2002 Friendly Fire Pilot Suing USAF

[The Bread Guy]

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=db86a6b2-a37d-4c3e-9666-613b667c1396&k=85344

Pilot sues U.S. air force over bombing that killed 4 Canadians in Afghanistan
Canadian Press, April 09, 2006

''SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CP) - A decorated pilot involved in a friendly-fire bombing that killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002 is suing the U.S. air force, accusing it of ruining his reputation.

National Guard Maj. Harry Schmidt says military officials should not have released to the public the scathing letter of reprimand he was given for the bombing.

His lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court, alleges the military violated privacy laws. It seeks unspecified damages.

The disclosure in July 2004 also violated a settlement agreement that spared Schmidt from being court-martialled for the bombing, said his lawyer, Charles Gittins.

"The government flat-out failed to comply with their agreement," Gittins said.

Lt.-Col. Catherine Reardon, an air force spokeswoman, had not seen the lawsuit. "At this point, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the case," she said Sunday.

On April 18, 2002, Schmidt and another pilot were flying F-16s when they spotted muzzle flashes near Kandahar airport. The Canadians were firing weapons on a training range but Schmidt mistook them for Taliban forces and dropped a 225-kilogram laser-guided bomb, killing Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith.

The four were the first Canadians to die in combat since the Korean War. Eight others were injured.

Schmidt has said his superiors never told him the Canadians would be conducting live-fire exercises that night.

The second pilot received a letter of reprimand and was allowed to retire. He is not a party to the lawsuit. ''

© The Canadian Press 2006

 

[FredDaHead]

This guy disobeys a direct order and murders four people, injuring others, gets off with a simple reprimand, and now he's suing the Air Force? He should be frying in hell right about now.

What reputation did he still have, anyways? That of someone who wouldn't listen to orders and who didn't mind dropping bombs on friendlies?

 

[JBP]

I cannot even comment in words how this makes me feel... What a bag of shit to say the least...

RIP to those 4 slaughtered by him...

 

[MikeM]

What a piece of shit, he's lucky he's still in the Air Force... unbelievable.

 

[tomahawk6]

He has no one but himself to blame for the situation he finds himself in. Although he was allowed to retire, as a reservist he cannot receive retired pay until age 60 so he has a long way to go before he gets a pay check from the government. I can only add that this action by Schmidt once again demonstrates what a sorry excuse for a human being that he is.

When I reflect on this case I think of another accident caused by a USN sub commander that caused the sinking of a japanese training vessel with the loss of 9 people, I think. The sub commander was contrite and even went to Japan to apologize. His career was ended by the incident but he at least showed class in dealing with this tragic incident.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/sub.collision/

 

[Thompson_JM]

He has no one but himself to blame for the situation he finds himself in. Although he was allowed to retire, as a reservist he cannot receive retired pay until age 60 so he has a long way to go before he gets a pay check from the government. I can only add that this action by Schmidt once again demonstrates what a sorry excuse for a human being that he is.

When I reflect on this case I think of another accident caused by a USN sub commander that caused the sinking of a Japanese training vessel with the loss of 9 people, I think. The sub commander was contrite and even went to Japan to apologize. His career was ended by the incident but he at least showed class in dealing with this tragic incident.

http://www.CNN.com/SPECIALS/2001/sub.collision/

That Officer made a Grave mistake, but at least he learned how to be an adult and accept responsibility for his actions....

Schmidt sickens me with this juvenile pass the buck shift the blame attitude.... And the truth of the matter is that he is not fooling anyone...
pathetic really....

with any luck he'll loose the lawsuit and maybe the US Military can take him to court for at the very least, the legal fees incurred...

Regards
  - Josh

 

[043]

This guy disobeys a direct order and murders four people, injuring others, gets off with a simple reprimand, and now he's suing the Air Force? He should be frying in hell right about now.

What reputation did he still have, anyways? That of someone who wouldn't listen to orders and who didn't mind dropping bombs on friendlies?

Murder??????????????IMHO, you should get your head out of your ass!

 

[JBP]

Murder??????????????IMHO, you should get your head out of your ***!

What would you label it as? Friendly Fire? Does that make it any better? Do you think the families of those dead soldiers would say it feels any different if it's called something else? It was deemed to be murder, since Maj. Schmidt disobeyed direct orders and dropped his 500lbs LGB and blew 4 soldiers to pieces and injured several more. He was found guilty of dereliction of duty and disobeying orders and some other things also.

Maybe you should read the book on how and what happened and then make an informed decision.

Maybe you should get your head out of your ass?

 

[scoutfinch]

There is no way that this incident can be categorized as friendly fire, notwithstanding the title of the Friscolanti book.  These deaths did not take place within the context of combat.  The Canadians were on the range and these American pilots were returning from a mission, flying over an area that they knew or should have known was being used for training.

For reasons pertaining to my civilian job, I have had to review the cockpit video ad nauseum.  It was horrifying the first, second, twentieth, hundredth time I watched it.  The simple fact of the matter is that Schmidt fired upon the Canadians after being told to wait by the AWACS.  The first thing he did when he saw the flash from the Canadians was to request permission to lay down some 20MM.  He was told to wait out.  He disobeyed those orders and chose to bomb the Canadians.  Within seconds (3.8, to be precise I believe), he was told by the AWACS that he just dropped on friendlies.  It was immediately after that moment that Schmidt started to create the story about being fired upon so as to cover his ***. It was only after he let his bombs loose that he claimed he was coming under fire, seeking clarification from his lead that he could *see* the tracers (which would have been impossible at the altitude he was flying (10000 m). 

My legal opinion is that Schmidt should have been charged with homicide, or at a minimum, manslaughter.  I think there is a very real chance that he could have been convicted of homicide.  He had the intent to kill but was willfullly blind as to the identity of his victim.  He got off easy and then had the unmitigated gall to stick around so that he could get in enough time flying a desk after the incident so that he could be fully pensionable.  What a piece of crap.

Unger took his punishment as he should have. 

 

[scoutfinch]

I feel it is incumbent on me to reproduce a copy of the reprimand Schmidt received from Lt-Gen Carlson whcih I believe was issued in July 2004.  This is the document released for which he is suing the USAF for damaging his *reputation*:

"You are hereby reprimanded. You flagrantly disregarded a direct order from the controlling agency, exercised a total lack of basic flight discipline over your aircraft, and blatantly ignored the applicable rules of engagement and special instructions. Your wilful misconduct directly caused the most egregious consequences imaginable, the deaths of four coalition soldiers and injury to eight others. The victims of your callous misbehaviour were from one of our staunch allies in Operation Enduring Freedom and were your comrades-in-arms.

"You acted shamefully on 17 April 2002 over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, exhibiting arrogance and a lack of flight discipline. When your flight lead warned you to "make sure it's not friendlies" and the Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft controller directed you to "stand by" and later to "hold fire," you should have marked the location with your targeting pod. Thereafter, if you believed, as you stated, you and your leader were threatened, you should have taken a series of evasive actions and remained at a safe distance to await further instructions from AWACS. Instead, you closed on the target and blatantly disobeyed the direction to "hold fire." Your failure to follow that order is inexcusable. I do not believe you acted in defence of Maj. Umbach or yourself. Your actions indicate that you used your self-defence declaration as a pretext to strike a target, which you rashly decided was an enemy firing position, and about which you had exhausted your patience in waiting for clearance from the Combined Air Operations Center to engage. You used the inherent right of self-defence as an excuse to wage your own war.

"In your personal presentation before me on 1 July 2004, I was astounded that you portrayed yourself as a victim of the disciplinary process without expressing heartfelt remorse over the deaths and injuries you caused to the members of the Canadian Forces. In fact, you were obviously angry that the United States Air Force had dared to question your actions during the 17 April 2002 tragedy. Far from providing any defence for your actions, the written materials you presented to me at the hearing only served to illustrate the degree to which you lacked flight discipline as a wingman of COFFEE Flight on 17 April 2002.

Through your arrogance, you undermined one of the most sophisticated weapons systems in the world, consisting of the Combined Air Operations Center, the Airborne Warning and Control System, and highly disciplined pilots, all of whom must work together in an integrated fashion to achieve combat goals. The United States Air Force is a major contributor to military victories over our nation's enemies because our pilots possess superior flight discipline. However, your actions on the night of 17 April 2002 demonstrate an astonishing lack of flight discipline. You were blessed with an aptitude for aviation, your nation provided you the best aviation training on the planet, and you acquired combat expertise in previous armed conflicts. However, by your gross poor judgment, you ignored your training and your duty to exercise flight discipline, and the result was tragic. I have no faith in your abilities to perform in a combat environment.

"I am concerned about more than your poor airmanship; I am also greatly concerned about your officership and judgment. Our Air Force core values stress "integrity first." Following the engagement in question, you lied about the reasons why you engaged the target after you were directed to hold fire and then you sought to blame others. You had the right to remain silent, but not the right to lie. In short, the final casualty of the engagement over Kandahar on 17 April 2002 was your integrity."

 

[043]

What would you label it as? Friendly Fire? Does that make it any better? Do you think the families of those dead soldiers would say it feels any different if it's called something else? It was deemed to be murder, since Maj. Schmidt disobeyed direct orders and dropped his 500lbs LGB and blew 4 soldiers to pieces and injured several more. He was found guilty of dereliction of duty and disobeying orders and some other things also.

Maybe you should read the book on how and what happened and then make an informed decision.

Maybe you should get your head out of your ***?

Pte,

Maybe one day you will understand. I am not even going to qualify my previous statement here.  When you get more than 15 months service......wait, you are a reservist.........ah never mind.

While unfortunate that it happened, I disagree that it was murder.

Chimo!

 

[2 Cdo]

Pte,

Maybe one day you will understand. I am not even going to qualify my previous statement here.  When you get more than 15 months service......wait, you are a reservist.........ah never mind.

While unfortunate that it happened, I disagree that it was murder.

Some people need to get the anti-American blinders off! Did Schmidt screw up, yes! Does he deserve to go to jail for murder, of course not.

Scoutfinch, I too have seen the cockpit video umpteen times. I too have read the book "Friendly Fire", and did not come to any conclusions that Schmidt should have been charged with murder. Of course he screwed up, but just like our Somalia investigation debacle, as soon as screw-ups from a higher source were starting to be hinted at, everything ended. Schmidt was the lowest man on the totem pole, but he was not the only one who screwed up! That is what I gleaned from the book.
All of that being said, I do agree with the content of the reprimand, that Schmidt was an arrogant and reckless individual and should never fly again.

 

[JBP]

Fair enough that you folks believe he shouldn't be charged/jailed for something as serious as murder... What about these basic facts even?

First off, he was flying at 20,000 feet. The weapons being trained with that night have a maximum range of what... Let's say 2000Meters at FARTHES. He or his wingman were at no time in any danger from those weapons, even if the boys on the range fired them straight into the air! And as stated in that book and many times else where, thier "immediate action" drills were to evade enemy fire and seek a higher/safer altitude if being engaged. He did neither. Also, thier "hard deck" that night was 10,000ft. They were not to go below that height unless specifically given permission or in self-defence etc... He had to actually physically FLY the aircraft below 10,000ft to engage the soldiers with his 500lbs laser guided munition. There were some communication problems between the Fighters and thier controller (AWACS) but not to the extend that would enable them to fire. They were told not to fire...

Regardless, it was blantant ignorance, several times of the regulations and rules set down and he got off WAY easier then one of our flyboys would have I bet if they smoked some Americans or other coalition soldiers at that point.

Maybe he doesn't need to go to jail for murder, but he did need to go to jail.

Some people need to get the anti-American blinders off!

There was no anti-Americanism involved in this, simple facts and figures.

 

[Strike]

Obviously we all see Schmidt as being an idiot who believes he is the one getting the raw deal.

Unfortunately, there are serveral groups of people who have backed or are currently backing him.  Some friends were off to an air show in the US where one of the parties being held was to raise money for the man's defence.  I'm not sure if there still is, but there used to be a site where one could donate to pay his defence bills.

Very sad indeed.

http://www100.state.il.us/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=1908
http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=1937
http://jagmire.blogspot.com/
http://www.ucimc.org/newswire/display/7730/index.php

I could go on...

(edited to include links)

 

[JBP]

Okay, fine. I do see what your getting at Piper, I do. Basically "fog of war".... Yeah.... And yes, I do feel very strongly about this issue.

Now in response to this portion:

Quote
Regardless, it was blantant ignorance, several times of the regulations and rules set down and he got off WAY easier then one of our flyboys would have I bet if they smoked some Americans or other coalition soldiers at that point.

Bulls***, you don't know that for certain.

Remember what happened to a certain Airborne Regiment when a couple key individuals FUBAR'd things up? Yep... I know, almost comparing apples to oranges but you see MY point I'm sure as well...

Said turd really pisses me off I suppose is the last point I'll stick out in this thread. I guess that's apparent. It just really irks me every time I read about our guys being all chewed up. Every time it eats away at me slightly more, I can't imagine what it would be like to loose a fellow soldier I trained/lived with. Must be horrible. I hope none of us have to go through that but I imagine at one time or another we'll have to, and deal with it then.

 

[Strike]

It seems that the issue that upsets people most is that the soldiers were conducting training when they were hit.  When a soldier gets caught up in the crossfire and there is blue on blue, it is a different story all together.  That's when you can start talking about the "fog of war".

Just a pilot's opinion of course.

 

[JBP]

It seems that the issue that upsets people most is that the soldiers were conducting training when they were hit.  When a soldier gets caught up in the crossfire and there is blue on blue, it is a different story all together.  That's when you can start talking about the "fog of war".

Just a pilot's opinion of course.

I was going to try and point that out Strike, but I don't think I could have said it as subtely as you or as diplomatically... I would basically have said BU*LSHIT on fog of war idea but he's right, I've never been in any theatre of conflict and I would probably be damn trigger happy as well....

Joe

 

[2 Cdo]

I would basically have said BU*LSHIT on fog of war idea but he's right, I've never been in any theatre of conflict and I would probably be damn trigger happy as well

And it was for this reason you were told to remove your head from your posterior!

I can't imagine what it would be like to loose a fellow soldier I trained/lived with. Must be horrible. I hope none of us have to go through that but I imagine at one time or another we'll have to, and deal with it then.

Have gone through this many times over the years and yes it doesn't get any easier, but to attempt to call a screw-up "murder" shows that you weren't thinking rationally, just emotionally!

 

[LIKELY]

.....wait, you are a reservist.........

Was totally on your side till that crap!

 

[Scott]

I hope that remark was in jest.

Reserve/Reg wars and bashing are not tolerated here.

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/24937.0.html