CNN has the “exclusive” interview with the two-man crew of the F-15E Strike Eagle that went down in Libya (for technical reasons). The pilot, Maj. Kenneth Harney, evaded and was rescued by US Marines. The backseat WSO, Capt. Tyler Stark, was ‘captured’ by ‘friendly’ Libyan rebels and repatriated.
Once in the custody of the Libyan rebels, Stark couldn’t figure out Read more
The Stars and Stripes reports the F-15E Strike Eagle that crashed in March in Libya was brought down due to a weight imbalance.
An Air Force investigation into what caused the crash of an F-15E Strike Eagle during a night combat operation over Libya last March has concluded that a weight imbalance was a major factor…
The situation deteriorated Read more
According to the Air Force Times, the all-female F-15E Strike Eagle combat flight orchestrated as part of Women’s History Month “spark[ed] debate” over the issue of women in combat. The article is largely composed of reader inputs to the Times’ calls for comment. Most of the comments support lifting restrictions, and most (including women) also say the standards should be the same for men and women.
The ironic part of that statement is men and women aren’t currently held to the same standard; for example, in every service women have different Read more
Remember that conversation about the military not always hyping gender?
With an eye to Women’s History Month, an F-15E Strike Eagle unit in Afghanistan recently orchestrated an “all-female” mission. Two F-15Es were flown by two female pilots and two female weapons systems operators. Though not all the other personnel are named, the rest of the mission support, generation, and planning was also “carefully planned” to be done “entirely by females:” Read more
According to the US Air Force, an F-15E Strike Eagle went down in Libya due to an “equipment malfunction.” Both crewmembers are “back in US hands” after the pilot was retrieved by US Marines and the WSO was “recovered” by Libyan rebels.
Two crew members ejected from their U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle when the aircraft experienced equipment malfunction over northeast, Libya, March 21, at approximately 10:30 p.m. CET.
Both crew members ejected and are safe.
The press release also revealed that the aircraft was flying out of Aviano Air Base in Italy, home to other American units including an F-16 fighter unit.
While most people know about the stereotypical fighter pilot roles (shoot down the bad guys, drop bombs in support of the Army), few know of the very unique opportunities fighter pilots have. Like seeing a space shuttle launch. From overhead the launch pad.
F-15Es from Seymour Johnson were tasked to protect the airspace around the shuttle launch. So, of course, they had to watch it…
USAF Fighter Pilot. One of the coolest jobs in the world.