Bruce 'Orville' Wright
614th TFS Lucky Devils Commander
- Packing and repacking cargo pallets at Torrejon to go somewhere
further west of our position and to get into the "fight"
- Calling action officer friends in the Pentagon about the 614th Fighter
Squadron's ability to "flex" to anywhere in the AOR to be part of DESERT
SHIELD, and getting a return phone call that the "401st" had been part
of then-SECDEF Cheney's meetings about a unit to go to somewhere called
Qatar
- Switching to a spare F-16C on the morning of our deployment and then
following our KC-10s out to the end of the runway and doing an "elephant
walk" around a C-141 with a flat tire. All this without a single radio
call as the great young captain in the lead KC10 helped make it all
happen when he "captured and closed" the runway to ensure our 24 F-16Cs,
plus spares, could all get armed, ready and airborne
- Meeting Ambassador Hambley for the first time in 100 degree-plus heat,
and he was wearing a wool blazer; first time I had met a US ambassador
and all he could talk about was how glad he was to see us
- Watching and helping our "world class" 401st team hop on and off the
air conditioned KC-10s to get us "cocked" and ready to take our jets and
AIM9s into the fight
- Seeing Jerry Nelson and "Smoky" and the "ADVON" team, who
arrived in
Qatar very shortly before we did, and being very happy to know my boss
was there; the boss who continues to be my standard for leadership and
taking care of his people
- Staying in a nice hotel for a couple nights followed by staying in the
worst conditions (most expeditionary we call it today) we had ever
encountered. NCOs who led by example, killing rats with a baseball bat
so their Airmen could get some sleep in a condemned Qatari barracks --
and we kept flying EVERY day
- After weeks of eating MREs being very happy to see a "mobile kitchen"
show up and getting actual hot food
- Flying with our Qatari counterparts in the best, most realistic and
applicable training we could have hoped for and having the honor to know
and remain friends with two Qatari officers from our "sister" F1
squadron who went on to be Air Chiefs of their nation
- Our French Air Force friends, deployed with us in Qatar, telling us
more about Iraqi, French-made F1s and how they were employed than the US
intelligence community could; and a sign over the door of French fighter
squadron ops that said "English Only Spoken Here"
- An entire wing that was very capable already of defending their base
and "surviving to operate" in their chemical warfare gear, ready to take
on Scud attacks from the Iraqis no matter what the chemical, biological
or radiological warhead they might shoot at us
- John Ball arriving as the new "Lucky Devil" ops officer and the
outstanding leadership and friendship he brought to the fight
- Chief Armstrong (then MSgt) setting the flight line leadership example
for all of us
- Building our own "bomb dump" just far enough away from the flight line
and tent city to be safe and close enough to ensure delivery of bombs to
F-16s and to Iraq in a very timely fashion
- The Canadian Air Force bringing F/A-18s to the fight, and on the last
day of the war finally getting airborne with bombs we helped them build,
load, and arm
- "Nips" Nichols being the best "go-to-war" Asst Ops Officer,
ever
- Phil Ruhlman being the best flight lead/element lead, ever
- Dave "Tool" Allen being the best squadron weapons officer, ever
- Gary Lane being the best maintenance officer I ever worked with -- and
he did it with TWO knives
- SMSgt Lorenzo Wine being the best "271," ever
- French Air Force Jaguar squadron commander showing up very early on
the morning of 17 Jan 1991 to brief with me on how his Jaguars would be
part of our package to attack Al Saleem and Al Jaber airfields in
Kuwait; we told them not to ingress at low altitude and they did anyway,
but that's another story I'll try to provide in future offerings to
Mike's web site
- Losing Tico and MR on 19 Jan; the courage of the entire flight that
day will always be the standard for USAF DESERT STORM combat operations;
a flight that hit their targets; two pilots who were shot down and
imprisoned after fearlessly flying into the toughest SAM environment of
DESERT STORM, or any operation in Iraq since; and a fighter squadron who
went right back into the fight the very next morning
- Staying up all night and talking to the CSAR guys to try to get Tico
back; we were afraid Mike Roberts was dead and knew nothing about his
status for two more days
- Kerri being with Patty Roberts when Patty was notified of Mike's MIA
status; Patty was more than eight months pregnant and that's another
story of heroism I'll try to offer later
- A dining facility that finally opened "early" after three days of
combat operations
- Flying the very "brave" combat camera guys in the D-model after many
"in-your-face" requests, and their immediate concern about ISOPREP cards
- Multiple air-to-air refuelings in every condition
- Sixteen crew chiefs who stood in the open on the Doha ramp, the
morning of 17 January 1991, in the middle of an "Alarm Red," who refused
to don their chem gear or move until "their" jets and pilots taxied; who
looked straight north at a very likely Scud missile pointed directly at
them -- I will never, never forget them and wish I could shake every
hand and hug every neck right now
- Seeing SAMs and AAA shot at us almost every day of our war
- Secondary explosions and the "good hit" call from "Killer Scouts"
- Dropping bombs on temporary bridges, vehicles and the enemy when the
Iraqi Army was in full retreat from the occupation, pillaging, and rape
of Kuwait and trying to get back across the Euphrates, and hearing
"Hutch" call "shack" and "tied" -- the wingman who
NEVER lost the
"visual"
- Conan trying to take that "darn cat" home to Torrejon in his F-16C, and
he was the "safety" officer
- Seeing Mike Roberts sitting in his "easy" chair at "Royal Oaks"
holding a long neck Budweiser and Drew
- The finest men and women I have ever known -- "The Forgotten 1000"
