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Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the book "Ghosts of Baghdad: Marine Corps Gunships on the Opening Days of the Iraq War" by Colonel Eric "Ferris" Buer, USMC(Ret) and details the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom from the perspective of then-Major Buer and his fellow Cobra pilots ofHMLA-269, the "Gunrunners," as part of Task Force Tarawa.
Buer and his copilot, Matt, were Flight 45. Flight 46 was made up of pilots known as "Buss" and "Rosie." The forward air controller was "Kool-Aid."
An Nasiriyah, Iraq
March 29, 2003
Whoosh. Tick. Tick. Tick.
The TOW missile's launch motor makes a distinct sound separating from the hardened tube. That was followed by the sounds of the fins moving.
I saw the missile first, coming offthe right weapons pylon with a small plume of white smoke. It immediately began a rotation before it stabilized about 200 meters in front of the aircraft. I was nose on to the target and scanning for anything near the second floor.
Matt was tracking the missile. I couldn't see what he saw, and I was not about to ask him any questions. This was his missile. He wasn't quiet for long. "I have a good capture and tracking the second floor. I'm aiming about 2 feet below the center window."
The explosion was anticipated but the destruction wasn't. The TOW ripped open the entire second floor, leaving a gaping hole. The debris and smoke plumed over the top of the building. Any Iraqi sniper team in that building was, at a minimum, no longer combat effective.
Buss was about 30 seconds behind us. "Kool-Aid, Deadly 46 is wings level."
I could see Buss offto the left. It was time for Rosie to put another missile into the second floor.
"Deadly 46, hit leads hit, cleared hot!" There was a sense of relief in the forward air controller's (FAC) voice.
Once our missile hit the target, I was too close to shoot rockets. Matt took that as a cue to open with the gun. The gun is bore sighted to ensure the reticle in the targeting camera is where the rounds impact. This is an imperfect process, so Matt would sometimes have to walk his rounds onto the target.
Matt...