Oklahoma Pilot Featured On Military Site

By Dan Bewley and Terry Hood, The News On 6

UNDATED -- The Air National Guard's 138th Fighter Wing is on day 41 of a two month tour in Iraq.  And, a Green Country pilot recently celebrated a milestone.

The 138th deployed for Iraq on September 11th for its ninth tour of duty.  Grove native Lieutenant Colonel David Serage is featured on a military-based website used to update family and friends at home.

Serage recently flew in his 100th combat sortie.  The military called it an armed over watch over Baghdad.

The Grove High School graduate has been in the Air Force or Air National Guard for 19 years, he says flying airplanes is all he ever dreamed about as a child.

Serage has flown several missions in Iraq and is quoted in a military article saying that the tempo of combat has changed over the past year.

He says last year pilots were dropping quite a few weapons during their missions, but he says that's changed this year and he credits the military operation in Iraq for the difference.

Serage's story is on a website that distributes information from the military.  The site is open to family members, friends, and the general public.

You can go to the home page and search for individual names or even cities.  One feature over the next month will be Thanksgiving greetings from deployed servicemen and women.

Several members of the 138th will be running their own version of the Tulsa Run this weekend in Iraq.