U.S. Strikes Back
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U.S. jets focus on reconnaissance
By ANDREW ENGLAND
Associated Press Writer
12/19/01
ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT — U.S. fighter jets at the forefront of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan have reduced combat sorties and focused on reconnaissance following the fall of Tora Bora, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
F-14B Tomcats and F/A-18C Hornets flying from the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS John C. Stennis have not dropped any bombs in the past 48 hours, Rear Adm. Mark Fitzgerald said. They have also cut the number of combat sorties by half to around 20 per day, Fitzgerald added.
"There is still sporadic fighting, but the bombing we have been doing in the last week has pretty much stopped,'' Fitzgerald said. "For the last two days, we have been flying primarily reconnaissance missions over southern Afghanistan.''
Fighter jets flying off the Roosevelt have dropped 1.4 million pounds of ordnance on Afghanistan since the carrier arrived on Oct. 17 in the northern Arabian Sea, said Lt. John Oliveira, the ship's spokesman.
The Roosevelt's Tomcats and Hornets pounded Tora Bora — the last area of concentrated Taliban and al-Qaida resistance — with an intense one-week bombing campaign.
"Tora Bora is wicked. If you look at that mountain, it's just like a honeycombs of caves,'' Fitzgerald said.
The U.S. jets are now supported by French and Italian aircraft flying from their respective carriers, the Charles de Gaulle and the Garibaldi.
The first Italian jet flew three days ago while the de Gaulle launched its first fighter Wednesday, Fitzgerald said.
The American officer commands a task force of around 82 ships, including two U.S. battle groups, and vessels from Canada, Australia, France and Italy.
The U.S. bombing campaign was launched on Oct. 7 after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Tora Bora fell to anti-Taliban forces over the weekend.
U.S. carrier jets are still being loaded with precision-guided bombs before they take off. They will continue to fly for at least "several more weeks'' supporting humanitarian operations and attacking any remaining pockets of Taliban or al-Qaida resistance, Fitzgerald said.
But any further intense bombing campaigns are unlikely, he added.
Fitzgerald said the air campaign had achieved exactly what it was supposed to.
"We took down their (Taliban) strategic defense, then cut off their supply lines and their operation capability,'' Fitzgerald said. "Then we went and routed them out of the trenches, taking out their armor and troops and got them on the run. We have continued to foil their attempts to reconstitute.''
Asked if the carrier was likely to be moved to another combat zone as the war on terrorism moves on, he said, "We are out here ready to do whatever mission we have ... If we are tasked to do something else, we will.''
"If there is a war fighting requirement, then I think the carriers will stay at sea,'' Fitzgerald added.
Meanwhile, cheerleaders for the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars put on a show in the carrier's hangar deck, surrounded by aircraft and crew members. The show, which came almost a month after Miami Dolphins cheerleaders entertained the crew, is part of morale-boosting efforts for the sailors at sea.