Citizen Warrior Published March 1, 2006 By Staff Sgt. Lara Gale 419th FW Public Affairs HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- The following story can be seen on recently declassified video footage ... When the clip starts, a low-quality, birds-eye image of a white truck appears on the screen. The truck rolls along a desert landscape, and little peg-like figures in motion move toward it. The truck rolls along for about five seconds; then blows up. High above, an F-16, flown by Major “Tom,” a 419th Fighter Wing pilot who asked to be identified by his first name only for security reasons, pulls away after taking out the enemy vehicle. The act earned Major Tom the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism in aerial combat but he says he couldn’t have done it alone. The real story in that video clip is the power of joint forces working together, he said. “Our system is built to function with a high amount of information technology applied to highly dynamic situations,” Major Tom said. “That’s why there is no other fighting force in the world capable of doing what we do.” Major Tom and several other 419th FW pilots deployed to Iraq in 2004 fly close-air-support and combat air patrol mission in the region to protect U.S. and coalition ground troops. The day the video clip was captured, started out routine said Major Tom. He and his wingman were combing the desert for signs of the enemy. They’d been in the air for hours already when new order came, he said. Not far away, a group of outnumbered American ground troops were fighting insurgents to hold a hilltop position and were waiting to be airlifted out of danger. They’d already lost men and the situation was getting worse. Maj. Tom and his wingman headed for the coordinates to do what they could to help, knowing they would soon need to refuel. Once in direct radio communication, the Soldiers did their best to direct the pilots to the enemy -- not an easy task in the non-descript Iraqi desert. “We had our eyes and the LITENING II pod,” said Major Tom, referring to the Reserve fighters’ state-of-the-art targeting pod, which gives pilots a live video feed of the ground beneath them. “And the troops on the ground were doing their best to describe what we were looking for. In that terrain, it was literally like, ‘white Toyota against a tan desert background.’” With specific guidance from the ground troops, Maj. Tom was able to locate the hub of enemy operations -- the white Toyota. But, before they could fire on the vehicle, Major Tom and his wingman had to leave the area to refuel. In transition, Major Tom was able to direct the new team of jets to the same spot to hold the insurgents off. Returning from the fuel tanker, Major Tom zeroed in on the truck, and, as the video shows, the rest is history. “In the middle of a mission like that, there are three things going through your mind -- one, our people are in trouble; two, they need help; and three, what assets do I have to get them that help,” he said. The significance of his actions – lives saved, lives lost, the critical moments that made it possible – come later. This time, he was struck also by the significance of the way the mission unfolded. The military is changing, he said. Having been a fighter pilot for nearly 17 years, Maj. Tom has seen the changes in progress. Technology has brought the objective-driven, “adapt and improvise” military mentality to a new level -- fighting together, the different branches of the service are capable of more than ever in history. “To fly, fight and win, and not miss a step -- that’s a big bite to chew,” he said. “And we’re not immune to failure. But we’re as prepared as we can be to face new situations with new strategies. As long as we maintain high standards, and are willing to learn and adapt, we will continue to win.”