How "Killer Chick" Got Her Battle-Damaged A-10 Home

Ma'am we met on the ramp at the Jab on 7 April when you brought a burning A-10 back to the base You are a BEAST with the IRON fist! What a fantastic experience and the site of the totaled A/C doing a front gear high (wheelie) down the entire runway, awesome. You later that day hand delivered my missle fire report to my office in the MSA at PGM. I am always amazed when I think about that day, Thank you for your fantastic service and being a super role model for our up- and- coming super troopers Ret. USAF Msgt. Hart

I met her husband, Col. Campbell when my group inprocessed to Kandahar in 2014. He introduced himself as the AF Commander there and joked “you’ve never heard of me but you’ve probably heard about my wife.” I’m pretty sure there was more than a touch of pride in that statement.

Badass pilot doesn’t begin to describe this young lady. As a troop on the ground in 2004 in Iraq, thank you so much. The A-10 is truly the Infantryman’s Angel.

I was a Marine Sergeant Aviation Ordnanceman. I may have been Q/A, at the time. She may not remember, but I saw her at the end of the runway in Al Jaber in Kuwait. I was like, is that a female A-10 pilot!? She was probably like, what the hell is he staring at? Lol. She was waiting to get clearance to enter the runway. Fully loaded. I must have had the biggest smile, cause that motivated the heck out of me. I gave her a salute and then a thumbs up with a whoop-whoop in the air. She gave a salute and a smile that lit up the runway. I was like, yeah. Let's kick some ass! She gave a fist pump. Man, we were so motivated. I will never forget that day. I always wondered who that pilot was and what her combat experience was. I'm glad she made it back safely. Oorahh!

My father-in-law was a key design engineer with the AF who was the structures engineer for the A10. One of the things he insisted upon was making sure that the fly by wire system was usable by a pilot with a woman's upper body strength, even though women were not allowed to fly fighters back in the 70's. After he had a stroke late in life we became aware of Col Campbell's story and made contact with her. She was gracious enough to send a signed picture of her with an A10 for my father-in-law. He has since passed but I really appreciate her reaching out to him the way she did.

As an F-15/A-10 Crewchief for 22 years I've met some great individuals. Col Campbell is definitely one of them as she's one of the most down-to-earth and level headed pilots I've had the privilege to work with. Col. Campbell displayed great airmanship under pressure. I retired as a Dragon there at DM and look back on those years fondly. Great to see the USAF represented IN PERSON on one of my favorite channels! Thanks Ward!

SUCH modesty, intelligence, bravery and skill . . . her family has SO much to be proud of!! Congratulations KC on a great career!!

KC is an amazing woman, mother, wife, airman, and leader! We need more like her!

KC is a legend! I had the privilege of having Col Campbell as an instructor at the Air Force Academy when her husband was serving as the deputy Commandant. I remember her bringing a piece of that plane to class, and hearing her story never gets old. She is an extremely humble individual and a hero of mine, so much so that I asked her to commission me! She agreed and I had the great honor of having this icon swear me in as a second lieutenant. She and her husband are both badasses!

My crash recovery supervisor, team and I were trying to shoo everyone away from the aircraft after we dragged the airframe off the runway and parked it under the sun shade, the flares weren’t safetied yet and it was still dripping jp8 and 5606. I was standing just off to Col. Campbell right, out of the frame with her next to the battle damage, I imagine she was still collecting her thoughts and explaining what happened to a multitude of gawkers. Ward I do like your interviews keep up the excellence.

I was stationed at Moody AFB and was actually deployed with Col. Campbell when her A-10 got lit up. I worked support on all aircraft and seeing her A-10 in person, was kind of in awe because of how much damage it had taken. Almost instantly, her exploits were swirling around base and it actually boosted morale. Never met her personally but seeing her A-10 it was just insane. While I had the pleasure of working with F-16's and C-130's, the A-10 was by far my favorite.

My father was the lead engineer of the control systems on the A10 for Fairchild Republic. The control stick(that "KC" has and everything it did was my dads design. The redundant systems and the integrity of the pilot "bathtub" and how the controls were able to work without losing the integrity of the tub was his designs as well. To know these planes have outlasted the people who designed them is a testament to the product that was built. I have so many story's of things dad built with nothing on hand. Col. Campbell's story is one I have heard, and I know there are so many others. Brrrrrrrrrappppp

As an Infantrymen A10 pilots are legends. As a father of a little girl who is 9 years old I have shown her videos about this women and now she wants to be a pilot because of her story. She is a great role model for our young daughters.

I was there when you landed that piece of swiss cheese and was so honored to be there on the base for your historic and such a courageous landing. Just seeing you bring that wounded bird in was a feat in itself and then hearing the debrief was even more incredible. It was an honor to server with you on the same base and during the same time. The A-10, will always be a workhorse of the Air Force and should keep flying until the last one is used in combat. KC, you are a respected pilot in the Air Force and you will go down in history for bringing that A-10 from your mission now and forever. God Speed in all you do and the best to you all!!!!

Thanks so much Mooch for the great interview with KC. As a female maintainer, it’s really encouraging to hear from a female fight pilot. - F-16 Crew Chief (Ret.)

Theres something so captivating when someone is completely knowledgeable in their (air)craft. Indescribably awesome.

Friend of mine is a USAF ground based TAC. He would constantly mention how every time he heard mumblings about A-10 retirement he would just say, nope, not today. He used to say that F-16s were good for a single pass. F-15Es could hang for a bit but were always way too fast. But A-10s and their pilots were always there and never seemed to go away, regardless of how bad things seemed to get on the ground.

I've said it many times when asked that the A-10 saved my butt many times both in Iraq and Afghanistan. I've seen first hand what these pilots are capable of and the fear they strike in our enemies. I was on the ground in Iraq in 2003 for the initial push and our task force was engaged by a heavy enemy force of IRG near the outskirts of Baghdad. Our FAC called in air support initially to our Army Apache squadron that was assigned to us but there was a 2 ship A-10 closer and they offered to respond. The amount of damage they were able to inflict on the enemy was devastating. The psychological effect on the enemy was overwhelming. I remember watching from cover some 500 meters away from the contact point, which sounds far enough away but really isnt, the 30MM rounds impacting the enemies entrenched positions with catastrophic effect. It only took 2 passes for the A-10 to eliminate the threat and disperse the remaining enemy force. A total sense of pride and endurance came over me as I realized the true power and respect close air support is. It filled all of us with the necessary resolve to push forward in a very kinetic environment knowing these pilots had our back. I watched in later deployments that sometimes just the mear presence of the A-10 swooping overhead was enough to disperse the enemy and kill their will to fight. I will never forget these pilots for saving all of our lives and for reducing the level of casualties and wounded we no doubt would have sustained without their help.

I served 27 years in the Air Force with over 20 years working the A-10 as a Jet Engine Mechanic. I got to work flight line, phase and in shop overhaul. I loved that plane. Nobody has anything like it.

I had watched another longer form video from KC when she was still active duty recounting this mission in much greater detail. She told a story about another pilot who tried a manual reversion landing in a A 10 prior to hers and it ended up being fatal. She was well aware that attempting this type of landing was dangerous and she relayed that her and her flight lead had discussed ejecting once they got into Kuwait. She also talked about how her flight lead kept asking her how her plane was flying and had her check status on her gauges because he could see how damaged the plane was and couldn’t believe the engine wasn’t failing.