I was called in for a debriefing later that afternoon. Intelligence officers prodded me for quite some time over the details of the engagement, particularly the ones involving the A-10 in the moments before we returned to base.
Shortly before the hostile group bugged out, a Flanker came in from the side and managed to get a few rounds on the A-10 in a snap shot. The bandit was taken down almost immediately, and I didn't think much of it at the time because Haythem wasn't showing any signs of injury and I figured the bathtub was able to stop the bullet in its tracks. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
After receiving word from the hospital about his condition, command began hinging on whether or not Haythem should remain in the 86th. If you include the fact that he directly disobeyed orders not to go out on sortie as well as purposely neglected guidelines for engagement, Haythem could easily face some of the worst the military has to offer. We seriously might lose one of the only dedicated close air support pilots in the squadron.
I left the debriefing area overcome with mixed feelings. The terminal was eerily quiet as I walked back to the barracks.
