As I remember the day when we got news that the President would be calling to speak to my boss, our commander, Lt Col Dave "Face" Nichols on 1 Apr 99, it was a very exciting time for all of us. There were about 50 people gathered in the mission planning room to witness this momentous occasion. An AFN news reporter and photographer were present to record the event. The phone call finally came about 1940 hrs. It was very brief as my boss was getting ready to go on yet another combat mission. The President just called to say "thanks" for the superb job we were doing and to let us know that we have his and the nation’s support. I remember after my boss got of the phone with the President, all he said was "OK, I’m ready to retire now" with a big smile on his face.

Well, I finally managed to get the attention of one pilot who was willing to give me a quick story:

"I only have one thing interesting that I can say I saw was the B-1 Bomber coming through the air. It was the B-1’s first day joining the Kosovo war, 2 Apr 99, 0030hrs. I knew what his time on target was and we were dropping bombs through the weather. I can remember from previous strikes when we were dropping bombs through the weather that the clouds would illuminate as the bombs exploded beneath them. We were egressing off target, I looked to the north in the vicinity of the B-1’s target just in time to catch a glimpse of illuminating clouds. The glow was so intense I honestly think I heard the bombs exploding from my cockpit. I just couldn’t believe it….It just amazed me at the destruction and firepower that it brought to the war. That was the most impressive thing that I’ve seen…..No doubt about it!"

As we were talking, I could see the attitude of the pilot, which was absolutely phenomenal. As the story of the B-1 Bomber began to re-develop in his mind, he gets excited and thrilled about the power it holds, and the damage that it can bring. He even jokingly laughed and said that the B-1 Bomber brought "death and destruction, knashing and thrashing of teeth and hair"! It was good to see him laugh and to be in such good spirits about the war. These pilots genuinely love what they do, and they have to because if they didn’t, we’d be in big trouble!