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hours
By Jared Williams . Special to the Rappahannock News
Mq. Jon Watson, a pilot with the 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, logged his 1,000th combat hour. The Sperryville, Va. native achieved this feat while flying troops and equipment into Iraq in a C-130E Hercules on March 22.
In December 2006, the 737th EAS began a program to honor pilots for completing their 100th combat mission. 100 combat missions is a milestone that has been recognized and lauded since the Vietnam War. This morning, Watson departed for his 175th combat mission. He has spent, in hours, roughly 42 days flying in combat zones. ; Watson flew his first combat missions in Bosnia in 1998. Since then he has flown all around the CENTAF Area, of Responsibility. Turkey, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and of course Iraq and Afghanistan are only a few of the {daces he has flown in his 16 years in the Air Force.
Watson has transported men, tires, trucks, K-loaders, 40 ft. tractor-trailers, distinguished visitors and remains of fallen servicemen.
“If you can fit it in a C-130, I’ve probably carried it,” Watson said.
The major spent a year in Iraq training the Iraqi air force. During this time he went on his most memorable mission. In 2006, Watson sat in the instructor’s seat of an Iraqi C-130E while an Iraqi student pilot flew the prune minister out of the country, for the first time since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, to visit another head of state.
“This was another occasion when I was doing one of those thingB I never thought I’d he doing,” Watson said.
“Mqjor Watson flew as my co-pilot in his early days,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Crimmins, 737th EAS Commander. “I’ve been able to watch him grow and learn and now teach. He’s our most experienced instructor, taking experience he’s gained and teaching much younger aircrews.*
Crimmins continued; “Experience is our greatest asset. No matter how much we train, there is no substitute for experience, and combat is the ultimate example of this.”
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