMER FROM ABOVE that in order to

your

communicate, you had

to grab a

and shout— and

lips against his ears,

I

341

guy by the head, put

mean

literally shout,"

Basco remembered. It

was time

for

Basco-the-FAC

Casualties were heavy;

to

some of

put his aviation expertise to work.

the

men

were going

to die if they

weren't evacuated. "Several Marines had been brought up to our

Two

track by then.

of them were really a mess. Corporal Diwani and

Corporal Shevlin had been hit in the face

from an RPG," Basco recalled. death.

them

had watched others

I

to

an aid station

The

uses

for

line-of-sight

is

I

had

trees,

for

to get

UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radios the milaircraft.

Generally a

required; otherwise the range of the radio

remembered:

trying to raise

is

clear signifi-

went through every

"I

someone and

it

just wasn't

fre-

happening."

FAC knew that eventually air support in the form

of helicopters would be brought

Zone

wanted

making contact with someone who

communicating with

Nevertheless, the

ing

I

buildings in an urban environment block the trans-

cantly shortened. Basco

quency

same way and

to

as quickly as possible."

missions of the standard itary

was afraid they would bleed

die the

Basco's biggest challenge was

could help.

"I

— one of them by shrapnel

in,

and he needed

to

prepare a Land-

them. The compound was studded with date and palm

and Basco couldn't

land the helicopters he

find

an open area large enough

to safely

knew would come. He remembered:

Gunny Jenks and had him go to work clearing an LZ. him that didn't care how he did it, but that we needed a

grabbed

I

I

"I

told

space

cleared ASAP. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes Jenks was

down Saddam's and outside the palace Maenemy fighters holed up in

roaring back and forth in one of the tracks knocking

The scene was wild: From inside rine tanks and AAVs exchanged fire with the facing buildings. And only a few blocks away another battle was raging at the Imam Abu Hanifah Mosque where Saddam himself had palms."

reportedly been sighted. In the midst of

it

all

the twenty-six-ton

AAV

was playing Paul Bunyan with Saddam's palm groves.

Meanwhile Basco

frantically

sort of air support. "I

worked

his radios, trying to find

some

could see the casualties mounting up and ev-

342

eryone that

STOUT

JAY A.

I

ran across kept telling

needed

to get

given up on using the standard started transmitting over

that all aircraft

and

me

evacuated— as

we had

that if I

bunch of Marines

a

needed reminding." He had

air direction

frequencies and instead

Guard frequency, an emergency channel

aircraft control entities are required to monitor.

made contact with Copter 65. Copter 65 was, of all airNavy E-2C Airborne Early Warning aircraft. Its primary mis-

Finally he craft, a

sion was to vector fighters against other fighters, but

communications Basco could

suite

that

we needed

counted. "They asked for

a powerful

my

to intercept

we were

aircraft

downtown

in

support immediately," Basco

air

precise location.

pass that kind of information over an

want the bad guys

had

and — most important— it was the only

talk to. "I told these guys that

Baghdad and

it

re-

Normally you don't

open net because you don't

your transmission and

start hitting

your

position. Well, the snap of bullets flying over

my

good indication

damn sure the enemy

knew

exactly

had bought

E-2C

that the gig

was up.

where we were.

at

I

I

was pretty

head was a

referenced the cheap

little

Wal-Mart before the war and passed our location

and

that help

pany of the

First Battalion.

rather than F/A-18s

FAC assigned to Charlie Com-

he had flown

UH-1N more

Hueys. This was his second

fighting than he'd

the tribal hellhole that was Afghanistan. Charlie

palace. Recent information sent

instead

in

on

a

it

hunt

reached the for

Saddam

Qusay near the Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque.

"We were

hauling

ass

down

those narrow streets

— gang-fighting

way," he recalled. At the objective the Marines disem-

barked from their

Locher

them

wanted

Company had been

ordered to detach from the rest of the battalion before

ing, slowly

to the

Like Basco, Locher was an aviator, but

tour of combat— he'd already seen

the whole

I

would soon be on the way.

Captain Aaron "Sulu" Locher was the

his son

unit

Copter 65 assured Basco that he would make the neces-

guys."

sary coordination

and

GPS

pretty

AAVs and engaged

advancing from one block

said.

in fierce house-to-house fightto another. "It

"The place was empty except

for the

was

really odd,"

Fedayeen and

for-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE They had

eign fighters. rooftops and

run

at

RPGs and

staged

windows and

343

other weapons on the

doors. They'd shoot, drop their

weapon,

another vantage point, grab another weapon, and shoot again.

to

They were

we couldn't stomp on them fast enough. Our guys were really tearing them up but we were still catching hell." like

cockroaches;

Locher had deployed

Support

his Fire

Team

in

and among some

buildings where they could get a good look at the fighting.

was

futilely trying to

inside his

coordinate

AAV. Charlie Company's

most touching each other uation,

some

tracks

were jammed together,

al-

wasn't a good

sit-

in line, or "nut-to-butt."

It

Lieutenant Tavis McNair was one of our indirect

mortar and artillery— and he really didn't have anything

left

fight,"

Locher recounted. "So he was

forward hatch shooting his

him

ing at

to get

M203

fighter stood

down, but he wouldn't

directly

RPG launcher and fired The RPG shot down at

it

above

us.

down

at

them

I

me— he

a black-clad

He had

an

of the

kept shoutjust

kept

Fedayeen

could see him

felt as if

just

over

a red-and-gold

men

fol-

watching the rocket

they were in a slow-motion night-

move

so slow that

you almost

you can step out of the way."

There was no stepping out of the way of this

The

lip

the Marines with a characteristic pop

mare. "RPGs," said Locher, "appear to feel like

up on the

in

—

right at Tavis."

lowed by a low, rumbling bellow. The shooting

"I

guys

do

listen to

when

up on the roof above them.

shoulder— almost

sitting

fire

to

grenade launcher.

shooting." Locher's fears were realized

Tavis's

he

and Locher sensed an ambush.

"First

urban

Now

support from where he sat

air

particular projectile.

rocket exploded against the top of the vehicle and blew

McNair

back out of his hatch. Locher and the other ten or so Marines inside the

AAV

were knocked

back of the bench could

feel that

thing,"

and

I

my

off their feet. "I

seat.

could smell the stink of gunpowder and

I

face

he remembered.

went down hard against the

had been burned, but "It

was

all

I

I

couldn't see any-

black smoke and arms and

legs

couldn't hear."

A moment

later the

Marines regained

sort of hysterical reaction.

their senses in

an uneven

"The back ramp wouldn't open and some

STOUT

344

JAY A.

of the guys panicked and

jumped out through

the escape hatch.

A

couple of the Marines were crying— it was really messed up," Locher

remembered.

"I

had

and pull them back inside because we

to grab

We had a French reporter in the track with us and he had completely frozen. On the other hand

were taking heavy

we had

BBC

from the Fedayeen.

fire

Army

a retired British

reporter's

color sergeant with us

Locher couldn't get any

—

it's

couldn't raise anyone on

air support. "I

more important

mis-

we needed." meantime McNair was bleeding heavily— he had taken

support

brunt of the impact of the

first

RPG and

his face, neck,

were ripped by jagged shrapnel. Huge shards of neck. There were other

was

specifically

Both of them could have given us the type of surgically precise

In the full

had

I

AC-130 gunships. Unfortunately they had been

tasked to what were at the time considered to be

fire

He

He was money."

tough in a built-up area. Earlier

asked for Hueys and

sions.

was some

bodyguard — and he was absolutely awesome.

loaded magazines and kept everyone fired up.

the radio

— he

wounded Marines

in critical condition.

remember," Locher

It

"I tried like hell to raise

as well,

and head from

two corpsmen

gotta get

the

him out

his

but Tavis McNair

wasn't certain that he was going to

said, "that the

on him kept shouting, 'We

jutted

it

the

live. "I

who were working

of here!'

company commander on

the radio,"

continued Locher, "but the buildings were eating up the radio and

no way

there was

I

was going

the unthinkable. "All safety, so

I

briefed the

I

to get through."

knew was

young

that

enlisted

I

had

Locher prepared to get

to

do

McNair back

to

Marines — I told them that

I

was

commander on foot. that it was crazy. I remember thinking

going to disembark and go find the company

They kept telling me not to to myself,

He

No shit,

go,

but someone

told the junior Marines

s

got to do

it."

to cover him, jumped clear of the AAV,

and raced through the alleyway dodging

Machine-gun rounds slammed whipped

past his face

crouching through the truly all

into the

bullets

ground

and buried themselves battle.

He was

by myself," he recalled.

in

and rocket at

mud

utterly exposed.

his

fire.

and

feet

walls as

he ran

"I felt like

I

was

When he reached the company com-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

345

mander, Captain Sean Blodgett, he advised

his fellow captain that

McNair was

to

diately;

gett

was

Sound

men cal,

still

him

still

be evacuated imme-

back

to the palace. Blod-

to

persisted. Finally,

"Once

keep

his

company

together;

clearing houses, and he couldn't leave

Blodgett relented

palace.

and needed

a pair of AAVs to fight

consolidating his position and couldn't spare them.

tactics told

were

Locher

in critical condition

would take

it

knowing

— Locher

some of

his

them behind.

that McNair's condition

was

would lead two AAVs back

criti-

to the

was reached," Locher remembered,

that decision

was overcome by an odd feeling— a guilty sense that ing the fight and abandoning

my brother

I

would be

"I

leav-

Marines."

Locher sprinted back through the gauntlet

to his

AAV,

stationed

everyone into position, settled the wounded, and sent the driver roaring toward the palace.

He had

hopelessly inadequate

— failing

and back

"it

armored brutes on

map

to detail

in the vehicle,

and

it

was

any of the small alleyways

zigzagged through the neighborhood. "Frankly,"

streets that

he remembered,

the only

was a

map." Regardless, Locher led the two

shitty

a wild run, simultaneously navigating, coordinat-

ing with other units, and firing his weapon. "I

always said that

if it

ever got to the point where a

any shooting, then things had gone from bad

FAC

was doing

to shit." Nevertheless,

the Marine captain stood out of the observer's hatch clutching his radio handset in

one hand and

firing his

M9 pistol with the other.

"It

was insane," he remembered. "We were smashing into cars and over guardrails

and

I

was shooting the whole time.

through windows from four feet away.

ways and

cars.

Our poor

reloading for me;

I

I

I

shot guys in the face

shot guys in bushes and door-

radio operator was beside himself.

kept yelling Taster! More!'

and he

He was

just couldn't

keep up."

The

fighting was

still

raging at the palace and the mosque.

Jenks," Basco recalled, "had

done

when PFC Davis

me

LZ—

it

didn't

ran

up

to

a pretty

and

"Gunny

good number on the

said that

trees

he had found a better

need any preparation." Basco followed Davis toward

346

JAY A.

the rear of the estate near where

bank of the exquisite

enough

to

hold

at least

it

ended

in a

low bluff on the

young Marine had

Tigris. Just as the

swimming pool

STOUT

east

an

said, next to

there was a clear area that looked large

one helicopter.

7

grabbed Davis/ Basco recalled, "and we went running across

"I

the pool deck. As a grove about a

we

ran,

we came under

hundred meters

from snipers hidden

fire

across the river."

Chunks

in

of plaster

from the palace were knocked loose on top of the two men, and

The two new LZ. The snipers

rounds chipped pieces of concrete out from under their

Marines crouched low never

let

up.

Basco couldn't

him under

made

as they investigated the

set

He

fire.

up the zone while the enemy sharpshooters had

company commander,

Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) gunner "Every time

I

ran out or exposed myself,

the trees across the

river.

Things got a

46Es from

just a short

time

HMM-268— callsigns

I

second

told the

across the river

The

it

protection.

guy pop up and spray

just barely big

Basco and

enough.

with the arrival of two

CH-

Grizzly 41 and 42. Basco was ec-

left,

270-degree turn to

commander

Presto.

of the two

Problems with

to pass the lead to the

tain

Armando

into the

at us."

CH-46Es was Major Donald

his navigation

commander

equipment had forced

of the second aircraft, Cap-

"Vato" Espinoza. Espinoza and his copilot, Captain

Chris Graham, slowed and approached the

abeam and

LZ

from the south, then

sidestepped over the ground from west to east be-

fore gingerly putting the helicopter's wheels

on the ground. "These

guys were either cool professionals or they had no idea they were drawing,"

remembered Basco. "Tracers were

the cockpit and they didn't even flinch. their rotor arc

come

out of the palm groves

aircraft to tear the hell

him

pulled

that

him

easier after that."

was

later

to give

from where the snipers were shooting

mission

"Lando"

had

Jason Smith, to provide a

directed the lead aircraft to pass north of the palace westbound

over the river and then execute a

LZ.

I

little

Davis continued their work on the LZ;

That was proven

and

scurried back to the other side of the palace

a deal with the

static. "I

feet.

—

it

was

how much

fire

flying right

by

Rounds were going through

unbelievable that they weren't getting hit."

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Basco rushed up

loaded,

to Grizzly 41 to talk with the

wounded

dinate getting the

347

aboard. "While

crew and help coor-

we were

getting

them

little bit

older

noticed that one of their crew chiefs looked a

I

than the standard, run-of-the-mill crew chief/' Basco recounted. got a

little

closer

and realized

that

it

was Oliver North!

I

"I

What

said,

the hell are you doing here?' and he answered that he was there doing a

war

film.

Locher was a distance to land.

It

could see walls

figure

I

still

he picked the

right spot."

McNair's

in the race to save

from the palace

I

life.

"When we were

saw a pair of Frogs [CH-46Es] coming in

was absolutely crazy; they were taking

RPGs

arcing

he shouted

up

out

all

kinds of

past them!" Closer to the

"Hold those

into the radio:

fire.

I

compound's

46s! I've got severely

wounded on board! Hold the 46s!" Seeing the AAV careening toward them — under heavy attack— the Marines behind the palace wall threw open the huge, heavy

gates.

Once

the bullet-scarred brute

bowled through they slammed them shut again.

Locher climbed out

shaking— I couldn't

as the track

ground

to a stop.

"My hands were

stop them. Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla, the

commander, came over

what was going on.

was

al-

most black from smoke and burns and covered with blood from

all

battalion

the

wounded Marines — I was

obviously in horrible shape.

hands were shaking,

commander I had

too,

I

to see

carrying one of them.

looked

and

I

down and saw

didn't feel so

And

I

Tavis was

that the colonel's

bad— he

was the best

ever seen."

Stoked on adrenaline and fear and anger, Locher had reached the

mental

state that

only the most distressed ever experience.

most out of control— beyond the

wounded Marines on

and shoved the

Once

again,

Locher, "but

it

I

man he

furious,"

their way,

.

.

.

was

he remembers. Anxious

al-

to get

he stormed aboard the helicopter

thought was the crew chief out of the way.

was Oliver North. was

"I

working!"

"I

meant no

disrespect to him," said

348

STOUT

JAY A.

While the wounded were being loaded aboard Espinoza's Presto held south of the

Nevertheless, he was position in

ering

fire.

still

between the

tected the palace.

LZ

over the river at about seventy-five

taking heavy

river

radio

fire

and moved

a ten-foot

and RPGs. From

determined that the snipers were

the

the

CH-46E

same time

calling for the right door

The sniper fire ceased after a slammed into the buildings.

Locher stood over McNair helicopter.

He

on the rooftops of to the northwest.

and swung the nose

gunner

don't mention

it,

He

left, at

withering shower of .50-caliber rounds

in the

LZ

him on

loading

just prior to

turned to walk away, and the wounded

I

a

to target the rooftops.

grabbed his arm and gurgled through the blood in

"Thanks man,

LZ was

his vantage point Presto

likely hiding

into a thirty-foot hover

out that the

call

row of four buildings located two hundred yards lifted

that pro-

hover and provided cov-

he could hear Basco

getting hit hard by snipers

feet.

covered

to a

and the walled embankment

There he held

Over the

aircraft,

his

the

McNair throat,

owe you one." Locher turned back around. "No, you would have done the same

The wounded were

for

me."

quickly hustled aboard the Grizzly bird. Be-

fore the flight could leave

Basco shoved the

pilots a

note he had

hand-scrawled on a chunk of cardboard from a water-bottle box.

message asked that

as

much ammo

as possible

be

The

lifted into

the

palace grounds immediately.

A short time "As felt

"I

later the casualties

were en route

to better treatment.

watched the helicopters depart, any uncertainty or doubt

I

I

had

about leaving the battlefield disappeared," recalled Locher.

knew

right then that

I

had made the

and the other wounded Marines out of

CASEVAC battle

right decision to get Tavis

that shit hole!"

With the

helicopters out of the LZ, Locher turned back toward the

and thought

to

himself that

it

was time

to get

back

to work.

37

Fight for the Palace

Part

Back

at the

Brown

pletely

alongside

their

alert.

Although he

felt

worn

out, Hurst

But again, considering

would

still

thing. Likewise,

Brown and

just

Air Officer— a

be had

if

hanging

it.

out," Hurst

Larry and

I

on

the

a

good

enlisted

crew

same way.

remembered, "when an RCT-5 said that there

reminded him

he wouldn't have any

work was

crew— two felt

sitting.

was the evacuation of

that not being put to

the rest of the

major— walked up and

we wanted

aircraft ...

still

have rather been flying than

and two Navy Corpsmen— probably

"We were

two

CH-46E. They were

only marginally better than com-

that the section's mission

wounded Marines, he supposed chiefs

II

Rasheed Military Complex, Dave Hurst and Larry

lolled

CASEVAC

and Mosque,

CASEVAC

was business

that

if

to

he used our

capability.

He

kind

of brushed that off and said that what was going on right that instant

needed immediate

The major talion

attention/'

briefed Larry

Brown and Will Oliver

was taking heavy casualties and needed

that the First Bat-

ammo

"right now."

350

JAY A.

They were

STOUT

Ammunition Supply

directed to proceed straight to an

Point just a few miles to the east.

From

there the safest route to the

fighting called for a northerly transit along the east edge of the

then a

left

turn west across the top of the

left turn, straight

south,

down Highway

city,

2 into the heart of town.

Within minutes Hurst, Brown, and the borne

as

formation as Inchon

and

it

rest

of their crew were

Inchon 40, with Oliver and Dansie and 41.

They had

city,

and then another hard

their

little difficulty

wasn't long before the two helicopters set

air-

own crew

in

finding the ASP,

down

to start taking

on the badly needed ammunition. That they had gotten there

in a

hurry didn't matter. As ready as the two helicopter crews were, the

Marines

at the

supply point weren't. To

make

matters worse, once

things got under way, the loads they tried to put into the old aircraft

were so heavy that both winches broke and the ammunition had lugged into the helicopters by hand. "Larry and tremely frustrated," Hurst

around trying shot.

to get the

recalls. "I

ammo

What was worse was

that

knew

to

were getting

I

that while

we

be ex-

grab-assed

loaded, there were Marines getting

it

was taking so long that we weren't

going to have enough fuel to finish the mission!" Finally Larry

Brown— the section leader— called a halt to the loading, urged the ASP Marines to get their act together, and then took the two ships to Yankee FARP to top off their fuel tanks.

At the Azimiyah Palace there was growing concern about the

which ammunition was being expended. Fighting and the mosque was in the battalion

at a fever pitch. It

had seen

there soon," Basco said,

them

into the

called, "we'd given

task at

we

"we were going

Brown and Hurst led the tled

before. "If

zone

was

to

like

at

nothing that anyone

didn't get

more

section of CH-46Es back to the to finish the loading.

pulling, pushing,

ammo

in

be in big trouble."

ASP and set-

"By now," Hurst

up on the winches and everyone

hand — lifting,

rate at

both the palace

just

re-

turned to the

and shoving the

ammo

into

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

351

the bird. I'm not sure that the weights and distributions were by the

book, but

we

got the stuff in."

Finally, after

what had seemed an

ASP and

roared airborne out of the as fast

and low

as

we

was also a huge challenge

"We

started for the fighting.

made

could. This

two helicopters

eternity, the

us a very difficult target, but

to

run

At nearly

into.

1

50 knots, the

two ships wound their way through the grid of buildings and

made up suburban Baghdad.

power

lines,

just barely cleared tele-

and even clothes strung happening below

across the streets. Regardless of whatever else was

them on

sunny morning, the sheer rush of racing through

that bright,

the urban tangle

streets

Clattering through cast-concrete

canyons of multistory buildings, the two ships vision antennas, light posts,

it

keep from running into something."

just to

There were plenty of somethings

that

flew

— only a

sneeze away from disaster— was exhilarat-

ing.

Back

at the

talion

palace Locher stopped at the

Command

Post.

AAV that served

as the bat-

Alpha Company had been sent

to

the

mosque, and Locher knew that the area was dangerous— too dangerous. In fact, the unit fired

up and

there— that

I

it

Company was

was already fighting

kept shouting at

was too in a

hot.

them

Mostly they

bad way and

I

for

to get

its

was

existence. "I

still

Alpha Company out of

just

kept

wasn't helping

working— Alpha

them out with my

yelling."

By ing

this

time multiple sections of bomb-laden fighters were stack-

up high above the

city.

A- 10s, F-14s, F/A-18s, and even

nadoes orbited overhead, ready

to provide

CAS

RAF Tor-

to the hard-pressed

Marines. With an unobstructed line-of-sight to the high-flying aircraft the battalion Air Officer, lish

Major Ed "Auto" Green, was able

good communications with the crews aboard the

checked

in,

he passed them

to

to estab-

fighters.

Ray "Spanky" Lawler, the

As they

FAC

for

Alpha Company. Lawler targeted a pair of A-lOs against a

which enemy

fighters

were pouring down

fire

set of buildings

from

on the company. Days

352

JAY A.

STOUT

had been apartments and shops, but now they were Fe-

before, these

dayeen fighting holes. The ungainly, straight-wing

and poured

a deadly stream of 30-millimeter

area that Lawler

jets

dropped down

cannon

shells into the

had marked. The enemy gunmen

Company— only

Marines of Alpha

where the cannon

fire

sixty-five yards

had hit— pushed on toward

F-14s followed the A- 10s with thousand-pound the

men

fight

fell silent

from "danger close" distances. As more

Lawler used the company's attached

M1A1

and the

from the spot

their objective.

bombs

that rattled

aircraft joined the

tanks to

mark

targets

with their 120-millimeter main guns. Soon the Marines were clearing the

mosque

of the Fedayeen.

The two CH-46Es continued been

several days since the

their race toward the palace.

first

It

had

American troops had entered Bagh-

dad, and the city was clear of organized resistance from the Iraqi

Army. In

fact,

the majority of the

city's

populace had been celebrating

the arrival of the Americans for a couple of days. However, there were still

pockets of defiance where hard-core loyalists and foreign fighters

held out against the Coalition.

The

First Battalion Fifth

Marines was

heavily engaged against just this sort of opposition.

On the other hand, abundant fighters, hoodlums, thugs, and ne'erdo-wells were

spread

still

all

across Iraq's biggest

city.

Many

of

them

Army regulars who had shed their uniforms. And without the manpower to force a presence on every street corner, the Americans were unable to do much when Iraqi jubilation turned destructive. Gangs of armed men turned to looting their own neighborwere simply

Iraqi

hoods, and they had a tendency to shoot at anything that moved.

The two Marine targets.

helicopters were especially attractive,

if

"The scene below us was nonstop bedlam," Hurst

fleeting,

recalled.

"People were rioting and fighting— carrying stuff through the Buildings were on

mess up. And

The

lots

fire,

and hopeless

traffic

streets.

jams bottled the whole

of people were shooting at us."

temptation to

against the ill-aimed

let

fire

loose with their .50-caliber that reached

up

at

them was

machine guns terrific.

"Staff

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Sergeant Clausen and Corporal Gerard each

made

that could easily have

But

us.

it

would have been

guns against the

The

right.

entire hit.

an

idiots

wrong

who were

to

open up with those big

taking potshots at us." Hurst was

would have punched through

who might

buildings— there was no way of telling what or

Moral aspects

aside,

Brown considered

a

said.

less

"We

good public

smashing into

relations story.

the helicopter's rear loading

Ml 6s.

powerful

just

.50-caliber rounds

wanted

get

apartment away from the rioting

in their

the situation and decided to allow the two

Corpsmen perched on with their

American

huddled

would not have made

Hurst

manned machine guns

bloody mess out of the crowds below

just plain

heavy, high-velocity rounds

Iraqi family

fire

a

353

"Larry

to let those

made

a

ramp

Navy

to return

good decision,"

knuckleheads know that we

weren't going to take that nonsense lying down."

By now Aaron Locher had palace.

From

his

were

that casualties

set

perch seven still

young Hispanic Marine;

coming his

folded almost in half back on

was

mad

as hell

up

his

stories

FAC

position atop the

compound.

into the

hand was shot itself.

main

above the ground he could see

But

clear through

this kid

and bound and determined

"I

to

wouldn't

saw

this

and was

sit still,

go back out and

he

fight.

down and shut up." Locher was watching the fight at the mosque when the second set of CH-46Es checked in with the battalion's Air Officer, Ed Green. They were directed to contact Locher— callsign Sulu— for final coFinally his staff sergeant had to order

him

to

sit

ordinating instructions.

Brown turned

the formation hard

left

and followed Highway

straight into the city. In the distance they

green

dome

immediate

of the

area,

Imam Abu

2 south,

could make out the blue-

Hanifah Mosque. Smoke rose from the

marking the heavy fighting that was raging inside

and around the temple. "We established communications with the

FAC

at the

palace as

we approached

the mosque," Hurst recounted,

354

STOUT

JAY A.

"and he popped a green smoke grenade

as

could see exactly where we were supposed

we

we

got closer so that

land and at the same

to

time get an idea of what direction the wind was coming from."

With Locher's green smoke right turn

and caught

in sight the pilots

sight of the

wheeled

into a hard

Azimiyah Palace on the near bank

of the Tigris. Marines raced back and forth across the once well-

manicured grounds. The place was covered vehicles, shell casings, loose gear,

and

and smoke billowed from the

Fire

where Marines were defending slowed and

up

set

enough room

for landing

one of us

for

tached Will Oliver to orbit

The rumbling

LZ."

as fresh targets,

enemy

it

in battle trash

ammo boxes

— disabled

lay strewn about.

east side of the palace

their

newly seized

became apparent

grounds

we

prize. "As

that there

was only

at a time," Hurst recollected. "Larry deat a distance

while

we continued

of the two ungainly helicopters

into the

announced them

and they soon received the full-blown attention of the

gunners.

"The setup was awkward.

We had to stop and then sidestep into the

"When we finally touched down, we were Marines who grabbed the ammo and rushed it toward

LZ," Hurst recalled.

swarmed by

the fighting. At the

corpsmen pitched craft,

but

still

same time, Clausen and Gerard and the two took

in." It

than two minutes to unload the

less

Oliver— orbiting

at a distance

— called

Hurst to step up the pace; his ship was taking heavy

was holding along the

Although

had

to wait

and

hit.

their aircraft

a small child.

little girl

The

young

a big

was unloaded in near-record time, the crew

"We

took

on, and also an Iraqi family— a mother, a

The woman had been still

hit in the buttocks.

fa-

She

moving under her own power.

just there for

board, too.

moral support. They threw another I

don't

know

if

he was an enemy

some guy who had been caught up by

bloom

wound and

a

was

it

bandage over her head but didn't seem too badly

man on

fighter or just

had

had

father

Iraqi

from where

while cargo of a different sort was put aboard.

was bleeding pretty badly, but was

The

fire

Brown and

Tigris.

some wounded Marines ther,

for

air-

accident, but he

of blood spreading across his shirt from a

wasn't any kind of threat to anyone."

stomach

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Finally loaded, and with the

Brown and Hurst

corpsmen

355

wounded,

treating the

made room for moment to understand why Oliver had been so anxious to get into the LZ and unload. "We were getting shot at from every direction," Hurst said. 'Thankfully, we weren't as easy a target as we seemed to be — just as long as we kept moving." Still, the helicopter's crew breathed a sigh of relief when Oliver's aircraft finished taking on its load of wounded and lifted clear of the palace. Oliver's ship.

lifted their

helicopter clear and

took only a

It

During interviews Hurst acknowledged the heavy enemy

when

pressed: "It

our community

is

might be misconstrued not

made up

thought Larry Brown said Treat

it

like .

most got

in the

"We

either

.

He

He

used to

just

doing your

job.' "

I

can

way of capturing the

some

No

job.

bragging, no

attest that Hurst's

humility

al-

real flavor of the story.

one of the helos

gun would open up and

I'd

lifted off,

world or

in the

of the worst gunners in the world,"

recollected. "Every time

an

Shawn Basco

Iraqi

machine

down

see large-caliber white tracers slice

the right side of the cockpit as the ship edged away to the

ment: "I'm not talking once or twice or three times

And

left.

gunner would never quite catch up." Basco emphasized

every single

always

"I

do your

say, 'Just

had some of the luckiest helicopter crews

the Iraqis had

"and

said,

continued,

you've been in the end zone before.

boasting

.

of braggarts."

best.

it

he

as bragging,"

only

fire

his

the

amaze-

— this happened

timer

Nevertheless, not

all

of the Iraqi fighters were poor shots.

It

was

al-

CH-46E from his little LZ when, just as before, white tracers ripped down the right side of the helicopter as it sidled to the left and rose up and away. The rushing boom of the RPG racing toward him from behind was only so much most noon and Basco was seeing

background

noise.

sion as the rocket

off a

That background noise turned

slammed

into the pool

to a roaring explo-

deck only

a

few

feet

from where Basco was standing. The explosion knocked him

ground with

a force that sent

him tumbling.

odds had caught up with him.

"I

Finally,

wasn't sure

how

away

to the

he realized, the

badly

I

had been

356

hit.

JAY A.

I

had

dirt

and concrete and

STOUT

glass plastered all over

about a hundred places/' he remembered. looking myself over that

I

the only place

my body that didn't

on

hurt."

bad

started

I

hit in

and

limb, he found that

CASEVAC

when he

a vein. Nevertheless,

had severed

my was it

at

a nerve,

stood on his injured

He continued to coordinate the wound continued to dump his blood

worked.

it still

even

effort

it

Basco didn't realize

RPG

the time, but a piece of shrapnel from the artery,

wasn't until

realized that I'd taken a pretty

hurt in

Blood was gushing out, but the odd thing was that

right shin.

an

"It

me — I

as the

onto the ground.

The two

helicopters threaded their

the riotous free-for-all that

Baghdad had become. They would unload

the casualties while they took aircraft

on more ammunition. In the

Clausen and Gerard manned

Navy men tended

listed

way back toward the ASP through

the

their

rear of the

guns while the two en-

wounded. "Our two Navy Corpsmen,

HM2 Pitts and HM2 Thomas, were not your standard pudgy little pill dispensers," said Hurst. in

shape

as

some of our

as they

were with

either.

When

were

it

'These guys were best Marines,

a syringe.

came time

And

and

much

studs.

They were

just as

handy with an

as

M16

they didn't shy away from hard work,

to start

hucking

ammo boxes around they

in the thick of things."

After a short stop at

landed

at the

Marines

ASP and

at the

Yankee FARP

off-loaded the

to refuel, the

two CH-46Es

wounded. This time around the

supply point were better prepared, and the

ammo-

into-helicopter equivalent of a bucket brigade was formed. In short

order the two aircraft rumbled airborne again and started back to the palace.

Their mission complete, the Marines of Alpha to the palace

from the mosque.

the fixed-wing

of the

bombs

jets

that

against

had

Now

it

Company started

started to arrive in force.

enemy

back

was Locher's turn to control

fighters in the

He directed most

mosque and surrounding

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

been

ROE

The

buildings.

protecting religious and cultural centers had

nullified since early that

a base

from which

to

launch

Locher's control of the kit,"

he

that

I

recalled. "It

jets

was a

morning when the

was smooth and deadly.

it

as

had

"I

a Viper'

binoculars with a laser range finder

GPS

unit.

This thing gave

on

in turn passed

I

had used

Iraqis

their attacks.

set of

kept plugged into a

grid location that

357

me

to the aircrews

—

a ten-digit it

was

ex-

tremely accurate." Protecting

Locher— and

taking advantage of the field of view pro-

vided by the palace roof— was a combined team of Marine and

Locher recounted: 'The Army Special Forces

snipers.

been attached

to the battalion for a while.

You could

Army

soldiers

tell

the

had

Army

guys from the Marines; they were the shooters running around in

blue jeans and beards. sional in

all

Still,

they were great soldiers— very profes-

other respects." Locher used his Viper

cise ranges to the snipers. "I

can

still

remember

kit to

provide pre-

the range from our

position to the mosque: 972 meters."

Still

en route, Hurst and Brown aboard Inchon 40 monitored the

DASC(A)

pointed example of

how

quickly the

moving fight— particularly pieces the

What they heard was a command and control of a fast-

frequency to track the action.

— could

DASC(A)

a fast-moving fight with a lot of

get overwhelmed. Hurst recalled:

referencing the battle

up

at the

"We

moving

kept hearing

palace and the mosque.

drum up air assets to get into the thick of things and they mentioned how Inchon 40 could be put into action if required. Finally, when there was a break in the chatter, we came up on the radio and told them that we were already on our second run up to

They were

trying to

the palace. There was kind of a stunned silence for a

and then they If

moment or two,

told us to continue."

anything, the looting and rioting and shooting was worse on the

second

trip as

Again the the city

the

pilots

warm morning sun climbed

caught sight of the mosque

on Highway

2.

And

again,

abeam

higher into the

as they

the

sky.

turned south into

dome, the lead ship

358

STOUT

JAY A.

turned right and

set

up

another landing in the tiny LZ. Just as be-

for

Oliver and Dansie took their ship toward the Tigris to

fore,

try to stay

clear of the enemy's weapons.

Once

safely

on the ground, the

familiar

the helicopter's crew drag the precious into action. Hurst took a

moment to

swarm of Marines helped

ammunition out and rushed

obvious that the palace had once been a very beautiful place.

modern design with kind side by a

was even

little

it

take in his surroundings. "It was

of an Arab twist and

it

It

was a

was flanked on one

park with trees and walking paths and lampposts. There

swimming pool behind

a nice

longer as lovely as

it

in the southwest corner of the

the LZ."

Of course

it

was no

A bomb had blown a gaping hole

had once been.

main

building,

and many of the other

damaged and pockmarked by small-arms

smaller structures were rounds.

Rather than setting up an orbit while he waited for Brown and

Hurst to get their just

aircraft

unloaded, Oliver found a small sand

under the bluff where the palace grounds met the

steep

bank provided cover from the

around the palace and was situated

Tigris.

spit

The

fighting that was taking place to afford

some

protection from

enemy snipers across the river. Oliver let the other crew know about his new "hidey-hole," and when the time came the two helithe

copters

swapped

positions.

Hurst remembered catching his breath onto the

spit.

"As

much

credibly dangerous, just

on the other

as

and

I

knew

that there

that

when

his aircraft settled

what we were doing was

were people getting blown apart

side of the palace, the entire experience was

unbelievable adrenaline

trip.

at that

The

moment

fight

HMM-165

it

was

just a

an

is what we had been training for— Had one of us been badly hit or

different,

but

wild rush."

continued through the afternoon. led by

still

This

it was what we were about. wounded I'm certain that my attitude would have been

all

in-

Brown and Hurst continued

The two CH-46Es

of

their runs, alternately

bringing in ammunition and carrying out wounded. Captain

Shawn

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Basco was one of the

last casualties

of the day. Because

much

ground, and because the

more

359

put aboard one of the

last sorties

of his blood had leaked out onto the

air

support situation had improved, he was

or less ordered to evacuate.

He was on his way home. And

it

was

his birthday.

In total the two

Palace that day.

CH-46E The last

POWs— blindfolded,

crews

made

five

runs into the Azimiyah

enemy

load they lifted out included

gagged, and zip-tied.

The

crews were ex-

hausted, particularly the enlisted crew chiefs and corpsmen. Fighting fatigue "It

and dehydration, they continued

was almost dark when we

Hurst remembered.

their station.

back

to the division

CP,"

the edge of being completely

worn

finally got

"We were on

out. In fact, Staff Sergeant

man

Clausen was stabbed with an IV

just to

keep him hydrated. But people came out of nowhere and swarmed us

won

like

we had

that

we had been

just

the Super Bowl.

It

was a great feeling knowing

able to help our brother Marines at the palace."

The two CH-46E crews of Grizzly 41 —the first helicopters to land at the palace that morning— also had much to be proud of. After running three missions into the palace

LZ

that morning, they subse-

quently flew three more missions that night and finally shut

down

just

before midnight.

One

of the enlisted aerial observer-gunners in the Grizzly flight

that day

caliber

The

had been Corporal Amanda Hoenes. Manning

machine gun, she had provided suppressive

Islamic fanatics she shot

that they Still,

had suffered

Hoenes was

culture of the

at the

up would have been

hands of a

a person

fire all

know

"infidel" female.

sensitive to the religion

and

men she was fighting. Among the many casualties lifted

out of the palace that day were a

number of

Iraqis.

Typically the

corpsmen would remove or cut away the clothing of the

among

day long.

horrified to

woman — an

who was

a heavy, .50-

other advantages, this also helped

in order to save the

beaten

enemy fighters

make

injured;

their job easier.

But

the extreme humiliation of

being exposed to a woman, Hoenes prevailed on the medicos to leave

360

JAY A.

their clothing intact unless

it

STOUT

absolutely precluded thorough treat-

ment. Hoenes's kindness was something the aware of and was something she never had

woman

about the maturity of a young

Iraqis

to give.

It

would never be speaks volumes

removed from high

barely

school.

Amanda Hoenes

ultimately earned

than any other Marine

Mover 01

Strike/Flight Air

Medals

— pilot or crewman — in HMM-268.

Major Mark "Butts" Butler and Bardo,

more

flight,

had

his

wingman, Captain Tyler "Hefty"

just finished a

high-cover escort for a

group of helicopters flying low overhead Baghdad when they were

di-

rected to contact Aaron Locher. Locher had been awake since the

day before but was

came up on from

it

running the

air fight at

the palace.

"The FAC

the radio/' Butler remembered, "and said that they were

tower— they had been taking

trying to hit a fire

still

all

RPG

and machine-gun

day."

The tower that Locher wanted hit was actually one of the minarets made up a corner of the Abu Hanifah Mosque. There, Iraqi fighters tenaciously carried on their fight. He was excited when the two Harriers checked in, but knew that both he and they would have to be

that

quick and good to accomplish what needed doing. "Between them

both they had

much fuel." The Iraqis

one

just

in

LGB

and two Maverick

And

and around the mosque had been sniping

Marines almost since the beginning of the

them dead.

missiles.

"All day

we had been

the Harriers to level that thing."

taking

He

fight,

fire

not

at the

and Locher wanted

from the tower.

I

wanted

passed the tower's coordinates to

Butler along with a short brief. His expeditious control of the two ships was savvy

and

reflected his experience as a

second combat tour "After

I

through

"A

his

tall

aviator

on

his

an FAC.

passed the grid coordinates of the

Locher

Harrier,"

as

Marine

recalled, "I asked

him

FLIR."

round building," Butler

replied.

mosque tower to to tell

me

the lead

what he saw

.

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Butler had the correct target, but

changes over the radio biggest tower

the

I

convince him of this.

to

could see," he explained, "but

wrong one because

it

were lawful

"I

I still

was looking thought that

at the I

had

was the minaret of the mosque." His confu-

sion was understandable. Religious centers tures

took several more ex-

still

it

361

on very

to strike only

and other cultural

rare occasions.

fea-

This was one of

The minaret was being used by enemy combatants to launch attacks and so now met the criteria that made it a valid target. "Do you have time for a practice run?" Locher asked; he was concerned because there were so many friendly troops in close proximity. "We Ve got to get this right." them.

Butler was willing. set

up "It

was

flawless,"

thirty-

remembered Locher.

"I told

time— and

for real this

that

and ten-second time-to-impact

up

Butler set

for his run.

checked that the

ward the

wing he swung around and

his

an attack on the tower.

for

and make the run

me a

With Bardo on

jets

Bardo was

call

still

I

him

back up

to set

wanted him

to give

over the radio." in formation.

Locher

were pointed away from friendly troops and

to-

target.

"Wings

level," the Harrier pilot transmitted, indicating that

in his dive,

had the

target in sight,

and was prepared

to

he was

drop his

bomb. "You're cleared hot," Locher replied.

"One

away." Butler let the

climb back

rier started a

len seconds

There was

.

bomb

to altitude

fall.

and

"Thirty seconds."

a turn

The Har-

away from the

target,

.

a puff of dust

on the ground below the

tall

structure.

Nothing more.

bomb

"That

hit exactly at the base of the tower,"

counted. "Unfortunately All of their

time: "I told

"We

to

was

work had been

had them

them

it

aim

set

up

for the

for

Locher

re-

a dud." for naught. Still, the

FAC

wasted no

another run with their Maverick, and

bottom of the top

third of the tower."

reset so that Hefty could shoot one of the laser Mavericks he

was carrying," Butler recounted.

"I

was

starting to get

nervous— we

362

STOUT

JAY A.

AAA now and

were attracting some

two Harriers dived on the tower

as

getting low

Locher and

on

his

The

fuel as well."

team watched from

the roof of the palace. Inside his aircraft Butler slewed the crosshairs

When the display indicated that

of his Litening pod over the minaret.

the two Harriers were in range, he fired the laser and called over the radio to Bardo: "Target captured, laser's on."

In the cockpit of his aircraft Bardo watched his Maverick display for the indications that the

weapon was locked on

Butler was marking with his

laser.

He

heard Butler

to the

call

over the radio and Locher's response: "Cleared hot."

no indication

Maverick was ready

that the

to

Butler flew the section of Harriers at the

He

too close and he had to abort the run. dive

and called out

him out of the

to

tion, four times in a "I

could

just see the

mosque

there was

until they

were

pulled his aircraft out of the

if

said.

everything went perfectly."

"We had He knew

"Flying at the same target, from the same direc-

row was

just asking for trouble,"

Weapons and

just this instant to

Butler brought the two

captured the tower in his

jets

around

level."

home raisback home weren't

help their comrades under for

one more

FLIR display and

time he called out: "Wings

he remembered.

Tactics Instructors back

ing their eyebrows." Regardless, the instructors

being counted on

level"

launch.

was make-or-break time," Butler

time for one more quick pass risk.

"Wings

Still,

Locher: "Mover OTs aborting." Bardo followed

dive. "It

he was taking a

tower that

attack. Again,

fired the laser.

Locher replied

fire.

just as

he

At the same

he had three

times earlier: "Cleared hot." Bardo's missile finally locked on to the

the trigger "Rifle."

on the control

The Maverick

underneath

.

.

.

stick

squeezed

and simultaneously made the

rocketed away from where

it

call:

had been hung

his aircraft's left wing.

Butler remembered:

up

He

energy that Butler was bouncing off the mosque.

laser

center the pipper

kept thinking to myself, Don't fuck

"I .

.

.

keep

it

slewed on the target"

He

did.

this

The

missile struck the minaret a third of the way from the top. Chunks of

masonry rained down on the "I

street.

never saw anything so pretty as

smashed

exactly

on

turned into rubble.

target,"

We

Locher

when

said.

didn't get shot at

that missile

"The

came

off

and

entire top of that tower

from there anymore."

HAMMER FROM ABOVE Above him, Butler arced the two the southeast.

They were out

Locher continued nightfall. Finally

he

literally

and sent

up and

Harriers into a climbing turn to

of fuel and headed back for the base.

to control sections of fighters until well after

he reached the point where he was so exhausted

him.

Moments

when

a Laser

Guided Bomb

bomb's

fins

of the entire battle. It

The

was good

to

itself

Locher was curled

He

rolled

streaked overhead; the clack-

was the only

distinctive noise in the din

back over and was quickly asleep again.

be a Marine FAC.

battle at the

fought

later

amid the sound of exploding bombs. He woke up

asleep

clack-clack of the

only once,

that

could stand up no longer. "Spanky" Lawler was awakened

to the roof to relieve

fast

363

Azimiyah Palace and

Imam Abu

Hanifah Mosque

out by the next morning. Estimates of Iraqi and Feday-

een dead ran into the several hundreds. The Marines of

First Battal-

ion Fifth Marines sustained heavy casualties as well.

The Purple

Heart, awarded for injuries sustained in combat, went to ninety-eight

men. Miraculously only one Marine was ratio of

wounded

to

dead can be attributed

care that was administered by brave

killed.

This astonishing

in part to the

immediate

Navy Corpsmen and Marines on

the battlefield, as well as their hasty evacuation by

air.

38

Cobra Down

The

battle for

Baghdad never

really

happened. Perhaps

it

was the

recognition that Saddam's government wouldn't survive,

bined with greed and an overriding commitment

com-

to self-preservation,

that sent his high-ranking officials across the borders or into hiding. is

certain that

what played

a

huge

most of the mil-

part in convincing

itary leadership to desert or stay in garrison

It

was the realization that

they were hopelessly outmatched. In the end the coalition could find

no one with the authority the Marine Corps were

days of Iraqi

Freedom

to surrender the city,

left to

enforce law and order. In the closing

the coalition began the awkward transition

from wartime operations toward security and Nevertheless, one

more

forces in the field. Tikrit, tional base of support,

and so the Army and

had

task

Saddam to

stability efforts.

remained that called Hussein's

for

powerful

hometown and

be taken and subdued.

If

tradi-

the big fight

hadn't happened in Baghdad, Tikrit was the only logical location that

remained. In forces in Iraqis

fact,

there were reports that there were substantial

and around the

city,

intended to put up a

and

that Tikrit was indeed

last stand.

The Marines were

where the

given the

as-

HAMMER FROM ABOVE signment force to

to take

down

the

city,

and

365

after hastily

cobbling together a

do it— Task Force Tripoli— they were on their way north on

April 12 under the

They had been

command

of Brigadier General John Kelly.

and fighting hard

flying

for

more than

H M LA- 169 — calls ign

The Cobra crew from much of the previous several in preparation for

days tearing

up

Fisty 37

three weeks.

— had

spent

targets north of Baghdad

Task Force Tripoli's assault on

Tikrit.

On April

14

the attack was well under way. Nevertheless, First Lieutenant Jeff

Sykes and Major John Smith* had done most of their fighting well

south of Tikrit on that day. Earlier they had helped shoot up half a

dozen

lethal

as the

campaign progressed they found

but abandoned S-60

anti-aircraft guns.

More and more

that the Iraqis

were

less in-

clined to fight.

By

the early afternoon they were working as a two-ship near

Samarra. "Our FAC,

"and sent us out

There were tion

'Ugly,'

reports that units

had received

came up on

the radio," Sykes recalled,

to investigate the area

fire

from

around Samarra

airfield.

from RCT-5 passing through that loca-

BRDMs

or

some other

type of APCs."

Smith, the section leader, led the two gunships toward the air base;

they carefully probed the roads that led away from

sign of Iraqi activity.

Although the main

effort of the fighting

well to the north, Tripoli's rapid charge was

vance of the previous few weeks

—

However, none of them seemed

it

to

no

different

it

enemy for

any

was now

from any ad-

had passed by many enemy

units.

be located in the desert around

the airfield at Samarra. At the airfield

itself,

though, the picture was

different.

"As

we approached

"we were able

to use

the perimeter of the base," Sykes recounted,

our sensors

to

make out some enemy

vehicles.

The FAC immediately cleared us to engage using Type III CAS ROE." The two AH-1W crews made a series of passes back and forth, perpendicular to their axis of advance, as they crept closer to the

*Not

his real

name.

366

JAY A.

enemy positions.

STOUT

Sykes continued to examine the targets through the

gunship's Telescopic Sight Unit as he tried to determine which one of

them was most deserving of the range.

He remembered:

first

weapon they would send down-

"I realized after a good, close look that

the vehicles had been hit already. There were burn marks

them while

There was nothing there

others were in pieces.

all

of

on most of that was

worth wasting a missile on." Smith called off the attack. "At the same time,

we called the FAC and let him know what was going on," said "He went ahead and cleared us for armed reconnaissance of

Sykes.

the airfield."

The two crews made

tentative passes

up and down one

side of the

field— wary of anti-aircraft ambushes. Seeing nothing threatening, they crossed to the other side and

made

"We looked

a couple

more

orbits,

still

inside the hangars as best

we

could and saw nothing that was particularly noteworthy," Sykes

re-

watchful for any threats.

membered. "There were no people able was the large

number

of

there at

ammo

all,

but what was remark-

caches that were scattered

all

over the place." These were U-shaped earthen berms that contained

and

a collection of barrels, boxes,

slatted crates.

were not immediately apparent, but crates held

bombs

it

was

likely that the

around

Making

run from

Cobras

lost their

distance.

for

set

up

The

let

third hit

hundred

left

one of the

another quick run.

We

and

slightly

feet of altitude at

loose a total of three

"We came

ammo

behind.

about eighty

TOW missiles. Two of

— rocketing

off into the

caches. There were no sec-

off of that attack," Sykes said, fired a Hellfire missile into

"and

like the earlier missile

it

set

one of the

bigger caches in the center of the airfield." This missile hit

tended target and detonated, but

flight

for a cruise attack with the other

guidance and went "stupid"

ondary explosions.

up

and

five

sort.

what they could. Smith swung the

about two hundred yards to the

their

knots, the two

them

to destroy

to the southeast

aircraft offset

boxes and

and other aviation ammunition while the barrels

probably contained fuel or lubricants of some

They decided

Their exact contents

its

in-

failed to set

off the contents inside.

The crews aboard

the two helicopters weren't impressed with their

HAMMER FROM ABOVE own

weapons

efforts to destroy the Iraqi

ized that the airfield was essentially

stores.

367

"By

time we

this

abandoned — or

real-

no one

at least

there was committed to shooting us down," Sykes said. Accordingly,

Smith

split

The

tern.

up the

same

would

aircraft

intervals that

flight to

execute attacks from a cloverleaf-like pat-

out singly from different directions at

strike

would keep them from passing over the

came

time. As they

off the target they

more from

ing that differed by ninety degrees or

This pattern ensured that they would be in the event that to

would

as

target at the

egress

on

a head-

the original course.

unpredictable as possible

anyone was tracking them,

as well as

enabling them

keep an eye on each other.

"We used

and guns on these

rockets

from an altitude of about three or four hundred

started out

the geometry worked out so that

we had

to shoot over the edges of the berms."

popping up

to

"We

runs," Sykes recounted.

feet

but

to fly too close to the targets

Smith adjusted

by

their altitude

about seven hundred feet so that the resultant dive

angle was steep enough to get their weapons over the earthen walls

and

hit

front

what was inside the caches. From where he was

cockpit— perched

first-rate

at the

end of the

view of the target and the

Those

fire

and

effects of their

— Sykes had a

weapons.

much. "We sprayed the caches with

effects weren't

millimeter

nose

aircraft's

sitting in the

a rocket or

two on each

pass," Sykes said.

of us scored a direct hit with the rockets, but

some

20-

"None

of our 20-

millimeter rounds were hitting inside the berms." Sykes kept his head

down looking

into the "bucket" of the

TSU whenever Smith fired the

cannon; the magnification that the device provided enabled him help correct the other

pilot's

to

aim. Conversely, he was able to see the

rocket hits better simply by looking forward through the windscreen. Still,

the two gunships had no significant effect on the material in-

side the berms; nothing

set

up

a far one." get,

fire

or exploded.

They continued

for

another run," explained Sykes, "and

perfectly to fire into

two different caches— a near one and

their attacks.

were

"We

caught

Smith

lined

up

fired a 2.75-inch rocket that

and he followed

it

went left of the near tar-

up with 20-millimeter cannon

long. Switching to the second target

fire

that

went

he again opened up with the

368

STOUT

JAY A.

cannon. "Through the

TSU

I

could see the rounds hitting the near,

left-hand corner of the berm," Sykes said, "and then they started walk-

ing across to the right."

The Cobra was Smith

three to four

started pulling

it

hundred yards from the berm when

out of the dive and turning

TSU

Sykes pulled his face out of the

target.

right,

away from the

and blinked against

sun— his tinted visor was up so that he could better see through the sensor. He had a good view of the enemy cache through the left front the

quarter of the canopy. It

was

order.

at that instant that the Iraqi

There was

sive blast.

wave

to

It

a bright flash

ammunition

and then

store

went high

hugely powerful concus-

a

took only the tiniest fraction of a second for the shock

reach the helicopter.

Before either

flier

had time

hundreds of pieces of what

to react,

used to be the canopy blasted straight into the cockpit with a deafening as,

boom. The sudden rush of wind ripped too late, he threw his

head into

left

his chest. Shards of

over

them with

even

as

a

arm up

for protection

metal and

hammering

at Sykes's lacerated face

roar that

dirt

and tucked

made

the aircraft shudder

it fell.

Behind Sykes the instrument panel had shielded Smith from tion of the blast. Yet rather,

his

and other debris swept

he struggled

evitable.

he

still

to set the aircraft

The concussion

was

for the crash that

They gasped

banging compressor

down; there was no way

up

in-

of the explosion had robbed the engines of

the airflow they needed to operate. several sharp,

a por-

struggled to control the aircraft— or

to get

them

stalls

at the lack of air

and then

started

with

winding

restarted.

Sykes brushed at the shards from the canopy that were lodged in his eyelashes. "It

was hard

for

me

to see

but

I

could

pitched over, nose low, in a right-hand turn." into a pitch-black cloud of

smoke and only

tell

that

we were

The Cobra plunged

a

second or two

later

emerged very

close to the ground. Sykes got onto the controls with

Smith

both wrestled with the collective

as they

torotation.

From

level!" as they it

hit the

up

for

an au-

the back he heard Smith shout "Skids level, skids

both tried to get the

ground.

to set

aircraft into a level attitude before

HAMMER FROM ABOVE At precisely the correct lective in

time

moment both aviators pulled up on the col-

his

Twelve seconds

to soften the impact.

they smashed into the ground. Sykes

felt his

upper teeth buried themselves into

aged

to get the aircraft

going about

still

sixty

369

more knots

head slam

when we skids made

membered. Nevertheless, the

the

into the

TSU;

"We had manbut we were

his lower lip.

or less level

when

after the blast

hit,

contact/' he re-

was sledding along upright

aircraft

made contact with the edge of one of the bermed caches and collapsed. The Cobra tipped to the right, and the main until the right skid

rotor blades started disintegrating themselves as they

the ground.

The

abruptly rocked over onto

The nose airfield

continued

aircraft

of the aircraft

its

dug

upside down. Sykes

with his eyes scrunched

head was

just

as

continued

ground

into the

— hanging

shut— was

and then

to roll to the right it

as

to slide.

it

scraped across the

wrong-way up

little

at

more than

in his harness

a rag doll.

"My

bouncing along over the ground; there was nothing

could do about

it

and mouth and

I

my

helmet stayed on." Dirt and

ears.

His arms and hands dragged

except hope that

rocks filled his nose across the

back

chopped away

only barely protected by his flying gear.

dirt,

The impact

with the ground combined with the torque from the

rotor blades tearing into the earth broke loose the aircraft's transmis-

which slammed three

sion,

feet forward against the cockpit

smashing Smith and pinning him into

bulkhead,

his seat. His back, neck,

and

shoulders were wrenched; like Sykes, his arms flailed and his hands

were taking a beating. At

last

the carcass that had been a

Cobra juddered

to a stop

and

Sykes opened his eyes. His hands automatically found their way to the straps that

him

made up

his harness

and released the buckles

in the shell of the front cockpit.

The

that held

six-inch drop to the

ground

forced a grunt from his battered body, but he rested there only an in-

stant—even was

fire.

He

in his condition

rolled out

he knew

he faced

that the biggest danger

from under the

aircraft

and forced himself to

his feet. "I

was disoriented," he understated.

on the wrong

go— you

side, so

it

took

me

a

"I

had

moment

rolled out of the aircraft to figure out

access the front and rear cockpits of the

where

Cobra from

to

differ-

370

JAY A.

STOUT

ent sides." Sykes finally got his bearings and stumbled back to the rear

There he knelt down

cockpit.

"He was conscious but

him pinned

mission had

to

check on Smith.

weight against the straps and the trans-

his

This was particularly alarm-

in pretty good."

ing as the dreadful sound of fuel splashing out of the wreck and onto the ground caught their immediate attention. Straightaway the two

pump and

secured the fuel

fliers

turned off power to the battery.

very real horror of burning alive while trapped in an aircraft

mare

dawn

that has terrified every pilot since the

is

The

a night-

of powered

flight.

Sykes and Smith were no exceptions.

While the two

Smith

pilots struggled to get

other Cobra roared

overhead— checking

to see if

them

of their two squadron mates. Sykes gave

free, the

crew of the

anything remained

weak wave.

a

took an-

It

other few minutes before Smith crawled free of the wreckage. In the

meantime the second Cobra had landed

a

couple of hundred yards

met the

away. Sykes and Smith headed toward the other aircraft and

one of

copilot,

ghost.

I

good

Sykes's

guess our

ride

little

we had been

watch. First

friends.

along on our back

.

.

.

at

had been something of a by the

hit

smoke, and then we

into the

"He looked

hit the

blast,

me

like

was a

I

roller coaster to

then they saw us

roll

over

ground and they saw us skidding

They'd thought we were dead about three

times over!"

The two crews had an impromptu powwow right there on the field. Smith made the decision that he and Sykes would stay with aircraft

the

while the other crew coordinated their pickup. Technically

the option existed for the two

downed crewmen

munition doors of the other

Smith didn't

aircraft,

but

this

to ride

had arrived overhead

the crew and what remained of their aircraft, and

before other

A few

more

minutes

suitable helicopters

later the

would

crew of the other

Not seeing any

had been

it

to protect

wouldn't be long

arrive to

lift

them

M4

carbines for

real reason to wait alongside the

their aircraft, they

made

out.

aircraft roared airborne,

leaving Sykes and Smith behind with their protection.

out on the am-

was a measure that

was warranted under the circumstances. Already

feel

several sections of fixed-wing aircraft

that

air-

their

way over

to

self-

wreck

one of the

HAMMER FROM ABOVE

371

to wait. "We sat there and talked for a while," remembered Sykes. "He was really concerned that we'd go into shock and he made sure that we drank plenty of water. We both started get-

abandoned hangars

ting pretty

stiff

Sykes's face

right away."

had been badly torn up when the

blast

had exploded

the canopy; the subsequent head scraping he had endured after the crash had

made

wounds worse. He had been

the

lucky; although

they bled badly, the lacerations were largely superficial. Neverthethe

less,

amount

of blood that wept from the injuries had

vinced otherwise.

bloody

mud

kept telling

was

kept reaching up and pulling great gobs of

"I

off of

my

me that

I

he recounted.

was fine but

keep

just trying to

face,"

and kept asking Smith

horribly disfigured

him con-

me

It's

was certain that

my

I

I

was

He

face was okay.

him — I thought he

didn't believe

I

calm. Finally

out and checked for myself.

"I if

pulled

my

survival mirror

funny the things you worry about

in

a situation like that."

The

pair

shocked by Ironically,

was a

still

waiting quietly for their ride

when

they were

tremendous explosion from somewhere behind them.

one of the caches they had struck

finally

cooked

rained

down on

off,

with spectacular

earlier with

results.

no

Chunks

effect

had

of shrapnel

the freshly stunned aviators as they huddled against

the hangar walls and waited to leave the seemingly cursed airfield.

Within an hour Sykes and Smith.

blown up

a pair of

The

CH-46Es and

a

Huey

arrived to extract

next day their Cobra was declared a loss and

in place.

There was no coherent defense along the route from the to Tikrit,

As

re-

Marine Corps were brought

to

and Task Force Tripoli was engaged only

quired, the

combined arms of

the

Iraqi capital

sporadically.

when it was available. Major Randy Nash, the FAC of Weapons Company, First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, recalled how his unit bear,

augmented by airpower from the

came under small-arms and

RPG

sister services

fire just

south of Tikrit.

A

deadly

and overwhelming response was immediately forthcoming, but

it

was

372

STOUT

JAY A.

only part of a greater design that smashed

down on anything

that

threatened the Marines as they closed on Saddam's birthplace:

The

battalion simultaneously directed

four different direct front.

enemy

while taking

sites,

fire

CAS

South of the position, fixed-wing

vehicles in a revetted complex.

town Air Force A- 10s destroyed Just west of the city

On

fires

front,

than

to their

engaged

the north side of

Sahra

airfield.

Cobras shot up the enemy with

from our

artillery

were used

aircraft

missiles. All the

and mortars were

grated into the barrage. In just a few hours

CAS

aircraft

targets at the Al

cannon, and Hellfire

rockets, 20-millimeter

while surface

less

SA-2 and SA-3 missiles were discovered and

demolished. To our direct

tions of

onto no

from the Fedayeen

more than

fifty

inte-

sec-

in the vicinity of Tikrit alone.

This orchestration of combined arms was beautiful music to those of us on the

ground— a symphony

of sweet violence con-

ducted by a team of airborne and ground FACs, the

which we'd never seen

before.

Like Baghdad, Tikrit rolled over— a leaderless nized defense.

Now, with few

The war

city

with no orga-

against Saddam's regime was over.

the major engagements finished, the Marines snatched a

hours

Strohman's

and there

here

FARP team

one of Saddam's

set

the perimeter with

commanding

up

to

some

relax.

Lieutenant

Colonel

Joe

for operations at Tikrit South, site of

private airports.

When

his collection of gazelles.

37

likes of

The boundary

fence also corralled

one of the Marines came back from

freshly killed

and dressed meat, the

MWSG-

officer took the high and proper road and declared

that shooting the gazelles was forbidden.

"My Marines would

have never disobeyed the colonel, but

found them spearing Saddam's gazelles from nets lashed to tent poles

the intent of his order,"

I

felt

when

I

HMMWVs with bayo-

that they were not exactly adhering to

Strohman remembered. "But still, barbecued

HAMMER FROM ABOVE over a

grill

that

someone had pulled

was some of the best meat

By April tions.

15, 3rd

I'd

off the front of their vehicle, that

ever had."

MAW aircrews were ordered to stop offensive opera-

They were

to

engage

when Marines were under pletely.

373

targets only fire.

under the control of

a

FAC

Business dropped off nearly com-

39

Realization

was April

15, the

Coalition controlled Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Steve

Cobra

walked away from

his

aircraft, a twisted,

burned

more than

there

and

a

The Heywood

day that major combat operations ceased.

It

week

to the

pile of

earlier.

wreckage of Ford's and Sammis's

scrap— unchanged since he'd been

He was

tired.

He had been

shooting

killing for six straight days.

Heywood stopped

next to the debris.

Suddenly— almost

lently—he was crushed by an overwhelming sense of lessness

and

fatigue.

He dropped

shoulder-racking lungs

came, unbidden, from

full

of

air.

to his

loss

vio-

and help-

knees and took in great,

Short, sharp, half-suppressed cries

his throat.

own reaction stunned him, but with it came a newfound realization. The grief was not just for the dead men and their families. It was also for him, for his own family, for the men he flew with who still His

were

alive,

and

for their worried families.

Everyone knew

it

intuitively— but few

came by

the knowledge

from experience. During the past month he had. War was not fun.

It

was not the History Channel.

It

was not a game.

It

was not movies.

It

HAMMER FROM ABOVE was not books.

Sometimes fearful

and

it

War was dead

was dead mothers and

one of the dead

to the

pilots hadn't

wreck

for a

made

to recover

been one of his

up and looked and

and dead

sons.

and daughters. War was

aircraft,

into

it.

The

Looking

he knew that

what was

wedding band. The ring of

been found with the personal

remains that had been sent home.

sharp,

sisters

fathers

ugly.

He had come back

could be

and dead

friends

375

left

wife had asked

at the it

an

effort

crushed mess that had

was hopeless.

of the cockpit.

fire-fused pieces of metal.

if

effects or

He

Still,

he stood

pulled at black,

He sifted and dug in

the dirt un-

derneath the fuselage, and walked around the entire wreck, one, two, three,

and more times.

After a while

was waiting.

He

Heywood walked back to

his

didn't have the ring. Rather

standing of war and loss and despair.

Cobra where the he had

copilot

a deeper under-

Afterword

in the introduction, the fighting in Iraq continAsueswasasmentioned this book goes to press. In many, many more Marines fact,

end of Saddam Hussein's govern-

have died in Iraq subsequent

to the

ment than perished during

the fighting that toppled him.

Most of

these deaths have not been the result of direct engagements with in-

IEDs (Improvised Explo-

surgents but, instead, have been caused by sive

Devices) or other

sorts

Marines have encountered lamists have

deed he

been

guerrillas in face-to-face

utterly crushed. Still, the

realizes that

he can't hope

to

Iraq.

terrorization, as his only

Marines

fights in disguise or

nate

bombs by remote

liness that

peace

it

is

in-

killing

can be called that— is radically

to suffer casualties at the

who

not stupid;

is

random homicidal

from what the Marine Corps was designed

trating for the

Is-

means of influencing what happens

This type of fighting— if

ferent

enemy

combat, the

win a conventional war and

instead has resorted to remote control, or

and

Where

of ambush-style bombings.

to

combat.

But

guerrilla warfare,

and

it is

it

dif-

frus-

hands of an enemy

from hiding places that allow him

control.

It is

in

to deto-

the age-old nature of the ug-

must be defeated

in order for

to prevail.

Marine aviation elements are ground brothers

just as

bat Element's part

is

in

Iraq

today supporting their

they always have. Nevertheless, the Air

not as prominent as

it

Com-

was during the push

to

AFTERWORD

378

Baghdad. Combating insurgents neighborhood by neighborhood the gritty and very dangerous work of the infantryman.

Marine

fliers in this sort

when compared

ished

of fighting

The

important, but

is still

with the engagements of

it is

is

role of

dimin-

March and

April

2003.

None

of this should detract from what was done and learned dur-

ing Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The

successes were spectacular in a

war that was unlike anything seen before. In the space of three weeks, the Marine Corps fought across a hostile landscape while traversing

an expanse equivalent

to the distance

San Francisco. That

did so with so

miscues was

all

the

it

still

amazed

erything worked. All the training

had done,

came

all

many moving

more remarkable.

ling remarked: "I'm

from the Mexican border

and so few

parts

Brigadier General Terry Rob-

and done,

ev-

the planning

we

that after all was said

we had done,

all

the equipment that was procured and deployed

together just like

it

was supposed

to

to.

—

it

all

Particularly across the var-

ious service boundaries, the level of cooperation was outstanding.

Sure, there were problems, and certainly not everything worked per-

but

fectly,

all in all

the work and vision of a generation of Marines was

validated."

Those

aspects that did not perform as well as desired will receive

greater scrutiny. is

The

difficulty in

maintaining good communications

one of the chief considerations. As good

as the

as

it

was, and as tirelessly

communications Marines worked, the hard boundaries of

physics often conspired against them. Maintaining line-of-sight links

was impossible when the rapid advance took units over the horizon.

The

witchcraft that

and improvements influence

this

is

will

means

High Frequency

come

radio

only slowly given

of communicating.

is

always bewildering,

how many factors can Satellites

promise, but this scheme of maintaining contact

is

hold

great

expensive and

The best method for mitigating the vagaries inherent in the command, control, and communications arena is to train Marines who have the capacity, the will, and the intelligence to make

hardly

fail-safe.

on-the-spot decisions in the thick of combat. Fortunately these are traits

and

imbue

characteristics that the

in their warfighters.

Marines have always

strived to

AFTERWORD

379

Imagery intelligence was improved over what was available during Desert Storm, but

lacking.

it is still

The F/A-18D-mounted ATARS

system provided valuable imagery, but most of the time the Marines

UAV

doing the fighting saw

little

to influence the fight

on the ground, and there were even

it

it.

Additionally,

failed to

it still

meet

Marine Corps

One

is

UAVand dissemination. The

pursuing these

possibilities

is

that

a

aircraft are

in

It is

interests are

now

the service

is

in a crisis

simply running out of life. Whether or not they will

time

substantially less that

be seen.

so hard. Re-

what magic the maintenance Marines work, eventually

be replaced

will

be

with vigor.

equipment can be operated only

material just physically wears out. Right its

to

of the most important lessons the Marine Corps learned, and

learning,

gardless of

as

infantry

the warfighter's needs.

all

was only the continuation of what promises

enabled revolution in information gathering

is still

imagery helped

hand-launched systems. This was an improvement

units with small,

over years past, but Rather,

of

to

maintain an inventory— one that

what

it

was only

a

quite likely, though, that in an environment

competing

for

not receive the aircraft

is

already

dozen years ago— remains

to

where more

fewer resources, Marine Corps aviation it

needs.

A failure

of this sort will endan-

ger not just the infantryman but also the nation's interests. In the meantime, the

always done:

never

It

will

come when

come by that day.

Marine Corps

will

continue to do what

it

accomplish the mission. Hopefully the time a lack of material or

intelligence, imagination,

equipment cannot be

and courage.

I

has will

over-

never want to see

Acknowledgments

mom, my

my

dad,

dead dog, the neighbor kid who plays

My

stereo too loud, blah, blah, blah

.

.

.

This

his

the part you the

is

reader normally skip, because there's nothing or no one in here that

you

really care about.

ple of books

used to do the same until

I

and came

to

understand

I

wrote

my first cou-

how many people make

a dif-

ference in whether a book ends up being worthwhile or not. So I'm

going to point them out. feeding relate

me

here

trash piled

the time

I

if I

of course (of course because she'd stop

First,

said otherwise),

how

is

my wife,

Monica. Normally,

up and lawns went unmowed. Yeah, wrote

pleasant or happy.

this I

manuscript

my

her as

after

years. She's

it's

of that, but during

because

done

I've

much more

all

more

wife has seldom been

strongly believe that

time or energy to paw

twenty-some

writers

they neglected their spouses during the writing, and

rested

for

and

I

haven't had the

most of the past

is

eager for

me

to

continue writing. I

asked

my

brilliant older daughter, Kristen, to edit the initial

manuscript, and she happily agreed to do

so— for

cash.

money-grubber did a nice job,

and the publisher got

book because of her

My younger daughter,

mean that

fine work.

one, had no interest at

somewhere

in the

book

I

all

in

what

I

The

little

a better-looking

Katherine, the

was doing. She only asked

include the phrase: "Katherine Stout's

rockin' party with her wicked-cool parents."

I

told her no.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

382

You know how

there's

someone

your

in

life

done some-

that has

thing nice for you, and you're never quite sure that you can ever

thank them enough? Eric

and

Hammel— one

ever— gave me

historians

He

eral years ago.

a

good

start

continues to mentor

of the best aviation writers

me to write sevme great advice.

by teaching

me

and give

Keep him

Either he's a really, really nice guy or he wants something. distracted It's

and buy

lots

of his books.

time to get more serious.

with me, but nearly everyone

No

one

in this

book had

approached was happy

I

cooperate

to to

do

was very enthusiastic about the project. This wasn't necessarily as

most of them are

some of them ject,

it

still

on

active duty

was also an emotional

and busy training

Death

task.

and you don't often read about the nuts and

ation chronicle.

isn't

easy,

for war.

For

an easy sub-

bolts of

Normally our heroes disappear

and

so,

it

in

an

avi-

in a blaze of glory

and then we

flip to

wood shared

a very difficult experience with us that put the reality

into that glory,

Dozens of went on

and

this

is

better because of

it.

above Iraq during March and April 2003. The ob-

vious ones are those

who went

book

provided source material and insight into what

folks

in the sky

the next page. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Hey-

whose names you've already

well above and

beyond what

read.

Among

readily apparent are

is

those

Major

Randy Nash and Colonel Robert Milstead. They both provided and material

sight

that gave the

book

a fidelity

it

in-

wouldn't otherwise

have had. Brigadier General Terry Robling gave the book a continuous thread and insight from the upper echelons of command; sider

it

an honor that he took time from

work with

his very

me in recording what went on within

3rd

I

con-

busy schedule

to

MAW during this

time.

Okay, next

who

is

the

list

that

you always

provided help of varying

sorts,

note their contributions in detail are:

I'd

see.

but

These

if I

are the

gentlemen

took time and space to

run out of writing room. They

Corporal Micah Snead; Captains Llonie Cobb, Kyle Moore,

John Havener,

Adam Musoff, Derek Abbey; Ken Woodard,

Michael

Rodriguez,

Colonels

Robert Lloynd,

Darrell

Majors Louis Gundlach,

Scott

Thacker,

Cooper; Karl

Lieutenant

Brandt,

Mike

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

383

Kennedy, Pete Woodmansee, Anton Nerad, Robert Claypool, Chris

Lamson, Freddie

Blish;

know IVe

forgotten

agents and the

awesome

and Colonel Juan Ayala.

many people — please forgive me. You know how the writers talk about their

I

just as

job they did? Well, I

won't leave

looked

me

never had one before now, but

I

home

I

can

without one in the future. Mr. E.

up, talked

me

tell

J.

you that

McCarthy

into doing the right sort of book, guided

me

through the proposal process, handled the publisher, the contract,

and the money, and then dealt with

all

the

Sort of like a personal assistant for writers.

little

He

details in

between.

deserves twice what

Fm

him (but won't get it). Thank you, E. J. And thank you to Random House and my editor, Ron Doering. They recognized the importance of this work and— with the fine paying

editing of Crystal Velasquez

— have

you're holding this minute.

hope

I

to

produced the top-notch book have

many more happy

book-

publishing experiences with them. Finally, forces.

thank you to

When

the

men and women

you're in the service

much

often seems like so

uniform, and

all

now being

there doing

it.

God

bless

the

armed

like this,

it

patronizing blather. But having been in

out,

who

all

and you hear thanks

I

want

to reassure

where you are and what you're doing, there of American citizens

of

are thanking

and keep you.

God

you that no matter

are millions

and millions

every day that you're out

Glossary of Terms

AAA:

Anti-Aircraft Artillery

AAV:

Assault

Amphibian Vehicle

ACE:

Air

ANGLICO:

Air Naval Gunfire Liaison

AO:

Area of Operations; Air Officer

AOR:

Area of Responsibility

APC:

Armored Personnel Carrier

API:

Armor

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

AR:

Aerial Refueling;

ASE:

Acceptable Steering Error; Aircraft Survivability

Combat Element

Company

Piercing Incendiary

Armed Reconnaissance

Equipment ASP:

Ammunition Supply

ATACMS:

Army Tactical

ATARS:

Advanced

Point

Missile System

Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance

System

ATF:

Amphibious Task Force

ATO:

Air Tasking Order

AWACS:

Airborne Warning and Control System

BBC: BDA: BHA:

British Broadcasting Corporation

Battle

Damage Assessment

Bomb

Hit Assessment

386

bingo:

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

minimum

fuel

BMO:

Black Moving Object (slang)

BMP:

A Soviet-designed

BRC:

Base Recovery Course

BRDM:

A Soviet-designed

CAAT:

Combined Anti-Armor Team

CACO:

Casualty Assistance Calls Officer

CAS:

Close Air Support

CASE VAC:

Casualty Evacuation

CDE:

Collateral

CENTCOM:

Central

CFACC:

Coalition Forces Air

CFIT:

Controlled Flight Into Terrain

CFLCC:

Coalition Forces

CIA:

Central Intelligence Agency

CO:

Commanding

CP:

Command

CRAF:

Civil Reserve Air Fleet

esse CSSD CSSE

Combat Combat Combat

armored personnel

armored personnel

Damage

carrier

carrier

Estimate

Command Component Commander

Land Component Commander

Officer

Post;

Contact Point

Service Support

Companies

Service Support

Detachment

Service Support

Element

DASC/DASC(A) Direct Air Support Center (Airborne) DMPI: Desired Mean Point of Impact Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition DPICM:

ECMO:

Electronic Countermeasures Officer

EO/IR:

Electro Optical/Infra

EPWs:

Enemy

FAC/FAC(A):

Forward Air Controller (Airborne)

FARP:

Forward Arming and Refueling Point

FLIC:

Flight Line Intelligence Center

FLIR:

Forward Looking

FO:

Forward Observer

FSC:

Fire Support Center

FSCC:

Fire Support Coordination Center

FSCM:

Fire Support Coordination Measures

Red

Prisoners of War

Infra

Red

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

FSSG:

Field Service Support

Group

Team

FST:

Fire Support

GCE:

Ground Combat Element

GPS:

Global Positioning System

HARM: HDC: HEMTTs: HMLA:

High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile

HMMWV:

High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle

HUD:

Heads

IEDs:

Improvised Explosive Devices

IFF:

Identification Friend or

I

MEF:

387

Helicopter Direction Center

Heavy Expanded Mobility

Tactical Trucks

Helicopter Marine Light Attack

First

Up

Display

Foe

Marine Expeditionary Force Point

IP:

Initial

IR:

Infra

IZLID:

Infrared

JDAM:

Joint Direct Attack

JFACC:

Joint Forces Air

KI:

Killbox Interdiction

KIA:

Killed in Action

LAR:

Light Armored Reconnaissance

LGB:

Laser Guided

LHD: LOD:

Landing Helicopter Dock

LPD:

Landing Platform Dock

LSO:

Landing Signals Officer

LZ:

Landing Zone

MAG: MAGTF: MANPAD: MAW: MAWTS:

Marine Air Group

MBT:

Main

MEDEVAC: MEU:

Medical Evacuation

Red

Zoom

Laser Illuminator Designator

Munition

Component Commander

Bomb

Line of Departure

Marine Air Ground Task Force

Man

Portable Air Defense

Marine Air Wing Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron Battle

Tank

Marine Expeditionary Unit

388

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

MEZ:

Missile

MISREP:

Mission Report

MOPP:

Mission Oriented Protection Posture

MPS: MSR:

Maritime Prepositioning Ships

MTLB:

Mashina Transportnaya Legkaya Boyevaya

Main

Engagement Zone

Surface Route

(Russian transport vehicle for combat)

MWSG:

Marine Wing Support Group

MWSS:

Marine Wing Support Squadron

NBC:

Nuclear Biological Chemical

NCO:

Noncommissioned

NIPR:

Non-secure Internet Protocol Router

NTS:

Night Targeting System

NVD: NVG:

Night-Vision Goggles

OIF:

Operation Iraqi Freedom

ONW:

Operation Northern Watch

OP:

Observation Posts

OSW: PGM: POW:

Operation Southern Watch

PSAB:

Prince Sultan Air Base

rack:

sleeping/bed

RAF:

Royal Air Force

RATO: RCT: ROE: RPG: SAM: SAW:

Rocket Assisted Takeoff

SCUD:

Soviet designed surface-to-surface missile

SEAD:

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses

SEAL:

Sea Air Land Special Forces

SIPR:

Secret Internet Protocol Router

SITREP:

Situation Report

Officer

Night Vision Device

Precision

Guided Munition

Prisoner of War

Regimental Combat

Team

Rules of Engagement

Rocket Propelled Grenade Surface to Air Missile

Squad Automatic Weapon

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

389

STU:

Secure Telephone Unit

TAA:

Tactical

TBS:

The

TACC:

Tactical Air

TAD:

Tactical Air Direction

TAOC: TOT:

Tactical Air Operations Center

TOW:

Tube-Launched Optically Tracked Wire-Guided

Assembly Area

Basic School

Time on

Command

Center

Target

Missile

TSTs:

Time

TSU: UAV:

Telescopic Sight Unit

UHF:

Ultra

USAF:

United States Air Force

WP:

White Phosphorous

WSO:

Weapons Systems

WTI:

Weapons and

XO:

Executive Officer

Sensitive Targets

Unmanned Aerial

Vehicle

High Frequency

Officer

Tactics Instructor

Bibliography

"Government: Marine Fights

for Life as Relatives Fight

On." March

29, 2003. http://www.infoarizona.com. "Jessica

Lynch." Nationmaster.com. http://www.nationmaster.com/

encyclopedia/Jessica-Lynch.

"Mystery Hovers Around Sergeant Left Behind/' Detroit Free

Press.

http://www.freep.com/news/portraitsofwar/gossmeyer.htm.

"No FARP Too Far!: Operation Iraqi Freedom." Marine Wing Support Group 37. Chapman, Susan. "The War Before the War." Air Force Magazine 87, no. 2 (February 2004). http://www.afa.org/magazine/Feb2004/

0204war.html. Crawley, James Troops."

W.

"Officials

Confirm Dropping Firebombs on

San Diego Union-Tribune, August

5,

2003.

Descheneaux, Major "Triple A" Ray. "4 Days at Joe Foss Field." rine Air Transporter,

Garamone,

June 2003:

Jim. "Thunderbolt

the Countryside."

1,

Iraqi

Ma-

8-11. http://www.mcata.com.

Over Baghdad: Tilot-Dude'

DefenseLINK News,

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in

July 16, 2003. http://www

.globalsecurity.org/wmd/Library/news/iraq/2003/07/iraq-030716afps04.htm.

Grant, Rebecca. "Marine Air in the Mainstream." Air Force zine,

June 2004: 60-64.

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Groen, Michael

No

Friend,

S.,

Col. Operation Iraqi Freedom:

Lt.

Worse Enemy.

First

No

Better

Marine Division, 2004.

Guzman, Richard. "Marine Deployed from Local Base Injured in Ambush Grenade Attack." Desertsun.com, March 27, 2003. http:// www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/war/ 1 0487709 3 2 .shtml LaForte, Nathan K., Sgt. Jacket 6, no.

Moreno, First

"Unmanned

4 (January

Sylvia. "Injured

Planes: Eyes in the Sky." Flight

30, 2004).

Marines Get Wish: Citizenship. President,

Lady Witness 'Amazing Moment' of Oath Taking." Washing-

tonpost.com, April 12, 2003.

Moseley, Michael T.,

DOM— By

Lt.

Gen., USAF. "Operation IRAQI

FREE-

the Numbers: Assessment and Analysis Division."

April 30, 2003.

Murray, Williamson, and Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales

War:

A

Military History. Cambridge,

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The Iraq

MA: The Belknap

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Harvard University Press, 2003. S. A Time of Our New York: Times Books, 2003.

Purdum, Todd

Roberts, L. R., Lt. Col., and Maj.

Choosing: Americas

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Farnam,

War

in Iraq.

USMC. "Airborne Re-

gion Supported: Marines' Advances in Iraq." Proceedings: U.S.

Naval

Institute,

June 2004: 40-43.

Rousseau, Caryn. "Navy Medic in Iraq

BeachOnline.com, March

Is

Killed in Action." Myrtle-

27, 2003. http://www.myrtlebeachon-

line.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/5498379.htm. West, Bing, and Maj. Gen. Ray L. Smith,

Up: Taking Baghdad with the

tam Books, 2003.

1st

USMC

Marine

(Ret.).

Division.

The March

New York:

Ban-

About the Author

Jay A.

Stout

is

a retired

Marine

fighter pilot

whose twenty-year

reer included thirty-seven missions in Operation Desert Storm.

ca-

He

is

the co-author otThe First Hellcat Ace and the author of Hornets Over

Kuwait, Fortress Ploesti: The ticles for journals

Campaign

to

Destroy Hitler's Oil, and

and newspapers nationwide. He currently works

the aviation industry for a major defense contractor.

ar-

in

About the Type

This book was

W.

set in Electra, a typeface

A. Dwiggins, the

designed for Linotype by

renowned type designer (1880-1956). Electra

a fluid typeface, avoiding the contrasts of thick

are prevalent in

most modern

typefaces.

and thin

is

strokes that

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 9999 05277 330 4

nvrov'* **»« m mm

if v? 1 1 FatfeulrBranch Library,

material Sale of Uiis

ben^theUbraiy

intense

combat operations

for

up to eighteen

hours at a time and to face incredible volumes of fire

that

during

battles

With flights is

a

shredded

literally

like

that

aircraft

over

An

midair

in

Nasiriyah.

dynamic descriptions of perilous

its

and bombing

runs,

worthy tribute to the

Hammer from Above men and women who

flew and maintained the aircraft that so inspired

arms and

their brothers in

Jay A.

dut

is

a

retired

terrified the

Marine fighter

whose twenty-year career included missions

co-author of The

First Hellcat

pilot

thirty-seven

Operation Desert Storm. He

in

enemy.

is

the

Ace and the author

of Hornets Over Kuwait, Fortress Ploesti: The

Campaign

to Destroy Hitler's Oil,

for journals

and

articles

and newspapers nationwide. He

currently works

in

the aviation industry for a

major defense contractor.

:ket design: Carl D. Galian :ket

photographs:

©

Corbis

presidiopress.com

Presidio Press

New

York. N.Y.

/

Advance

a

praise for

Ha&imer

f

/ the real thing, a solid and readable account of the role Marine air upport played in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Jay Stout is a veteran Marine

"TJrfs is

pilot who knows how to write, especially about Marine aviation. He understands as only someone who has been there can the hundreds of decisions a flier makes on a difficult mission, and he describes them memorably. If you've ever wondered what it is like to fly in combat, read this book." —THOMAS E. RlCKS, author of Making the Corps and A Soldier's Duty

—

—

"The 2003 ground war in Iraq has been thoroughly reported by embedded correspondents and those who fought it. Hammer from Above now brings an entirely new perspective to the conflict. Jay Stout unflinchingly portrays the battle through the lens of the Marines who fought in the skies above Iraq.

He has

woven

skillfully

the first-person stories of these

men and women

into a

compelling tale of bravery and chance in the crucible of combat that will become an enduring part of the history of the Iraq War."

—Jon Hoffman,

author of

Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis

"A

brilliant

and exciting battle account of the

bravely supported their brother grunts actions,

and

in Iraq.

It

Zinni,

USMC

USMC

'Flying Leathernecks'

who

truly captures the emotions,

feel of that battlefield unlike

—General Tony

B. Puller,

any other writing."

(Retired)

superb account of a short, sharp war. A revealing supporting the riflemen on the its finest ground Jay Stout's book does a great service not only for the Marine Corps and our country, but for readers everywhere." —Ralph Peters, author of Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace

"A veteran

aviator's

portrait of airpower at

—

—

m TT-

ISBN 0-89141-865-2 5

25 95