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16 F-16 aircraft buzz downtown Denver - Very Cool!
Buckley Airmen Returning Home 16 Jets Will Fly In Diamond Formation POSTED: 5:21 a.m. MDT April 30, 2003 UPDATED: 11:26 a.m. MDT April 30, 2003 AURORA, Colo. -- Colorado welcomes home 16 Colorado Air National Guard pilots who took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The pilots have been waiting three long months to get home to family and friends and this afternoon, their wish becomes a reality. I work in the heart of downtown Denver and the 16 aircraft just buzzed us. It was an incredible sight! The welcome home party will begin around noon at Buckley Air Force with Gov. Bill Owens, Maj. Gen. Mason C. Whitney and Brig. Gen. Michael Edwards. By the way, Owens is the Best Governor in the State per National Review. The returning pilots, who are with the Colorado Air National Guard's 120th Fighter Squadron will be flying their F-16 aircraft in four diamond formations into Buckley Air Force Base. It was a beautiful sight. "All Coloradans look forward to welcoming our heroes home," said Owens. "We're proud of their service to our nation and to the cause of peace and freedom around the world." You are damn right about that Bill. The unit was called to duty in February and has been operating from a secure location overseas. Their mission included dropping precision-guided munitions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Central Command. The unit flew over 3700 hours and approximately 700 sorties, officials said. "The mission that they were tasked to perform over there was counter theater ballistic missile hunting, or what we call SCUD hunting," Edwards said. "So their mission was to prevent a launch of a theater ballistic missile against Israel and countries that could be brought into the war to ause the war to be a lot bigger." The homecoming ceremony is not open to the public, but it is expected to be brief so that the pilots can spend more time with their families. Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-04-30 |
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