Original publisher: Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.: Air University Press, [2003] OCLC Number: (OCoLC)54859620 Subject: A-10 (Jet attack plane) Excerpt: ... Foreword In the spring of 1999, NATO engaged in a precedent-setting air campaign over Serbia and Kosovo known as Operation Allied Force ( OAF ). This event marked a milestone for air-power, as it was, arguably, the first time airpower alone was decisive in achieving victory in combat. By the end of the con-flict, in June 1999, America and its allies had mounted a mon-umental effort to achieve the immediate goals of halting ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and providing for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Ground forces, introduced following the end of the air campaign, have subsequently been employed to secure the peace. Several books have already been written about OAF, though not as many as might have been expected given the implica-tions for NATO and airpower that came out of that conflict. Those that have been written focus primarily on the strategic level, the events, diplomacy, and decisions by senior military and political leaders that led to the conflict and determined its conduct. This is not that kind of book. This is about the other end of the spectrum as told by those that flew and fought at the most basic level during the war - the A-10 pilots of the 40th Expeditionary Operations Group ( EOG ). I was privileged to command the 52d Air Expeditionary Wing during OAF. The 40th EOG was one of four such groups in my wing. Its members ' job was to find and destroy fielded Serb forces in Kosovo and to provide combat search and rescue for downed allied aircrews. This is their story. They take you into the cockpit where you learn how the strategic policy was ulti-mately put into action. After the war, one senior Air Force officer said, " About 80 percent of the airpower effort was magnificent, but the other 20 percent was pretty ugly. " Through the eyes of the 40th EOG, you'll see the good, the ...