We’re coming in with more confirmed bomb damage than any other jet. Says Marks, “We called in our bomb damage assessment to the wing operations center and they said we’d set an all-time record for Maverick and bullet kills.”Īs Solomonson explained the success of the A-10, “We’re impressing a lot of people. Then, the A-10As moved in and set seven more tanks afire. The A-10A pilots were told to remain on station while Saudi artillery fired into the target area. The pilots returned to their main base, re-armed, and launched again to support Marines who were now probing at the outskirts of Kuwait City. In a fast and furious engagement, Solomonson and Marks took out eight more tanks, six with Mavericks and two with cannon tire. “The targets were parked in revetments on both sides of a major road running west out of Kuwait City.” Before the SH-60B appeared, Solomonson and Marks got on the air with an offer to help out in the search and rescue for Walsh, but the FAC told them to continue on because he had enemy tanks on the ground and the Americans on the ground needed help immediately.Īrriving on the scene, Marks was surprised that American ground forces had pushed so far forward. He was eventually rescued by a Navy SH-60B helicopter – only the third combat rescue of the war. In the first AV-8B, Captain Scott Walsh of squadron VMA-542 ejected, making a shaky but safe parachute landing. The second Harrier pilot apparently succeeded in getting back to safety without having to eject. One was down and the other was leaving the area on fire, the pilot preparing to eject. A Marine F/A-18 Hornet flying ‘Fast FAC’ told the approaching A-10A pilots that two AV-8B Harriers had already been hit. The duo’s second mission was more intense than the first – more like what had been predicted for a high-intensity conflict. Solomonson and Marks were told to get there, fast. Instead, an operations officer found Solomonson and shouted, “Get saddled up again! Go!” Marines needed help just southwest of Kuwait City. At first, the pilots thought they would be instructed to shut down and simply sit alert. Rather than return to their original base, the ‘Warthogs’ set down at a FOL (Forward Operating Location) where they refueled and re-armed. No one in uniform likes war, but as he pulled off and looked back at eight tanks burning and exploding, ammunition cooking off and creating a furious spray behind him, Solomonson thought, “For an A-10 pilot it just doesn’t get any better than this.”
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