[Matt Wiser]

The last mission of the day:



Over Central New Mexico: 1705 Hours:


Corvette Flight had come in just north of Albuquerque, and after checking in with AWACS, had been told to wait. They were high enough that, as they orbited, could see the Northeastern part of Albuquerque rapidly turning into a mini-Stalingrad, as the Soviet defenders made their last stand. Penned up against the Sandia Mountains, with no way out now that I-40 was under American control, and so they were fighting it out, with the 11th Airborne and parts of the 23rd ID having a real fight on their hands, while two brigades from the 23rd were pushing east along I-40. With all the artillery in the air, fixed-wing aircraft were staying clear, and even the Army helicopters from both divisions were keeping south of I-40 and west of I-25.

“One thing,” Guru said to Goalie on the intercom. “When the Russians run out of ammo...”

“They surrender,” she replied. “They're not the Japanese from World War II, or the North Koreans up in Canada.”

“Yeah,” Guru said. Then the C-130 ABCCC came on the line.

“Corvette Flight, Hillsboro,” the controller called. “Proceed heading Zero-nine-zero, then contact Nail 41.”

“Roger, Hillsboro,” Guru called. He led the flight due east, giving the battle area a wide berth. He then contacted Nail 41. “Nail Four-One, Corvette Two-One.”

“Corvette, Nail,” the FAC replied. “Say type of aircraft and ordnance.”

“Nail, four Foxtrot-Fours with one dozen Rockeye CBUs and full load twenty mike-mike,” replied Guru.

“Roger, Corvette. I see you,” the FAC responded.

As they came in, the flight could see yet another A-7K orbiting. “Nail, Corvette, what have you got for us?”

“Corvette, we have troops in contact, Highway 285 south of the Highway 41 intersection. Enemy armor and APCs headed their way. Can you make those go away?”

“Nail, Corvette,” Guru replied. “Roger that. Say Sierra-Alpha threat?”

“Corvette, Nail. Expect regimental air defense threat,” the FAC said. That meant SA-9s or -13s, and ZSU-23s, plus whatever MANPADS that the infantrymen were carrying.

“Copy,” Guru replied. “Can you mark the target?”

“Stand by, Corvette,” the FAC responded. “Steer One-Five-Zero.”

“Roger that,” Guru replied. “Flight, Lead. Stick with me.”

All four F-4s made the turn, and they were headed southeast, parallel to U.S. 285, and they could see the road below. The WSOs were scanning with binoculars, and they could see the elements of the First Cavalry Division spreading out on both sides of the highway. And about two miles south of them, White Phosphorous exploded along the breadth of the road. “There's your target area,”

Guru nodded in his cockpit. “Flight, Lead. One pass, south to north. Come around, and follow me in.”

“Roger, Lead,” Sweaty called.

“Nail, Corvette,” Guru said. “One pass is all we can give you. Can you ask the ground pounders to take out any air defense assets?”

“Wait one, Corvette.” the FAC said. Then he came back. “Corvette, Nail. That's affirm.”

Down below, several vehicles exploded in fireballs. That should make things a little easier, Guru thought. “Nail, Corvette, we're headed in. Flight, Lead. Time to go to work.”

“Right with you, Lead,” Sweaty replied.

Guru brought his F-4 around, and started his run in. “Goalie,set things up. Everything in one pass.”

“Gotcha,” she said. “You're set.”

Guru took a last look at his EW repeater. Still clear. He switched on his ECM pod. “Music's on. Lead in hot.” He rolled in on his bomb run. As he lost altitude, he could see T-72 tanks down below, and BTR type APCs. Your bad day, Ivan,.....”HACK!” Guru called as he pushed the pickle button.

Down below, the 363rd Independent Motor-Rifle Regiment was moving north on Route 285. The Regimental Commander had received orders from what was left of the 13th Army HQ to stabilize the Army's right flank. With no other information, the Colonel moved his regiment north, past the wreckage of American air attacks, and to his surprise, his regiment had not been hit by American aircraft. Then, all of a sudden, white phosphorous burst around his regiment, and he ordered his battalions to deploy and move north along the road. He was caught totally by surprise as several of his vehicles took American fire and exploded, and clearly, the Americans were closer than Army thought. The howl of an aircraft came over him, and he saw an F-4 moving north at low level. Then CBU bomblets began to explode, and then his BTR-60 command vehicle exploded around him....

“Lead's off target,” Guru called.

“Two's in,” Kara said. She went in to the left of the road, picking out what looked like a battalion's worth of APCs. She hit the pickle button. “HACK!”, she called, and a dozen Rockeye CBUs came off her aircraft, exploding a number of BTR-70s, and she egressed north. “Two's off target.”

“Three's in hot!” Sweaty called. She decided to hit the right of the road, and she, too, picked up some BTRs. As she rolled in, Sweaty noticed some tracers going up after Kara's F-4, but the tracers fell away No SAMs, Sweaty was pleased to see. She lined up the BTRs in the pipper....”HACK!” And a dozen more CBUs came off her Phantom, and a number of BTRs exploded. “Three's off target.”

“Four on target,” Dave Golen called. He'd done this quite a few times in Sinai in '73, and to him, it was like old home week. As he came in, he could see the Soviet artillery battalion deploying, and to him, that was a worthy target. He picked out a battery, and lined them up. “Now!” He called to KT, and again, Rockeye CBUs exploded on target, knocking out several of the 2S1 artillery pieces, and also exploding several ammo trucks. Golen buzzed the regiment on the way out, and as he came out, there was tracer fire coming up not only after his element leader, but around his aircraft. But the plane wasn't hit, and as he pulled up, KT in the back seat dumped some flares to confuse any MANPADS. Then he banked hard and headed west. “Four off target.”

“Copy, Four,” Guru said. “Nail, Corvette Two-One. How'd we do?”

“Corvette, Nail. Good bombs on target. Watch for Warthogs coming in from the west,” the FAC said. “The Army says thanks.”

“Tell 'em 'You're welcome,'” Guru replied. “Flight, Lead. Form on me and let's head home.”

The other three Phantoms formed on Guru's bird, and all four headed west. They managed to get to the tanker track without any help from the AWACS, and after refueling, headed back to Williams. As it turned out, they were the last flight to return, period, for the last Marine F-4 or Hornet flight had returned a good ten minutes earlier. The sun was beginning to go low on the horizon when Corvette Flight came in and landed. After they taxied to their dispersal and shut down, Guru said to Goalie. “That's a record. Seven missions in one day. For us, anyway.”

“Want to bet those Hog drivers had more?” She replied. “Let's get this debriefed, then get something to eat.”

“Always listen to your WSO's advice, my RTU instructor once said.” Guru replied. “Seems like a lifetime ago.”

“Yeah,” she said as the ground crew brought the crew ladders and the crew popped their canopies. Then they got out of the aircraft, dead tired.

“How'd it go, Sir?” Sergeant Crowley asked.

“No holes,” Guru said. “Made a bunch of tanks and APCs go up.”

“All right! Uh, Sir,” Crowley said. “CO and Lieutenant Licon by the Hummer.”

Guru nodded, and led his crews back to the Hummer. “Boss,” he said, sketching a salute.

“Welcome back,” said Colonel Rivers. “How'd Dave do?”

“Did all right,” Guru said. “Isn't that right, KT?”

“He did,” KT replied. “I'd have him in the cockpit again anytime.”

“If you want him, you got him,” Rivers said. “Hoser's grounded for at least another day.”

“Then we'll take him,” Guru said. “How's that sound?”

“Sounds good to me,” Golen replied.

“What was the target?” Licon wanted to know.

“Regimental-sized force on 285,” Guru replied. “Tanks and APCs.”

“Any SAMs?”

“None that we could see,” Sweaty said. “There was some tracer fire coming up, though.”

“No heavy stuff, not even MANPADS,” Kara nodded. “The Army did take some of that out, though.”

“Major?” Licon asked Dave Golen. “Did you see any?”

“None at all,” Golen replied. “Just some tracer fire, and that was all.”

“What did the FAC say?” Rivers asked.

“He said we had good bombs on target,” Guru replied. “Some A-10s were coming in as we left, and that was all.”

“I'll check your strike camera footage,” Licon nodded.

“Lots of secondaries on a couple runs,” Sweaty noted. “Guru and Starbuck had some.”

“And so did you,” Golen said.

“All right,” Licon said. “Thanks, everybody.” He then went off to the intel office.

“Okay,” Rivers said. “Dave, you fly with these guys tomorrow.” He saw Golen nod. “Get something to eat, and get over to the Sheraton. Wake up is at 0400, with first wheels up at 0600.”

“Boss,” Guru said. “Almost like today?”

“Not as much,” Rivers told the flight. “If the ComBloc hadn't collapsed as much as they did, yeah, but..”

“But this whole part of the front's coming apart,” Goalie noted.

“That's right,” Rivers admitted. “Get out of your gear, get some food, then over to billeting. Curfew is at 2100.”

“And the twelve-hour rule's already in effect,” Kara noted sourly.

“It is,” Rivers said. “Sorry, Captain.”

“All right, people,” Guru said. “You heard the CO. Get something to eat, and get to the Sheraton.”

As the flight broke up, Goalie noted that her pilot was hanging back with Colonel Rivers. “You're coming, right?”

Guru nodded. “In a minute.” He turned to Colonel Rivers. “Glad I didn't have to use that packet.”

“So am I,” Rivers said. “But keep in mind, it's still going to be a long war. You might need something like that later on.”

“Let's talk about that later, Boss,” Guru said. “I need some food, and then some shut-eye.”

“You're not the only one, XO,” Rivers nodded. “Come on and eat.” He pointed to the Marines' mess tent.

After eating, the aircrews headed back to the Sheraton, and they found their beds. Because it wouldn't be long until 0400, and they would do it again on the second day of PRAIRIE FIRE......