# A10-Warthog Bombs Canadians In Afghanistan



## Cloud Cover (20 Jul 2006)

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings Provisions of the Copyright Act.

Close call in Afghanistan kept quiet
Friendly-fire incident: U.S. dropped 225-kilogram bomb on 17 Canadian troops
  
Ethan Baron 
CanWest News Service 


Thursday, July 20, 2006


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian troops narrowly missed death and serious injury when an American jet dropped a 225-kilogram laser-guided bomb on their position earlier this month in an incident frighteningly similar to the friendly fire attack that killed four Canadian soldiers in 2002.

Soft ground prevented a bloodbath, soldiers said of the incident the military has kept quiet.

Private Rob Adams, who was kneeling five metres from where the bomb landed and was completely engulfed by the fiery flash, received a concussive head injury. He was airlifted by helicopter to hospital at the coalition's Kandahar Airfield base.

His condition was assessed as very good and he has been released from hospital, said Canadian Forces Major Marc Theriault.

Although 17 Canadian troops were within 45 metres of the blast, and shrapnel splinters up to a half-metre long littered the farmer's field where the laser-guided bomb hit, nobody died. But nearly a dozen soldiers were blown through the air.

"We heard it coming. What went through my head was, 'I can't believe they bombed us,'" said one soldier who had been standing just over 10 metres from the impact point.

Another soldier, 25 metres away, was smashed so hard to the ground that the edge of his helmet was pushed in. He is still suffering severe headaches from the July 8 incident.

The explosion blasted a different soldier three metres into a mud hole.

The incident was all too similar to an attack by a U.S. F-16 aircraft that killed four Canadian troops during a training mission near Kandahar in April 2002. Eight other Canadians were injured.

A Canadian soldier who was outside the blast radius in the latest attack saw the bomb hit, and immediately concluded his comrades were dead.

"I thought for sure that everyone was toast, because there's no way you get hit by a 500-pound bomb and walk away," he said.

Had the ground been harder, the three closest soldiers would be dead, and several more severely injured, soldiers said.

"It was soft dirt, so [the bomb] went way deeper than it should have, and the blast went straight up," said one non-commissioned officer.

The crater measured about three metres deep and two metres across.

The near catastrophe occurred around 7 a.m. midway through a chaotic 12-hour battle in Pangawayi, 30 kilometres west of Kandahar. The pilot of the A-10 Warthog ground-attack jet mistook the Canadians for Taliban, the NCO said.

"He's coming in fast, he's coming in low, he's in the middle of a war zone, and he made a wrong call," the NCO said. "That happens. Those guys cover us a lot."

Another soldier was less forgiving. "Pangawayi isn't that big. I don't know why they were dropping bombs."

Other soldiers questioned the Canadian military's response. "It's kind of funny that they haven't come to talk to us," said one. "They haven't even sent us to a doctor. They're going to bury this one deep."

Maj. Theriault said the bombing occurred during "complex combat."

"This happens in dangerous situations where you have multiple directions to look after at the same time. Fire is coming from different directions, and you have fire also coming from above," he said.

"Fortunately, our soldiers suffered only minor injuries."

An investigation is underway, as in the case of any operation gone wrong, he said.

He wasn't sure if the U.S. Army had been notified.

"If it involves a U.S. aircraft, it's pretty much certain contact would have been made with the U.S." Maj. Theriault said.

All of the involved in the incident, except for Pte. Adams, have been in the field and fighting ever since.

© National Post 2006


----------



## paracowboy (20 Jul 2006)

whiskey601 said:
			
		

> Other soldiers questioned the Canadian military's response. "It's kind of funny that they haven't come to talk to us," said one. "They* haven't even sent us to a doctor*...


 ???


----------



## matty101 (20 Jul 2006)

All politics aside, glad to see no one was killed.  Keep up the fight. 

Matty


----------



## Inspir (20 Jul 2006)

whiskey601 said:
			
		

> Had the ground been harder, the three closest soldiers would be dead, and several more severely injured, soldiers said.



Talk about fate. Thank god no one was killed


----------



## 3rd Horseman (20 Jul 2006)

Glad to hear only minor injuries.

Jets don't just drop bombs willie nillie, a controller was in charge, Id like to hear the result of the controllers comments. Pilots just drive the taxi and drop the groceries FACs do the targeting and control. Where was the Cdn controller? Or where was the US controller? I am also surprised at the proximity of the blast the the troops, if the distances are correct then they should be dead. It will be interesting to hear the results of the investigation. But as some have said above me on the thread this happens in battle particularly close contact battles, Fast air CAS is a massive force multiplier sometimes they make mistakes and lets hope they learn some good lessons from this, and keep up the vital work.


----------



## Booked_Spice (20 Jul 2006)

It is a miracle they are still all alive.

Stay safe boys and come home soon!


----------



## Jarnhamar (20 Jul 2006)

Why would the US send us a doctor? Don't we have our own? 

Friendly fire happens. I'm not saying that as if it's not a big deal, it is.  

But it DOES happen.  Trying to keep hush hush about it (because that works so well with the media) just makes the mistake 10 times bigger.


----------



## Cloud Cover (20 Jul 2006)

I think he was inferring that a Canadian doctor never checked out our own guys. They probably have aching joints, to say the least.


----------



## MikeM (20 Jul 2006)

Jesus, talk about being lucky, good to hear only minor injuries came of it, it certainly could have been a hell of a lot worse.


----------



## George Wallace (20 Jul 2006)

whiskey601 said:
			
		

> I think he was inferring that a Canadian doctor never checked out our own guys. They probably have aching joints, to say the least.



....and a lot of "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"


----------



## George Wallace (20 Jul 2006)

3rd Horseman said:
			
		

> Glad to hear only minor injuries.
> 
> Jets don't just drop bombs willie nillie, a controller was in charge, Id like to hear the result of the controllers comments. Pilots just drive the taxi and drop the groceries FACs do the targeting and control. Where was the Cdn controller? Or where was the US controller? I am also surprised at the proximity of the blast the the troops, if the distances are correct then they should be dead. It will be interesting to hear the results of the investigation. But as some have said above me on the thread this happens in battle particularly close contact battles, Fast air CAS is a massive force multiplier sometimes they make mistakes and lets hope they learn some good lessons from this, and keep up the vital work.



And if it was Laser Guided, who was operating the Laser Designator?  Although on a low altitude run there would likely not be one or room for one, and thus just a red herring.


----------



## Michael OLeary (20 Jul 2006)

*Folks, let's keep the speculation to a MINIMUM, this one is close to one of our members and we can wait to see any official anouncements without stirring the pot.*


----------



## GAP (20 Jul 2006)

Wow!! Glad to hear everyone is OK, ringing ears and all. As most of the comments here imply, stuff happens and it will be checked out, just glad nobody was hurt seriously.  8)


----------



## SupersonicMax (20 Jul 2006)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> And if it was Laser Guided, who was operating the Laser Designator?  Although on a low altitude run there would likely not be one or room for one, and thus just a red herring.



Actually, the A-10 can carry Laser Designation Pods operated by the pilot.  

But I don't think they usually use it at low altitude...

Max


----------



## garb811 (20 Jul 2006)

whiskey601 said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> Soft ground prevented a bloodbath, soldiers said of the incident the military has kept quiet.
> 
> ...



Yep, the CF has kept it so quiet that it was covered by the CBC on 8 Jul 06 in this report, the relevant portion of which is:


> ...One of the soldiers was wounded by a coalition bomb. He is said to be in good condition and is expected to make a full recovery, Canadian officials said.



I found it strange that this angle to the story wasn't fleshed out much, nor immediately followed up by any news agency that I could find, and was curious as to how long it would take for another "reporter" to "discover" this story as a "scoop".  Now I know.


----------



## Jarnhamar (20 Jul 2006)

Ya I read that too fast my mistake.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (20 Jul 2006)

Michael O'Leary said:
			
		

> *Folks, let's keep the speculation to a MINIMUM, this one is close to one of our members and we can wait to see any official anouncements without stirring the pot.*



Like Michael says folks. Keep the what if's, maybe if's, what about speculation out of it. You want it locked? Ignore the direction.


----------



## Kat Stevens (20 Jul 2006)

3rd Horseman said:
			
		

> Glad to hear only minor injuries.
> 
> Jets don't just drop bombs willie nillie, a controller was in charge, Id like to hear the result of the controllers comments. Pilots just drive the taxi and drop the groceries FACs do the targeting and control. Where was the Cdn controller? Or where was the US controller? I am also surprised at the proximity of the blast the the troops, if the distances are correct then they should be dead. It will be interesting to hear the results of the investigation. But as some have said above me on the thread this happens in battle particularly close contact battles, Fast air CAS is a massive force multiplier sometimes they make mistakes and lets hope they learn some good lessons from this, and keep up the vital work.



3 words.... Major Harry Schmidt........


----------



## bubba (20 Jul 2006)

Time for the 17 troops to buy some loto tickets cause they got horseshoes up there ass.UNREAL


----------



## Kat Stevens (20 Jul 2006)

S_Baker said:
			
		

> Hey Kat, my fellow Alberta brethren :-* I have 3 words for you .... organic air support


Ah, right on time as always, major.  Good to see ya!

edited to add:  My comment was based on Mr. thirds statement that jet jocks don't drop their eggs just any old place they like.  Doesn't matter if it's American, Canadian, or Elbownian pilots.  Sorry to get your xenophobia all juiced up over nothing....again.


----------



## Old Guy (20 Jul 2006)

Fruitless speculation . . . we love it, don't we?



Jim


----------



## Michael OLeary (20 Jul 2006)

*We are done here for now.  When the news stories start providing FACTS, the thread can be reopened on request.  Any other threads started to "debate" based on speculation will be deleted without warning.*


----------

