A-10 Thunderbolt II - Cheal

1990’s—OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM—1st Lt. William “Animal” Cheal, with the Air National Guard’s 172nd Fighter Squadron out of Battle Creek, Mich., goes through preflight checks on his A-10 Thunderbolt II at a desert air base in the Arabian Gulf Region as part of his alert standby tasking to provide close air support to advancing coalition ground troops. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Stefan Alford)