A-10's Deployed to the Gulf
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Edit: Gulf War A-10 780722
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A-10A
Model Year
1978
Serial No.
780722
Prod No.
342
Unit Assigned
Unit Name
Home Wing
Deployment Wing
Tail Code
Home Base
Combat Base
Battle Damaged
Damage
Hit By
Date Hit 1st Time
Date Hit 2nd Time
Date Hit 3rd Time
Shot Down
Shotdown By
Crash
Crash Location
Fate Date
Pilot
Ejected
Eject Survived
Photo Url
Remarks
<font size="2"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hit by SA-13 'Gopher' SAM 60 miles north west of Kuwait city while attacking Republican Guard targets. Pilot Lt Rob Sweet ejected, </font><span style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: " helvetica="" neue",="" helvetica,="" arial,="" sans-serif;="" font-weight:="" 700;"="">captured as POW and released Mar 5, 1991.</span></font><div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">On February 15, 1991, A-10 pilots Phillis (A-10 79-0139) and 1st Lt. Rob Sweet flew together for the 30th time. The pilots’ target was a massive formation of Iraqi armor in the deserts of Kuwait.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">After making several successful passes, a surface-to-air missile (SAM) was fired at Sweet’s plane. He deployed flares to escape it. A second SAM hit him from behind, blowing off part of his wing and sending his plane into a steep spiral. Sweet ejected. When his parachute opened, he was dangling over the elite Iraqi armored division he had just finished bombing and strafing.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Phillis flew an orbit over the armored division to draw fire away from Sweet’s descent. He fired flares to draw the attention of the Iraqis, making his A-10 a target. An Iraqi SA-13 missile hit his plane, lighting it on fire. His plane crashed in the Kuwaiti sand. After U.S. forces liberated Kuwait, they found the wreckage of Phillis’ A-10 with his remains still inside.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Sweet was captured by the Iraqi military when he landed and became a POW for 19 days. It wasn’t until after his release that he learned that his wingman, Capt. Steve Phillis, was shot down while trying to save him.</font></p></div><div><div><span style="color: rgb(33, 37, 41); font-family: " open="" sans",="" sans-serif;="" font-size:="" 14.4px;="" background-color:="" rgb(249,="" 249,="" 249);"=""><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Event No.: F-37</font></span></div></div>
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