CINC Warhawk “Papa” Murphy’s 2016 Year-in-Review Report
To the Great Warhawk Nation:
It has been my pleasure to serve as the Commander of the 480th Fighter Squadron since January of 2016. Leading this amazing unit with its proud heritage has been the highlight of my career so far. It’s been awhile since an update, so I took some time to document what the squadron has accomplished over the last couple of years.
The squadron I took over from “Ajax” Berkland was a combat-ready, potent fighting force. The previous two years under his command had brought the squadron to an incredible level of tactical proficiency. The Warhawks were ready to go when our Nation called upon them, and in fact the Nation already had. We were tasked to deploy in April to an undisclosed location in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. For the first half of my command, that was the sole focus of the unit.
We completed our deployment spin-up in Souda Bay, Greece with 17 jets and over 300 ops and maintenance personnel. The Warhawks flew 37 sorties, 501 flying hours and dropped 162 bombs while expending nearly 15,000 rounds of 20mm. We were able to train with many of the same JTACs that would deploy in the same time period – all in all, it was a very successful spin-up in a beautiful location on the island of Crete.
Less than two months later, the 480th deployed to CENTCOM. The squadron took 12 F-16s and nearly 300 personnel to participate in the operation designed to destroy ISIS and its control over large swaths of Iraq and Syria. The combined team we had out there (ops, maintenance, and associated support) was the tightest, most motivated group I’ve ever been in. Everyone knew why we were there, how important the mission was, and what we needed to do. The drive to launch sorties, target ISIS, recover aircraft, and turn them was incredible. The squadron was a well-oiled machine by the end, incredibly lethal, and the results showed.
The Warhawks were a huge factor in wresting back 10,000 square kilometers from the enemy while simultaneously liberating five cities including strategically important ones like Fallujah, Hit and Manbij. In the process, the Warhawks also broke an Air Force record. The 1,976 bombs dropped was the highest total delivered by an F-16 unit on a six-month deployment. It was absolutely a team accomplishment – our maintainers worked extra hours and supported countless sortie extensions so we could finish engagements. Through it all, our maintainers generated aircraft to cover every ATO line the squadron was fragged with – the Warhawks did not miss a single ATO sortie in six months! Our generation capability was so reliable that the CAOC routinely turned to the Warhawks to cover for units that couldn’t support their assigned vuls or were going to be significantly late. It was quite an achievement for us all and something the squadron is very proud of, specifically in light of the Warhawks’ proud tradition.
After the deployment, the squadron returned to Spangdahlem and jumped right into a four month reconstitution program. We welcomed multiple new pilots and personnel into the unit and built a plan to rebuild our tactical and operational proficiency as Europe’s only Wild Weasel squadron. The Warhawks once again rose to the challenge. We flew a total of nearly 1,400 sorties and 1,800 hours, mission planned several different scenarios totaling 1,548 hours and each pilot received over 25 hours of academics and threat/intel updates. The Warhawks capped it off with a verification and a surge that truly expanded the limits of unit-level training beyond anything I’ve ever heard of or seen in my career. We were back to our bread and butter Wild Weasel mission and once again ready for our Nation’s call.
As I wrap up my command this summer, the future is bright for the Warhawks. Lt Col Mike “Bait” Richard is taking the helm and will lead the squadron to new heights. His experience and background is perfectly suited to commanding the Warhawks – graduate of Weapons School, plenty of combat hours, significant time on the USAFE staff, and a recognized leader throughout his career.
For all members of the Great Warhawk Nation, please know that the Warhawks are in great hands.
First In…Last Out! MAGNUM!
Lt Col Barry “Papa” Murphy, 480 FS/CC
