After One Year A Look At The U.S. Air War Against The Islamic State

Courtesy Tech. Sgt. Richard Ebensberger

Popular Mechanics: Year One: Inside the Air War Against ISIS

The U.S. has won battles, destroyed targets, and saved towns from ISIS—and it may be no closer to winning the overall war.

The following is based on publicly released information, interviews with Air Force personnel at the Pentagon and reportage from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
Night One: August 8, 2014

Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar—A B-1B bomber has a crew of four. Right now, all four are confused.

There are two pilots, call signs Dash and Astro. Two Weapons Systems Officers (WSOs), Lobo and Biscuit, sit directly behind the cockpit, a partition between them. The two pairs spend missions of up to 14 hours together in a cramped cockpit but never see each other, except when the WSOs head to the crude metal toilet.

Dash is the mission lead, and his crew is ready to take off for combat operations over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. But just before they take off, the air traffic controllers tell them to stop and wait on the runway.

More than a half hour passes with no updates, and no one will discuss anything on an unsecured radio. "This is bad," Dash tells his crew, part of the 9th Expeditionary Bomber Squadron. "Something's happening."

WNU Editor: A must read review on the U.S. air war against the Islamic State in the past year.