Citat:On February 15, 1991, Demarest says his friend Steve Phillis and his brand new wingman Lt. Rob Sweet were tasked with attacking Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guards Division. After making several successful passes, a surface-to-air missile was fired at Sweet’s plane. He deployed flares to escape it. A second missile hit him from behind, blowing off part of his wing and sending his plane into a steep spiral. Sweet ejects and when his parachute opened, he was left dangling over the elite Iraqi armored division he had just finished bombing. Steve flies an orbit over the division to draw fire away from Sweet’s descent. He fired flares to draw attention, making his A-10 a target. It’s at this moment he knows he’s not coming back.
“He keys the microphone and using the codeword for the day, transmits ‘Enfield 3-7 is bagged as well,'" says Demarest. "And it’s the last radio transmission he makes, unbeknownst to his family, his fiancée, his friends, his fellow fighter pilots. Moments later he is engaged, shot down and killed by another Iraqi surface-to-air missile system.”
In that moment, Steve Phillis decided to put his wingman’s life before his own. His last act being that of heroism.
“He didn’t have to stay there," said Demarest. "He didn’t have to drop flares and make himself a target. He didn’t have to stand over those 10,000 angry troops now emboldened by their success. Yet, the thought of leaving, never crossed his mind. When you look at bravery above and beyond the call of duty, to save a fellow airman, to me- that checks all the boxes that we look for in our Medal of Honor recipients.”
Obaranje Mig-25 sa AIM-120 od strane para F-16.
Napad na preostalu iracku PVO sa 110 aviona u reonima Najaf, Talil, Alamara, Samawah.
Napad sa 45 krstarecih na nukelarno postrojenje juzno od Bagdada.
Obaranje Mig-23 sa AIM-120 od strane F-16.
Citat:The kill was achieved on Feb. 14, 1991 by the F-15E #89-0487 call-sign Packard 41 from the 335th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Wing with Capt. Richard “TB” Bennett as pilot and Capt. Dan “Chewie” Bakke as WSO (Weapons System Officer).
Packard 41 was part of a flight of two F-15Es performing a Scud patrol, when the AWACS ordered them to destroy three Iraqi helicopters dismounting troops in the same zone in which several US Special Forces members were operating.
When the two Strike Eagles approached the target area, Packard 41 radar became intermittent, as explained by Bakke in Craig Brown’s book Debrief: A Complete History of U.S. Aerial Engagements – 1981 to the Present “What the radar was seeing was the rotation of the rotor blades, but it couldn’t hold a lock. So I decided to see if I can see them in the targeting pod.” Chewie saw two of the helicopters, or more correctly their rotors spinning in the LANTIRN pod. So he had to transition almost entirely to the pod, since as Bakke explained “the radar wasn’t much help at that point. Our mindset was turning to a ground attack…”
After TB and Chewie directed the other Strike Eagle to remain up in a high-cover and after having received the AWACS confirmation to destroy the enemy helicopters, they armed and selected one of their four GBU-10 Paveway II 2000-lb LGBs (laser guided bombs).
As Bakke himself recalls “TB queries me as to whether I’m good for a release. I’ve got good laser ranging to the target, but I hold off for just a little bit-no technical reason, just a gut feeling. Finally, I call ‘Cleared to Pickle’ and when TB pickles-off 2,000 pounds the aircraft immediately responded by shuttering and lurching upward.” Meanwhile, the Iraqi Mi-24 Hind had lifted off the ground accelerating away.
After having released the bomb TB performed a left designator turn but the GBU-10 time to impact quickly arrived to zero and he believed that the bomb had failed to impact. But at some point the bomb appeared on Chewie display: it was angled nose high, then started down and penetrated through the rotors, and the scintillation of the rotors as they disintegrated was easily discerned in the LANTIRN pod.
The GBU-10 then entered into the cockpit of the helicopter, and while it was coming out of the bottom of the aircraft the fuse delay functioned. Then a tremendous explosion disintegrated the helicopter in a huge fireball.
After this kill, Bennett and Bakke tried to engage the other two helicopters by using their AIM-9s, but since other Strike Eagles were dispatched to attack the remaining Iraqi choppers by dropping their bombs which could have hit Packard 41, TB and Chewie were forced to leave the zone.
