What combat missions did Tammy Duckworth fly in the Iraq War?

1. Service role and platform: Black Hawk pilot in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Tammy Duckworth was a UH‑60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot deployed to Iraq in 2004 with the Illinois Army National Guard, a detail repeated across her official Senate biography and multiple profiles ^{[1] [5]}. Sources characterize her as “among the first handful of Army women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom,” indicating she flew in the theater’s helicopter operations rather than serving in a ground combat MOS ^{[1] [3]}.

2. Combat flying tempo and responsibilities

Her Senate materials and press notes state she logged roughly 120 combat hours over eight months in Iraq and that she served as the unit’s battle captain responsible for planning and coordinating missions; she “flew twice a week” while deployed, according to an interview excerpt ^{[2] [4]}. Those descriptions frame Duckworth as an operational aviator who conducted routine combat aviation sorties, command-and-control duties, and mission planning rather than a single-profile, headline operation ^[4].

3. The November 12, 2004 shootdown — the clearest documented mission event

The single most specific combat incident in available reporting is the November 12, 2004 rocket‑propelled‑grenade strike that downed her Black Hawk north of Baghdad; that attack cost her both legs and much use of her right arm and is the event most sources cite when describing her Iraq service ^{[1] [6]}. Contemporary and later biographies consistently identify that date and the RPG strike as the defining combat episode of her deployment ^{[1] [5]}.

4. What the public sources do not provide: named missions or sortie-by‑sortie record

Public biographies, news profiles and Duckworth’s own accounts describe flying “Operation Iraqi Freedom combat missions” and serving in planning roles, but none of the provided sources lists specific mission names, unit taskings, convoy‑escort sorties by call sign, or after‑action reports that would identify individual combat missions beyond the November 2004 shootdown ^{[3] [5] [4]}. Available sources do not mention a detailed mission manifest or squadron mission names.

5. Why granular mission listings are scarce — operational and privacy realities

Combat aviation sorties are often logged in unit flight records and after‑action reports that are not routinely published for privacy and operational security; public biographies typically summarize tour activity instead ^[4]. Duckworth’s official materials emphasize flight hours, role as battle captain and the shootdown that led to her Purple Heart and long recovery, which is consistent with what public reporting presents ^{[2] [7]}.

6. Competing framings in sources and what they emphasize

Official and advocacy sources foreground her status as one of the first Army women flying combat missions and her 120 combat hours, underscoring a pioneering narrative ^{[1] [2]}. Profiles and veteran‑oriented pages echo the same facts while adding personal reflections about mission focus and duty; none of the sources dispute those core details ^{[3] [4]}.

7. How to pursue more granular verification

If you seek mission‑level detail (call signs, dates beyond November 12, 2004, or sortie logs), those are typically found in unit operational records, military archives, or Freedom of Information Act releases — sources not provided here. Current reporting and Duckworth’s publicly available biographies do not provide that granularity ^{[3] [8]}.

Limitations: This analysis uses only the supplied sources. Claims about specific mission names or detailed sortie logs are not found in current reporting and therefore are not asserted here ^{[3] [2]}.