Fighter squadron returns from Iraq duty

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Staff Sgt. David Schwanke, of the 52nd Equipment Maintenance Squadron, holds son Lucas with wife Mari looking on upon his return Friday from a deployment in Iraq.


Fighter squadron returns from Iraq duty
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 9, 2008

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — After dropping a near record number of bombs in Iraq, members of the 22nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron returned to their home base in Spangdahlem this week.

The bulk of the nearly 300 pilots and support personnel arrived Friday after a four-month deployment to Balad Air Base.

Pilots flew more than 1,600 sorties and dropped more than 60,000 pounds of ordnance, said the 22nd commander, Lt. Col. Matt Chestnutt. The squadron came only a few bombs shy of setting a record for the Block 50 version of the F-16, the fighter jet the unit flies. But more important than the number of bombs dropped, Chestnutt said pilots hit their targets and used them only when needed.

“I was very pleased with our performance,” he said. “We didn’t kill anybody we didn’t want to kill, and we didn’t destroy anything we didn’t want to destroy.”

During the deployment, the 22nd took part in Operation Phantom Phoenix, a major offensive in January against al-Qaida insurgents in the Diyala province. According to the squadron, it was the largest airstrike by the U.S. since the “shock and awe” bombing in 2003.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52315