While flying combat air patrol in Operation Southern Watch, two F-16 pilots from the 363rd Fighter Wing, Shaw AFB, S.C., intercept a pair of Iraqi MiG-25s flying in the UN-imposed no-fly zone over southern Iraq. One of the pilots, flying an F-16D, fires an AIM-120A AMRAAM and downs one of the MiGs, marking the first use of the AIM-120A in combat and the first USAF F-16 air-to-air victory.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
