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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2003-03-22
Aboard 'The Connie': A Photographer's Diary. Part 2
By Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, 2003
An F/A-18 Hornet launches from the Connie as US led airstrikes begin.
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(Editors note: Justin Sullivan is a staff photographer for Getty Images based in San Francisco. He is currently on assignment aboard the U.S.S. Constellation in the Persian Gulf.)
March 21, 2003
We knew hours in advance that tonight was going to be the beginning of so-called "Shock and Awe," the much-anticipated and explosive segue into Operation Iraqi Freedom. The media corps stood by and bit their tongues as an embargo of information was imposed restricting any reporting of the imminent strikes or activity on ship, a measure to protect the safety of the pilots sent to carry out the strikes. Those hours leading up to the lifting of the embargo were quite tedious since, as journalists, we love to be the first to tell what we know.
As the hour approached when the first planes would be launched from the USS Constellation, "The Connie," cameras and reporters were given unprecedented access to cover the final pilots' briefing. I sat in with the US Navy VFA-151 "Vigilantes" squadron as they were briefed with weather information, detailed descriptions of targets, general battle plans and instructions on how to withdraw from targets and proceed to secondary ones if surface-to-air firing becomes too unsafe. One pilot appeared nervous as he fidgeted with his notes and repeatedly examined classified target photos during a pep talk given by Rear Admiral Barry Costello. Costello reassured the crew that "you are the best of the best, you have trained hard for this, you will not fail." I couldn't help but think I was somehow an extra in Top Gun-Part 2. Cue the Kenny Loggins song.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, 2003
Ordnance handlers move a rack of 1,000 pound bombs to an awaiting aircraft.
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An hour before the first fighter jets were launched, Connie's Commanding officer, Captain John W. Miller, informed the over 5,000 crew members on the public address that "we are now part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Air strikes are beginning." Until then, aircraft from the Connie had been striking a limited number strategic targets in Iraq as they "prepared the battlefield" -- a "transition period" into OIF. This was now "officially" war.
Crew members and journalists packed onto "Vulture's Row," the highest vantage point to watch flight operations, as the first group of F/A-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats, loaded with twice the amount of ordnance than usual, were launched in the moonlit night. There were no cheers or high-fives; people just watched in silence. Some used video cameras wrapped in aluminum foil (to protect from the intense radar) to document the historic launch. With a loud rumble, a rush of hot air and the glow of the afterburner, the jets streaked into the night.
The first strikes were to take place at around 8 PM our time, as if it were a new reality show scheduled for the prime-time slot. Until moments before, everyone went on with the routine. Minutes after 8 PM, sleep-deprived journalists huddled around the television in our cramped
media room and watched as green night-vision images showed the huge blasts of 2,000-pound precision-guided bombs impacting Baghdad. Many of those bombs came from this ship.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, 2003
CNN correspondent Frank Buckley does a live interview with two pilots after they returned from carrying out airstrikes on Baghdad.
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As planes returned back to the Connie and landed on the flight deck, reality set in. The tons of bombs and missiles that adorned the wings of those planes two hours earlier, were now gone. Even though we had just watched the fiery flashes and clouds of smoke over Baghdad on up to the second coverage, this made it true.
After the last plane returned, the information embargo was lifted and we could file stories, photos and television crews began doing live shots with pilots minutes after they jumped out of the cockpit.
All aircraft and personnel made it back safely after executing 74 strike missions in a 24 hour period. Bombs are still being assembled 24 hours a day and aircraft from the Connie continue daily strikes as Operation Iraqi Freedom continues.
Related Links:
Justin Sullivan's member page
Aboard 'The Connie': A Photographer's Diary. Part 1
Aboard 'The Connie': A Photographer's Diary. Part 3
Aboard 'The Connie': A Photographer's Diary. Part 4
Aboard The Bonhomme Richard: A Photographer's Diary. Part 5
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