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U.S. F-16 pilot reprimanded and fined for 'Friendly fire'
July 7, 2004 (by
Lieven Dewitte) -
A U.S. F-16 pilot who mistakenly bombed a group of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in, killing four, was found guilty Tuesday of dereliction of duty and was fined $5,672 for an act that a military commander characterized as shameful.
Illinois Air National Guard pilot Major Harry Schmidt, 38, was found guilty Tuesday of dereliction of duty and was docked a month's pay after he was also reprimanded by an Air Force general
The reprimand from Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson was unusual in its blunt criticism of the Illinois F-16 pilot. It said Schmidt should have taken evasive action rather than attack and accused him of lying about the reasons he engaged the target after he was told to hold fire.
"Your actions indicate that you used your self-defense 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," Carlson wrote in the reprimand, released Tuesday. "You used the inherent right of self-defense as an excuse to wage your own war."
"You had the right to remain silent, but not the right to lie," he wrote.
"You acted shamefully on 17 April 2002 over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, exhibiting arrogance and a lack of flight discipline," Carlson also wrote.
The general blasted Schmidt, a former Navy Top Gun instructor, for failing to heed another pilot, his ''flight lead,'' who warned "make sure it's not friendlies." Schmidt also ignored an Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft controller's direction to "stand by" and later to "hold fire," Carlson wrote.
In videotape of the mission taken from Schmidt's F-16, he can be heard telling air controllers that he and his mission commander were under attack and requesting permission to open fire with his 20 mm cannon.
"Hold fire,'' an air controller responded. Four seconds later, Schmidt said: "It looks like a piece of artillery firing at us. I'm rolling in, in self-defense.'' He released a 500-pound, laser-guided bomb 39 seconds after the "hold fire'' order.
"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," Gen. Carlson stated in his reprimand.
"Your willful misconduct directly caused the most egregious consequence imaginable, the deaths of four coalition soldiers and injury to eight others. The victims of your callous misbehavior were from one of our staunch allies in Operation Enduring Freedom and were your comrades in arms," the general wrote.
Charles Gittins, Maj. Schmidt's civilian attorney, reacted angrily to the reprimand, calling its language "over the top." Mr. Gittins had argued that the Air Force sought to punish the pilot solely to soothe a NATO ally. He contends that no pilot was treated so harshly in other "friendly fire" deaths in the war on terror.
The general also criticized Schmidt for failing to express remorse about the deaths of the Canadians: "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 members of the Canadian Forces."
Maureen Decaire, mother of one of the Canadians injured in the bombing, said she understands that Schmidt did not intend to cause harm, but the decision still leaves her unsatisfied.
"I would like to see him accept responsibility, which I don't think has happened,'' she said.
Schmidt is allowed to remain in the Air National Guard for three more years until he retires but although he will continue to receive his flight-grade pay he will never fly Air Force jets again.
"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," the General wrote.
Charles W. Gittins, attorney, said he is considering an appeal and repeated his claim that Schmidt was made a scapegoat for his commanders' poor planning. He said the reprimand amounted to an unfair conviction for murder.
He said his client and himself are shocked by the decision, calling the accident a product of senior leadership's failure to adequately plan and execute missions in Afghanistan.
"By placing the blame at the lowest possible level, the lowest-ranked American in the chain, the Air Force has protected the criminal negligence of its general officer corps," Gittins said. "This bodes ill for the rank-and-file USAF combat aviator. They can expect to be sacrificed for the careerist generals who claim to be Air Force leaders but lack the moral courage to stand up and do what is right."
He also said the crew of an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) plane never issued what would constitute a direct order not to fire and, in fact, said he was cleared for self-defense after the bombing.
Three Air Force combat pilots who reviewed the case submitted statements saying Maj. Schmidt had acted reasonably.
"Because of a failure of aircraft command and control run by generals, Harry made an honest mistake," Mr. Gittins said. "It was not criminal and should not be criminalized as such. The reprimand is an affront to everyone who flies military aircraft."
Gen. Carlson took a decidedly different view.
Schmidt even launched his own web site, harryschmidt.org, defending his actions and urging supporters to demand that their elected representatives ''stand up for Major Schmidt.''
Schmidt, a former "Top Gun'' instructor, had blamed the bombing on the "fog of war,'' saying he mistook the Canadians' gunfire for an attack by Taliban forces. He said his superiors never told him the Canadians would be conducting live-fire exercises near Kandahar airport that night.
He was originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault, but the charges were reduced last year to dereliction of duty.
Gittins said an Air Force-issued amphetamine given to pilots to help them stay awake on long missions might have impaired the pilot's judgment. However, Col. Richard Harding, a judge advocate general with the Air Force, said Gittins presented no evidence regarding the pills in last week's hearing.
Schmidt's mission commander, Maj. William Umbach, who was in a second F-16, also was charged with assault and manslaughter. Those charges were dismissed last summer, and he was reprimanded for command failures and allowed to retire.
The case against the two Illinois National Guardsmen has been closely watched in Canada, where many were outraged by the bombing and the two days it took President Bush to publicly apologize.
A Canadian Department of National Defence board of inquiry found the pilots to blame for the bombing. Heather Brunner, a spokeswoman for the department, said Canadian officials were declining to comment on the appropriateness of the punishment.
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The reprimand from Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson was unusual in its blunt criticism of the Illinois F-16 pilot. It said Schmidt should have taken evasive action rather than attack and accused him of lying about the reasons he engaged the target after he was told to hold fire.
"Your actions indicate that you used your self-defense 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," Carlson wrote in the reprimand, released Tuesday. "You used the inherent right of self-defense as an excuse to wage your own war."
"You had the right to remain silent, but not the right to lie," he wrote.
"You acted shamefully on 17 April 2002 over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, exhibiting arrogance and a lack of flight discipline," Carlson also wrote.
The general blasted Schmidt, a former Navy Top Gun instructor, for failing to heed another pilot, his ''flight lead,'' who warned "make sure it's not friendlies." Schmidt also ignored an Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft controller's direction to "stand by" and later to "hold fire," Carlson wrote.
In videotape of the mission taken from Schmidt's F-16, he can be heard telling air controllers that he and his mission commander were under attack and requesting permission to open fire with his 20 mm cannon.
"Hold fire,'' an air controller responded. Four seconds later, Schmidt said: "It looks like a piece of artillery firing at us. I'm rolling in, in self-defense.'' He released a 500-pound, laser-guided bomb 39 seconds after the "hold fire'' order.
"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," Gen. Carlson stated in his reprimand.
"Your willful misconduct directly caused the most egregious consequence imaginable, the deaths of four coalition soldiers and injury to eight others. The victims of your callous misbehavior were from one of our staunch allies in Operation Enduring Freedom and were your comrades in arms," the general wrote.
Charles Gittins, Maj. Schmidt's civilian attorney, reacted angrily to the reprimand, calling its language "over the top." Mr. Gittins had argued that the Air Force sought to punish the pilot solely to soothe a NATO ally. He contends that no pilot was treated so harshly in other "friendly fire" deaths in the war on terror.
The general also criticized Schmidt for failing to express remorse about the deaths of the Canadians: "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 members of the Canadian Forces."
Maureen Decaire, mother of one of the Canadians injured in the bombing, said she understands that Schmidt did not intend to cause harm, but the decision still leaves her unsatisfied.
"I would like to see him accept responsibility, which I don't think has happened,'' she said.
Schmidt is allowed to remain in the Air National Guard for three more years until he retires but although he will continue to receive his flight-grade pay he will never fly Air Force jets again.
"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," the General wrote.
Charles W. Gittins, attorney, said he is considering an appeal and repeated his claim that Schmidt was made a scapegoat for his commanders' poor planning. He said the reprimand amounted to an unfair conviction for murder.
He said his client and himself are shocked by the decision, calling the accident a product of senior leadership's failure to adequately plan and execute missions in Afghanistan.
"By placing the blame at the lowest possible level, the lowest-ranked American in the chain, the Air Force has protected the criminal negligence of its general officer corps," Gittins said. "This bodes ill for the rank-and-file USAF combat aviator. They can expect to be sacrificed for the careerist generals who claim to be Air Force leaders but lack the moral courage to stand up and do what is right."
He also said the crew of an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) plane never issued what would constitute a direct order not to fire and, in fact, said he was cleared for self-defense after the bombing.
Three Air Force combat pilots who reviewed the case submitted statements saying Maj. Schmidt had acted reasonably.
"Because of a failure of aircraft command and control run by generals, Harry made an honest mistake," Mr. Gittins said. "It was not criminal and should not be criminalized as such. The reprimand is an affront to everyone who flies military aircraft."
Gen. Carlson took a decidedly different view.
Schmidt even launched his own web site, harryschmidt.org, defending his actions and urging supporters to demand that their elected representatives ''stand up for Major Schmidt.''
Schmidt, a former "Top Gun'' instructor, had blamed the bombing on the "fog of war,'' saying he mistook the Canadians' gunfire for an attack by Taliban forces. He said his superiors never told him the Canadians would be conducting live-fire exercises near Kandahar airport that night.
He was originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault, but the charges were reduced last year to dereliction of duty.
Gittins said an Air Force-issued amphetamine given to pilots to help them stay awake on long missions might have impaired the pilot's judgment. However, Col. Richard Harding, a judge advocate general with the Air Force, said Gittins presented no evidence regarding the pills in last week's hearing.
Schmidt's mission commander, Maj. William Umbach, who was in a second F-16, also was charged with assault and manslaughter. Those charges were dismissed last summer, and he was reprimanded for command failures and allowed to retire.
The case against the two Illinois National Guardsmen has been closely watched in Canada, where many were outraged by the bombing and the two days it took President Bush to publicly apologize.
A Canadian Department of National Defence board of inquiry found the pilots to blame for the bombing. Heather Brunner, a spokeswoman for the department, said Canadian officials were declining to comment on the appropriateness of the punishment.
Related articles:
- F-16 pilots avoid charges for manslaughter - Thursday, June 19, 2003
- F-16 pilot won't face court-martial - Wednesday, June 30, 2004
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