381 SEALs Were Trapped, Then a Female A-10 Pilot Blasted Them an Exit!

When 381 Navy SEALs found themselves trapped in a valley that command had dubbed a “tomb,” the official doctrine was to write them off as casualties. The enemy had fortified the high ground, the weather had closed in, and the terrain was a jagged maze that conventional rescue operations couldn’t navigate. But Captain Delaney Thomas, a 26-year-old pilot whom the squadron had dismissed as “too emotional” for the cockpit, was about to prove that 125 pounds of grit could move mountains.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II: A Flying Tank

To understand how Delaney accomplished the impossible, one must understand the machine she flew. The A-10 Thunderbolt II, colloquially known as the “Warthog,” is not a sleek jet designed for speed; it is a titanium bathtub built around a massive cannon.