Military pilots from the USS Kitty Hawk and elsewhere made adjustments today to changing weather conditions in Iraq.
Pilots bombing Iraqi positions just south of Baghdad switched to satellite-guided weapons Tuesday because of a sandstorm and other severe weather in the Persian Gulf. Thunderstorms piled up towers of clouds rising to 30,000 feet where carrier-based F/A-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats were refueling over the Gulf, and pilots said they saw a massive dust cloud farther north. The weather, which can reduce pilots' visibility and stop them from pinpointing targets with laser-guided bombs, led commanders to order planes to be loaded with satellite-guided weapons instead.
Stars and Stripes reports that the catapult and arresting gear crew is working long hours.
Petty Officer 2nd Class John McFadden doesn’t even bother trying to explain his job to people back home. As a deck edge operator, he pushes a button that catapults multimillion-dollar aircraft off the flight deck. He says that while it's a cool gig, he didn't realize what he was getting into: 18-hour days, seven days a week. "I just try to grab a catnap here and there," he said, looking a bit tired after several hours of launching planes headed for Iraq to support ground troops in Basra. Throughout Friday night and until 4 a.m. Saturday, about 100 planes, loaded with GPS and laser-guided ordnance, thundered off the flight deck.
Posted by Alan at March 25, 2003 05:25 PM