Thunderbolt pilots support 332nd AEW flying mission

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melanie Holochwost
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Between mission and geographical transitions, pilots assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing have gone through their fair share of change.

Within a matter of months, Maj. Greg Jenkins and Capt. Charles Fallon, 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pilots deployed from Luke Air Force Base, have been through it all. Since their arrival, each has flown 25 combat sorties in support of a variety of missions out of different locations.

"When we arrived to the AOR in late September, our mission was to perform 24-hour, close air support for ground troops in Iraq," Fallon said. "From there, we moved to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, where our mission shifted toward moving troops out of Iraq. In fact, I had the privilege to witness history. I was in the air when the last convoy crossed the Iraq border."

That moment on Dec. 18, 2011, marked the first time since the beginning of Desert Storm in 1991 that U.S. aircraft weren't patrolling the skies in Iraq.

"Since then, we've been dedicated to training," Jenkins said. "There isn't much of a difference between the two types of missions from our point of view -- we train the way we fight."

Jenkins and Fallen, who are instructor pilots at Luke said they believe training and combat sorties are equally important, as they go hand-in-hand. And sometimes, these teachers get to see their students put that training into action.

Jenkins said he was reunited with four of his previous students on this deployment.
"I actually ended up taking one of them, Capt. Dysart Cleeton, (deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.) on his first combat sortie," he said. "That was very cool and a lot of fun for both of us."