Vipers and Weasels in the Desert

摘要

In August 1990, Capt. Philip M. Ruhlman was chief of standardization and evaluation for the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing. When his squadron deployed to Qatar at the start of Desert Shield the only ordnance they had traveled on the wings of their F-16s. When the unit landed in Doha and popped its canopies, the heat sucked the oxygen out of the pilots' lungs and there was nothing but sand to be seen. For some weeks they thought theirdeployment might be temporary. In October 614th TFS commander Lt. Col. Bruce A. "Orville" Wright straightened them out. "Orville said, 'Unpack your bags, fellas, we ain't going home till this is over. He shifted our mind-set," says Ruhlman.