U.S. warplanes scale back

By Susan Sevareid
The Associated Press

NICK DE LA CRUZ / U.S. NAVY Petty Officer Third Class Alisha Olen, center, of Eugene, Ore., and Airman Matthew Koch, right, of Tobaccoville, N.C., load a bomb onto an F/A-18 Hornet on the USS John F. Kennedy yesterday.

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ABOARD THE USS JOHN F. KENNEDY — U.S. warplanes launched over Iraq from this aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf are scaling back their missions over Fallujah while keeping watch on cities where insurgents may flee.

The Iraq war, to a far greater extent than the war in Afghanistan, has relied on U.S. Army soldiers and Marines on the ground, but air power has provided steady backup — swooping in to clear the way, aiding U.S. troops in Fallujah and jamming airwaves in an attempt to cut off communications between guerrillas.

The U.S. military declared Fallujah occupied but not subdued Saturday after a nearly weeklong battle aimed at disrupting insurgent operations in the city west of Baghdad.

Warplanes taking off from the Kennedy increasingly are focusing on the next phase of the operation — protecting engineers and supplies being moved into Fallujah to restore power, water and other services. Officials hope that will pave the way to another goal: establishing an Iraqi government presence in Fallujah ahead of January elections.

After averaging 38 missions a day over Iraq in the height of the Fallujah assault, the number dropped to 24 Tuesday and was expected to continue at that level for a few days.

"The operation is starting to wind down," said Rear Adm. Barry McCullough, commander of the Kennedy carrier group. "Now, that doesn't mean there aren't pockets of insurgents and terrorists in Fallujah."

In the past week or so, insurgents have become more active in Ramadi, a city near Fallujah, and in the northern city of Mosul.

"As Fallujah winds down and some of these other areas heat up, I expect some of these other flights will be diverted," Kennedy Capt. Dennis FitzPatrick said yesterday.

Capt. Mark Guadagnini, commander of the air wing aboard the Kennedy, said the military hopes to prevent insurgents from scattering because they are easier to target in an area pilots know from repeated missions.
 
"We still put the aircraft up anywhere in Iraq," McCullough said.

The overall air power used in Fallujah goes well beyond the Kennedy, the sole carrier now operating in the area. Also in the skies over the city have been Marine F-18s and AV-8 Harriers, Marine Super Cobra attack helicopters, Army Apache and Kiowa helicopters and a slew of unmanned spy planes, including Predators armed with Hellfire missiles.

Crews of EA-6B Prowlers, cramped for up to eight hours at a stretch in front of Vietnam-era control panels, jam enemy radar and communications signals.

"It's understood that just bombs on target in many areas is not enough. ... You need this," said Cmdr. Randy Pierson, of Oak Harbor, Wash., nodding to his Prowler as a green-shirted maintenance team gave it a once-over.

With the Fallujah campaign winding down, the Kennedy soon will be on its way home to Mayport, Fla. The departure date is not released for security reasons, but the ship's replacement, the USS Harry S. Truman, is expected to take over soon.