Post by Logan on Feb 21, 2016 19:54:40 GMT -6
From the cockpit of her A-10, Capt. Katherine Conrad watched as Kurdish fighters in eastern Iraq battled to retake territory that had been overrun by the self-declared Islamic State.
By the end of the three-hour mission last fall, Conrad and another pilot had battered targets on the ground with more than a half-dozen bombs and missiles and raked the enemy twice with the imposing nose-mounted cannons that are the A-10's signature weapon.
"To be able to provide that sort of oversight and protection for the Kurds was very fulfilling," Conrad said.
Now Conrad — call sign "Slam" — is set to return to the Middle East this fall as the Maryland National Guard makes its first major deployment in Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State.
Read more: www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-national-guard-isis-deployment-20160220-story.html
By the end of the three-hour mission last fall, Conrad and another pilot had battered targets on the ground with more than a half-dozen bombs and missiles and raked the enemy twice with the imposing nose-mounted cannons that are the A-10's signature weapon.
"To be able to provide that sort of oversight and protection for the Kurds was very fulfilling," Conrad said.
Now Conrad — call sign "Slam" — is set to return to the Middle East this fall as the Maryland National Guard makes its first major deployment in Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State.
Read more: www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-national-guard-isis-deployment-20160220-story.html