On the 20th of January 2014 Captain Jane “Sunshine” Sanchez flew this Corsair, her personal mount, nicknamed “Cricket” into the mouth of hell. VMA-611 Black Seahorses was assigned to assist Israeli Air Force and Special Forces assets in the desperate attempt to rescue Saudi Royal Family members from Jihadist forces that had lead a Coup in
The hastily created mission was a total disaster. VMA-611
lost a total of 6 Corsairs that day. All victims of MANPADS surface to air
missile systems. Captain Sanchez managed to get two Paveway II LGB’s onto a
highway overpass that slowed down a convoy of Jihadists trying to get to one of
her fellow pilots that had had to eject after his Corsair became a victim of an
SA-18.
Sanchez stayed as close as possible to her downed fellow
pilot, instigating several strafing runs at Jihadist forces as they closed in
on the stricken pilot. In the end though she had to leave as she was nearing
bingo fuel. Because of the unusually high amount of extreme manoeuvring during
her mission Sanchez ending up running out of fuel before reaching her FOB
(Forward Operating Base). She was however able to safely land her Corsair on a
nearby highway running to a silent stop with nobody around for hundreds of
miles.
