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Pilots Who Flew Missions Over Iraq in Desert Storm Prepared Again
Aired March 14, 2003 - 15:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of Navy and Air Force pilots are in the Persian Gulf. They are getting ready for what U.S. officials have described as a shock and awe offense. Among them are combat pilots who were there in 1991 or have been flying missions over Iraq's no-fly zone since then.
Our Frank Buckley found one veteran pilot who holds a unique record. He is on board the USS Constellation somewhere in the Persian Gulf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pilot of this F-18 in flight near Iraq has been here before. It was of the first day of Desert Storm. Captain Mark Fox was back then Lieutenant Commander Mark Fox, on his way in to strike his first target of the war. This is the actual gun camera video from his plane, plane number 401. Suddenly, he heard the voice of a controller in an E-2 early warning plane and saw an Iraqi MiG traveling right at Fox.
CAPT. MARK FOX, NAVY: So the E-2 controller said, "400, that bandit's on your nose at 15."
BUCKLEY: The MiG was 15 miles out, moving faster than the speed of sound. Fox fired a heat-seeking missile as they were 10 miles apart.
FOX: And because he was in afterburner supersonic coming at me, but I looked at the range, and then the fact that the missile had disappeared. And I had a huge wave of self-doubt that maybe it was the first day of hunting season, I may have taken a little buck fever there.
So then I selected my radar guided missile and fired it. And as soon as the radar-guided missile left the rail, the heat-seeking missile hit him.
BUCKLEY: These days, Fox is known as the CAG (ph). He's the commander of the air wing on the USS Constellation. His job, to lead all the pilots into battle if war comes. To keep them at the top of their game, while making sure they don't peak too early.
FOX: I don't want to burn people out. We've been here for -- now we're going into our fifth month. So I'm careful to not oversell or overhype what we're doing, but in the same breath, keeping the right level of focus at the right place. And that's a challenge.
BUCKLEY: Captain Fox says the years of patrolling the no-fly zones will help coalition pilots who are already familiar with Iraq and its military tactics.
FOX: Because it means that you've already thought through all of the details of going and coming and also being aware of the threat that they're presenting to us.
BUCKLEY: And he says the smart bombs employed in Desert Storm are even smarter today, guided by satellite to precise coordinates.
FOX: Before, we talked about how many sorties, how many individual airplane flights are required to take out a given target. Now we're talking about how many targets can one sorty destroy.
BUCKLEY: It's still possible that Fox won't be going into battle again, but he says if the call comes, his entire air wing will be read the way one lieutenant commander was on the first day of another war in Iraq a long time ago.
Frank Buckley, CNN, aboard the USS Constellation in the Persian Gulf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Prepared Again>
Aired March 14, 2003 - 15:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of Navy and Air Force pilots are in the Persian Gulf. They are getting ready for what U.S. officials have described as a shock and awe offense. Among them are combat pilots who were there in 1991 or have been flying missions over Iraq's no-fly zone since then.
Our Frank Buckley found one veteran pilot who holds a unique record. He is on board the USS Constellation somewhere in the Persian Gulf.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pilot of this F-18 in flight near Iraq has been here before. It was of the first day of Desert Storm. Captain Mark Fox was back then Lieutenant Commander Mark Fox, on his way in to strike his first target of the war. This is the actual gun camera video from his plane, plane number 401. Suddenly, he heard the voice of a controller in an E-2 early warning plane and saw an Iraqi MiG traveling right at Fox.
CAPT. MARK FOX, NAVY: So the E-2 controller said, "400, that bandit's on your nose at 15."
BUCKLEY: The MiG was 15 miles out, moving faster than the speed of sound. Fox fired a heat-seeking missile as they were 10 miles apart.
FOX: And because he was in afterburner supersonic coming at me, but I looked at the range, and then the fact that the missile had disappeared. And I had a huge wave of self-doubt that maybe it was the first day of hunting season, I may have taken a little buck fever there.
So then I selected my radar guided missile and fired it. And as soon as the radar-guided missile left the rail, the heat-seeking missile hit him.
BUCKLEY: These days, Fox is known as the CAG (ph). He's the commander of the air wing on the USS Constellation. His job, to lead all the pilots into battle if war comes. To keep them at the top of their game, while making sure they don't peak too early.
FOX: I don't want to burn people out. We've been here for -- now we're going into our fifth month. So I'm careful to not oversell or overhype what we're doing, but in the same breath, keeping the right level of focus at the right place. And that's a challenge.
BUCKLEY: Captain Fox says the years of patrolling the no-fly zones will help coalition pilots who are already familiar with Iraq and its military tactics.
FOX: Because it means that you've already thought through all of the details of going and coming and also being aware of the threat that they're presenting to us.
BUCKLEY: And he says the smart bombs employed in Desert Storm are even smarter today, guided by satellite to precise coordinates.
FOX: Before, we talked about how many sorties, how many individual airplane flights are required to take out a given target. Now we're talking about how many targets can one sorty destroy.
BUCKLEY: It's still possible that Fox won't be going into battle again, but he says if the call comes, his entire air wing will be read the way one lieutenant commander was on the first day of another war in Iraq a long time ago.
Frank Buckley, CNN, aboard the USS Constellation in the Persian Gulf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Prepared Again>
