Capt. Patrick F. Rainey, a Southern Pines native, recently returned from a six-month tour on the USS Harry Truman.
He is deputy commander of Carrier Air Wing Three. Rainey and Air Wing Commander Capt. Mark Vance led the nearly 1,900 men who made up all squadrons in the air wing.
Command Air Wing Three was responsible for supporting Command Task Force 60, which carried out all ground strike missions in Iraq.
“We were one of two air wings that provided the only support for the Special Forces on the ground against 100,000 of Saddam’s troops,” Rainey said.
USS Harry S. Truman was located for most of the tour in the northeastern Mediterran-ean Sea. It was one of five aircraft carriers that provided support for the Special Forces on the ground in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Blocking Force
For Rainey and Air Wing Three, the goal of Shock and Awe (the Navy name for the raids that caused Baghdad to fall) was “to be a blocking force so the infantry could capture most of Baghdad,” he said.
Rainey’s target was the Tar Tar Palace outside Baghdad, which, from the air, represented a ground barricade west of the Saddam airport.
Rainey’s most memorable experience during this tour came on the night of Shock and Awe.
“At the height of Shock and Awe, there were more planes airborne than I had ever seen,” he said. “You see all these airplanes, see everything in flames around you. I’ll never forget it.”
There were 15 airplanes in his strike group for Shock and Awe. The strike group was an hour or two behind the one in front of him, and there was another strike package behind him. The strike groups rotated in waves over southern Iraq. As one came out, another went in.
Rainey and many of the men with him were surprised that Baghdad fell so quickly. They expected the war to last much longer than it did.
During most of the mission, CVW-3 was responsible for protecting the “greenline,” the Navy forces’ self-imposed line that protects the Ethnic Kurds in Northern Iraq.
The Kurds are an Iraqi ethnic minority whose members have suffered through two decades of genocide at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The Mosul oil fields, which Hussein falsely threatened to destroy if America attacked, are also in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq.
“I was really struck with the difference between the topography in northern Iraq and southern Iraq,” Rainey said. “I was prepared for the change from desert to green, but not for the beauty that was in the northern part of Iraq. There were lush, green fields as far as you could see.”
Respect for Special Forces
Throughout his tour, which began Dec. 20, Rainey developed a strong respect for the Special Forces soldiers on the ground. Rainey was most impressed with the Special Forces actions on the night of Shock and Awe.
The Marines were planning their entrance into Iraq for Shock and Awe from all sides of the country, intending to meet in and around Baghdad. The night before Shock and Awe, the government of Turkey would not let the U.S. forces use its airspace, so a large component of infantry could not get through to converge with the others on Baghdad.
Special Forces had to make up for the missing infantry. The actions and bravery of those soldiers left a lasting impression on Rainey.
Rainey and his wife, Kim, have a son, Jason, 22, and a daughter, Taylor, 16. They live in Virginia Beach, Va.
Rainey prepared for the worst when he reported for duty in December.
“We had a fairly strong suspicion when we left [that the war was going to start], because the U.N. inspectors were having a hard time,” he said.
Rainey was familiar with southern Iraq. He had been an operations officer on the USS Theodore Roosevelt during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Rainey graduated from Pinecrest High School and East Carolina University. He became a naval aviator in January 1983. He has completed more than 740 carrier landings and compiled more than 5,200 flight hours.
After his initial transition training in the A-7E Corsair, he served as the assistant operations officer, aircraft division officer and safety officer for the “Marauders” of VA-82 in January 1984 onboard USS Nimitz.
Pilot Of Year
Rainey was named the 1988 Pilot of the Year for Strike Fighter Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, after his time in transition training and as a flight instructor in the F/A-18 Hornet as the strike phase head and the quality asurance officer.
He was one of three Navy East Coast tactical flight demonstration pilots for the 1989 and 1990 air show seasons before he joined the VFA- 82 for a second tour in March 1990.
He was a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team in 1991 and 1992, working as the left wingman and slot pilot. He also served as a maintenance and operations officer for Strike Fighter Squadron 87 in February 1993 on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt, supporting U.N. operations in the Mediterranean and Red seas.
Rainey served as aide-de-camp and special assistant to the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from March 1995 to April 1997.
In August 1997, Rainey was the executive officer for the VFA-83 “Rampagers” on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. He became the 40th “Rampager” commanding officer in September 1998.
He was selected for the Federal Executive Fellowship program in August 2000 and graduated from the National Security Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in May 2001.
Rainey reported for duty one month before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 for Operation Enduring Freedom. He served as operations officer on the USS Theodore Roosevelt from August 2001 to May 2002.
He has received various unit and service awards. He has also been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (2), the Air Medal (First and Second Strike/Flight), the Navy Commendation Medal (2), and the Navy Achievement Medal (3).
Rainey’s late father, Bud, served as town manager of Southern Pines for 11 years until his death in 1973.
His brother, Michael, is a Marine fighter pilot.
