When F-15Es first arrived at Bagram in 2007, they flew as HOSS. A new squadron commander changed it to EAGLE. Seemed logical at the time. F-16 was VIPER, A-10 was HAWG, B-1 was BONE.

 

The instructors had concerns. Nobody listened.

 

First night mission as EAGLE, two jets checked into a special ops task force on a crowded radio freq. Turns out EAGLE is ground brevity for a friendly. SA-grenade. Both jets got sent home inside 30 minutes. By the time they landed, the task force had already called the ops desk and suspended F-15E support until they picked something else.

 

The commander told his Top-3 to fix it. One rule: not HOSS.

 

They ran the approved callsign list at Al Udeid. Nothing hit.

 

Then someone brought up The Big Lebowski.

 

The LNO couldn't get DUDE through official channels fast enough, so he put it in the air tasking order himself. No approval. Just did it.

 

On May 31, 2007, DUDE 01 launched from Bagram on a CAS mission.

 

F-15Es have flown as DUDE ever since.