by Lt. Col. Tom Bergeson, 71st Fighter Squadron commander
I recently had the great opportunity to spend time with members of the 1st Fighter Association - most of them World War II veterans from the 27th, 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons.
The sacrifices of America's "Greatest Generation" are sometimes hard to comprehend. More than 120,000 U.S. Army Air Corps airmen were killed in World War II, including the more than 15,000 killed on training missions in the United States. World War II may seem like a thousand years ago to the young men and women of "Generations X and Y," but these men lived it. To them, it seems like just yesterday they were raging in Europe and Africa in their P-38's, dog-fighting in formations of a hundred aircraft, dodging enemy anti-aircraft fire, scanning the ground for recognizable landmarks to navigate by and thanking God when they made it back alive. They left America not knowing when or if they would return, as there were no aerospace expeditionary force schedules back then. Their courage not only led to victory, but also laid the groundwork for the future dominance of our U.S. airpower.
Less than 50 years later, the 1st Fighter Wing deployed to Saudi Arabia to support Operation Desert Thunder. Airmen had the same anxiety about leaving home, the same fear about combat - but they were confident - knowing they were the best trained and equipped Air Force on the planet. The F-15 Eagles dominated the skies, allowing the United States to unleash overwhelming offensive airpower on Iraq. The Iraqi troops either died or surrendered in droves, shell-shocked by the relentless attack of U.S. bombers.
In the end, it took coalition ground forces only 100 hours to complete the "left hook" and seal the victory. Operation Desert Storm was not a casualty-free war, but fortunately the losses were relatively few. During the 90s, airpower became America's "go-to" option for its wars. In Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, U.S. airpower dropped precision-guided munitions day and night, in all weather, enabling swift victory with few American lives lost. Along the way, the F-15 Eagle racked up an unmatched number of kills with no combat losses. This overwhelming success was possible because we had better pilots, maintainers, aircraft, weapons, and support than our adversaries. This domination was the result of "lessons learned," and these lessons were taught to us from the sacrifices of our veterans.
As we again face the possibility of combat, we as airmen, know we'll play a dominant role, and our success will be key to victory. And while our fighter training today is still a very dangerous business, our losses in training are about 1/1000th of what they were during World War II.
Yes, airpower has come a very long way in a relatively short time. It's a gift given to America by her veterans and now cared for by us. Our charge is to learn those lessons - paid for in American blood - and to make our airpower that much better for future generations. Remember those who came before.
