Page 4 - Edwards AFB Desert Wings 1-15-16

4 Desert Wings January 15, 2016
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RAPTOR, from 1

he woXOd need to tr\ to ¿nd the )rench 5esistance to heOS Once he was stable enough to be transported, his squadron 2011. Then-Lt. Col. Pete Fesler, 27th FS commander, rein-

him get back across the line. This became immensely chal- commander sent 3s to escort his & Àight home. stated the tradition and a mock-up of the nose art used in the
lenging when he stepped on a landmine leaving him with 0aOone\¶s 3 was the rd in the Àeet. 7o honor him
massive injures. then-Col. R.S. Richard, commander of the 1st Pursuit Group, World War II-era P-38 Lightning was applied to F-22 Raptor
ordered from that point forward any 27th FS aircraft bearing number 09-0174.
³+e treats his woXnds as mXch as he can with his ¿rst aid the number 23 would be known as Maloney’s Pony. Accord-
kit. He can’t use his legs so he starts to crab walk up the ing to 6chmitt as the s\stem for nXmbering the Àeet has Following the legacy of the original Maloney’s Pony, F-22
beach to tr\ to ¿nd somebod\´ said 6chmitt. ³+e knows changed, the insignia has been worn by others, such as the nXmber was the Àight Oead for the ¿rst groXS of 5aStors
he’s going to die if he just stays on the beach. He crawls director of operations’ aircraft. crossing the border into Syria in 2014.
for over a week, basically dragging himself on his back.”
“When the squadron became a Raptor squadron, they did “Maloney’s Pony was the first Raptor over the line in
For 10 days he lay helpless, crawling a little, eating a away with [Maloney’s Pony] because it’s a stealth aircraft, 6\ria the ¿rst 5aStor to eYer go into combat´ said 6chmitt.
little, drinking from his canteen until the water was gone. they didn’t want anything on the side of it so that tradition
Finally a French farmer found him. stopped,” Schmitt said. “I’m a big supporter of keeping those traditions alive.
There’s a lot of great history that sometimes gets lost in the
After days of uncertainty, listening to languages he did wash ... those types of oral traditions get lost if you don’t

not understand, he was greeted by an American doctor who The tradition of Maloney’s Pony proved to be as resilient talk about them. We owe it to those guys who laid the path

reassured him that he would make it home safely. as the man himseOf ¿nding its wa\ back to the sTXadron in before us to make sure we’re remembering what they did.”

Portion of Popson to close for road work

West Popson Avenue will be closed to
tUDI¿c between 6piUo Avenue Dnd AiU-
man’s Drive Jan. 20 and. 21. This will al-
low trenching to be done to install a new
communications conduit in support of the
renovation of Dormitory 2423. East-bound
and west-bound traf¿c will be able to use
Methusa Road or Rosamond Boulevard

as alternate routes.
For more information, call 661-275-3509.

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