Home > News > Article Display

Chiefs return, all F-15Es back at Seymour

By Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore, 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published January 11, 2010

PRINT | E-MAIL
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Armed with flags, colorful signs and personalized T-shirts, family and friends lined the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., flight line to welcome home pilots and weapon systems operators from the 335th Fighter Squadron Jan. 8.

The officers deployed in September to assume the Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, close air support mission from the 336th Fighter Squadron, their Seymour Johnson AFB brethren. This return of 18 F-15E Strike Eagles marks the first time in nine months all of the aircraft have been at homestation together.

While deployed, the 335th FS Chiefs flew more than 1,670 combat sorties totaling nearly 6,500 flight hours.

"The Chiefs didn't miss a single tasked (air tasking order) line during their four-month deployment," said Lt. Col. Lance Bunch, 4th Operations Group deputy commander. "They supported operations resulting in 19 high-value individuals being captured."

The Chiefs were instrumental in the defense of Coalition Observation Post Keating during the heated battle Oct. 3-4, 2009.

"During this battle, the outpost was being ambushed by more than 250 Taliban fighters in a well-planned, 360 degree-coordinated attack that outnumbered Coalition Forces three to one," Bunch said. "For the duration of the battle, the Chiefs were overhead, many times working with other airborne assets. The actions of the Chiefs saved more than 72 Coalition lives and prevented COP Keating from being overrun by insurgents."

While everyday operations downrange for the Chiefs were not for the faint of heart, hugging loved ones in their welcoming committee for the first time in months still managed to get their adrenalin pumping.

"I'm ecstatic," said Capt. Taylor Francis, 335th FS aircrew, as he enjoyed an embrace from his wife, Stephanie, and seven-month-old son, Edward. "You think you know how you will feel when you get home, but you really have no idea until you get here."

After months of maintaining a steady state of readiness and making decisions that had an automatic impact on other's lives, Francis said he is looking forward to relaxing and reconnecting with his family by syncing to his son's schedule.

The returning Chiefs will have an opportunity reconnect with family and friends before returning to work at the end of the month to resume training. As a capstone to their reconstitution training, they will deploy to participate in RED FLAG at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, in April.


USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.