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A Montana pilot reports from the warfront

Aug- 2-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

An interesting letter from a pilot with the Montana Air National Guard currently operating from Balad, Iraq.

[Link to Full Article]
By Lt. Col. Mike “Alien” Buck, Montana Air National Guard

Greetings, Montana:

It had now been six weeks since we began flying missions from Balad Air Base, Iraq. Summer is in full swing here along the Tigris River, which provides irrigation for the ancient farms that surround our base. Our airfield is easily recognized from miles away as an island of tan amid the greenery. Typical afternoon high temperatures exceed 115 degrees, with 133 being the highest noted so far. The weather has been cloudless, but the steady breeze occasionally increases to the point where blowing dust reduces visibility to less than a mile.

The men and women of the Montana Air National Guard here in Iraq have continued to serve with distinction. Thus far we have flown every assigned mission, recently surpassing the 500-mission mark. This is a testament to the hard work of our maintenance and operations personnel working in an austere location under trying conditions. We continue to fly a mix of missions: close air support for coalition troops engaged with enemy fighters, convoy escort, infrastructure patrol and pre-planned strikes against insurgent strongholds.

To show how these missions fit into the overall scheme in Iraq, I'll take a moment to outline the current situation here. We have witnessed, and in some cases been party to, many significant events that have received little attention by the stateside media. The news stories that do get coverage often suggest ongoing chaos, a seeming contradiction to statements by coalition officials that real progress is being made. This apparent contradiction is due to the complex nature of a counterinsurgency war.

He has much more to say.

(via Instapundit)


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