U.S. pilots enforce no-fly zone over Iraq

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- Day and night, warplanes roar off the deck of this U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Sweeping into the skies above the Persian Gulf, they head off to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq on missions that increasingly look like previews of a potential American invasion.

On quiet days, when the Iraqis don't shoot at U.S. fighter jets, the pilots practice spotting targets of attack, like airfields. It's an experience that "makes any potential action infinitely easier ... to fly over the same territory you're going to attack is a real luxury," said Capt. Kevin C. Albright, commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln's air wing.

When the Iraqis do fire -- an increasingly frequent scenario -- simulation stops and real bombing begins.

But instead of hitting anti-aircraft and missile batteries -- the usual targets in a decade of coalition patrols -- the pilots now more often strike Iraqi command bunkers, communications stations and radar directing the attacks. Those costly, hard-to-repair facilities are essential to Iraq's air defense.

Textbook defense

"It's textbook," said Lt. John Turner, a 31-year-old F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot. "If you have to fight a war, you disable the enemy's air defenses."

Last Wednesday, Turner and fellow pilot Lt. Eric Doyle became the first pilots to take the new Super Hornets -- a larger, more advanced version of the F/A-18E Hornet -- into combat. The Abraham Lincoln's Super Hornet squadron is the first to be deployed overseas.

American officials say plans are in place for a land, air and sea assault by up to 250,000 soldiers should Iraq refuse to abide by the latest U.N. resolution, which demands it open up to arms inspectors and eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

The Abraham Lincoln -- one of two aircraft carriers within striking distance of Iraq -- would likely have a role in any attack ordered before the end of the year, when the ship is to steam back to Everett, Wash., to be replaced by another carrier.

While President Bush said he would prefer Iraq to be disarmed peacefully, he stressed the military is prepared to "move swiftly with force" if necessary.

Conflict has begun

For pilots flying off the Abraham Lincoln, the conflict has in some ways already begun, even if it's not a full-blown war.

American and British pilots have been patrolling the skies over southern Iraq since the no-fly zone was created a decade ago to prevent Iraqi forces from attacking Shiite Muslims who revolted against Saddam Hussein's regime after the Gulf War.

The mission is called Operation Southern Watch. A separate U.S.-British operation protects Kurds in northern Iraq who rose up against Saddam.

In the last two months, the frequency of Iraq's attacks on aircraft has increased. Coalition patrols have been fired on more than 130 times since mid-September, according to the U.S. military.

"They're shooting a lot at us," Albright said. "It seems to me they're really trying hard to shoot one of us down."

The American responses have been swift.

The latest U.S. airstrike came Sunday, when U.S. warplanes flying off the Abraham Lincoln bombed targets in Iraq, officials said. They refused to provide any additional details.

Last week, Doyle and Turner carried out the first airstrike by warplanes based on the Abraham Lincoln, which arrived in the region about two weeks ago.

They'd throttled their Super Hornets off the carrier's deck at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, heading out to patrol the no-fly zone. During the two-hour flight they were supposed to conduct a "strike familiarization" mission, scouting potential targets.

Of course, "we had ordnance ready in case they called down any targets to be hit," said the 29-year-old Doyle, who goes by the call sign Popeye.

Shortly after he and Turner got airborne, their radio began to crackle with word of Iraqi defenses firing at another coalition patrol. They listened as the warplanes moved in to launch a retaliatory strike.

The two pilots were ordered into holding pattern as they awaited word on whether they would take part -- "we had about six of seven targets they'd planned for us to hit that day," Doyle said.

They had been out for more than an hour and, had they been in an older Hornet, they would have been dangerously low on fuel.

But the Super Hornets carry 30 percent more fuel and significantly more ordnance, giving pilots the power to destroy fortified bunkers.

Following orders

The order to Doyle and Turner came as they were getting ready to return to the carrier.

Within minutes, they'd swooped in toward the bunker, each dropping two 2,000 pound bombs and watching as the ordnance demolished it.

"When we start coming off the target, Lt. Turner gets lit up with ... an indication that there was a radar locked on him, Doyle said. "As I kept turning, I'm seeing (anti-craft fire), the black clouds of smoke in the air."

The Iraqis haven't shot down a coalition fighter jet since the no-fly zone was created. This day was no different -- Doyle and Turner made it back safely.