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380AEW Article

99th ERS Dragon Lady pilot accomplishes combat sortie milestone

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Julie Briden
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  A 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron pilot completed his 100th combat sortie in the U-2S "Dragon Lady" April 7 in support of overseas contingency Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in the U.S. Central Command's Area of Responsibility. Upon his landing the U.S. Air Force major is among only a handful of U-2S pilots to fly 100 combat sorties in the AOR.

OIF and OEF flying missions are typically scheduled for 9.5 to 10 hours. Though U-2S pilots rack up hours quickly, the sortie numbers are generally lower overall. Some pilots have more than 10 years in the program; some with more than 2,500 hours in the U-2S. However, it took this pilot only 2 1/2 years in six deployments to hit the triple-digit marker.

"The 100 combat sorties is still kind of a new thing since we've started to support OIF and OEF within the last five years. It's a milestone for me," the pilot said.

In 2007, the pilot began flying the Dragon Lady out of Beale Air Force Base, Calif., after flying the B-52 airframe for six years. The next year he began flying 10-hour sorties out of Southwest Asia for the 99th ERS.

"I wanted to try something different," the major said. "I was in the buff for almost six years. Cross-training out of the bomber is difficult; there are only a few different opportunities from there. I liked it, but wanted to try something different. A friend of mine was interested in the U-2; he told me about it--how challenging it was to fly and how different it was from the bomber. That's what attracted me to go do something so very different. I've had a lot of fun!"

The Dragon Lady normally flies at an altitude above 70,000 feet. At these altitudes, the U-2S pilot must don a full pressure suit similar to ones worn by NASA astronauts. This causes major wear and tear on deployed pilots.

"Wearing the pressure suit, sitting in it for 10 hours a days and breathing 100 percent oxygen, it wears on you with general fatigue," explained the Dragon Lady pilot. "We fly at a very high altitude and our bodies are subjected to the change in pressure and we're at that very low pressure for 9-10 hours. The weight of wearing the suit--the back and neck pain--it wears on you after a while."

The Air Force U-2S provides high-altitude, all-weather surveillance and reconnaissance, day or night, in direct support of U.S. and allied forces. It delivers critical imagery and signals intelligence to decision makers throughout all phases of conflict, including peacetime indications and warnings, low-intensity conflict, and large-scale hostilities.

The Air Force has less than 100 qualified U-2S pilots and less than half that deploy and fly the Dragon Lady. A second U-2S pilot normally follows the landing aircraft in a high-performance chase car, helping the pilot land safely through radio transmissions for altitude and runway position. This, combined with the fact that the aircraft does not possess a power-assisted control system to combat the higher air density when flying at lower altitudes, has earned the Dragon Lady the widely-accepted title as the most difficult aircraft to fly in the world.

"The U-2 is an extremely difficult aircraft to fly with the bicycle landing gear--there's really nothing like it. The other major difference for me is the single seat--going from a full crew to a single seat aircraft is a different mindset," the major said.

All the U-2S's are stationed at the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale AFB, Calif., but rotate to four operational detachments worldwide. The squadron has one of the highest temporary duty rates in the Air Force, second only to the aircrews supporting the E-3 Sentry. The U-2A, the first airframe configuration, was flown by the Central Intelligence Agency in the mid-1950s to gather information on Soviet capabilities and intentions. The current U-2S fleet is comprised of more than 30 single-seat aircraft throughout the active duty Air Force with five two-seats used for training.