'94 Grad delivers combat goods in Iraq

By Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Gregoire
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq - Maj. August Marquardt, deployed from his home base with the 510th Fighter Squadron at Aviano AB, Italy, took part in the decisive Battle of An Najaf where more than 200 enemy insurgents were killed and 100 gunmen captured near An Najaf Jan. 28.

The Air Force's 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, to which the 1994 Air Force Academy graduate is currently deployed serving as the assistant director of operations for the 510th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, provided close air support in the joint, combined effort to rout the enemy in battle.

The 332nd AEW's F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs answered ground forces'call for close air support after insurgents attacked them with small arms fire, rocket-propelled and hand grenades. They dropped more than 3.5 tons of precision munitions, 1,200 rounds of 20mm and 1,100 rounds of 30mm cannon fire in an area of about five square miles.

F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 510th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 14th EFS and 332nd EFS, based out of Balad AB, as well as A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 74th EFS at Al Asad Air Base, all participated. The 36-hour action was the first time all the wing's fighter aircraft have simultaneously employed ordnance in a single operation. Two of the squadrons, the 14th and 74th EFS, joined the wing's ranks just last month. Talking directly to pilots during the mission was a Joint Terminal Attack Controller-an Airman embedded with Army ground forces, said Lt. Col. Bob Winkler, an F-16 pilot assigned to the 510th EFS.

Army ground liaison officers routinely coordinate with these Airmen for mission-specific details to better
prepare pilots before missions.

"Initially, we weren't involved in Najaf since ground forces hadn't yet requested air support," said Army Sgt.
1st Class Levern Randall, 332nd AEW ground liaison noncommissioned officer. "Once airpower was requested, we supported the recovery operations of the downed helicopter."

Major Marquardt and 1st Lt. George Collings were on alert when their F-16s were called to scramble. Within minutes of reaching the battlespace, the lieutenant dropped a 500-pound bomb on a position near a canal where the enemy had pinned down friendly forces on their way to the downed helicopter, said Major Marquardt.

The two pilots, in-country three weeks, were on their eighth Operation Iraqi Freedom combat mission. "It's not every day the Army wants bombs dropped immediately - that's how serious they wanted to get to that helicopter. It was extremely rewarding to help," said Major Marquardt, who dropped two 500-pound bombs
himself during the course of their three-hour mission.

"Everyone over here does their part to get the job done. I'm just lucky I get to do mine with an F-16," said Lieutenant Collings. "The guys on the ground are the real heroes."

Helping the pilots get off the ground are crew chiefs, the professional aircraft maintainers responsible for inspecting the systems, engines, and motor before and after each flight.

The majority of Air Force combat airpower in Iraq launches from the busy runways of the 332nd AEW at Balad Air Base, 40 miles north of Baghdad. "I'm pretty darn proud of the operations, maintenance and combat support efforts of our Tuskegee Airmen team," said Brig. Gen. Robin Rand, 332nd AEW commander.