U.S. Marines launch first Harrier jet air raids over Afghanistan

By CHRIS TOMLINSON The Associated Press 11/3/01 3:34 PM

ABOARD THE USS PELELIU (AP) -- Marines on the USS Peleliu launched their first airstrikes against Afghanistan Saturday, using Harrier jump jets loaded with 500 pound bombs to hit at Taliban and al-Qaida targets.

Leaving a trail of black smoke, four AV-8B Harriers from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit took off from the amphibious assault ship Saturday, heading north toward Afghanistan. One returned an hour later because it had communications problems.

Each single-seat plane left with four 500 pound unguided bombs. U.S. Marine F/A-18C attack jets have flown off the USS Theodore Roosevelt before, but officials said this is the first time Marine Harriers have been used to hit Afghanistan.

"They were command and control targets ... in southern Afghanistan," said Capt. Dave Romley, a Marine spokesman.

Two pilots who took part in the airstrikes -- the first combat mission for both -- said the raid had gone well.

Maj. Ed of Arizona, who for security reasons wanted only his first name used, said the airstrikes were successful and Taliban forces had not fired on the Marines' planes.

Maj. John, of Chicago, Illinois, said he had not expected the operation to go by so fast. "It felt like any other mission we have trained for, nothing unusual."

The Harriers are assigned to the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, which consists of three ships: the USS Peleliu amphibious assault ship, the USS Comstock landing ship and the USS Dubuque landing platform. Some 2,200 Marines and 1,900 sailors live on the ships, which have been in the north Arabian Sea since Sept. 28.

Accompanying each ready group is an air wing including helicopters and six Harriers. The jump jets can land like a helicopter on the Peleliu's short flight deck and don't require a catapult to take off.

In what Marine officers said was an unrelated mission, a combat-ready pilot and aircraft recovery team left the Peleliu a few hours after the Harriers in two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters.

Officials and team members would not say where the helicopters were headed.

The 23-man team was equipped with machine guns, anti-tank weapons and enough supplies to spend several days from the ship, team members said. Dressed in desert camouflage, some of the young men snapped photos of each other holding M-16A2 rifles before boarding.

The team is trained to enter enemy territory, rescue pilots, provide first aid and bring the pilot or aircraft out using heavy-lift helicopters

Cpl. Fabian Perez, a 23-year-old team leader from San Diego, Texas, said his team was ready for combat if that became necessary.

"I've been training (my team) for a while. We're pretty much ready," Perez said. "I sat them down and told them to expect the worse. That's the mindset I give my team."

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001