Fly away home: 12 Langley pilots return to families
By Rick Rogers, Daily Press, April 25, 2003


Capt. Brian Gienapp of Newport News carries his children, Katie, 4, and Joshua, 2, across the flight line at Langley Air Force Base to go home after a nearly 10-week deployment. Heather S. Hughes/Daily Press, Copyright © 2003, Daily Press










Lt. Col. Matt "Filter" Fenton, 71st Fighter Squadron assistant director of operations, is greeted upon his return from Operation Iraqi Freedom by his wife, Maggie; daughter Erin and sons DJ and Ryan (not pictured).

Photo by Airman 1st Class Kerry Johnson

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE -- A dozen Langley pilots returned from the war in Iraq on Thursday - an advance party of a much larger contingent due Saturday - their war stories the same: no enemy spotted, none shot down, no one lost. In this case, no news was triumphant news as the United States won the air war by just showing up. "Sun Tzu said that if you can defeat your enemy without firing a shot, you've done a good job," Lt. Col. Chris Nowland, operations officer for the "Ironmen" of the 71st Fighter Squadron, said, paraphrasing a famous Chinese strategist.

It's likely that the Iraqis well knew that no F-15C Eagle, which is designed to shoot down enemy aircraft, had ever itself been shot down by an enemy plane. The fighter jets hold a 104-0 advantage over enemy MIGs. "We've been over there for 12 years, and they knew that they couldn't tangle," said Nowland, surrounded by this wife and three young children. "Their air force didn't want to come on up. And that's fine with us." More than fine with their family and friends.

A handful of children and adults worked furiously on banners and posters in the 71st Fighter Squadron bar - a bar complete with joy stick beer taps - prior to the homecoming. Nicholas Nowland, 9, only a had a minute to talk about what it'd been like to have his father gone to war before getting back to work with his magic marker. "We're kind of used to him being gone. He goes TDY (temporary duty) a lot," Nicholas said. "But we knew he was going off to war, and that was a little different. It was a little scary."

Fear seemed a million miles away Thursday when the first of three four-plane formations appeared against the robin's-egg blue sky above Langley. Flags of all sizes rippled in the breeze. About 70 people mobbed the pilots as soon as they landed and exited their planes. Relief was evident. "I thought I'd be gone for a lot longer," said Lt. Tyrone Cofield. "Now that I'm back, it is kind of overwhelming."

Lt. Col. Mac McKenzie, the Ironmen's commander, said that while his pilots get most of the attention, the unsung heroes were the 400 airmen from the 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron who worked around the clock to keep the planes flying. "We flew those jets really, really hard," McKenzie said. McKenzie said at least some of his pilots were expected to be on hand Saturday evening to welcome home those airmen and the rest of the pilots from the squadron.

Twelve F-15s, about 25 pilots and the support personnel were deployed to an undisclosed base. From there, the squadron flew escort missions and combat air patrols over Iraq. Altogether, about 1,000 airmen deployed to support the war from the 1st Fighter Wing.

Rick Rogers can be reached at 247-4629 or by e-mail at rrogers@dailypress.com Copyright © 2003, Daily Press

Ironmen return to Langley

Langley Flyer, 25 Apr 03. Compiled by staff reports

After about two months of patrolling the hostile skies of Iraq and successfully keeping coalition aircraft safe from air attack, the 1st Fighter Wing's Ironmen have come home. Twelve pilots from the 71st Fighter Squadron and their F-15C Eagles returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom Thursday afternoon, bringing tears of joy to their families.

The mission of the Ironmen during OIF was to help provide air superiority over Iraq and to protect coalition aircraft and bases from air threats; this included performing combat air patrols, air-to-air combat support and escorting other aircraft so they could safely and successfully conduct their missions. The pilots were greeted with cheers from family members, friends and co-workers in attendance as their aircraft taxied onto the ramp. The scene may have caused a sense of Déjà vu to at least one of the pilots.

Lieutenant Colonel Mac "Curly" McKenzie was also deployed to Southwest Asia for Operation Desert Storm more than a decade ago. During that deployment, Mckenzie and his wingman managed to shoot down an Iraqi aircraft while on a sortie over Iraq. This time, however, he did not get the same opportunity, because, according to officials, not a single Iraqi aircraft took to the skies in challenge of Coalition air forces. "Sun Tzu said that if you can defeat your enemy without ever going to war, then you've done your job well," said Lt. Col. Mark Nowland, 71st FS Operations Officer.

The main body of 1st Fighter Wing people, consisting mostly of maintainers from the 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and various other support people, is expected to return within the week. Other wing warriors will remain behind to continue supporting operations in the area.

12 Fighter Pilots Back Home After Iraq Duty

AP-HAMPTON, Va. -A dozen fighter pilots who patrolled the skies over Iraq during the war returned home Thursday to family and friends who greeted them with chocolate chip cookies and drinks.

About 70 People at Langley Air Force Base greeted the Ironmen" of the 71st Fighter Squadron as they climbed out of their single-seat planes. "We're all looking forward to taking some time off," said Maj Cory "Trap" Bower who hugged and kissed his girlfriend, Capt. Rochelle Brown, an Air Force nurse also stationed at Langley. Brown had champagne on ice and chocolate chip cookies waiting for him in her car. The pilots deployed Feb. 14 to an undisclosed base in Southwest Asia. Their mission was to shoot down Iraqi aircraft - something F-15s did in the 1991 Persian Gulf War but didn't do this time because no Iraqi planes took off.

Langley pilots had been heading overseas to enforce a "no-fly" zone over Iraq since 1991, something Bower said won't be necessary anymore. "It's not going to be such a drain on our resources, such a drain on our time, drain away from our family. It's going to be a wonderful opportunity for Iraqis, but it's also going to be a great opportunity for us", said Bower, of Worland Wyo.

Nearly 400 other service members, including maintenance and support people for the squadron and others from Langley, are expected to return Saturday More than 1,000 people from the Langley-based 1st Fighter Wing deployed during the war effort.