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American Morning
View from USS Constellation
Aired March 20, 2003 - 07:17 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: Among some of those other reporters embedded with U.S. troops is Frank Buckley, who joins us now from the USS Constellation.
Frank -- good morning. What's the latest from there?
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. Paula.
The surface combat commander for this theater is here aboard the USS Constellation. That's Rear Admiral Barry Costello (ph). He tells us that six U.S. Navy warships were involved in the Tomahawk strikes into Iraq. There were two cruisers, two destroyers and two Los Angeles-class attack submarines. The cruisers were the Cowpen and the Bunker Hill. The destroyers were the Millus and Donald Cook. And the submarines were the Montpelier and the Cheyenne. They operated out of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
There were also some 24 strikes, or T's, that came off of the USS Constellation. They targeted military installations, air defense facilities and communications facilities, but Admiral Costello (ph) cautioned that these were part of a transition phase between Operation Southern Watch and the situation in Iraq. He termed these more of prepping the battlefield rather than the shock-and-awe air campaign that we are still expecting to follow.
Among the aircraft that left the deck of the Constellation here was the EA-6B Prowler. This is the radar-jamming aircraft that flies with the Lancer Squadron from the Constellation. This aircraft did fly in support of the strikes into Iraq with the F-117 Stealth aircraft. It jammed the radar as the 117s went in. The EA-6Bs like to say that they open a window as the strike aircraft go in, and then close that window as the strike aircraft are going back out.
One additional note. Leaflets continue to be dropped into Iraq. During a 24-hour period leading up to the first strikes, some two-and- a-half million leaflets were dropped in Iraq, Paula, essentially telling Iraqi forces that they should give themselves up, that they should not use weapons of mass destruction and giving them some information on frequencies they could tune into to listen to coalition forces -- Paula.
ZAHN: Frank Buckley, thanks so much for the update. We'll be getting back to you throughout the morning as well.
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 March 20, 2003 - 07:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Among some of those other reporters embedded with U.S. troops is Frank Buckley, who joins us now from the USS Constellation.
Frank -- good morning. What's the latest from there?
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. Paula.
The surface combat commander for this theater is here aboard the USS Constellation. That's Rear Admiral Barry Costello (ph). He tells us that six U.S. Navy warships were involved in the Tomahawk strikes into Iraq. There were two cruisers, two destroyers and two Los Angeles-class attack submarines. The cruisers were the Cowpen and the Bunker Hill. The destroyers were the Millus and Donald Cook. And the submarines were the Montpelier and the Cheyenne. They operated out of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
There were also some 24 strikes, or T's, that came off of the USS Constellation. They targeted military installations, air defense facilities and communications facilities, but Admiral Costello (ph) cautioned that these were part of a transition phase between Operation Southern Watch and the situation in Iraq. He termed these more of prepping the battlefield rather than the shock-and-awe air campaign that we are still expecting to follow.
Among the aircraft that left the deck of the Constellation here was the EA-6B Prowler. This is the radar-jamming aircraft that flies with the Lancer Squadron from the Constellation. This aircraft did fly in support of the strikes into Iraq with the F-117 Stealth aircraft. It jammed the radar as the 117s went in. The EA-6Bs like to say that they open a window as the strike aircraft go in, and then close that window as the strike aircraft are going back out.
One additional note. Leaflets continue to be dropped into Iraq. During a 24-hour period leading up to the first strikes, some two-and- a-half million leaflets were dropped in Iraq, Paula, essentially telling Iraqi forces that they should give themselves up, that they should not use weapons of mass destruction and giving them some information on frequencies they could tune into to listen to coalition forces -- Paula.
ZAHN: Frank Buckley, thanks so much for the update. We'll be getting back to you throughout the morning as well.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
