CVW-5 in The Third World War

[Fusilier]

Wow! Marvelling at the research that goes into these, Matt. I just remember favourite TV shows and crack on!

[Jotun]

Wow! Marvelling at the research that goes into these, Matt. I just remember favourite TV shows and crack on!

I do put in quite a lot of research, but I have more fun just trusting the pinball machine that is my creative brain. My stories aren‘t full of off-color jokes, apropos nonsense and generous helpings of snark for nothing.

Which - if I do say so myself - lends itself well to writing about military personnel doing their jobs.

[James1978]

I do put in quite a lot of research, but I have more fun just trusting the pinball machine that is my creative brain. My stories aren‘t full of off-color jokes, apropos nonsense and generous helpings of snark for nothing.

Which - if I do say so myself - lends itself well to writing about military personnel doing their jobs.

What my father refers to as "Crew Dog Humor" when reminiscing about his B-52 days and sitting alert.

[James1978]

One good book that I use to get targets is On Point: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Offensive Against Iraq (Found it on Google Books). I use sites like Globalsecurity.org to get info on the WMD facilities for that target set. Bridges? JOG or TPC charts when the former isn't available online are mighty handy, as one can get road and rail bridges located easily. If I look at JOG maps and see "numerous storage bunkers/buildings" I can look at Google Earth and sometimes, those facilities haven't been dismantled, even after all this time and the new government, and OK, that was a major military logistics or ammo storage, that goes on the target list. Same thing for rail yards: even though most of Iraq's RR system is now nonexistent, rail yards still show up on GE imagery. So do Saddam's palaces-though they're repurposed for other uses now, they are mostly still standing. So that kind of target information is still useful-along with things like POL storage and refining. Skimming over Google Earth, one can find things like military barracks, power plants and substations (helps fill out that target set), or even faint outlines of what were SA-2 or SA-3 SAM sites.

I want to know what's so damn special about JOG NI-38-10 that you can't find it anywhere.

[Matt Wiser]

One good book that I use to get targets is On Point: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Offensive Against Iraq (Found it on Google Books). I use sites like Globalsecurity.org to get info on the WMD facilities for that target set. Bridges? JOG or TPC charts when the former isn't available online are mighty handy, as one can get road and rail bridges located easily. If I look at JOG maps and see "numerous storage bunkers/buildings" I can look at Google Earth and sometimes, those facilities haven't been dismantled, even after all this time and the new government, and OK, that was a major military logistics or ammo storage, that goes on the target list. Same thing for rail yards: even though most of Iraq's RR system is now nonexistent, rail yards still show up on GE imagery. So do Saddam's palaces-though they're repurposed for other uses now, they are mostly still standing. So that kind of target information is still useful-along with things like POL storage and refining. Skimming over Google Earth, one can find things like military barracks, power plants and substations (helps fill out that target set), or even faint outlines of what were SA-2 or SA-3 SAM sites.

I want to know what's so damn special about JOG NI-38-10 that you can't find it anywhere.

I'd like to know that myself.

[clancyphile]

I get stuff from a mix: there's quite a few accounts from those who flew in Southeast Asia, DESERT STORM-which also comes in handy when the PGM shortage really bites and it's back to dumb bombs (only 7% or so of ordnance used in 1991 were PGMs). I also have some back issues of The Hook magazine (my old high school library had a gift subscription for a while, and when it ran out, the librarian gave the issues to me), with articles on SEA, DESERT STORM, WW II, and Korea.

Some of the missions are based on real strikes in historical conflicts, as are the target sets. And I've used the Dogfights series for ideas on some of the air-to-air action. There are also books from Osprey that have also proven mighty useful. Along with some of Barrett Tilman's work on Naval Aviation in various conflicts.

One good book that I use to get targets is On Point: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Offensive Against Iraq (Found it on Google Books). I use sites like Globalsecurity.org to get info on the WMD facilities for that target set. Bridges? JOG or TPC charts when the former isn't available online are mighty handy, as one can get road and rail bridges located easily. If I look at JOG maps and see "numerous storage bunkers/buildings" I can look at Google Earth and sometimes, those facilities haven't been dismantled, even after all this time and the new government, and OK, that was a major military logistics or ammo storage, that goes on the target list. Same thing for rail yards: even though most of Iraq's RR system is now nonexistent, rail yards still show up on GE imagery. So do Saddam's palaces-though they're repurposed for other uses now, they are mostly still standing. So that kind of target information is still useful-along with things like POL storage and refining. Skimming over Google Earth, one can find things like military barracks, power plants and substations (helps fill out that target set), or even faint outlines of what were SA-2 or SA-3 SAM sites.

Shoot me a PM with your email. I have a Google Earth layover that shows active and retired SAM sites all over the world that I found online. I'll send you a copy.

[Matt Wiser]

Next chapter, and the A-6s take another hit:

24 May dawned in the Gulf, bright and clear. With a promise of good to excellent flying weather, a full day's schedule on the ATO beckoned, The first package, led by CDR Compton of VA-115, opened the day right at 0600. The VA-115 Skipper took four A-6s, four VFA-192 Hornets, two VF-21 Tomcats, along with a VAQ-136 Prowler to Al Hartha, north of Basra. The Logistical Center had been hit several times by both Navy and Air Force strikes, but the complex remained active.

After launch and form-up, the package went in via the Shatt-al Arab at medium level, overflying the Iranian airhead at Faw. On ingress, the crews noticed the Iranians had resumed their air activity after the sandstorm, with UH-1s and CH-47s shuttling back and forth between Faw and the Iranian side, while Iranian AF fighters were also in the air, staying on their side of the border. As the package skirted the Iranian border, two Iranian AF F-4s shadowed them as they headed north, and even watched the strike as it went in on the target.

CDR Compton led the package past the target, before doing a 180 and coming back in. As they did, several air-defense site radars came on, and LCDR Mike Brazleton's Dragons went in ahead of the strikers. An SA-8 came up, along with at least two Firecan radars for 57-mm AAA, and HARMs were soon in the air. The SA-8 shut down before it could launch, though HARMs did find both Firecans, knocking both radars out. Another SA-8 came up and that one also ate a HARM, exploding it. The Hornets then went down on the AAA sites, taking down both of the 57-mm sites with Rockeye, while two Hornets also took a 23-mm and a 37-mm site respectively.

With the way clear, the A-6s came in. Compton led the lead pair in onto the target. The Skipper put his load of sixteen Mark-82s onto a warehouse cluster, while LT Todd Eversole, his wingman in 511, struck a nearby motor pool and truck park, leaving multiple secondaries in both locations. Both A-6s drew machine-gun fire and MANPADS on egress, but the Skipper's pair egressed without incident.

The second pair, LCDR Morris and LT Carroll in 507 with Curtis and Tice in 510 came down as the Skipper's section drew off target. They drew more flak than the first pair, taking some 37-mm fire on the way in. Both A-6s had identical loads as the first section, with 507's crew planting their bombs onto revetted storage for ammunition, which sent off multiple secondary explosions in their wake. Curtis and Tice in 510 saw that, and put their bombs onto an adjacent fuel storage site. They, too, left multiple secondaries in their wake as they egressed, with both A-6s drawing heavy 37-mm and machine-gun fire as they cleared the target area.

After the A-6s cleared, two Hornets who still had dumb bombs or CBUs left added their bombs to what the A-6s had done, before clearing the area.

Once all aircraft were clear, the package reformed. Though the Prowler had been busy-jamming not just the radars at the target, but in the rear of the Iraqi III Corps, the Tomcat drivers were disappointed that no MiGs had come from Kut or An Numiniyah to contest the strike. The package then headed back, skirting the Iranian border, and the same two F-4s were trailing them on the Iranian side.

After clearing Faw, the Prowler broke off and began to orbit, so as to provide standoff ECM support to other packages in the area, while the rest of the birds headed back to the ship. The crews also noticed the New Jersey closing on Faw, before turning to bring her 16-inch guns to bear on targets not just near Faw, but east of Umm Qasr as well.

Recovery was normal at 0740, and as the crews were debriefed, the birds were turned around for the next package.

VA-185's CO, CDR Lowry, took the 0630 package out, with four Nighthawks Intruders, four Dambusters Hornets, two more VF-21 Tomcats, and another Prowler to the Kut area, targeting the garrison for the 37th Infantry Division, east of Highway 7 and south of the Tigris. After launch and forming up, the package, like the first one, ingressed via the Shatt Al Arab, and actually saw VA-115's package going to work on their target as they headed north. Again, the Iranian AF shadowed the strike birds as they passed along the border, with two F-5s having the honors on this occasion, breaking off when the strike birds turned west for Kut.

As the package approached the target, Kut's defenses came up, and to the crews' surprise, the SA-2 and SA-3, reported neutralized after previous strikes, lit up their threat receivers. The Iraqis, with help from their Soviet Advisors, brought the sites back online, though not with a full compliment of launchers. The Prowler began jamming, while Dambusters CO CDR Paul Lazier and his wingmate, LT Christine Langtry, took HARM shots, the CO taking the SA-3, while Langtry went after the SA-2. Both shut down after the “MAGNUM!” calls went out, with the SA-2 eating the HARM.

As the two heavy SAM sites went out, SA-8s defending Al Jarrah AB came up, with two launching. Both had HARMs sent their way, and at least one of them ate HARM as a result. At the same time, two radar-guided 57-mm sites and two optical 37-mm sites opened up, with Hornets coming down on all four. Both 57-mm sites ate HARM and then Rockeye, while the two 37-mm sites also took Rockeyes.

With the defenses suppressed, though scattered and inaccurate flak came up, the A-6s went in. CDR Lowry and LT Crandall in 531 came in and put sixteen Mark-82s on a walled supply area just inside the base and east of Highway 7. Several warehouses disagreed with the bombs, for they went up in secondary explosions. Their wingmates, LT Mason and LT Daniels came in trail and added their ordnance to the Skipper's and also left secondaries in their wake. Both aircraft took 23-mm and 37-mm flak on the way in and out, and MANPADS shots, but both A-6s were able to clear the target area.

The second pair of Intruders went in on another supply center just north of a dried-up canal east of Highway 7. LT Collett in 533 and newly-promoted LT Darlene Wilson in 540 came in, despite the 23-mm and 37-mm flak, and put their bombs onto warehouses and some revetted storage. This time, there were only a couple of secondaries, but several warehouses were torn apart by the Mark-82s, while a couple of revetments blew apart, signaling the presence of volatile cargo. Both A-6s drew flak on egress, and also MANPADS, though they were not hit, and both Intruders cleared the target, picking up the Skipper's section as they headed south.

While the A-6s went in, the IrAF responded from Al Jarrah AB. The Tomcats were out of position as they were on a BARCAP, waiting on a scramble out of An Numiniyah AB, but the Hornets were waiting as two MiG-23s that had redeployed from Jaliabah AB scrambled. CDR Lazier and LT Langtry got onto the Floggers' tails as they cleared the base, with the MiG-23s hoping to pick up the A-6s.

The Hornets came in, drawing flak and at least one SA-3 in optical mode as they lined up the MiGs, who broke upon being warned of the Hornets closing. CDR Lazier took the wingman and lined up a Sidewinder shot at less than a mile, with the AIM-9X tracking down the Flogger and exploding it. There was no chute, and the MiG tumbled down into some farmland east of Highway 7.

LT Langtry picked up the MiG leader, who tried to use the MiG-23's acceleration to get away from the Hornet before coming back in. She managed to lock him up with AIM-120 and shot at seven miles. The MiG leader then turned, which solved the problem for the missile, for it speared the MiG just behind the wing root, blowing it in half. As both halves of the MiG tumbled down in flame, Langtry saw a chute to her surprise as the hapless MiG Lead ejected.

With the MiGs clear, the Tomcats joined up with the Hornets, before the package reformed southeast of Kut, climbing back to medium altitude as they did so. Again, the Iranians followed the package out from their side of the border, with two F-4s doing the shadowing, before the package cleared Faw and went out over the Gulf, overflying the North SAR station, before recovering aboard Kitty Hawk at 0815.

The next package belonged to VA-115, and the XO, CDR Wiser, took four A-6s, four Dragon Hornets, two Black Knights Tomcats, and a Prowler to the Diwaniyah area, with two targets again. The CO's element was targeted on the Rail Yard and adjacent warehouses, while LCDR Carpenter's element took a revetted storage area inside the Military Garrison on the south side of town. Their launch was delayed as LT Knapp and LT Shelton in 510 reported their nav-attack system was “No Go.” LTJGs Ryan Thompson and Marci Eaton in 512 took their place as the designated mission spare, with launch coming at 0700.

Ingress for this strike was via Saudi, and as the package refueled from USAF KC-135s or Saudi KE-3As, a returning strike caught the crews' attention as a joint USAF/RAF/RAAF mission into the Baghdad area had two damaged aircraft-an F-15E and a RAAF F-111 limped over the border and claiming priority for refueling from waiting KC-135s.

After crossing the border, the package passed the now-empty As Salman AB, though the flak batteries there did open up. Once into the Euphrates Valley, the strike birds got down low, going in between An Najaf and Diwaniyah, and actually going past the target before turning for a straight north-south run. There, the Tomcats and Prowler climbed to altitude, the fighters assuming a BARCAP to block any MiG scrambles out of the airfields in the MEZ, with Al Iskindiryah New and Shayka Mazar the closest, while the Prowler began jamming the radars not just in the MEZ, but close to the target.

The Hornets then went in, with LCDR Kathy Evison's Dambusters going after AAA sites. Evison and her wingman LT Chris Roberts had the HARMs, and they soon found the SA-2 site back up. Though with only two working launchers, the site launched with no radar, but in optical mode. Both Hornets easily avoided the SAMs, while putting HARMs on two Firecan-guided 57-mm gun batteries. The missiles killed the radars, while Evison found the SA-2 site and put a pair of Rockeyes on it for the second time, knocking it out of action-this time, she hoped, for good. LT Roberts, meanwhile, found a 57-mm site with a wrecked radar, and put two of his Rockeyes on the battery, knocking it out.

The second pair of Hornets came in, led by RAAF exchange officer FLT Ron Fraser, and he found a pair of quad ZPU-4 14.5-mm sites for his two Hornets, then following up with hitting a 37-mm site at the Military Garrison. All four Hornets drew MANPADS shots, but none scored. The Dragons then orbited the area, waiting to pounce on any flak site that revealed itself by shooting.

With the Hornets having suppressed the defenses, the A-6s came in. CDR Wiser's pair of Intruders each had six Mark-83 Snakeyes, and the XO came in on the rail yard, finding some rolling stock for his thousand-pounders as well as the switching station. The bombs tore apart the railroad cars, with one Mark-83 landing close enough to the switching station to wreck it. LT Rivers and LT Fisher in 509 followed up, adding their Mark-83s to a pair of warehouses and additional rolling stock. The two A-6s then flew out to the south, right between Highway 8 and the Military Garrison. Both drew flak from the latter, and MANPADS shots, but egressed without incident.

The second pair of A-6s wasn't so lucky. LCDR Carpenter's pair came in on the Garrison, and as 504 came in, there was “moderate” 23-mm and 37-mm flak. The Ops Officer watched as Fraser's Hornet came in and put a Rockeye on one of the 37-mm sites ahead of him, then the Hornet pulled away. Staying on the bomb run, Carpenter's B/N, LT Karla Jefferson, put their sixteen Mark-82s on the storage area, and 504's crew was rewarded with multiple secondaries as the A-6 cleared the target. Despite the flak, and MANPADS, 504's crew cleared the target and headed south.

It was 512's crew that wasn't so lucky. Thompson and Eaton came in right behind 504, and though they drew less flak than the Ops Officer had, it was still “moderate.” They made weapon release, putting their Mark-82s onto the storage area, and also had secondaries in their wake, but as they cleared the garrison area, “It all went to hell,” as LTJG Eaton said after the war. They took both 23-mm and 37-mm flak, with a 37-mm hit on the right wing, another in the tail, along with 23-mm. The killing shot, though, was a 37-mm hit to the left side of the cockpit, badly injuring LTJG Thompson. He told Eaton to eject, and she did, before the dying A-6 rolled left and plunged inverted into the ground, close to the Hillah River. Thompson either did not eject or was killed attempting ejection, and his remains were returned postwar.

The Hornet drivers saw it all, and both Evison and Fraser took their birds down on the offending flak sites, with the Dragons Exec taking her wingman with her onto the garrison area, hitting a 23-mm site and another ZPU-4 site with Rockeyes, while Fraser found a 37-mm site he thought had hit the A-6 for his Rockeyes. Evison also managed to get brief voice contact with LTJG Eaton, who said that she was okay but was about to be captured. With nothing that could be done, the Hornets turned south, with the Prowler and Tomcats-who had not engaged with MiGs, with Baghdad's CAP still staying within the MEZ, following the Hornets out to join with the A-6s.

In the A-6s, the mood was subdued, though they had hit their targets, two of their fellow crewmates wouldn't be coming home. The package reformed west of Samawah, before climbing back to altitude and the trip back to Saudi.

LTJG Eaton would've given anything to be making that trip, for just after signing off with Evison, she landed in a field and was promptly set upon by Iraqi soldiers. After a roughing-up, she was taken to the base lockup and interrogated, before having her dislocated left shoulder popped back into its socket. After that dubious medical help, she was taken to Baghdad. Fortunately, she made it through a rough captivity, spending the rest of the war as a POW.

After crossing the border, the package, minus one, hooked up with the tankers for the usual post-strike refueling. The trip back to CV-63 was a quiet one, and recovery was normal at 1030, after three and a half hours in the air. Despite the loss, there were still missions coming up, and the crews quickly got back into game mode.

The MEZ didn't escape attention, despite CAS and BAI runs, and CDR Compton opened the MEZ strikes with a strike against the Shayka Mazar Logistics Center. Though hit several times previously, the facility was still very much a going concern, and like the previous strike against the facility, it would be coordinated with a USAF/RAAF strike against Shayka Mazar Airfield. The same crews who flew the first package of the morning were up again for this one after a break for CAS. With the Prowler having returned in the meantime before the crews briefed and the strike launch at 1020.
Mission ingress was via Saudi, though as the package headed inland, the VA-115 Skipper saw the XO's package returning, minus one A-6. Both strike leads waggled their wings, but the CO would have to wait until returning from the strike to find out who had gone down. But the knowledge that he would be writing a pair of letters was a bitter pill to swallow.

The tanker rendezvous south of the Iraqi border went like clockwork, with the KC-135s and KE-3As providing their services. As usual, the crews looked around, and noticed the RSAF Typhoons and F-15s providing HVUCAP, and they knew that several Iraqi attempts to go for the tankers had met with a hot reception, while the RSAF had also splashed several Iraqi reconnaissance aircraft near the border as well.

After the refueling, the package entered Iraqi Airspace at medium level, again drawing ineffective flak from Al Salman before dropping down low as they approached the Euphrates River Valley. The birds flew up just east of Freeway 1, passing Diwaniyah and seeing the smoke from the fires left by the XO's strike. Once past Freeway 1, the package headed due north, before picking up the MEZ radars on their threat receivers.

Those radars became much more numerous as the Air Force mission went in, and both the Tomcats and the Prowler climbed to altitude, with the Prowler jamming radars as it did. The Hornets then went in to do their IRON HAND mission as the defenses began to react to both strikes, with multiple SAM and AAA radars coming up.

LCDR Brazleton's section went in on a pair of SAM sites, one an SA-2 east of the Supply Base, and the other an SA-3 south of the airfield. The latter site also drew attention from the Wild Weasels with the AF strike, with the SA-3 eating a pair of HARMs, one from the Navy and one from the Air Force. The SA-2 fired a pair of missiles, but the Prowler jamming, plus a HARM shot, took the Fan Song Radar off the air, before one of the Hornets put a pair of Rockeye CBUs on the site, knocking it out.

The Hornets also went in on a pair of flak sites, ripping up a 37-mm site south of the supply base, along with a 57-mm site south of the road between the airfield and the supply center. Then came another 37-mm site west of the target, which also drew a Hornet and a Rockeye drop.

With defenses at both targets suppressed, the respective strike birds went in. While the F-15Es and F-111s went in on the airfield, the Intruders came in on their target. Skipper Compton led the A-6s in, each with a load of sixteen Mark-82s, and he and his wingman in 511, LT Eversole, picked out clusters of storage revetments for their Mark-82s. Both drops left multiple secondaries in their wake, but as both the Skipper and LT Eversole both noted, the facility was so big, what they had taken out “was a drop in the bucket.” The two A-6s drew flak both on the way in and on the way out, along with MANPAD shots, but easily cleared the area.

The second pair of A-6s came in, with Morris and Carroll in 507 and Curtis and Tice in 510. They, too, had the Mark-82 load, and also drew the flak on the way in. Ignoring the tracers and the puffs from a 37-mm site east of the target, the B/Ns picked out warehouses for their bombs, and they put their bombs right on them. The Mark-82s disagreed with the contents of at least two, for there were secondaries following 507's strike, but none with 510's, though both runs hit multiple warehouses. Again, they took flak on egress, with several MANPAD shots, but both Intruders cleared the target and headed south to meet up with the CO.

As was usual for MEZ incursions, the IrAF came in, despite the losses they had suffered. Despite the jamming from both the Prowler and an AF EF-111, two MiG-25s came in from Northwest of Baghdad, while two MiG-21s and two MiG-29s came in from north of the capital, along with two more MiG-21s that had scrambled out of Al Iskandiriyah New. The latter ran into the Hornets almost immediately, with LCDR Brazleton getting the leader with a head-on AIM-120 shot almost as soon as he appeared on the Hornet's radar. The MiG fireballed, crashing into a field east of Freeway 1, while the wingman continued on out, climbing and running into Brazleton's wingman, LT Devon Shuler got on the MiG's tail before giving him an AIM-9 shot that sent the MiG down into a canal.

The Tomcats then faced the MiG-29s, with Freelancer 205 and LT Ken Rawlings and LTJG Dave Randall, having LTJGs Christine Perry and Gary Andersen in 211 on their wing. Both Tomcat crews picked up the Foxbats as they came in. Locking both MiGs up at 75 miles, the Tomcats shot a single AIM-54C each. The two MiGs soon did Doppler breaks, but the wingman's turn was too late, with Perry and Andersen's shot scoring. The leader then turned back into the fight, but 205's second shot scored at 42 miles, while the Air Force MIGCAP (four F-15Cs from the 60th TFS) dealt with the other two MiG-21s, while the Fulcrums orbited, hoping to draw the Tomcats or Eagles into Baghdad's SAM defenses. The fighter crews didn't bite, and once the strike birds were clear, the fighters turned south to join up with their respective packages.

The Navy package formed up north of the Euphrates, as did the Air Force and Aussies, before climbing to altitude and heading for the border. Post-strike refueling went off, before both packages headed for their respective bases. For the Navy, recovery aboard CV-63 came just before 1230, with the usual prompt turnaround to follow.

Baghdad was next, with VA-185's Skipper, CDR Lowry, taking the first run into the Iraqi Capital. This package's target was the Al Karama Missile Plant in the outskirts of Baghdad and not far from a VA-115 target a few days earlier, the Al Haytham Missile R&D Center. Four VA-185 A-6Fs with six Mark-83 Snakeyes each, along with four Dambusters Hornets, two VF-21 Tomcats, and a Prowler, with the same crews that had flown the 0630 mission comprised the strike package after a break for CAS.

Launch was at 1215, and after forming up, the package headed for the tanker track over Saudi. As they flew west, the package passed the returning VA-115 package from Shayka Mazar. Upon reaching the tanker track, refueling was routine, before ingressing into Iraqi Airspace.

The strike birds got down low as they flew north, west of Najaf and then Karbala, before overflying Lake Milh and then Lake Habbiniyah. After that came a cluster of buildings halfway between Habbiniyah and Lake Tharthar, before picking up the same quarry that VA-115 often used to get into Baghdad via the back door. The crews then found the two large radio masts that signaled the IP for Northern Baghdad, then CDR Lowry gave the Strike Commit call.

With that, the two Freelancers Tomcats and the Prowler climbed, with the latter putting out ECM as it did, for the MEZ's radars were all lit up. VFA-195 Skipper CDR Paul Lazier put two HARMs in the air, as did his wingman, and both the Hornet drivers and the Prowler crew saw many of the radars drop off as multiple calls of “MAGNUM!” came over the radio and the SAM and AAA radar crews shut down. Two of the HARMs did find targets, as the Al Taji SA-2 ate a HARM, as did an SA-3 site east of the Tigris. The other two Hornets, led by LT Randy Shea, found Republican Guard-manned mobile SAMs, killing a pair of SA-15s with HARM, while also finding two tracked Roland launchers and killing them with Mavericks, along with at least one Tunguska Gun/Missile vehicle.

The A-6s came in, and Skipper Lowry's Intruders each had half a dozen Mark-83 Snakeyes for the target. Her B/N, LT Crandall, lined up the target, and planted their bombs onto the largest building within the target compound. Mason and Daniels, their wingmates, followed right behind 531, the Skipper's bird, and added their Mark-83s to what the Skipper's bird had laid down. Both A-6s then banked left for the Tigris, and the two A-6s, drawing flak the whole way from the target through Baghdad before banking right and then headed southwest to pick up Freeway 1 and headed south.

The second team with Collett and Meridith in 533 and Wilson and Regan in 540 came in right behind the leaders. They, too, drew a lot of light and medium-caliber flak, before planting their own Mark-83s onto the target complex. Every bomb landed in the target area, except for one, which blew a hole in the compound's nine-foot walls. Both A-6s cleared the target, and like the Skipper's section, flew right down the Tigris, before banking right to pick up Freeway 1 once clear of Baghdad.

Unlike many previous strikes into the Baghdad area, the IrAF did not contest this incursion. For the capital's air defenses had been caught by two others. A USAF/RAF strike against the Baghdad South Military Garrison (the home of the RGFC Baghdad Division) was going in at the same time, along an Iranian AF RF-4E, which made a reconnaissance flight of Baghdad totally uncoordinated with CENTAF. CDR Lowry and her crews noticed the RF-4 as it made its run, and as it turned out postwar, not only did the Iranian crew get photos of both strikes and their targets, but caught the Navy strike birds on camera as they egressed. With no MiGs, the Tomcats, along with the Prowler and the Hornets, turned south, drawing medium-caliber flak as they came out at Medium altitude or lower in the Hornets' case.

The package reformed north of Hillah, before clearing the Euphrates Valley and climbing back to altitude. Once out of Iraqi Airspace, the Navy birds hooked up again with the tankers for their post-strike refueling. As the VA-185 package returned to the carrier, they met an outbound package that had just formed up and was headed north.

After two BAI packages led by VA-185's XO and VA-115's Ordnance Officer, it was time for the day's last MEZ package, though not to Baghdad. This time, the target was the Ibn Sina Facility at Tarmiyah, southwest of Baqubah on the west side of the Tigris River. Though no longer engaged in enriching uranium via Electromagnetic Separation, the facility was suspected of being involved in missile fuel production as well as missile R&D. The four A-6Fs would each be targeted on a specific building within the complex, with each bird having six Mark-83 Snakeyes for the target along with three external fuel tanks.

VA-115's Exec, CDR Wiser, took the four Eagles A-6s, four Dambusters Hornets led by LCDR Evision, plus two Blackknights Tomcats led by the ace team of LT Patterson and LT Bradley, along with the usual VAQ-136 Prowler. After noting that the MEZ was still very dangerous, and reminding the crews that a shipmate was on her way to Baghdad after the morning run, the package launched at 1445.

This time, the package tanked up in the East Tanker Track, just off the Saudi-Kuwait Border, then headed north with ingress via the Faw Peninsula. As usual, the crews were treated to a firepower demonstration as USS New Jersey tossed more 16-inch shells at the Iraqis west of Faw. Again, after passing the Faw Peninsula, Iranian fighters followed the package from their side of the border, with two F-4Es doing it this time. Only when the package got to a point east of Kut and turned deeper into Iraqi territory did the F-4s break off, and the strike birds got down low.

The MEZ radars were up and active as the strike package flew east of Baghdad before picking up Baquba. There, the package continued north, overlying the city and both the airfield and the RGFC Garrison, the prewar home of the 9th “Al Nida” Armored Division. The strike birds drew scattered light flak, but nothing that bothered the aircraft, before they turned southwest for a straight shot at the target complex.

As CDR Wiser gave the strike commit call, the Tomcats and Prowler climbed up, while LCDR Evison's Hornets went in on their IRON HAND mission. The radars in the MEZ came up again, and the Hornets put HARMS into the air. One site that did come up was the Baghdad North SA-10, neutralized on 28 April, but put back together with help from the Iraqis' Soviet advisors. The site came up and launched one missile before a HARM launch, and the Iraqis shut down the radar. The SA-2 at Al Jaddiah, right on the path the strike birds were coming in, also launched, and Evision put a HARM on that site, before coming in just ahead of the A-6s and put two Rockeyes on the site, putting it out of commission.

FLT Fraser and his wingman went in on the flak sites near the target. After the morning's strike, they made sure that the sites were covered, putting two Rockeyes on a site instead of one. They took out a 37-mm site just north of the complex as well as a 23-mm site just across the Tigris. An added bonus was hitting a heavy 100-mm KS-19 site northwest of the target, before LCDR Evision called the way clear.

CDR Wiser brought the A-6s in, and his B/N, LT “Madge” Porter found the assigned building, a former EMIS building, and the XO followed her cues, putting their Mark-83s onto the target building, ripping it apart. Their wingmates in 509, Rivers and Fisher, found their target building and also took it apart, with both crews leaving secondary explosions in their wake, as the suspicion that both structures were engaged in missile fuel production were apparently confirmed. The XO's section drew some light and medium-caliber flak, with both 23-mm and 37-mm fire coming from both riverbanks, and they drew more as they headed on the egress route-right over the Iraqi capital.

The second pair, with LCDR Tony Carpenter in the lead, with his usual wingmates, Knapp and Shelton in 510 back at it after the maintenance people had done their work. They, too, found their target buildings, with Carpenter's bombs wrecking one of the suspected production buildings, while Knapp and Shelton hit a warehouse area suspected of being used for propellant storage. Both crews left secondaries in their respective wakes, with 510's crew reporting multiple secondaries as the Mark-83s disagreed with the contents of the warehouses hit, either missile fuel or precursor chemicals going up. Again, the A-6s took flak on both the bomb run and egress, though this time, the gunners came up empty.

Egress from the target area and the MEZ was simple: a straightforward run south right through the heart of the Iraqi Capital. The A-6s and Hornets led the way, coming out at 600 Feet AGL and generally following the Tigris, all the while with flak being shot widely but inaccurately. The crews saw several SAM launches, which the Hornets responded to with HARM shots, while the Prowler kept jamming as it followed the strike birds out. Meanwhile, the Tomcat crews, orbiting at 16,000 Feet, did not encounter Iraqi aircraft initially as the CAP was out of position with two CAPs-one with MiG-25s and the other with MiG-29s, orbiting west of the capital in the Fallujah-Ramadi area, while another CAP with MiG-23s had moved east. That left Baghdad-and the path for the strike birds, wide open. After a taunt over the radio to the Iraqis, the “Tomcat Girls” put the nose of their aircraft down, and with their wingmates following, made a supersonic pass over the Iraqi Capital at 15,000 Feet doing Mach 1.6.

However, the IrAF did respond, with two MiG-23s scrambling out of Al-Rashid AB. These two MiG drivers hoped catch up to the A-6s and Hornets with the MiG-23's high speed acceleration at low level. However, their High Lark radars were turned to hash by the Prowler's jamming, and the two MiGs soon picked up APG-71 radars on their warning receivers as the Tomcats were closing. Breaking off from the A-6s and Hornets, the MiGs climbed to try and confront the F-14s.

In Blackknight 106, LT Patterson's RIO, LT Bradley, picked up the MiGs, and though she gained Phoenix lock, LT Patterson switched to AIM-120. Lock-on was quick, and Patterson shot a Slammer at 20 miles, with their wingmates, LT Conway and LT Freeman in 109, shooting their own Slammer at 18 miles. Patterson's Slammer scored as the MiG leader climbed out ahead of them, sending him down in a fireball.

The wingman was lucky, for he dodged the Slammer and turned hard right, trying to lure the F-14s back into the Capital's SAM defenses. He failed in that, for the Tomcats didn't bite. With fuel starting to run low, the Tomcats, job done, headed south.

Unknown to the crews, two neutral news crews had been out with their Iraqi “Minders” and had caught some of the air action on camera. An Algerian crew was near Tarmiyah when VA-115's strike went in, and the strike was put on tape-with the enterprising Algerians sharing their footage with the CNN crew. While most of the news crews were still in Baghdad, they had their usual front row seat to the air show put on by the A-6s and F/A-18s, a Chinese crew from CGTN on their way back to Baghdad caught the same strike birds as they cleared the capital. Again, the Chinese were happy to share their footage with their Western counterparts, but only after it had aired in Beijing first..

The package reformed south of Baghdad near Hillah, and climbed to altitude once the Euphrates Valley was in their rear view. Meeting up with the tankers over the Saudi border, the post-strike refueling was normal, before setting course east to the Gulf and the carrier.

The package recovered aboard Kitty Hawk shortly after 1730, bringing major flight ops to a close for the day. However, as usual, CAP and SUCAP were maintained until midnight, spelling CVW-9 aboard Nimitz. Aircrew got several hours of much-needed rest, while maintenance and ordnance crews got ready for the next day.

Morning on 25 May promised a normal day in the Gulf, though the dawn was a hazy one. Aircrew on the morning schedule were awakened as usual at 0430, and after breakfast, assembled in their ready rooms. The aircraft for the 0600 launch were ready, as the air wing got on with the war.

[Matt Wiser]

VA-115's MEZ target for the last strike: The Ibn Sina Complex at Tarmiyah

[Jotun]

Naming a uranium enrichment facility after one of history‘s most famous physicians (Ibn Sina = Avicenna) is a bit…irksome…

[jemhouston]

Big target

[Bernard Woolley]

Not good when two more aviators have to check into the Bahgdad Hilton. It certainly won't be getting a good review on Trip Advisor!

Naming a uranium enrichment facility after one of history‘s most famous physicians (Ibn Sina = Avicenna) is a bit…irksome…

That's almost a British level of understatement!

[Matt Wiser]

Not good when two more aviators have to check into the Bahgdad Hilton. It certainly won't be getting a good review on Trip Advisor!

Former POWs from 1991 give it Five Scars...