Panel eight - On the Tarmac: Gulf War

According to statistics in 2019, only a small portion of soldiers actually go into combat, and only 10% of the entire military force engage in battle. This panel was designed to honor all of those in support roles as well as celebrate women aviators. In the Gulf War, women were not yet allowed to fly combat missions. However, women were flying helicopters and other transport and logistic sorties. It wasn’t until 1993 that the United States Air Force had the first female fighter pilot.

This is the third and final interactive panel. Those visiting the mural can crouch beside the jammer and place your left hand on the wheel and right hand on the joystick to feel like they’re the ones loading the missiles on the aircraft. Painted from a 45-degree angle from the floor, this panel will put you in the driver’s seat of the munitions loader.

Special Artist Credit

Adam Paton was in the Air Force, and his job was to use the “jammer” to load missiles onto aircraft. He was the main resource for this interactive view. Robert painted the sunset and tried to base the terrain on that side of the world.

Insider Information

Out of all the artists, only Robert was infantry. He was inspired to honor female combatants because of his time with Lt. Moreno. Robert didn’t know her that well, but she was part of the Cultural Support Team (CST). “This was a United States Army Special Operations Command initiative that was designed to recruit and train female Operators in specific skills with the aim of supporting Special Operations Forces” (Scott, 2022), such as the Rangers. Lieutenant Moreno was one of two CST operators allocated to Task Force 310. She died in 2013, just weeks after Robert left the country, returning home from his second deployment.

Relatable Fact

Post 150 Legionnaire Glenny Butler tested this interactive panel and said it was like he was really there! We encourage viewers to go in person and try it out the three interactive panels.