Military

Meet the Iraqi flying a U.S. plane in the battle against ISIS

With his immaculate flight suit and perfect American accent, Major “Face” Hama looks every inch the U.S. “Top Gun” pilot. But this is Iraq, not California.

Hama spent five years learning to fly U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets in Arizona, before returning home to take on ISIS.

The first batch of F-16s — Iraq has ordered 36 of the planes in all — arrived in Iraq last summer, and Hama flew the first Iraqi raids using them in September.

You've reached your daily free article limit.

Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.

Get Full Ad-Free Access For Just $0.50/Week

Enjoy unlimited digital access to our Military Culture, Defense, and Foreign Policy coverage content and support a veteran owned business. Already a subscriber?

With his immaculate flight suit and perfect American accent, Major “Face” Hama looks every inch the U.S. “Top Gun” pilot. But this is Iraq, not California.

Hama spent five years learning to fly U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets in Arizona, before returning home to take on ISIS.

The first batch of F-16s — Iraq has ordered 36 of the planes in all — arrived in Iraq last summer, and Hama flew the first Iraqi raids using them in September.

“I was excited and happy,” he remembers. “Because I was going to go kill an enemy who is not just an enemy of Iraq, it is an enemy of the entire world right now.”

Read more at CNN 

Image courtesy of Lockheed Martin

About SOFREP News Team View All Posts

The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

COMMENTS

You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.

More from SOFREP

REAL EXPERTS.
REAL NEWS.

Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.

TRY 14 DAYS FREE

Already a subscriber? Log In