Question about British Harriers

[shrek]

Can anyone tell me for sure that the british forces in Afghanistan had on station and used any Harriers? I'm trying to verify who was flying them. A friend thinks it was our Marines but I cannot for the owrld of me remember!!

[Roger Rabbit]

I have looked but can't find anything about RAF or RN Harriers in Afghanistan.

http://www.warshipsifr.com/pages/terrorism_special2.html

Looks like the aircraft carrier with Harriers onboard replaced them with helicopters. Someone else might have some better infomation though.

[Argyll]

I tried as well ........zilch came up

[Scrim]

Shrek- cant remember where but I just read that the USMC left a dozen or so Harriers in Afghanistan, and are still there, I just read it yesterday, will try and find it now.

[shrek]

Thanks for looking, I guess they were Marines, that's cool!! I know that there were Brit pilots over there and was pretty sure that they were Harrier but I guess I was wrong

[Argyll]

Thanks for looking, I guess they were Marines, that's cool!! I know that there were Brit pilots over there and was pretty sure that they were Harrier but I guess I was wrong

Maybe the GR4 Tornadoes?.........Are we definately talking fighter Jocks?

The RAF had C130's from the Spec Ops Flight there,my buddy has some cool pics of him and Jack Straw in the pit of the C130

[shrek]

I asked the earlier question about the Harrier because of a story I wanted to attribute to the right people. Argyl, I'm sure that they were Harriers only because of my background:

I and the Rangers that I was with were nervous as hell. We were driving back through a town where twice we had taken fire. We called it the Dodge City and were not happy about having to go through it. First time through, two Rangers were injured and we never really nailed any of the bad guys. Therefore, needless to say, we were nervous. It was a narrow, one road village with one way in and out. We were just about to enter town and I think half of us had our safeties off when there was a horrendous noise. Most of us thought we had been hit again until we realized that it was an aircraft. Two Harriers tore down the middle of town not 150 feet off the deck both of them dropping flares right into the city. Normally they weren’t allowed to even come below a certain altitude unless they were asked to or engaging. The whole town went bananas and there were assholes running everywhere. We were probably half way through town and they came out of the valley once again to rock the town to its bones. The Rangers and me were screaming at the top of our lungs for the buttmonkeys in town to come on out and try something. I will never forget what those guys did for me and those that I was with. Hats off to, I guess, the Marine Corps and it’s pilots!!

[Argyll]

Semper Fi to the Pilots if the were Marines.... woot

[shrek]

Argyl: I'm pretty sure that the guys we drank with at the ISAF compound were fighter jocks, yes! Could've just been self confident cargo pilots for all I know though. Funny guys, and loved to drink!! One would say "let's flip for it, and the two of them would do a back flip, the drunker they got the funnier it got to watch!!

[Trigger]

Cool x 2 woot

[shrek]

Ok, now my office mates want to know why I'm laughing out loud? I just read Triggers location!!

Where the hell did you come up with that one!!

[Trigger]

I believe it came from this bizarre thread if you care to wade into it :lol:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14292

[Red]

From what i have read,i dont think there were British Harriers around there.But i think i read something about French Jets

[oldsoak]

I know the Brits had Sentry AEW1, Nimrod R1, Nimrod MR2, and Canberra PR9 plus Tristars and VC10's involved in supporting the effort in Afghanistan but alas no RAF Harrier GR7's.

[Scrim]

Damn I cant find the article now. Im doing research on Harriers for something, and ran across it the other day. It said something about the Marines breaking with the traddition of supporting just Marines on the ground and leaving some Harriers behind to provide CAS for Army units on the ground, in the interest of inter service cooperation. Im still looking though.

[Ratamacue]

Damn I cant find the article now. Im doing research on Harriers for something, and ran across it the other day. It said something about the Marines breaking with the traddition of supporting just Marines on the ground and leaving some Harriers behind to provide CAS for Army units on the ground, in the interest of inter service cooperation. Im still looking though.

Are the Marines more open to receiving CAS from Navy/AF units now though? As I understand it they always prefer to stick with Marine Air when it comes to that ****.

[gaz]

Can anyone tell me for sure that the british forces in Afghanistan had on station and used any Harriers? I'm trying to verify who was flying them. A friend thinks it was our Marines but I cannot for the owrld of me remember!!

Do you have any idea of a date? HMS Illustrious was deployed to Afghanistan and returned in March of 2002 and presumably she would have been carrying Sea Harriers and perhaps RAF Harriers too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1891752.stm

[gaz]

Ignore what I just said....

According to this (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9-131949,00.html) the Illustrious was stripped of her Harrier complement prior to setting sail.

[786mine]

i don't think that the british AF had any, i think it was the USMC who had some operational.

[Fenna]

The RAF didn't have any fast jets based in Afghanistan.

The only RAF aircraft based there for a long time were helicopters. Other than that there were some C-130s flying in from time to time.

[DeltaWhisky58]

Double post, please delete.

[DeltaWhisky58]

The British air contingent in Afg. consisted of Chinook helos from 27 Sqn. RAF based in Afg. long-term, plus the following air assets deployed as and when necessary:

VC10/Tristar Tankers used in support of USN/USMC assets on strike/CAP missions.
Canberra PR.9 Recce. a/c - high level photo/electronic reconaisance missions.
E-3D Sentry - AEW/AWACS duties
Nimrod R.1 - ELINT
C-130H Hercules - airlift etc.
C-17 Globemaster II - Heavy lift.

The Royal Navy contributed air launched cruise missiles (Tomahawk)

There were no fast-jet combat missions flown by RAF/RN aircraft in Afghanistan according to official British Sources. There has been no official information of any deployments of Tornado/Jaguar/Harrier/Sea Harrier a/c to this region and I have seen no unofficial reports either.

[shrek]

My bro wins! Another source (friend) of ours has just said, "hey dumb a$$, I told you those were Jarheads"!

Well, with that said, once again to all Marines past, present and future, thanks! You had to know that me and all those boys were scared ****less and did the only thing you could think of, you "buzzed the Tower". And it worked!

Semper Gumbi (forever flexible)

Semper Fi

[Scrim]

Damn I cant find the article now. Im doing research on Harriers for something, and ran across it the other day. It said something about the Marines breaking with the traddition of supporting just Marines on the ground and leaving some Harriers behind to provide CAS for Army units on the ground, in the interest of inter service cooperation. Im still looking though.

Are the Marines more open to receiving CAS from Navy/AF units now though? As I understand it they always prefer to stick with Marine Air when it comes to that ****.

Im sure if your a Grunt on the ground, and in the ****, youd be happy to see any aircraft(except an A-10 ;) ). But your right, Marines do prefer to stick with Marine Air. Marine pilots are there for one reason only, to support the Grunts, that is their only job, and CAS is pretty much all they train for.
Marine pilots also have to spend a year as a FAC for a ground unit, so they are basically a grunt for a year themselves.
And finally heres a piece of trivia for you. Marine pilots are the only pilots that wear camouflage helmet covers. It represents their relationship with the Grunt on the ground.

[Ratamacue]

Im sure if your a Grunt on the ground, and in the ****, youd be happy to see any aircraft(except an A-10 ;) ). But your right, Marines do prefer to stick with Marine Air. Marine pilots are there for one reason only, to support the Grunts, that is their only job, and CAS is pretty much all they train for.
Marine pilots also have to spend a year as a FAC for a ground unit, so they are basically a grunt for a year themselves.
And finally heres a piece of trivia for you. Marine pilots are the only pilots that wear camouflage helmet covers. It represents their relationship with the Grunt on the ground.

Thanks Scrim. I remember reading the camo cover thing in a scifi novel about Marines a few months ago.

[AOCBravo2004]

Damn I cant find the article now. Im doing research on Harriers for something, and ran across it the other day. It said something about the Marines breaking with the traddition of supporting just Marines on the ground and leaving some Harriers behind to provide CAS for Army units on the ground, in the interest of inter service cooperation. Im still looking though.

Are the Marines more open to receiving CAS from Navy/AF units now though? As I understand it they always prefer to stick with Marine Air when it comes to that ****.

Im sure if your a Grunt on the ground, and in the ****, youd be happy to see any aircraft(except an A-10 ;) ). But your right, Marines do prefer to stick with Marine Air. Marine pilots are there for one reason only, to support the Grunts, that is their only job, and CAS is pretty much all they train for.
Marine pilots also have to spend a year as a FAC for a ground unit, so they are basically a grunt for a year themselves.
And finally heres a piece of trivia for you. Marine pilots are the only pilots that wear camouflage helmet covers. It represents their relationship with the Grunt on the ground.

Every Marine officer (supply, admin, armor, arty, aviation) attends TBS where they learn to be an officer and are trained and qualified as a BASIC infantry officer. And yup, Marine Aviators pull an 11 month tour as a FAC with the ground pounders. Why 11 months? If you are out of the cockpit for 12months+ you must requal on your airframe. So yeah, there is a special bond between Marine Aviators and Ground Pounders. Frankly though, if I was a ground pounder I wouldn't care WHO was providing CAS so long as they covered my arse. Hats off to all aviators, ground pounders, cannon cockers, supply, etc.

PS in Dec of 99 I got some time in the Harrier sim at MCAS Yuma and a check ride in a TAV-8B. My buddy who was in NROTC at the time got his ride in an F/A-18. Since that experience with the Harrier I have leaned further from wanting to fly the Hornet and more towards the Harrier. Woo Hoo, only a few more months til I pin on my Marine butter bars :-)