Kaua'i pilot leads strike group

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

When news was broadcast that an F/A-18 Hornet was lost last week during a bombing run over Iraq — the first U.S. airplane shot down in the war — the phone started to ring in the Nekomoto household.

Navy Lt. Tyler Nekomoto of Kaua'i, an F/A-18 pilot aboard the carrier USS Constellation, led a strike group on the first day of the "shock and awe" air campaign into Baghdad. Photo courtesy of the Nekomoto family

Nekomoto's older sister, who lives in San Antonio, immediately called home to Kaua'i.

"She is very, very up to speed on what's going on because she's worried about her brother," said Dave Nekomoto, the pilot's father.

"When I first turned on the TV, I saw that an F-18 went down," said the elder Nekomoto, who was in San Diego on business.

"I watched and watched and watched, and found out it was somebody off the (carrier) Kitty Hawk. We were kind of relieved, but it's still somebody else's son out there."

Dave Nekomoto flew UH-1 Hueys in a Navy attack gunship squadron in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam in 1969 and 1970, and he knows the risks.

"These things are going to happen, you are going to lose aircraft, and you are going to lose pilots, and all we can hope is that it's not our son," said Dave Nekomoto. "But again, it (the recent downing) is somebody else's son. Even though you may not know him, you really feel for him, because it's a small community."

The U.S. military launched a search-and-rescue mission, and the cause was under investigation. There was no word on the pilot's fate. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, speaking at a press conference in Qatar, said there had been surface-to-air missile fire in the area, but reports also surfaced that a U.S. Patriot missile may have downed the plane.

Tyler Nekomoto, 28, flew in the first day of the "shock and awe" air campaign, leading a strike group that went into Baghdad. Among the Hornet's armament were HARM missiles that take out enemy fire control radar.

About 160 miles south of Baghdad, Nekomoto began seeing "triple-A," or anti-aircraft fire "here and there." Then the sky lit up.

Lt. Tyler Nekomoto accelerates off the USS Constellation as his F-18 is launched by a steam-driven catapult. Photo courtesy of the Nekomoto family

"There was this cloud layer, and just below you could see these flashes — boom, boom, boom — things going off all over the place," he said. "The clouds were all lit up. I've never seen anything like that."

Nekomoto said his heart was racing. "I don't think I'll ever forget that mission, that day," he said. "I think it was one of the most intense days of my life."

The pilot said it takes "a while" to get to Baghdad. "We effectively fly around 800 miles to get to where we need to be," he said by e-mail from the "Connie." "We have to be refueled quite a bit to ensure we have tactical gas and tactical airspeeds available to us."

A typical mission consists of many "evolutions" combined into one long mission. As a single-seat pilot, Nekomoto said he has to compartmentalize, and make sure each part of the mission goes safely.

"The takeoff and landing can kill you as quickly as a SAM (surface-to-air missile) or a stray bullet can," he said. The tanking or midair refueling requires precise corrections and steady nerves, while the weapons delivery portion requires split-second decisions.

"There's never a dull moment in a sortie over Iraq," said Nekomoto, who went through the University of Colorado on a Navy ROTC scholarship and graduated first in his class from flight school.

Nekomoto said he sees a lot of sand from the air, and a lot of antiaircraft fire and SAMs in target areas. The triple-A has been steady.

"I wouldn't say the tempo or frequency has moved either way much," he said. "I assure you, though, they're still shooting. I see it every night."

In 2001, on his first deployment on the Constellation, Nekomoto flew missions in Iraq to enforce no-fly zones. The experience helped familiarize him with the terrain and threat, but the missions now are completely different.

"We need to be more vigilant now, and ensure that we know where all the coalition forces are at all times," he said.

Nekomoto said that he still hasn't gotten used to flying in combat. "I always get jitters right before I go on a mission," he said. "The butterflies never really go away, until I'm safely on board."

He calls the forces on the ground "the real heroes." "They sleep in the mud, eating MREs (meals ready to eat) with no showers and people constantly shooting at them," Nekomoto said. "I'm just an asset for them to use to win the war."

Advertiser news services contributed to this report. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.