Should these fly boys be prosecuted?

The article is here:

Charges in 'Friendly Fire' Case

Military: Two U.S. pilots are accused in deaths of Canadians, the first prosecution of its kind.

By ESTHER SCHRADER, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force has charged two F-16 pilots with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault for their roles in a bombing that killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, the service said Friday. It is the first time the military has leveled criminal charges related to a "friendly fire" incident in wartime.

The pilots, both members of an Illinois Air National Guard unit in Springfield, have been recalled to active duty to face the charges in military court, the Air Force said.

Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach both were charged Wednesday with four counts of manslaughter and eight counts of aggravated assault as well as dereliction of duty. Schmidt dropped the 500-pound bomb that caused the deaths; Umbach was his flight commander in charge of their mission.

The dead men were the first Canadian soldiers killed in a combat zone since the Korean War. The April attack, which also injured eight Canadians, was one of the worst such incidents in the war in Afghanistan. No one has been charged in a December incident in which three Green Berets and about 25 of their Afghan allies were killed in an accidental bombing near Kandahar.

The decision to file criminal charges follows months of controversy over the bombing, which was protested vigorously by the government of Canada, one of the United States' staunchest allies. Investigations by the Canadian and U.S. militaries had recommended that both pilots face a hearing to decide whether criminal charges should be filed.

If convicted on all the charges, Schmidt faces a maximum sentence of 64 years and six months, and Umbach of 64 years and three months, said Maj. Ted Wadsworth, a Pentagon spokesman.

Only once before has a U.S. service member been charged in relation to a friendly fire incident. In that case, the peacetime downing of two Army Black Hawk helicopters over northern Iraq by an Air Warning and Control System aircraft in April 1994, a radar officer was acquitted of all charges.

Military legal analysts said the unprecedented nature of the charges in wartime raised questions about whether they may have resulted from diplomatic or political pressure.

"I'm not trying to exonerate these men, but given all the bombing that was going on [in Afghanistan] of civilians and of our own troops, you have to ask yourself, why are these guys being singled out? ... And the answer is, they killed foreign troops from an ally," said Francis A. Boyle, a professor of international law and expert on the laws of war at University of Illinois College of Law, in Champaign.

The charges are also unusual because both pilots are National Guardsmen who had been called up temporarily for duty in Afghanistan. Critics of the increased demands being placed on members of the reserves and National Guard in the last decade have speculated that some reserve pilots may not have the same levels of training or experience as their active-duty counterparts.

But Schmidt and Umbach were seasoned combat pilots. Schmidt, who dropped the laser-guided bomb after seeing what looked to him like flashes of gunfire, is a former Navy F-18 Hornet pilot and a former F-15 instructor pilot at the Navy's elite Top Gun weapons school. Umbach is a United Airlines pilot who flew F-16 sorties on weekends.

Both are members of the 183rd Fighter Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard and were temporarily assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Group when the incident occurred.

Charles W. Gittins, a Virginia lawyer representing Schmidt, said in a statement that although his client "regrets" that Canadian troops were killed and injured, he "honestly and reasonably believed" he was acting in self-defense.

The statement noted the unprecedented nature of the charges. "Unfortunately, this action may have the unintended effect of causing unnecessary American casualties in the future as combat air crews may hesitate to exercise their right of self-defense," it said. The charges, it said, may be driven by "an inappropriate political agenda."

Neither Umbach nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

Lloyd Smith, the father of Nathan Smith, one of the Canadian soldiers killed while participating in a nighttime training exercise near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, said Friday from his home in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, that he is not interested in revenge, but accountability.

"I can't bring him back, so the best I can do in his memory is to make sure that it can't happen again," Smith said.

A military investigation into the bombing released in its entirety for the first time Friday found that Schmidt thought he was under attack from the ground when he dropped the bomb. But instead of leaving the area to assess the threat and plan a possible counterstrike, as procedures dictate, Schmidt and the pilot of a second plane rushed to attack, the investigation found.

In fact, a radar plane alerted Schmidt that "potential friendlies were in the area," but the warning came too late--seconds after Schmidt had declared he was firing in self-defense and dropped the bomb.

A Canadian investigation found that muzzle flashes from the training mission by the Canadian soldiers were so far below the U.S. pilots that they posed "no threat" to the planes.

Canadian officials declined to comment on the charges Friday. A statement released by Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum praised the work of the U.S. and Canadian investigatory bodies.

"We had a very good working relationship with American authorities throughout the entire process," McCallum said in the statement.

The case is being reviewed by Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force. He has three main options: dismiss the charges, prosecute the men in a general court-martial, or convene a special court-martial in which the maximum penalty the pilots would face would be six months in jail and bad conduct discharges from the Air Force, Wadsworth said.

If Carlson chooses a general court-martial, the charges would be heard first under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is similar to the grand jury process in civilian courts.

According to the U.S. report, the pilots of the two F-16s were finishing a routine patrol when, flying near Kandahar, they saw the muzzle flashes on the ground below. It is unclear why they didn't know that Canadian infantry troops were conducting an exercise using live ammunition and small arms in a designated training area.

I'm torn on this issue. On the one hand, these guys breached procedure and the rules of engagement, and innocent people died, which is precisely the risk you run when you don't follow procedure in handling that much firepower. OTOH, this is unprecedented despite the fact that friendly fire incidents have occurred many, many times before.

From what I understand, this has been a huge issue in Canada, and has occupied their front pages ever since this happened. They've even leveled accusations against the military to the effect that we feed our guys amphetamines to fight fatigue, but what that actually does is make them jumpy, making incidents like this more likely.

Yes, the rules are stricter in the military, and prosecution is easier. But my concern here is that the real reason behind this prosecution is political, not military/criminal.

I'd be interested to hear what you guys in the military, like Air Sarge, think about this.

Hey Redman,

Like you, I'm torn. There have been friendly fire incidents since the dawn of time. It sucks, but it happens. The thing is, unless you are the one in that ****pit being shot at, it's hard to judge this one. Yeah, they broke procedures, and if they had disengaged and reassessed, things obviously would have been different. But at the same time, if those had been unfriendlies, they could have sent a SAM toward our guys in that time. Our guys are trained to be aggressive and to respond to threats with immediate and overwhelming force. I'm glad they are trained that way, otherwise our Air Force would be a waste. Plus, I think this sets a bad precedent. If every guy that screws up is fried, there are going to be less and less people willing to do the job. If it were up to me, I would throw money at the Canucks (not that that brings anyone back, but it helps) and give the flyboys an reprimand. That's just in Sarge's world. Maybe that's why I'm not a twenty star general by now

Redman,

I pretty much forgot to answer the question, didn't I? Not knowing all the circumstances and evidence and having read as little about the situation as I have, I would venture to say that by the UCMJ ( Uniform Code of Military Justices) these guys will probably be found guilty of at least some of the charges. They will receive just enough punishment to be made an example of, but not enough to scare everyone off, just be a little more careful.

Thanks for the insight. It looks like you and I are in the same page - or should I say fence - on this one. It's a tough situation for those guys.

I've never served, but as my father (former Marine) always says, the military is paid to kill people and break things. So it's hard to blame and punish them when they do just that.

Truly, when you unleash the proverbial dogs of war, you lose an element of control over some protection of innocent human life. What one hopes is that the decision to wage war in the first place is well-founded enough to ultimately end up bettering far more people than hurting them.

In regard to the prosecution of these men there has been a great deal of press coverage in Canada about it. I dont think anyone in Canada wants these two men to serve hard time. There was an article about one of fathers of the deceased and he basically said that they should not be put in jail. I can find it if you would like.

I think taking away their flight privilages, giving them a reprimand and just making sure that this incident was a fluke and not the norm would be enough to satisfy most of the families of the deceased.

Agreed Sarge. did my 4 years in Homestead too many years ago and dad was a 26 year man in the Army as a chopper pilot. An example of what not to do will be made. Certainly some poitics involved. Not the first time.

redman,

Sounds like they screwed up. As I said above, and contrary to public belief that the military covers things like this up, I think you'll find an example will be made of this. Like I said though, they'll get busted, but hey ain't hurtin' flying for United, so they will be put out, and we will be less two fighter pilots.

exPilots charged in friendly-fire deaths of Canadian soldiers

09/13/02 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Criminal charges were preferred Sept. 11 against the two Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots involved in the friendly-fire deaths of four Canadian soldiers and injuries of eight others April 17 near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

RELATED LINKS

Tarnak Farms friendly fire incident summary of facts

Brig. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant

F-16 Fighting Falcon

The pilots, members of the170th Fighter Squadron, based in Springfield, Ill., and part of the 183rd Fighter Wing, have been recalled to active duty in response to the charges.

Maj. Harry Schmidt is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of assault. He is also charged with failing to exercise appropriate flight discipline and with not complying with the rules of engagement in the Afghanistan area of operations. The charges were filed under Articles 119, 128 and 92, respectively, of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Maj. William Umbach was also charged under the same articles. He also faces the allegation that as flight commander he negligently failed to exercise appropriate flight command and control and to ensure compliance with the rules of engagement.

According to the investigation board's summary of facts, the pilots were returning from a mission when the flight lead noticed what he described as fireworks coming from an area a few miles south of Kandahar. Perceiving this as surface-to-air fire directed against them, they asked an Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft for permission to obtain coordinates of the site.

While attempting to get the coordinates, the wingman requested permission to fire on the location with his 20 mm cannon. The AWACS aircraft controllers told him to standby, later requesting additional information on the surface-to-air fire and directing him to hold fire. The wingman gave the information and immediately declared that he was "rolling in in self-defense." He then released a 500-pound laser-guided bomb that hit a Canadian firing position at the Tarnak Farms Range.

The four Canadians who were killed and the eight wounded were participating in a night live-fire training exercise at the range. The wounded soldiers were immediately evacuated from the area for medical treatment.

When the two F-16s landed, the pilots were told they had released a bomb on friendly forces.

Brig. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant, the co-president of the Coalition Investigation Board that examined the friendly-fire incident, preferred the charges.