Business honcho bombed Iraq for US Air Force

SURAT: He flew US Air force F-16 over Iraqi air space in 2006 and as recently as in March to May in 2010 for nearly 200 hours in 38 combat missions at a speed of Mac 2 (twice the speed of sound). Thirty-three-year-old Gujarati American Raj Shah, then a combat pilot, said, "The biggest fear in a pilot's mind is the fear of making a mistake. If we err, innocent people die."
This Wharton School MBA, now vice-president of a defence focused investment firm, is a battle hardened soldier turned business executive.An American national by birth, Raj, who is visiting his family members in the diamond city, had seen death from very close quarters. "I am one of the lucky ones, who was at a right place at a right time," he told TOI here sharing his experiences of Iraq War. Raj's parents Manoj Shah and Hansa, who hail from Kadod, some 50 km off Surat city, had settled in Georgia in US some 33 years ago.
Raj was posted with his command 30 miles north of Bagdad in American air base. He flew over 100 hours of night missions with heavy weapons loaded. Generally an F-16 has 4, 500 pound bombs, four missiles and 500 rounds of 20 mm bullets.
"From 500 feet above the sea level to 50,000 feet, I flew as per the requirement. The altitude depended on the targets and in Iraq we flew very low for precision target hitting," said Raj, who joined the US Air Force in 2000 and took his first flight school in December, 2001.
He flew every third day on missions in Iraq and volunteered himself at Airport Theatre Hospital at Bagdad to help out the medical teams.
"In January 2006, it was 3 am in Bagdad when the US Air Force base sirens went off. I was sleeping in my flight suit. I ran to the jet and and in five minutes was flying 500 feet over Bagdad where a number of people were trying to block the path of US-Iraqi troops, who were on rescue mission," he said.
He feels India is the buzz word in the present day America, "Gone are the days when Pakistan got prominence over India in almost all aspects. India and US have a common enemy- terror." Raj has also worked as a special assistant in the office of the Secretary of Defence.