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Keep’em Flying!
Arkansas NRCS Assistant State Conservationist for Operations Anderson
Neal Jr. during his recent service in Iraq as a Lieutenant Colonel with
the U.S. Air Force's 188th Fighter Wing |
Arkansas NRCS Assistant State Conservationist for Operations Anderson Neal Jr.
also keeps F-16’s flying in Iraq during extreme heat, dust storms, and daily
mortar attacks.
Lieutenant Colonel Neal’s role as a maintenance officer with the 188th
Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is far
afield from his day-to-day duties with NRCS. “It was good to finally put all our training to use in a war-time operation,” said Neal.
Colonel Neal always
had his flack vest and body armor ready in case of mortar or other small arms
attacks. “The closest a mortar hit was within 50 yards of a building I was in.
That helps bring the seriousness of war and the importance of our job into
reality,” he said.
Neal, who began his Air National Guard career 21 years ago as an aircraft
mechanic, was responsible for 160 airmen who performed daily maintenance on more
than 12 aircraft in his unit stationed at Balad Air Base, 54 miles northwest of
Baghdad. “It was a high-tempo atmosphere with around-the-clock operations and
briefings twice daily with the commanding general on aircraft status and
maintenance issues."
The deployment wasn’t his first to the Middle East. After Desert Storm, Anderson
deployed to Saudi Arabia to maintain aircraft protecting the no-fly zone over
Iraq.
Shortly after the September 11 attacks, he spent a year maintaining aircraft
that patrolled the skies over U.S. cities. “We provided coverage for President
Bush when he visited his ranch in Texas,” Neal said. “And while in Atlanta, our
unit was ordered to fly over the Washington D.C. area because inclement weather
prevented units there from taking off.”
More recently, Neal traveled with his unit to Port Sulphur, Louisiana, near New
Orleans to provide post-Katrina security and clean-up assistance at schools and
public buildings.
Your contact is Creston Shrum, NRCS public affairs
specialist, at 501-301-3168.
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