Maj. David Kurle, USAF, American Forces Press Service, BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan: Six U.S. and coalition troops peer out from a remote position on a ridge top in Afghanistan. At sunset on the third day of their vigil, a large force of Taliban extremists carrying heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades surround and pin down the team.
By design, an Air Force joint tactical air controller is with the team. His job is to direct strike aircraft to targets on the ground. The situation on the ridgeline is desperate until an Air Force pilot flying an A-10 Thunderbolt II in the vicinity contacts him.
Helping the A-10 pilot find and target his attackers on the ground, the air controller stays in radio contact, except when forced to pick up his weapon and fire at the enemy closing in.
The A-10 and its pilot hammer at the enemy with bombs and the plane
