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American Morning

Interview with F-15C Pilot

Aired October 10, 2002 - 08:18   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. and British planes yesterday bombed an Iraqi air defense site in the northern no fly zone. American pilots have been patrolling the no fly zones for more than a decade, since the end of the Gulf War. And they are routinely engaged in combat.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has been spending time with them.

He joins us now by video phone from the U.S. air base in Incirlik, Turkey -- good morning, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

And you and I are a bit of, a little bit of history this morning. This is the first live news broadcast from the Incirlik Air Base since the beginning of Operation Northern Watch, the no fly enforcement zone. And, of course, this base in southern Turkey will be key if the U.S. goes to war in the Gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Several dozen U.S. and British war planes roar into the skies from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey on what has evolved in recent years into a full fledged combat mission, patrolling the U.S. imposed no fly zone over northern Iraq.

BRIG. GEN. ROBIN SCOTT, COMMANDER, OPERATION NORTHERN WATCH: Our U.S. pilots are logging combat time.

MCINTYRE: There are Turkish planes supporting the operation, as well. But no photography of those planes is permitted. Nor can CNN take pictures of the buildings at Incirlik Air Base, or any of the Turkish military personnel. While a close ally of the United States, Turkey remains skittish about advertising the extent of its support for the ongoing U.S. war with Iraq.

The U.S. commander at Incirlik calls it no fly zone enforcement, not war. But to the pilots, it's every bit as dangerous.

SCOTT: We have to be on the top of our game every day that we go in to the operating area. Saddam Hussein only has to get lucky once.

MCINTYRE: These U.S. F-16s were among those that bombed a surface to air missile site near the northern Iraqi town of Mosul. The attack, the first in more than a month in the north, occurred as CNN accompanied U.S. and British planes on patrol Wednesday. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smile, you're on CNN.

MCINTYRE: U.S. commanders say the rules of engagement have not changed in the no fly zones, but recently the Pentagon ordered more aggressive strikes to send a message to Iraqi gunners to back off. U.S. military officials say while allied planes were not fired at or actively targeted Wednesday, the very existence of an anti-aircraft missile system in the no fly zone was deemed a threat.

SCOTT: Based on that assessment, we were able to send that up through our chain of command and receive approval to respond against that target, which we did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: And, Paula, with me now is an F-15 pilot who has been patrolling the no fly zone in the north for a month now. He's probably got another month to go in duty. His call sign is "Duke."

Duke, tell us a little bit, and tell our viewers a little bit about what it's really like flying in the northern no fly zone on patrol.

"DUKE", F-15C PILOT: Well, the terrain is actually very nice. It looks a lot like Nevada or Utah. Eastern Turkey, northern Iraq is very mountainous and they actually have a little snow on the mountains right now. Heading out there, you know, we walk out the door every day with our game face on and we treat every mission just like we'd treat a combat mission.

MCINTYRE: And are you fired at regularly?

"DUKE": Pretty much every day.

MCINTYRE: Is that scary at all? Have you had any close calls?

"DUKE": Well, it's all relative. You know, any time any is shooting at you, you could pretty much, you'd pretty much categorize that as a close call. You know, it's every pilot has his own comfort level.

MCINTYRE: Is there a benefit to the fact that U.S. pilots are routinely operating in an actual combat zone and if they were to go to war somewhere in the future, are they better prepared because of that?

"DUKE": I would say yes. There's quite a bit of seasoning for the younger guys. You know, there was periods of time in our country where fighter pilots would go through a whole career without ever seeing combat or, you know, at least without ever having that state of mind of being prepared for combat.

MCINTYRE: Duke, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.

Paula, there's about 45 U.S. and British planes at this base, some 1,500 personnel. If the U.S. were to go to war, that number would likely double and the U.S. would also likely ask the Turkish government for permission to use other bases, as well -- Paula.

ZAHN: Jamie, if you could, and I know that some of this information is not public, but just the level of security that's in place protecting this air base?

MCINTYRE: Well, this is a pretty secure air base. I don't want to go into the details of the security arrangements, but just suffice it to say that it's not easy for us to get on and off even with our escorts from the U.S. and Turkish military.

ZAHN: Well, we thank both of you gentlemen for joining us this morning.

And this, what appears to be the first live shot out of the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.

Appreciate it so much, Jamie.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 10, 2002 - 08:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. and British planes yesterday bombed an Iraqi air defense site in the northern no fly zone. American pilots have been patrolling the no fly zones for more than a decade, since the end of the Gulf War. And they are routinely engaged in combat.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has been spending time with them.

He joins us now by video phone from the U.S. air base in Incirlik, Turkey -- good morning, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

And you and I are a bit of, a little bit of history this morning. This is the first live news broadcast from the Incirlik Air Base since the beginning of Operation Northern Watch, the no fly enforcement zone. And, of course, this base in southern Turkey will be key if the U.S. goes to war in the Gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Several dozen U.S. and British war planes roar into the skies from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey on what has evolved in recent years into a full fledged combat mission, patrolling the U.S. imposed no fly zone over northern Iraq.

BRIG. GEN. ROBIN SCOTT, COMMANDER, OPERATION NORTHERN WATCH: Our U.S. pilots are logging combat time.

MCINTYRE: There are Turkish planes supporting the operation, as well. But no photography of those planes is permitted. Nor can CNN take pictures of the buildings at Incirlik Air Base, or any of the Turkish military personnel. While a close ally of the United States, Turkey remains skittish about advertising the extent of its support for the ongoing U.S. war with Iraq.

The U.S. commander at Incirlik calls it no fly zone enforcement, not war. But to the pilots, it's every bit as dangerous.

SCOTT: We have to be on the top of our game every day that we go in to the operating area. Saddam Hussein only has to get lucky once.

MCINTYRE: These U.S. F-16s were among those that bombed a surface to air missile site near the northern Iraqi town of Mosul. The attack, the first in more than a month in the north, occurred as CNN accompanied U.S. and British planes on patrol Wednesday. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smile, you're on CNN.

MCINTYRE: U.S. commanders say the rules of engagement have not changed in the no fly zones, but recently the Pentagon ordered more aggressive strikes to send a message to Iraqi gunners to back off. U.S. military officials say while allied planes were not fired at or actively targeted Wednesday, the very existence of an anti-aircraft missile system in the no fly zone was deemed a threat.

SCOTT: Based on that assessment, we were able to send that up through our chain of command and receive approval to respond against that target, which we did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE: And, Paula, with me now is an F-15 pilot who has been patrolling the no fly zone in the north for a month now. He's probably got another month to go in duty. His call sign is "Duke."

Duke, tell us a little bit, and tell our viewers a little bit about what it's really like flying in the northern no fly zone on patrol.

"DUKE", F-15C PILOT: Well, the terrain is actually very nice. It looks a lot like Nevada or Utah. Eastern Turkey, northern Iraq is very mountainous and they actually have a little snow on the mountains right now. Heading out there, you know, we walk out the door every day with our game face on and we treat every mission just like we'd treat a combat mission.

MCINTYRE: And are you fired at regularly?

"DUKE": Pretty much every day.

MCINTYRE: Is that scary at all? Have you had any close calls?

"DUKE": Well, it's all relative. You know, any time any is shooting at you, you could pretty much, you'd pretty much categorize that as a close call. You know, it's every pilot has his own comfort level.

MCINTYRE: Is there a benefit to the fact that U.S. pilots are routinely operating in an actual combat zone and if they were to go to war somewhere in the future, are they better prepared because of that?

"DUKE": I would say yes. There's quite a bit of seasoning for the younger guys. You know, there was periods of time in our country where fighter pilots would go through a whole career without ever seeing combat or, you know, at least without ever having that state of mind of being prepared for combat.

MCINTYRE: Duke, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.

Paula, there's about 45 U.S. and British planes at this base, some 1,500 personnel. If the U.S. were to go to war, that number would likely double and the U.S. would also likely ask the Turkish government for permission to use other bases, as well -- Paula.

ZAHN: Jamie, if you could, and I know that some of this information is not public, but just the level of security that's in place protecting this air base?

MCINTYRE: Well, this is a pretty secure air base. I don't want to go into the details of the security arrangements, but just suffice it to say that it's not easy for us to get on and off even with our escorts from the U.S. and Turkish military.

ZAHN: Well, we thank both of you gentlemen for joining us this morning.

And this, what appears to be the first live shot out of the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.

Appreciate it so much, Jamie.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com