Flying & fighting the F-4 Phantom II in the Iran-Iraq War
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Flying & fighting the F-4 Phantom II in the Iran-Iraq War: Interview with Iranian Air Force Brig. General (Rtd) Alireza Namaki [Sept 11 2020]
The volume and brutality of the Iran-Iraqi air war of the 1980s was astonishing. On the 40th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq War, we spoke to retired Brig. General Alireza Namaki who commanded an F-4 Fighter Wing, and survived numerous combat missions against Iraqi targets. Here he shares his insights on the the potency of the Phantom, the raw drama of ground attack sorties, frustration with bad leadership and the appalling horror of a one-man mission of revenge that will forever haunt him.
https://hushkit.net/2020/09/11/flying-f ... za-namaki/
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I wonder how many of the 4000 hrs Namaki had to spend in the backseat?
The best Iranian student I had in the T-37 at Del Rio in the 60s was a guy, Ali "Kamra" Soleimani (a fairly common name like Smith), who opted for F-4s over F-5s when he graduated from UPT. Gave me a nice little piece of Iranian artwork on ivory as thanks when he graduated with his original class (one of the few), not all Iranians graduated on time, lots of washbacks to later classes, generally due to language difficulties.
A good guy, we made a run over to the dirt streets of Villa (now Ciudad) Acuna one evening with a couple of female Del Rio locals, and he enjoyed Ma Crosby's with the appropriate beverages. On the way back across the bridge, the border folks asked the standard question,
"Are you all American citizens?"
Not thinking, I said yes, and Soleimani, a little tipsy, pipes up from the back seat of my brand new special order Chevelle, and says, "I not, I'm a Russian."
Border dude says, "Everyone out of the car, raise the hood, open the trunk." Visions of Chevelle being ripped apart. Couple of military IDs later and border guy says, "Get out of here, you clowns." It was a different world.
Anyway, my brother happened to frequent a quick stop in Santa Monica in the 90s run by an Iranian expat, who said he had been an Iranian AF fighter pilot prior to the purges. As a lark, I asked my brother to ask the quick stop proprietor if he knew Ali Soleimani.
He said he did, and Soleimani had been killed in an F-4 during the war. Evidently one of the 50% of F-4 losses.
The best Iranian student I had in the T-37 at Del Rio in the 60s was a guy, Ali "Kamra" Soleimani (a fairly common name like Smith), who opted for F-4s over F-5s when he graduated from UPT. Gave me a nice little piece of Iranian artwork on ivory as thanks when he graduated with his original class (one of the few), not all Iranians graduated on time, lots of washbacks to later classes, generally due to language difficulties.
A good guy, we made a run over to the dirt streets of Villa (now Ciudad) Acuna one evening with a couple of female Del Rio locals, and he enjoyed Ma Crosby's with the appropriate beverages. On the way back across the bridge, the border folks asked the standard question,
"Are you all American citizens?"
Not thinking, I said yes, and Soleimani, a little tipsy, pipes up from the back seat of my brand new special order Chevelle, and says, "I not, I'm a Russian."
Border dude says, "Everyone out of the car, raise the hood, open the trunk." Visions of Chevelle being ripped apart. Couple of military IDs later and border guy says, "Get out of here, you clowns." It was a different world.
Anyway, my brother happened to frequent a quick stop in Santa Monica in the 90s run by an Iranian expat, who said he had been an Iranian AF fighter pilot prior to the purges. As a lark, I asked my brother to ask the quick stop proprietor if he knew Ali Soleimani.
He said he did, and Soleimani had been killed in an F-4 during the war. Evidently one of the 50% of F-4 losses.
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Actually it was only a 350 with some really nice, pricy (for a 1/Lt) additions to replace a 67 fastback Mustang I had rolled one evening.
I got it 'cause one of my students had a really nice Roadrunner and kept beating me back to the base. Probably should have gotten a 396.
I parked the Chevelle at NAS Corpus Christi when a couple of us got a P-2V hop to get to San Juan and try to get a job with the PRANG in 104s. No job and the car went thru a hurricane....broken windows and considerable water damage.
Still had it 4 years later.
I got it 'cause one of my students had a really nice Roadrunner and kept beating me back to the base. Probably should have gotten a 396.
I parked the Chevelle at NAS Corpus Christi when a couple of us got a P-2V hop to get to San Juan and try to get a job with the PRANG in 104s. No job and the car went thru a hurricane....broken windows and considerable water damage.
Still had it 4 years later.
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