Forum: General F-16 forum

Kapring wrote:

Southeast ramp was the transit ramp. The satellite photos you posted are the exact configuration as seen when the 107th was there.

Side note: Those covered aircraft shelters were stripped of all the metal prior to us getting there. We heard the local population stripped them for private use.

Don't mind posting photos but I can't seem to figure out how to do it. Crying or Very sad

either use www.imageshack.us or attach the images to your post using the "add an attachment" button.

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Thank you again, Kapring! For posting photos from my harddrive to the forum at F-16.net, I created my own online photo album with sub-albums at www.photobucket.com The low-level version is for free and very easy. To send your online album pics to my topic at F-16.net, you must only post the URLs of the pics, given by photobucket, together with the related HTML tags. As a sample: [img]the pic´s URL[/img]. Any more questions, Kapring? If you will provide me some hi-res pics of the deployed jets and other interesting stuff, please mail your selected photos to joachim.jacob@gmx.de
I would be very grateful for your photo support! Salute

Sorry, HazF16! But meanwhile, so I think, you are right with U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters at Kirkuk AB during OIF´s main combat phase. After months, today I checked again the website of the Regional Air Movement Control Center (RAMCC) which has an office in the CAOC at Al Udeid AB, Qatar. The RAMCC's mission is to coordinate movements of civilian fixed-wing airlift in support of coalition military, humanitarian and commercial air operations throughout the Baghdad FIR (ORBB) by assigning arrival and departure times at selected airfields in Iraq and coordinating over flights of Iraq.

In RAMCC´s Iraq related "Aeronautical Information Publication" (AIP), current 17th edition (March 16, 2006), on page 222, related to Kirkuk AB (ORKK), I found the following info (marked as "Temporarily Suspended"):

Quote:

ORKK AD 2.21 NOISE ABATEMENT PROCEDURES

ORKK 2.21.1 Departures
Do not over fly the AMC ramp. South ramp, North ramp, FARP, RAPCON, TACON, or tent city below 1000 ft AGL.

ORKK 2.21.2 Arrivals
Do not over fly the AMC ramp. Hawg (A-10) ramp, Apache ramp, fuel bladder, RAPCON, TACAN, or tent city below 1000 ft AGL.

Document link:
http://ramcc.dtic.mil/forms/iraq_aip_edition_17.pdf

So I further think, that info should be a proof that the southeastern main parking ramp was (at least at first) mainly used by Air Mobility Command (AMC) for resuply flights with C-130 Hercules – during OIF´s main combat phase, and, in this case, mainly to support the 173rd Airborne Brigade which captured and secured Kirkuk AB.

Note: The first A/OA-10A Thunderbolt II ("Warthog") aircraft arrived at Kirkuk AB either on April 29 or April 30, 2003. Originally, six jets were "forward deployed" to Kirkuk AB as a detachment of the 303rd EFS (12 deployed aircraft) which was deployed to the 407th AEG at Tallil AB, Iraq. After the start of OIF, the 407th AEG was activated by Air Combat Command (ACC) as a new subordinated unit of the 332nd AEW, at this time still located at Ahmed Al Jaber AB, Kuwait. As the 303rd EFS´s replacement, the last A/OA-10As, assigned to Kirkuk AB for OIF from the 354th EFS, which was mainly deployed to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, for OEF, left Kirkuk AB approximately in mid-March 2004. Since them, there were no further "Warthog" missions over Iraq as part of OIF.

Note: In the next couple of days I will post a huge Kirkuk AB update, including air base data, news stories related to capturing Kirkuk AB by U.S. forces, re-opening of the air base for U.S. military, activating the 506th AEG at Kirkuk AB and the A/OA-10A deployments to this air base.

Dear F-16.net staff,
my name is Alessandro Aspesi and I'm writing from Milan, Italy. Since 2001 I'm colelcting photos from hornet and tomcats squadron PAOs, and I received at today around 13.000. I've some F-16 stuff, in pictures taken from US NAVY pilots during OIF and OEF sorties.
Hope You'll enjoy them. I star to add some.
V/R
Alex

alessandroaspesi wrote:

Dear F-16.net staff,
my name is Alessandro Aspesi and I'm writing from Milan, Italy. Since 2001 I'm colelcting photos from hornet and tomcats squadron PAOs, and I received at today around 13.000. I've some F-16 stuff, in pictures taken from US NAVY pilots during OIF and OEF sorties.
Hope You'll enjoy them. I star to add some.
V/R
Alex

AV AF 89-029 meets a VFA-136 knighthawks during AAR (Air to Air Refueling) over Iraq. It's armed with 1 x GBU-31 and 2 x GBU-12. Photo taken from a VF-11 red rippers RIO.

Welcome to the forum, Alessandro! And thank you very much for posting the first two pics! That´s really unknown stuff (not published at U.S. Navy´s main public website and also not by DoD). I´m eager for your further pics. If possible, please post each hi-res picture with a short informative photo caption and also full name and rank of the photographer. After checking your pics I will post some further photo interpretation.

Sir, it will be a great pleasure to add pictures, not only concerning F-16. If you interested I've pictures from NAVY pilots of F-15e and Tornado over Iraq, and B-52 over afghanista in formation with navy and USMC hornets. As I told you in these 5 years I contacted every sqaudron after every deployments, and I collected some 13.000 pictures (I'm writing a book on USN in OIF). And in these pictures collection there are many NO NAVY aircraft.
V/R
Alex

Eventually, if you're interested I've the list of ALL the F-16 deployments in southern watch and northern watch to PSAB. If you want to open a topic for these deployments, I will be more than happy to let you know them all.
Alex

Last edited by J.J. on May 05, 2006 - 11:25 PM; edited 2 times in total

Sounds overwhelming, Alessandro. But at first, I´m not a "Sir". I´am simply J.J., and my real name is Joachim Jacob, from Berlin, Germany. On these forum topics, please post only F-16 photos, and not your other interesting USN and USAF stuff.
As you said, you have a list of all F-16 deployments related to Operation Southern Watch and Operation Northern Watch to PSAB. Excuse me, but F-16 OSW deployments were to the 4404th Wing (Provisional) at King Abdul Aziz AB, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (after the terrorist Khobar Towers bombing relocated to Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia, and later redesignated as 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing); to the 4406th Operations Group (Provisional) at Ahmed Al Jaber AB, Kuwait (later redesignated as 332nd Air Expeditionary Group, and shortly before OIF started, ugraded to an 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing); and also as integrated parts of some earlier Air Expeditionary Forces / Air Expeditionary Wings to different other Gulf nations. In contrast, all deployments for ONW (successor to Operation Provide Comfort) were only to Incirlik AB, Turkey.
You told: "If you want to open a topic for these deployments, I will be more than happy to let you know them all."
Alessandro! I´m currently very busy with my preview topics, related to fact files for the F-16.net´s upcoming brand new section "F-16 Combat History". Also planned are future fact files, related to OSW and ONW. I have no problem with creating new related topics. But at first, in the next couple of days I will contact you via PM to ckeck out the available stuff. So I think, that should be O.K.

Today, I edited and corrected my last post because I forgot the first F-16 host units in Southwest Asia after Operation Desert Storm. Sorry!!! To remember, I checked my archived stuff, printed out from ACC´s public website in 1998, from PSAB´s former public website and from other USAF sources. To get a first impression of Alessandro´s research work I asked him via PM for an e-mail with a copy of his OSW/ONW deployment listings. Let me surprise. If the basic info is really given, I will create the following new preview topics: OSW Vipers (“F-16 Combat History”) and ONW Vipers (“F-16 Combat History”). Note: The ONW topic will also include all of the earlier deployments related to Operation Provide Comfort.
So I hope (and I´m nearly sure) both topics will get broad feedback from involved personnel and civilians.

The only reply which I got from Alessandro was: "Sir, several squadron, according to old USAFE news service deployed for a short deployment period to PSAB, as the 22 and 23 EFS. I'll try to post the old documents found in the past on internet." Excuse me, Alessandro, but that´s not the stuff which you announced in your former post: "Eventually, if you're interested I've the list of ALL the F-16 deployments in southern watch and northern watch to PSAB. If you want to open a topic for these deployments, I will be more than happy to let you know them all." Via PM, I asked Alessandro for his very important listings, but meanwhile, so I think, this listings not realy exists. What a pity!
On the other hand, so I think, it´s time to talk about these deployments. In the next couple of days, I will check again my older downloads of related U.S. CENTAF and USAF news releases. Anyone involved U.S. servive member, who will disclose some more first-hand deployment details?

i got some pics from the OSW AEF 9 rotation at PSAB (VT, NJ & EF) back in 2000/2001.

Hello J.J.,

Once more many thanks for Your great effort to put all this great information together!! I have the following from the cnn.com web-page:

Units: 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing, including 67th, 390th, 524th and 457th Fighter Squadrons; 363rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron; 38th Reconnaissance Squadron; 92nd Air Refueling Squadron; 99th Reconnaissance Squadron; and VWAQ 1 and No. 43 Squadron of Britain's Royal Air Force, according to military research group Global Security. Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia is also based here.

Aircraft: About 72, including F-15C, F-15E and F-16 fighters, KC-135 and KC-10 refueling tankers, RC-135, E-3 and U-2 reconnaissance planes, C-130 transports, HC-130 combat search-and-rescue aircraft, and C-21 passenger planes. Two Patriot antimissile batteries are also on post.

This applies to a Oct. 2002 deployment to PSAB which also saw the 120 FW/186 FS of the Montana ANG at PSAB.

Greetings,

Henrik.

Dear members of F-16.net. I'm very sorry that someone suppose that the list I've spoken to JJ doesn't exist. I started to collect news and press releases since 1997 from ACC, USAFE, PACAF, websites. In this way I saved all the news related to ONW-OSW deployments, and then I do the list. I don't undesrtand the meaning of the word PITY which is written on a post speaking about my list.... (I don't speak english very well and I don't know many words) I hope it's not offensive. Any way my passion for military aviation is authentic, and in the next fews days I'll post the list. If I need some days to do that is becouse I'm a journalist and I'm not at home for some days... This is the only reason.
Thanlk you for your attention
Alex

Forum: General F-16 forum

Operation Iraqi Freedom (F-16 Combat History)