War and Peace -- a look at Operation Iraqi Freedom

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chuck Roberts
  • Airman Magazine
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM --  As Operation Iraqi Freedom transitioned from war- fighting to peacekeeping, the speed of the campaign came as a surprise to some deployed airmen, but was a welcome relief to all.

At the 40th Air Expeditionary Wing, Chief Master Sgt. Daniel Mingo said his troops were braced for the long haul, but rejoiced with the rest of the nation at the sight of Iraqi citizens “hugging and kissing Marines in Baghdad.”

“You just don’t know what that means,” Mingo said of the emotion he felt seeing what marked the end of major hostilities. “It’s really a great day and time to be an American in the Air Force.”

As the wing’s acting command chief master sergeant and munitions chief, Mingo said the sight also was rewarding because he knows the “huge impact” he and more than 1,200 “strong-willed and very proud airmen here put in” helping B-52 Stratofortresses put bombs on target.

As the regime of Saddam Hussein collapsed, Mingo said thoughts naturally turned to redeploying home to family and friends.

“The people are very glad to have been here,” said Mingo, a 39-year-old deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, La. “I don’t think you could have made any of them leave till it was over. That says a lot about the Air Force today.”

Not everyone will return home to family. More than 100 coalition service members died during the war, but their sacrifices were not in vain, President George W. Bush said during a March 15 Rose Garden ceremony at the White House.

In one month, Iraq transformed from being a “prison to its own people, a haven for terrorists [and] an arsenal of weapons that endanger the world,” Bush said. “Today the world is safer. The terrorists have lost an ally. The Iraqi people are regaining control of their own destiny.”

Master Sgt. William Lindley said he agreed with the president’s decision to wage war a second time against the Iraqi regime.

“I felt it was something that finally needed to be done,” said Lindley, the services superintendent at the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing deployed from Royal Air Force Laken-heath, England. “This guy [Saddam Hussein] has been doing his nastiness long enough. I feel a lot of relief for us and the Iraqi people. I can’t imagine living in the oppressed way they did. Now they can have some normalcy in their lives. That’s a good thing, but there’s a long way ahead.”

That point was stressed by Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who pointed out April 15 that while major combat operations were finished in Iraq, U.S. and coalition forces continued to run into pockets of regime diehards.

“There is more to do,” Myers said, pointing to finding and eliminating weapons of mass destruction, expanding humanitarian relief and assisting Iraqis getting their infrastructure on its feet again.

But there remained a need to stay focused on hostile forces, said Lt. Col. Grant Bishop, an F-16CJ Fighting Falcon pilot who spoke with reporters April 14 via satellite feed from the Middle East. He emphasized that hot spots still existed and must be monitored and controlled.

“It may look like things are slowing down, but there are coalition fighters in the air 24 hours a day around Iraq making sure no problems exist,” Bishop said.

The day after Bishop made those comments, coalition forces flew 275 strike sorties, pushing total strike sorties to approximately 17,200. Beginning March 19, coalition aircraft flew 47,600 sorties requiring 60 million gallons of gas by April 23 while dropping approximately 29,000 bombs and 41 million leaflets by April 23.

Senior Airman Jonathan Grogan, a finance customer support technician with the 321st, said he “was ready for it” when it appeared such military force would be needed to dispel the Iraqi regime. He gladly replaced someone else to deploy from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

He, too, was ready to return home and embrace his family, but the 25-year-old said he knew there was more work ahead. He wanted to stay on as long as needed.

Tech. Sgt. Carlos Acosta will be heading home for the second time from an Arabian Gulf war. The 40-year-old was a sergeant assigned to a fire-fighting unit in Qatar during Operation Desert Storm.

This time around he served as a contracting officer with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing supplying fellow airmen with cars, food and lodging as needed. Acosta said he didn’t mind being back in the Middle East.

“Actually it feels kind of good to come back and finish the job,” said Acosta, who deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. “It just makes you feel good to see the troops in Baghdad being treated well.”

Acosta said this war felt different in the early stages. During Operation Desert Shield, he said there were months of uncertainty about what would happen.

“This time everyone knew they were coming over for a specific mission.”

When Senior Airman Armando Altamirano departs the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing for his home in Douglas, Ariz., the Air Force reservist said his time as a liaison team computer administrator in the Middle East will have changed his outlook on life.

He dealt with a lot of stress and responsibility for a 22-year-old, and he’s happy to see the coalition’s work has paid off to provide the Iraqi people the opportunity to enjoy a taste of freedom, even though they still have a long struggle ahead. He’s lived and worked in “a totally different world.”

As for his world back in Arizona?

“It makes you appreciate what you have back home.”

(Contributing to this report: Master Sgt. Scott Elliott, Gerry J. Gilmore and Kathleen T. Rhem)