Last US Air Force Combat Mission Over Iraq

Lt. Col. Erik Drake, 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron Commander with assigned airmen in front of a MQ-1B Predator Dec. 15, 2011. Photo by Master Sgt. Paul Mann

As the world watched the last convoy pass through the gates at Khabari Crossing on the Kuwait-Iraq border, they may not have realized those on the ground had some help in the skies from airmen with a historic lineage.

Colonel Rodney Petithomme, 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group commander, and Lieutenant Colonel Jason Plourde, commander of the 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron “Tigers,” both part of the Tuskegee Airmen heritage, flew the last combat mission over Iraq, December 18, 2011, piloting F-16s.

The Tuskegee Airmen, the first all African-American fighter group, is credited with a reputation of excellence as they escorted bombers during World War II with their uniquely painted red-tailed aircraft. “It was fitting for Tuskegee Airmen to be providing top cover for US personnel who were withdrawing from Iraq,” said Petithomme who is deployed from Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea.

There is a sense among some aviators that Operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Northern Watch, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn have defined an Air Force generation because of constant participation in air support since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. “Effectively, for the last 21 years, we have had continuous US Air Force aircraft flying over the country of Iraq,” said Petithomme, a native of Angels Camp, California. “When you look back at the thousands of hours we have spent flying combat missions over Iraq, to be able to be one of the last two combat Air Force aircraft over the country is significant and inspiring yet humbling,” he continued.

“I felt like we were carrying on the legacy and that it was our job as the most recent Red Tails to protect who we were escorting,” said Petithomme. “Seeing the last day and last convoy out of Iraq be uneventful and with no attack from an enemy made me feel pretty darn good.”

The MQ-1B Predator unmanned aircraft systems are piloted from outside the theater, launched and recovered by airmen assigned to the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. “The Predators were actually the last combat aircraft to leave Iraqi airspace,” said Petithomme. “They played just as big a part as we did–it was still Tuskegee Airmen providing top cover.”

The importance of the moment was realized in flight. “The first realization was watching the last convoy cross from Iraq into Kuwait, and seeing the last vehicle cross the border, and watching them actually shut the gate in my targeting pod,” said Petithomme. “The second was talking to command and control and having them tell us, ‘You are the last manned U.S. Air Force aircraft in Iraq, you are cleared to return to base.’”

“When they spoke those words is really when it set in,” said Plourde.

Source: DVIDS