Commanding officer strike fighter squadron two

Sea Power, Aug 2003 by Denneny, Doug

I am the Commanding Officer of Strike Fighter Squadron Two, an F/A-18F unit that recently returned from a historic deployment on the carrier USS Constellation. We flew our last missions with the F-14D Tomcat during the deployment, and it was the Constellation's last deployment ever.

When we arrived off the coast of Iraq last December, we were busy flying missions for Operation Southern Watch (OSW), which was really heating up. The Iraqi military fired at coalition aircraft just about every day, earning a retaliatory strike from us, the U.S. Air Force, or the Royal Air Force.

Between missions, we watched the news about a war that we expected sooner rather than later. I was excited to be on the verge of involvement in the liberation of Iraq. But I was a little apprehensive. Aside from the normal trepidation felt prior to being shot at, I quietly wondered how I would measure up with others who bravely served on the Connie during the Vietnam War; aviators with names like Cunningham and Driscoll, among others.

During the war, our squadron had 10 F-14 Tomcats, 15 pilots, 16 RIOs (Radar Intercept Officers) and five officers that specialized in aircraft maintenance. We had more than 230 enlisted who worked primarily on the aircraft to keep them in an "up" status.

My squadron included young men from all walks of life. At the height of the bull market, one of my junior pilots threw away a promising career in finance to become a fighter pilot. One of my senior and most skilled pilots was a physical education major who had a burning desire to be a professional football place kicker before he joined the Navy. He even tried to walk on to the San Diego Chargers when he was a young student. That pilot was our top "ball flyer"-the best at landing on carriers-and served as our Operations Officer. He flew primarily with our Maintenance Officer, an outstanding RIO who worked his way up from E-1 to O-4. Those two served heroically during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

OSW gave us months of combat time over southern Iraq before pushing north to Baghdad. Going into the conflict, the squadron confidence level was very high, thanks to our extensive training and preparation. We all knew there was a chance we would be shot down, but aviators are eternal optimists and we were confident in our aircraft and the people that were supporting us back on the Constellation and across the country.

I was on the first wave of "shock and awe" as the division lead of the first Navy and Marine Corps aircraft to strike Baghdad. As we headed to our target, wave after wave of eye-opening explosions from surface, air, and submarine-launched cruise missiles struck targets in and around Baghdad.

Most of the anti-aircraft artillery was low-level stuff, but it got our attention as our EA-6B Prowler friends were jamming Baghdad, and the Air Force F-16CJs and F/A Hornets were destroying enemy radars. Our division leveled an Iraqi Republican Guard unit and radio relay facility with GPS-aided Joint Direct-Attack Munitions and safely returned to the Connie before daybreak.

But now it is time to move on. Our squadron has transitioned to the new F/A-18F Super Hornets at Naval Air Station, Lemoore, Calif. The Connie will be slowly towed to her final resting place in Washington. She is a historic ship that has served her country well for over 40 years. Her relief is heading to San Diego soon, but the Connie will be a hard act to follow.