| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Stealth Fighters Return From Iraq Tour |
| 2003-04-17 |
| HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AP) - Clear blue skies greeted Lt. Col. David Toomey on Wednesday as he approached Holloman Air Force Base from the south in his sleek F-117A stealth fighter. With southern New Mexico's mountain ranges visible in the distance, it was a much different view than the glimpses of a cloud-covered Baghdad that Toomey caught as he and another Holloman pilot dropped the first bombs on Iraq. Toomey was among five stealth pilots who touched down at Holloman Wednesday after a monthlong mission in the Middle East. They were greeted by the cheers of about 300 family members and base personnel, many waving small American flags and holding welcome signs. Holloman spokeswoman Maj. Tina Barber-Matthew said 300 support personnel are scheduled to return by month's end. She said the stealths flew more than 80 missions over Iraq and dropped about 100 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs. An undisclosed number of the planes - fighters and bombers - were sent overseas to help in the nation's war on Iraq. Holloman is home to the nation's only stealth fighters. Toomey and his wingman, Maj. Mark Hoehne, made the first strike of the war, hitting a building in Baghdad where a CIA tipster told officials Saddam Hussein might be staying. ``I don't think it matters whether we got him or not,'' Hoehne said Wednesday. ``He's no longer coming back to that country in any sort of position of leadership. ... His regime is done.'' Even if they missed, they set the tone of the war -- quick, violent, indirect, and targeted at the thugs. Both pilots talked Wednesday about their emotions surrounding the strike. ``There was excitement, there was fear, there was the intensity of the moment, just thinking about what you're going to do. There's 100 things going through your mind,'' said Hoehne, who returned to Holloman last week. But ``at a certain point you shut all that out and concentrate on getting the mission done.'' When he and Toomey returned to their base in Qatar, they were greeted by about 100 screaming military personnel with American flags. Maj. Clint Hinote, a stealth pilot who was involved in planning the first strike, told top military officials the mission was ``doable.'' ``I was really tense. I knew the guys that were flying,'' Hinote said Wednesday. ``I knew that they were going to Baghdad based in part on something I had said, and I was praying I was right.'' As Toomey taxied to a stop Wednesday on the Holloman tarmac, his wife and three young children were waiting with hugs and a bottle of champagne. Welcome home, guys! |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 Say Ptah, Is it considered sacriligious for a Christian to say Amen to a Muslem prayer? |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-04-18 10:56:49 |
| #4 Amen,Ptah. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-04-18 09:46:00 |
| #3 Aye! Well done and thanks! You have our gratitude. And thanks to God, the Most Merciful, who protected you and brought you home safely! May He be with those who have lost loved ones in Iraq and comfort them! |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-17 12:51:17 |
| #2 I see Holloman is keeping up a proud tradition. I was there for two years in the late 1960's, when the 49th Tac Fighter Wing, a dual-based unit, was there. The 49th's deployment back to Germany in 1969 was a 'demonstration of concept' program that won the Wing the McCay Trophy - the first time a UNIT was ever given the award. The program allocated dedicated fighter assets to Europe, but kept them in the States all but a couple of months each year. Our deployed base was Spangdahlem, Germany, but one year we went to Turkey, instead. VERY interesting tour! It seems the F-117 guys are keeping that proud tradition alive! I salute you, my comrades, and say "well done, and welcome home"! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-17 10:03:14 |
| #1 Thankyou for doing such a hard job well. Thankyou for ensuring the greater security of the free world. Thankyou! |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-04-17 07:08:52 |