Iraq air strikes keep pilot busy at Christmas
RAAF Flight-Lt "Tik" will probably spend Christmas Day like he has spent most other days in recent months - prowling the skies over Iraq in search of Islamic State fighters.
Tik, who cannot reveal his name for security reasons, is one of a few Australian strike pilots taking part in the US-led coalition aimed at rolling back radical Sunni insurgents menacing Iraq.
Tik trained as a pilot at RAAF Base Pearce. He met his wife Nat at the Breakwater pub in Hillarys and they now have twin 18-month-old girls.
It is the second Christmas in a row Tik has not been at home with his family. Last year he was working in Afghanistan in a ground job.
"That means I haven't had a chance to spend Christmas with my twin girls yet," he said.
Together with his back-seat weapons systems officer "Hazy", Tik regularly flies nine-hour missions from a base in the United Arab Emirates over the deserts of central and western Iraq.
RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets have carried out many combat missions since beginning operations in October.
"Operating over Iraq can be busy and it's quite a dynamic environment," Tik said. "The situation on the ground is equally dynamic, so we take a lot of care to properly identify (IS) targets."
It takes about two hours for the jets to get to and from Iraq.
The Australians orbit over assigned areas waiting for directions to hit a target.
Originally posted here:
Iraq air strikes keep pilot busy at Christmas