...I did a cold startup, took-off, contacted JTAC to receive attack coordinates, setup my SPI using my TAD, prepared all weapon systems for attack, navigated to attack point, blew up the tanks, used the divert page in the CDU to find my base airfield, and landed!
Wow, that is a lot of stuff I had to learn how to do over the course of the last 3-4 months! But damn, is it rewarding!
A word of encouragement to those just starting this sim and feeling daunted - hang in there. What helped me learn this sim was to think about it in steps. I spent one weekend just figuring out JTAC and weapon systems for example while, another weekend, I worked on my landing. Then, it all started to come together.
This is also my first real flight simulator so hopefully other simulators I play like ROF will not require such a tremendously long time to learn.
Just wanted to share. No one in my RL can relate to how much of an accomplishment it is to overcome the learning curve of this sim!