Dan Hampton - Viper Pilot

Desert Storm and, 70

EWO talents and, 52–53

Iraq War and, 6, 182, 217, 219, 223, 226, 233, 234, 236–39, 252, 256, 259, 262, 272, 275, 277, 284, 285, 294, 296

325th Fighter Wing, 136

363rd Air Expeditionary Wing, 211

363rd Expeditionary Operations Group, 211, 212, 284

363rd Operations Group, 284

388th Fighter Wing, 115–20

Tikrit (Iraq), 282, 290, 291, 298, 299, 303

Tikrit South Air Field (Iraq), 295, 296

Time Over Target (TOT), 84, 138

TITUS (Iraq War call sign), 250

TOGA (Iraq War call sign), 250, 290

Tomahawk missiles, in Iraq War, 173, 180

Tonkin Resolution (Vietnam War), 18

Toogood, Ian “Notso,” 219–20, 228, 229

Top Gun (movie), 48

TORCH (Desert Storm call sign), 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 76, 81

Torrejón Air Base (Spain), 68, 86

TOXIC (Iraq War call sign), 280, 281

tracers, in Iraq War, 11, 173, 222, 223, 225, 232, 233, 237, 247, 285, 298

training

Advanced Survival Training, 40–42

centrifuge, 39–40

during Cold War, 59–61

“dual,” 120–23

of early Wild Weasels, 23–24

for F-16CJ “CeeJay,” 157

as fighting the last war, 42–43

LIFT, 39

post-UPT training programs for, 39–45

RTU, 43–45

UPT, 31–39

See also type of training

Training Shop, 128

TRON (Desert Storm call sign), 68

TU-16 bombers “Badgers,” Russian, 114

Turkey

return from Mosul flight and, 76–80

See also Incirik Air Base

Turkish Air Force, 79, 83

TV bombs, 137

20th Fighter Wing, 127, 147–48, 159–60, 212

20th Operations Group, 127

23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron “Fighting Hawks,” Hampton’s assignment to, 47–48, 49–53

27th Fighter Squadron, 126

TWO DOGS (call sign), 62, 71, 74, 86, 93–94, 282

Tyndall Air Force Base (Florida), 136

U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, 16–18, 20

UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), 290–91, 300, 304

Umm Qasr (Iraq), attack on, 183

Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT)

advanced phase of, 37–38

beginner’s phase of, 31–36

Drop Night for, 38–39

graduation from, 45

instructors for, 34–36, 37–38

ranking for, 38

selection of students for, 32

United States

impact of 9/11 on, 163–64, 183

resilience of, 163

Upper Heyford Air Base (England), 86

U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), 127

U.S.S. Maddox, 18

U.S.S. Turner Joy, 18

V Corps, U.S. Army, 213, 215

Vance Air Force Base (Oklahoma), 32, 39, 40

“The Vault”

function of, 57, 131–32

at Incirik Air Base, 82–83

Vic (sargeant at Costa Brava), 63

VICTOR (Iraq War call Sign), 219

Vietnam War

air campaigns in, 18

beginning of, 18

end of ideology of, 164

fighter pilot veterans of, 47

“graduated escalation” in, 26, 27

Incirik colonel’s missions during, 96, 97

missile technology during, 245

Operation Linebacker in, 28

retirement of pilots from, 155

survival training and, 42

Tet Offensive in, 27

U.S. casualties in, 27

U.S. pullout of forces in, 28–29

Wild Weasel project and, 21–29

Wailing Bench (Nellis Air Force Base), 139

war

Hampton’s views about, 307–8

See also specific war

WARDOG. See ROMAN (Iraq War call sign): sandstorm landing and

Wasserfall SAM, 16

Weapons Officer

Desert Storm veterans as, 155

flight lead as, 220

Mission Commanders as, 84

9/11 and, 158

as Patchwearer or Target Arm, 132, 133, 137

requirements for, 132

responsibilities of, 132

SEFEs as, 130

selection of, 133

Vault as responsibility of, 132

See also Fighter Weapons Instructor Course; Fighter Weapons School

Weapons and Tactics Shop, 128

Weasels/weaseling. See Wild Weasels

weather

Iraq War and, 215, 218–19, 229–30

See also sandstorms

Westinghouse, 26

WICKED (Iraq War call sign), 216, 217, 218, 219, 226–27, 228, 229

wild-porpoise maneuver, 255

“Wild Weasel Song,” 93

Wild Weasels

awards and honors for, 29

battle cry of, 14, 24

CAS and, 2

casualties among, 25, 29

changes in planned missions of, 290

characteristics of, 304–5

code words and, 282

creation of, 19–20, 21

Desert Storm and, 65, 72

development of anti-SAM weapons and, 21–29

diversity in attacks by, 251

EWOs as heart of, 53

first combat mission of, 24

Fobair death and, 21

as focused on hunting and killing SAMS, 2, 21–29, 272

in Germany, 49

impact on Iraq War of, 215, 301, 305

importance of, 29, 304–5

Maverick missiles and, 292

mission of, 73

Mission Qual checks for, 129

mottos of, 75

night flying and, 176

post-Iraq War concerns of, 303–4

roaming of, 282

role of environment in attacks by, 279

rotation to Dhahran of, 147

unknown threats and, 236

in urban areas, 279

in Vietnam War, 19–20, 21–29

YGBSM as battle cry for, 14, 25

See also specific fighter wing or mission

Williams Air Force Base (Arizona), 32

Wing Commander, Khobar Towers attack and, 152

wings, U.S. Air Force

commanders of, 127

groups in, 127

Within Visual Range (WVR) Air Combat Tactics, 135

WOOKIE (call sign), 62

World Bank, 27

World War I, 15, 75, 126, 279

World War II, 15–16, 126, 155, 173, 215

YGBSM (You’ve Gotta Be Shittin’ Me) battle cry, 14, 24

Yom Kippur War (1973), 54

Zaragoza Air Base (Spain), 59–65

Zero, Japanese, 16

ZING (call sign), 62

Zoo, Baghdad, 278

“Zooce” (ZSU-23–4) gun, 244

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) DAN HAMPTONflew more than 150 combat missions during his twenty years (1986–2006) as a Wild Weasel fighter pilot. For his service in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, first Gulf War, and elsewhere, Colonel Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service Medals, and numerous other citations. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School (TOGS), and USAF Special Operations School. A recipient of several awards for tactical innovation, Hampton pioneered air-combat tactics that are now standard, and he was named his squadron’s Instructor Pilot of the Year six times. Hampton served on the Air Combat Command staff in Langley, Virginia, during the 1999 Kosovo War and designed the NATO campaign that destroyed the Yugoslav army’s air defenses around Sarajevo. A graduate of Texas A&M University, he has published articles in The Journal of Electronic Defense, Air Force Magazine , and Airpower magazine, as well as several classified tactical works for the USAF Fighter Weapons Review .

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Map courtesy of the UN Cartographic Section. All other images courtesy of the author.

Cover design by Richard L. Aquan

Cover jacket photographs: F-16 © by Jeff Roberson/Getty Images; sky © by Steven Errico/Getty Images

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