Oklahoma Air National Guard F-16 pilot, Lt. Col. David Serage flew his 100th combat sortie earlier this month during a mission over Baghdad. The Air Force Academy graduate has 19 years in active and Air Guard service, including flying B-52 bombers and, in the joint Navy-Air Force suppression of enemy air defense mission, EA-6B Prowlers. Serage left active service in 1999, joining the Air Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing and flying some of his first F-16 missions during Operation Southern Watch, the no-fly zone operation over southern Iraq. (Joint Base Balad report by SSgt. Don Branum)
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
