If there was one thing that could be said about the accuracy of Master Sergeant Collins' statement, well it was that he was not one to lie. He never pulled any punches when he told her what to expect when she finally did arrive at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. She took a flight from JFK directly into Montgomery airport in Alabama all courtesy of the government. There she was met with a bus that transported her from the airport to Maxwell Air Force Base. Once she arrived, she was the only arrival expected from New York. She was indoctrinated and assigned to a group. Then marched out to the gridiron and left standing in assigned spots until the rest of their class arrived on the base. That happened to be 2:30 in the morning. By the time they finally were able to get to sleep it was closer to four am.

No one knows what it's like to function on less than an hour's worth of sleep. It seems that the personnel who were assigned to their class for training purposes decided to have a little fun with them after they had finally been able to get to sleep around 0450 in the morning. It was a rite of passage or hazing if you will. They had taken garbage can lids and batons and started slamming them against each other at 0500! Hearing the noise at first Kate who was on the top bunk bolted awake and automatically turned to roll out of her bunk in order to see what was going on. Mistake number one. She had fallen four feet from the top bunk to the floor and it was painful. Not only did the enlisted man who was banging the baton against his lid start laughing at what had happened to her but she seriously thinks she hurt her ankle in the fall. By the time she was able to stand up and take her position alongside her rack, she could see that no one else had gotten as far as she did even with being injured. She didn't have any military training thus far but she knew that staying on the floor was a No-No no matter what her injuries were.

She started her day by falling out of her bunk. Now she finds herself in the infirmary waiting to see if she has a broken ankle. The Senior Airman, the one who'd started to laugh at Kate's fall, was reprimanded and had the job of taking her to sickbay. He was not to leave her side until she was checked out and returned back to her quarters.

"Staff Sergeant Beckett, the X-Rays show that it seems you have just twisted your ankle. I will wrap it with a soft cast and you'll need to stay off it for two days. On the second day come back and I will look at it again. But I think that you should be fine in a couple of days. Maybe a little tenderness will be the worst you have to deal with." The doctor told her.

She had to remember what she was told when she actually signed the enlistment papers. During the duration of her training which would be for the next twelve and a half weeks, she was actually an E-5 with pay and benefits to match. A staff sergeant to be exact until she graduated and then she became a Captain due to her job description.

She hobbles out of the infirmary and the airman who was assigned to her was very contrite. He held the door for her because she was now using a pair of crutches. He also went as far as to open the door to the truck that he brought her to the infirmary in. Once she was in and her crutches were stowed in the backseat he softly closed the front door. The ride back to her room was uneventful. During the ride, she saw some of the base that she didn't see earlier in the day when she was brought here at zero dark thirty. It was a very busy base and there was a lot going on. By the time she returns back to her barracks, she has nothing to do but sit around due to the fact that her ankle is in a soft cast.

The Airmen who returned her back to her barracks asked if she needed anything before he left. She told him that no she didn't need anything and that he had done everything possible to make her comfortable and now it was okay if he left. There was nothing for her to do except to hobble down to the TV room and watch some mindless talk show.

By the time the first show was over, she was already bored. Luckily before she was stuck in the barracks she had been given some study information by one of the instructors that would give her a head start on OCS school. She studied mostly the history of the Air Force back when it was first formed in the late forties. From there she read all about duty and honor and what the Air Force represented.

Two days later she found herself back in the infirmary seeing the doctor she had seen two days earlier. He informed her that she no longer needed the crutches to get around on but not to do anything strenuous to cause further injury to her ankle. She was given a 10-day restriction from physical training but she was allowed to join her class which was going to start tomorrow morning.

The alarm went off before she knew it. She stuck out her arm to hit the snooze button one more time because she knew that if she didn't she would have to get up and face her day. She had been assigned to a room of her own and she was on the fence about that. Her class ended up being about twenty-five people in total. But she realized that since her ankle had been injured on the first day there, they were assigned groups of four people. Each group is given an assigned room together; she was the only one who was alone. In a way, she misses being with a group but likes the room she has all to herself.

Rick and other pilots were being briefed on the next mission they were to fly early in the morning. There was a possible threat of an attack by Al Qaeda and that was going to be a priority for the pilots of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing. They were all listening intently when outside they heard the sounds of exploding ordnance falling not far from their base. Each man got up from his seat and headed for the door. What they were doing was absolutely insane. It seems that the Iraqis were bombarding the airstrip they were to take off on. It also seems that they don't have the accuracy they need to score direct hits. They're watching as the shells being lobbed in hit far short of their actual target. The commander of the unit instructed each pilot to get to their A-10's and take out the batteries that were raining hell upon them. When they were finished with that they were to carry out the mission that they were being prepared for when this all started.

Rick was the third plane in the air that day. He had taken a route north of the base and came up empty. Then he heard one of the other pilots over the radio transmitting that he had found something. The next thing Rick heard was the sound of a GAU-8 being fired when the pilot keys his mic.

"Foxhound how do you copy over?" Rick asks.

"This is Foxhound go with your message."

"Foxhound this is Coyote have you found the main battery?"

"Affirmative Coyote and I could use some help if you can get your ass up here because there is more than one."

"Rodger that enroute. ETA two minutes."

"Copy. Foxhound out."

If there was ever a time to push a plane to its limit this was it. Rick pushed the throttle to full power. By the time he arrived at Foxhounds location, he could see that he was taking on anti-aircraft fire. But the A-10 is a very solid machine and it could take the hit of 50 caliber rounds and still fly without affecting any of the operational control. Knowing that he can use some help. Rick flies over one of the six gun batteries.

As he surveyed the situation below him he had two options. He could use his GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb or a Hydra 70 M427 point detonating bomb.

He decides on using the Hydra. He lines up the target and he stays steady for the next three seconds until he pulls the release for the bomb. Once he does he veers to the right and watches through the cockpit window as the bomb hits its target. The gun emplacement that he was aiming at falls and is now silent. Foxhound who had watched the whole run comes in right behind Rick to hit the second gun emplacement with the same type of armament. He strikes a hit on the third gun emplacement leaving only four left.

"Coyote this is Payback how do you read over?"

"Payback read you loud and clear."

"Do you have enough room for me to join in your party?"

"We sure do. Fall in on my 9 o'clock and Foxhound will guide you in to take out one of the four remaining gun batteries that are left."

"Rodger that."

Payback falls in between Rick and Coyote. No sooner than ten seconds after they did, they start their bombing run.

Rick instructs both pilots to use the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb. By the time they hit the remaining gun emplacements, there is no need for them to return for the last one because as Rick dropped his bombs he can see that the soldiers that were firing on their base are now running for their lives.

Now that the bombardment has ceased Coyote, Foxhound, and Payback set a course for the al-Qaeda threat. They're in the air for less than forty-five minutes by the time they get to their target. As they fly in formation Rick sees an Iraqi Air Force BO-105 helicopter coming straight at him.

"Payback, Foxhound, this guy is nuts if he thinks he can take me out. Foxhound bank left and Payback bank right and I will use my cannon on him and take him out."

Rick gets his finger ready on the trigger and when he's less than three hundred feet away he lets seventy-five rounds loose which strikes the helicopter but it doesn't go down. He then banks to the left circles around and comes in from the other side and fires 300 rounds all of which hit their target. The ensuing explosion is instantaneous. The fuel tank ruptured and exploded sending pieces of the helicopter to the ground. Rick wouldn't know it now but this was the first air-to-air combat kill of the war.

As the three A-10's come back South and they see a convoy of tanks moving North. After a close flyby, they find out that they are part of the Iraqi Army unit trying to escape. All three planes circle back and come at the tanks head-on. They exhausted the remaining armament they had left on their aircraft and take out around one thousand of the sixteen hundred retreating tanks, armored troop transports, and support vehicles.

The damage to the departing convoy was later to be nicknamed "Highway of Death" due to the fact that all of those vehicles and some military personnel were destroyed and killed. But most of the soldiers who had seen the A-10's turn around knew what was going to happen next. Self-preservation took over and they left the trucks, tanks, and support vehicles right where they were and ran away.

When Rick and his crew touched down at Bagram Air Force Base they were immediately escorted back to headquarters. Once they were there they were told to stand at attention for the longest time but in the end, it was well worth it.

Lieutenant Colonel Adams entered his office eyeing the three Captains standing alongside his office at attention.

"Gentleman once I'm settled in, I request each of you to come in and give her a report about what took place this afternoon. It'll be brief and to the point. Understood?"

Instead of answering all three men just nodded their heads.

The second Rick nodded his head he was sweating bullets knowing that maybe what they had done was against orders and not within the Air Force's rules or regulations. Until he was standing in front of the Lieutenant Colonel he would stand by his decision to take the action that he and his crew took.

"Captain Harvey do come in." The Lieutenant Colonel bellowed.

Harvey who's call sign was Payback entered the office and stood at attention until he was told to stand at ease.

Rick could not tell what was going on in the office but he knew that it wasn't good. He watched as Harvey's face went from serious to down outright shocked. Yeah, this was not good.

By the time the Lieutenant Colonel had finished with Captain Jackson (Foxhound) he was watching as he walked past him not looking too happy.

"Captain Rogers in my office now!"

Being as professional as he could be Rick enters the office and stand at attention in front of the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Captain, do you know why you're here?"

"I'm not sure sir. I think that it might have something to do with the Al Qaeda mission."

"Well, you're right in that sense. But there's a little more to it. It appears that the helicopter that you've shot down was the first air-to-air destruction of the opposing force's aircraft. The course of action you took today will most likely go down in history books. Some of our ground forces who were close to the convoy described it as the Highway of Death. Since this is only the first day of the war and you have done exemplary work of fighting off the enemy, take the next 48 hours to yourself. Payback and Foxhound are entitled to the same time off as you.

"Thank you, sir. If it is any consolation I would do the same thing all over again."

"Understood."

Rick turns to leave the office and as he does the Lieutenant Colonel calls his name one more time.

"Rick…"

Rick turns and looks at the Lieutenant Colonel.

"I don't know if you know it or not but you're lucky to be here. Your A-10 took heavy damage to the fuselage right under where you sit. The crew that repairs your plane told me that it was 20mm rounds that hit you. It's nothing that they can't repair and by the time you are ready to go at it again your plane should be ready to go too."

"Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed Captain."

He never felt anything hit his plane. It must have been the adrenaline flowing that he missed seeing the ground fire hit his plane. He makes a note to be more observant next time.

A/N: The air-to-air destruction on the Iraqi helicopter really happened. The credit goes to Captain Robert Swain. And as was noted above his kill made it into the history books.