Somebody had to take the first shot — to begin an aerial defense campaign that many have since argued prevented an “escalation” in the Middle East that, in the worst-case scenario, could have seen the destruction of one of the United States’ most significant allies.
Hundreds of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles were bound for Israel — an arsenal that brought with it the potential to kill countless innocents and, as a result, pit the nations that support it against Iran.
So, when, from the cockpit of his F-15E, 335th Fighter Squadron Capt. Gregory Liquori’s status check was met with radio silence, he did what he was trained to do.
“I was like, ‘Hey. We’re targeted.’ Nobody said anything,” he said. “And I was like … ‘Let it ride.’”
What he didn’t know when he launched that first missile from his Strike Eagle was that by night’s end, he would record seven “kills” — that other members of the 335thwould rack up dozens more and come home from their 2024 deployment as members of the world’s premier “drone killers.”
And he had no way of knowing that he, and a staggering seven other 4th Fighter Wing officers, would, just less than a year later, have a Distinguished Flying Cross pinned to his Air Force blues by a four-star general — or that the story of what unfolded after Iran launched its attack would provide politicians with an “opening” to ensure the planned divestment of a chunk of the nation’s F-15E fleet was scrapped.
Hundreds of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base airmen — and Wayne County leaders, a U.S. congressman, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, family members, and friends — converge on a hangar located next to the Goldsboro installation’s flight line.
A military band plays patriotic songs.
Officers deliver remarks and the crowd, every so often, erupts into a mixture of cheers and applause.
But those in the hangar fell silent for a seven-minute stretch of the hourlong ceremony that saw 31 airmen receive honors for valor in the face of the most brazen attack on Israel in recent history — when they were asked to direct their attention to a large screen set up to the right of the stage.
A video began to play — a documentary of sorts that gave those in attendance a hint of what the 335th was up against less than 24 hours after they arrived in their “area of responsibility.”
And the accounts delivered by those who experienced the events of what one of them characterized as “a day we will never forget” were, as one attendee put it later that day, “undeniably powerful.”
There was the sound of “air raid sirens” and the image of the “purple plasma” that signified an F-15E missile destroying a drone.
There was the picture painted of Strike Eagle pilots having to “dodge multiple pieces of red-hot shrapnel as they were falling from the sky” after a target had been hit.
“You could just see … above you something exploded into a million pieces and gravity is obviously going to take that into your flight path,” one said.
A weapon systems officer described looking over his shoulder to see “it just looked like Iran was glowing red,” and a fighter pilot said he had to stop counting the weapons that were being launched because “they were coming up so quick.”
There was praise handed out to the men and women who ensured the jets were ready for battle, with one calling their efforts “truly a miracle” and another noting that “time was not on their side” but they “busted their asses and made it happen.”
There was even time for reflection — and a realization that “we got to be part of a thing that was meaningful and had an impact.”
And when the film ended, the crowd, again, erupted.
But they would find there was still much to be said.
Former 4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Teels walks past an American flag that, every few moments during the ceremony, took a ride on the wind that blew into the hangar’s entrance.
He noted that it felt good to be back at Seymour Johnson “among friends,” but shortly after he began his remarks, his tone became more serious.
He talked about delivering the intelligence to officers just hours before Iran launched its attack — that “things were heatin’ up” — and how they never flinched but, instead, had a look on their faces that gave him peace.
“It was … ‘I got this. We got this,’” he said. “It was a look of determination and purpose.”
He talked about the professionalism of the men and women who ensured Strike Eagle crews were ready to carry out what was, ultimately, a successful mission.
“They knew what they were doing mattered,” Teel said. “It was a thing of beauty. … That team did nothing short of a miracle.”
And he recalled watching, as the F-15Es were returning to the base, “stuff fall out of the sky” that signified success.
“We’re watching this purple plasma above us,” he said. “Maybe it was the kid in me, I was just thinking, ‘Holy cow. This is cool. That’s pretty awesome that our team is doing this right now.’”
But what seemed to strike him the most was how, despite the chaos, his mind was at ease knowing that it was members of the 4th who had been, once again, called upon to lead its nation from the front.
“It was actually a feeling of peace and comfort,” Teel said. “What I mean by that is, I knew this team was the best that there was on Earth.”
So, when he looked out at the crowd, he made it a point to tell every person involved in the April 13 campaign — not simply those who had received decorations — that they mattered.
“Every one of you are heroes. I think in today’s society, that’s something that’s either overused or underappreciated,” the colonel said. “But if you want to look up what the definition of a hero is, I think it’s these people who did their job. They were called upon to do something hard, maybe wicked hard … and they did something historic. And they put their lives on the line.”
As if their successful defense of Israel were not enough of a reason to celebrate, the members of the 335th who led the charge April 13 might very well have altered the course of Seymour Johnson’s future.
After the mission, then-President Joe Biden would praise the squadron — and every Strike Eagle aviator who took to the skies April 13 — and post a video of him doing so to social media.
“Hey, you guys are the best in the whole damn world, man. The whole world,” he said. “That’s not hyperbole. Both of these squadrons, you’re incredible.”
He told them they had made “an enormous difference” for one of the U.S.’s key allies — that they had potentially saved “a lot of lives.”
He championed their “enormous skills” and said he was in awe of their “remarkable” execution of the mission.
And he asked them to “keep it going,” as tensions in the Middle East remained.
“Let me tell you, you make me proud, and I’m not just saying that,” Biden said. “I swear to God. You’re incredible.”
Millions of people would end up watching that video, including Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Congressman Don Davis, who used the 335th’s defense of Israel as an opportunity to ramp up their advocacy for the Goldsboro installation they had deployed from — a base the men believed was “unfairly” under attack via legislation that would change the 4th Fighter Wing’s mission and deplete its fleet.
Budd and Davis would publicly challenge those who saw to it that F-15Es, including some stationed at SJAFB, would be divested as spelled out in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act — a plan would have also seen the 4thFW’s 333rd Lancers deactivated, and the Chiefs transitioned into a training unit.
More locally, State Rep. John Bell did the same — vowing to bring then-Gov. Roy Cooper and other state leaders into the fight.
“Our fighter squadron, the 335th from Seymour Johnson, is the one that put on an epic display of defending freedom, not just for Americans, but also shooting down missiles that were attacking our closest ally, Israel. There is no more important fighter squadron in this country that can put on that kind of display of force than the 335th,” he said. “And it’s sad that folks in the Air Force want to (change the mission) of its wing and move the 335th into a training status. When you have the premier aircraft and the premier personnel that showed exactly what American airpower is all about, you celebrate it.”
Congress was listening, and over the next several months, Budd and Davis were able to convince their respective colleagues in the House and Senate to prohibit divestment of American F-15Es through the end of 2027 — a stunning turn of events that also saw the 333rd spared and the 4thFighter Wing safeguarded from transitioning from its operational status to a training-only mission.
Talking to Lt. Col. Brian Leitzke, it becomes clear that he is not willing to celebrate recording seven “kills.”
The way he sees it, he was just another American airman doing his job.
“Once the drones started coming, it was continuous, so we just kept shooting them down until we were out of ordinance,” he said. “This is what we all signed up for — an opportunity to contribute if the time comes.”
And on multiple occasions, he answered questions about his personal accomplishments with his comrades in arms in mind.
“It’s not about any one of us. This was a giant team event,” he told Wayne Week a half-hour before he received the Distinguished Flying Cross. “Both on the ground and once we got airborne.”
A hero? An ace? Those words, he insisted, are not what will define his career.
“I really don’t care what we label it,” Leitzke said. “We won and nobody died and that was a giant team effort. I don’t care what they call me or anybody else who got to be airborne.”
But former 4th Fighter Wing Historian Dr. Roy Heidicker has no problem calling Leitzke and other members of the Chiefs “the best.”
And he had no qualms about taking an opportunity to remind the world that, in his view, the 4th Fighter Wing is, truly, the greatest Air Force unit of all time.
“It’s not just what they accomplished in World War II. It’s World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the wars on terror, and today. This unit is consistently the tip of the spear,” Heidicker said. “Other famous, great Air Force wings and groups and squadrons have accomplished amazing things. But to accomplish so much over so many years is unprecedented.”
