flying the aircraft without hydraulics. The aircraft immediately responded. "The jet started climbing away from the ground, which was a good feeling because there was no way I wanted to eject over Baghdad." With some technical advice from her flight leader, Lieutenant Colonel Turner, she flew the crippled plane for an hour back to the air base. "The jet was performing exceptionally well. I had no doubt in my mind I was going to land that airplane." Landing was tricky: "When you lose all the hydraulics, you don't have speed brakes, you don't have brakes, and you don't have steering." For this action in aerial combat, Campbell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. On the ground it was discovered that her A-10 had sustained damage to one engine and to the redundant hydraulic systems, disabling the flight controls, landing gear and brakes, and horizontal stabilizer. A detailed inspection revealed hundreds of holes in the airframe and that large sections of the stabilizer and hydraulic controls were missing. "She's one of the few pilots who ever landed the A-10 in the manual mode," said General Richard Myers, USAF, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. References 1975 births Living people People from San Jose, California United States Air Force personnel of the Iraq War Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers Women in the United States Air Force Women in the Iraq War Recipients of the Air Medal American women aviators Aviators from California 21st-century American women External links Interview to Cnl Kim "KC" Campbell