FlightFollowerF-16s Rescue Desperate Special Operators In breathtaking CAS mission (Chilling audio)
U.S. Air Force Major Edward “Ned” Linch III describes an intensely perilous night mission over western Iraq on March 30, 2003. Originally tasked with hunting Scud missiles, Linch and his wingman were diverted—under dire radio calls—to rescue coalition special operations forces, reportedly British SBS operators, surrounded and outnumbered by hostile Iraqi forces.
Flying in near-zero visibility caused by a dust storm, and hampered by low illumination and compromised NVG performance, Linch pressed through extreme risk to deliver air support. He made repeated reconnaissance and bomb runs, dropped a 500-pound bomb, and then executed low-level “show-of-force” passes to deter advancing enemy troops—all while navigating disorientation, degraded situational awareness, and the threat of friendly fire. For his actions—turning the mission into, in his words, “the most intense mission I’d ever flown in my life”—Linch was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Sources
- U.S. Air Combat Command: 505th CCW pilot wins valor award
- U.S. Air Force: Edward Linch first-person account
Accident Facts
- Date
- 30 March 2003
- Aircraft
- F-16 Fighting Falcon
- Lead pilot
- Major Edward H. “Ned” Linch III
- Wingman
- Captain Brian Wolf
- Operation
- Operation Iraqi Freedom
- Mission
- Emergency close air support in western Iraq
- Conditions
- Night and severe dust/sandstorm
- Outcome
- Coalition troops received air support; Linch later received valor awards
Times are shown only where established; otherwise the sequence is chronological.
- U.S. Air Combat Command: 505th CCW pilot wins valor award
- U.S. Air Force: Edward Linch first-person account