Presidential commendation, monetary reward, official recognition
Zuhair Dawoud Al-Tamimi is a former fighter pilot in the Iraqi Air Force, who fought in the Gulf War. He is credited with shooting down a U.S. F/A-18 Hornet on the opening night of the war.[1]
Zuhair graduated from the Iraqi Air Force Academy, Class 37.[2] He initially trained on the MiG-21 and was assigned to the 37th Squadron. In 1984, while holding the rank of lieutenant, he was selected as one of five pilots to undergo conversion training on the MiG-25 in the Soviet Union.[3] Upon returning to Iraq, he helped establish the 96th Squadron, operating MiG-25s. He served with the unit until the end of 2002 and logged over 2,200 flight hours on the MiG-25.[4]
A photo of Mohammed Rayyan, possibly also featuring Zuhair Dawoud.
Reconnaissance missions
Despite being a fighter pilot, Zuhair also conducted high-risk reconnaissance missions, including:
A 1997 surveillance flight over Turkish border movements at 15 km altitude and Mach 1.7.[5]
A 1999 deep reconnaissance mission along the Saudi border, covering 525 km at 20 km altitude and Mach 3.2, successfully evading U.S. interception.[6]
Gulf War and the Speicher incident
On the night of January 16–17, 1991, Zuhair was scrambled from Al-Qadisiyah Air Base (now Ayn al-Asad) to intercept coalition aircraft.[7] Flying a MiG-25PDS, he engaged and shot down a U.S. F/A-18 Hornet piloted by Lt. Michael Scott Speicher.[8] The engagement lasted mere seconds, with an R-40RD hitting the target at 29 km range. The kill was later confirmed by U.S. reports.[9]
Later in the sortie, he locked onto a second target believed to be hostile, but was ordered to disengage due to friendly identification confusion. He narrowly avoided running out of fuel upon return, landing safely despite U.S. cluster bomb attacks on the runway.
Aftermath and recognition
Although his downing of the F/A-18 was recognized, Zuhair was not immediately honored. He filed over 75 formal requests for commendation between 1991 and 1996. Eventually, after confirmation from joint Iraqi-American investigations at the crash site, President Saddam Hussein approved a reward: a vehicle, cash, and promises of honorary medals to be issued after U.S. withdrawal.[10]
The newspaper reported on Zuhair's achievement, but misidentified the aircraft as an F-15C.
After the 2003 invasion, the base where Zuhair served was renamed "Camp Speicher" by U.S. forces, after the very pilot he had shot down.[11]
U.S. investigation
The fate of Lt. Speicher remained a mystery for years. U.S. teams visited the crash site and recovered parts of the wreckage, ejection seat, parachute, and biological evidence confirming Speicher's death.[12] U.S. authorities initially suspected that Speicher might have survived and been held by Iraq, but this was later disproven.[13]
Zuhair was interviewed by U.S. media (notably CBS) and intelligence teams post-2003.[14] He declined to travel with CBS to the crash site due to security concerns, suspecting it could be a setup.
↑ "Iraqi Pilots Trained in USSR". Associated Press. 14 May 1984.
↑ Gordon, Michael R.; Trainor, Bernard E. (1995). The Generals' War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf. Little, Brown. ISBN978-0-316-32172-6.{{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
↑ Cooper, Tom (2009). MiG-25 Foxbat in Iraqi Service. Harpia Publishing.
↑ "Interview with Iraqi Pilot". CBS News. 3 May 2004.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Iraq 
Iraqi Air Force 
Brigadier General 
