Last Air Force POW officialiy retires

Lt. Cal. Rob Sweet, lhe Air Force's last-serving prisoner of war, retired June 6 alter 33 years of service. On Feb. 15, 1991, Sweet and his flight commander, Capt. Stephen R. Phillis, crossed lhe northern border of Kuwait further into lraq than any A-10 pilai had gane before. Their mission was to eliminate lraqi Republican Guard tanks about 80 miles past lhe border of Kuwait. As Sweet moved in to attack it, he felt a bump. Looking back, he saw lhe rear end of his right wing in flames.

ln an interview, Sweet said his first thought was "oh, man, l'm hit" before racing to lhe border. lt was too late. Within minutes, he was forced to eject and landed 50 feet from lhe sarne tanks that shot him down.

Alter crashing, 200 lraqi soldiers ran towards him and took him captive. For 19 days, Sweet experienced brutality as a prisoner of war. Despite his suffering, Sweet endureci. He credits his military training, specificaliy his Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school, with his survival. "There were very few surprises in lhe jailhouse," he sai d. "I knew what to expect."

Lt. Cal. Rob Sweet found a sense of purpose in mentoring and_ instructing young airman, particularly fighter pIlots. The Ch1ef of Staff of lhe Air Force, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, commended Sweet during his · retirement ceremo_ny. "Rob, I want to take this opportunity to recognize your service to our nation and congratulate you on your retirement," said Brown. "You've had an outstanding career that I know you, your family, friends and feliow Airmen are proud of. ln closing, thank you for ali you've done."

Sweet's advice to young airmen is to take every experience day by day. "Bloom where you're planted," Sweet said. "You're going to have assignments you don't like, but make the most of them and move on."

(Adapted from https://www.militarytimes.com)