Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Kim Campbell (pilot)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Years of service
  
1998–

Rank
  
Colonel

Parents
  
Paula Reed, Chuck Reed

Name
  
Kim Campbell

Siblings
  
Alex Reed

Role
  
Pilot


In front of a gray fighter jet with a round machine gun in front and 274 number painted, Kim Campbell is serious, standing, she has brown hair wearing a black shirt under an air force uniform. The uniform has three patches on the left a red wings on a blue patch, 2nd from the left a patch of yellow with a black bird, at the right is a patch with a number A-10 over a yellow patch with a red line with white bird.


Born
  
June 6, 1975 (age 48) Honolulu, Hawaii (
1975-06-06
)

Allegiance
  
United States of America

Battles/wars
  
2003 invasion of IraqWar in Afghanistan

Education
  
United States Air Force Academy

Awards
  
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal

Battles and wars
  
2003 invasion of Iraq, War in Afghanistan

Service/branch
  
United States Air Force

NCLS 2020: Colonel Kim Campbell


Kim Nichole Reed-Campbell (born June 6, 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American officer and Senior Pilot in the U.S. Air Force who currently serves as a Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the United States Department of Defense. She was decorated for piloting her A-10 Thunderbolt II back to base in southern Iraq after taking heavy anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) damage in aerial combat over Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. After her tour of duty in Iraq ended, Campbell gave lectures throughout the United States about her experience, including one at the National Air and Space Museum. Kim Campbell was promoted to the rank of Major in the autumn of 2006.

Contents

In front of a blue cloudy backdrop with USA flag at the right, Kim Campbell is smiling, she has brown hair, wearing a small pearl earrings, and a blue military uniform with black patch along with their ranks as military personnel.

She is married to another A-10 pilot, Colonel Scott Campbell, whom she met at the Air Force Academy.

Outside a military base with a grass plains at the back with cream walls barracks, Kim Campbell is smiling, standing under the tail of a plane, both of her hands on waist, she has brown hair wearing a brown shirt under a US AIR FORCE flight suit with a patch on her left chest of a black bird and a brown boots,

Early life and education

Outside a military base with grass plains at the back with cream walls barracks, from left a man is serious, standing with his hands crossed he has bald head wearing a brown tank top and brown pants. 2nd from left a man is serious, walking looking to his left, while holding a black camera, he has black hair wearing a black sunglasses, id, brown us military shirt and pants with a radio on his right belt, brown shoes, 3rd from left a man is serious, standing he has black hair wearing id, a brown shirt, black belt and black pants, 4th from left, is a man standing he has black short-bald hair wearing a black shirt a military belt and gray pants, at the right is a man standing he has black hair, wearing a brown shirt, black belt and gray camouflage pants, in front, Kim Campbell is smiling, standing under the tail of a plane, both of her hands waist, she has brown hair wearing a brown shirt under a US AIR FORCE flight suit with a patch on her left chest of a black bird.

Campbell is the daughter of the mayor of San Jose (and former USAF Captain) Chuck Reed. She joined the Civil Air Patrol as a cadet at age 13 and made her first solo flight in a civilian aircraft over San Jose at age 16.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy in 1997 where she was the cadet wing commander, as was her father during his time as a cadet at the Air Force Academy, the first time that a father and daughter both served as cadet wing commander. She holds a degree in International Security Studies from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, and a Masters in Business Administration from Imperial College London, United Kingdom, which she undertook while on a Marshall Scholarship.

April 2003 incident

The damage occurred when she was flying a mission over Baghdad on April 7, 2003. "We did our job with the guys there on the ground, and as we were on our way out is when I felt the jet get hit. It was pretty obvious — it was loud... I lost all hydraulics instantaneously, and the jet rolled left and pointed toward the ground, which was an uncomfortable feeling over Baghdad. It didn't respond to any of my control inputs." She tried several procedures to get the aircraft under control, none of which worked; last, she put the plane into manual reversion, meaning she was 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 injured 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 she 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

Kim Campbell (pilot) Wikipedia
(Text) CC BY-SA