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"Killer Chick" tells her story

You may remember this photo, which I posted here in April. It was triply interesting: for being a 75th Fighter Squadron "Flying Tiger" aircraft, for the amazing amount of damage it had sustained in its mission over Baghdad while still returning to base in Saudi Arabia, and for the fact that its pilot was a woman, identified at the time only by her KC call sign, which she explained stood for "Killer Chick." In fact, it stood for Kim Campbell, as the story below reveals. It is copyright by the Boston Globe and is reposted here for its educational value.

US Fighter Pilot Recounts Her Harrowing Flight Over Iraq

LAS VEGAS -- Three weeks into the fighting in Iraq, American ground troops were under intense enemy fire near downtown Baghdad when the call went out for air support.

One of the aircraft dispatched that dreary, gray morning was flown by Air Force Captain Kim Reed Campbell, a fighter pilot known by the call name "Killer Chick." Campbell, 28, is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs barely 100 pounds.

Within minutes, Campbell dropped her A-10 Warthog from the clouds and was staring into the firefight on April 7. On Campbell's final pass her jet took a crippling hit, most likely from a surface-to-air missile, which disabled the plane's controls and put the pilot to the test. She managed a dramatic, safe landing.

Hers is a little-known story of women in combat during the Iraq war, compared with the ambush of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company, which led to the capture of Private First Class Jessica Lynch and Specialist Shoshana Johnson, and the death of Private First Class Lori Piestewa. Of the Air Force's 5,454 combat pilots, about 2 percent, or 114, are women. Women have been allowed to become pilots since 1993.

Campbell, assigned to the 23rd Fighter Group from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, recounted her story last month in Las Vegas to members of the Civil Air Patrol, an official auxiliary of the Air Force that she joined when she was 13. Campbell said the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986 inspired her to get involved with Civil Air Patrol and later the military.

"They died doing something they truly believed in," Campbell said of Challenger crew members in an interview. "And I knew then that I wanted to do something that would make a difference in people's lives."

By age 16, Campbell made her first solo flight over the skies of San Jose, Calif., her hometown. She graduated from high school in 1993 and then from the Air Force Academy four years later.

Last year, Campbell flew 20 combat missions during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and came under enemy fire while patrolling Iraq's no-fly zones. At the start of the war, Campbell was flying at least two missions a day over Iraq.

Campbell pilots the A-10 Thunderbolt, a low-flying warplane that is used to support ground troops. That day in April over Baghdad she had completed her mission and was returning to base when her jet was jolted by enemy fire.

"I heard a loud explosion," Campbell said. "There was no doubt I had been hit, but I was surprised they actually got me. Part of you feels invincible up there."

Immediately warning lights flashed in the cockpit, and the plane rolled left and began to dive. Campbell was losing control. She did not realize her plane had been riddled with hundreds of holes.

The hit damaged one of the A-10's two engines and destroyed its hydraulic system, disabling the plane's stabilizer and flight controls.

Campbell said at the time she realized she had two choices: either try to land the damaged jet or eject over Baghdad. Parachuting out over hostile territory was not an attractive option, she said. So she put the jet into manual-control mode and got a response.

"It was a relief when it started climbing," Campbell said in remarks at the meeting of the Civil Air Patrol. She began her 100-mile flight back to base, a period she called "the longest hour of my life."

A crash recovery team, rescue helicopters, and her anxious squadron were waiting on the ground at an airstrip in southern Iraq as Campbell approached and guided in the A-10 almost perfectly. "It was one of the best landings of my life," she said.

It was not until she was safely on the ground and out of the jet receiving congratulatory hugs that she saw the extent of the damage.

"My first reaction was `wow,' " she said. "For the amount of damage this jet took, it's amazing it tracked home." The next morning, she was back in the air. "I had a job to do," Campbell said with a confident smile. "The war was still going on."