(23 Mar 2003)

USS Constellation - 23 March
1. Various warplane take off for dawn sorties
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Commander Kevin Greene, of VFA-151 squadron:
"Now obviously the gloves are off. There's a lot more tension in that regard, knowing that they are going to be shooting at you instead of potential."

USS Constellation - 23 March
3. Flight date controller on flight deck at night
4. F-18 taking off
5. F-18 taxiing on the flight deck
6. Prowler aircraft taking off
7. E2 aircraft taking off
8. Viking aircraft parked on the flight deck
9. Another F-18 taking off

USS Constellation - 23 March
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lieutenant Colonel Gary Thomas of VMFA-323 squadron:
"Well I think the differences between last night and tonight; some of it is dependent on the wind and the time you actually go into the target area and also how close you are to Baghdad. Baghdad is much more heavily defended by looking at the ground fire coming up, we can see that, both last night and tonight."

Fairford - 22 March 2003
11. Wide shot B-52s parked
12. Various B-52 taking off

USS Milius - Gulf
13. Wide shot of cruise missile being fired
14. Close-up of US flag
15. Wide shot of cruise missile being fired

STORYLINE

US pilots returning from sorties over Iraq on Sunday encountered substantial enemy anti-aircraft fire.

Two pilots based on the aircraft carrier the USS Constellation told of their experiences in the skies above Iraq.

Commander Kevin Greene, a Californian, said the "gloves were off" and his colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Gary Thomas, from Texas, said Baghdad was "heavily defended".

As dawn broke on the Gulf, the USS Constellation sent its warplanes back into action.

The air war against Iraq saw one thousand missions from aircraft carriers and air bases in the region and 500 cruise missiles and several hundred precision-guided bombs fired through out Saturday.

The scale of the air attacks was revealed by US Major General Stanley McChrystal, the vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Pentagon briefing on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, heavy B-52 long range bombers continued to fly from England to strike against target in Iraq.

The bombardment continued with the radar-dodging Tomahawks cruise missiles which were fired from ships in the Gulf, such as the destroyer the USS Milius, as well as from warplanes.

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