Air Force Captain Dale Storr, was shot down over Kuwait on February 2 only when he was released on March 6, after the war, did we learn he had survived. Six Warthogs were lost and two of their pilots killed. In Desert Storm, 39 fixed-wing aircraft and five helicopters were shot down by Iraqi air defenses.

That the A-10 remains in service 29 years later is a testament to the platform’s reliability and effectiveness. By the time it ended, the Warthog would be credited with destroying more than 900 tanks, 2,000 military vehicles, and 1,200 artillery pieces. Operation Desert Storm was the first time the “Warthog” had flown in combat. It was difficult to pick out targets by sight, but we pressed in lower and closer, confident that our aircraft-the Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II-could take a hit and still get us home. Smoke from oil-well fires lit by Iraqi forces and smoldering tanks filled the air with haze. The M-88A2 typically weighs about 137,000 pounds, but to ensure the safety of the flight the Marines reduced the load to 127,000 pounds by removing the armored side skirts, reducing the fuel level from the original 413 to 113 gallons, and taking off the auxiliary winch on the front of the vehicle.The clouds were black that day. Geoffrey Gaeraths, a joint inspector with 452nd Logistics Readiness Squadron, March Air Force Reserve Base. “ don’t really have a whole lot of opportunities to fly more than a few thousand pounds out of here and the 127,000-pound recovery vehicle puts them over for the rest of the year,” said Tech. The vehicle will flown to Combat Logistics Company 13 in Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.Īir Force C-17 crews need to maintain various requirements, such as night take-offs, total flight mileage and heavy-weight flights, the M-88A2 lift helped them to meet their quarterly obligation.

The joint inspection includes checking official documents, ensuring the load is balanced, and reviewing safety requirements before the vehicle can be certified to fly on the C-17 Globemaster III. “We are conducting this exercise to get back to our core competencies as embarkers.”īefore the M-88A2 can be loaded on to the plane it has to pass a joint inspection between Marines and Airmen. Adrian Lozano, a logistics chief with CLR-15. “In CLR-15 we really don’t get to utilize strategic airlift much, so this gives us the opportunity to do joint training with the Air Force Reserves,” said Staff Sgt.

Us air force using tanks