Friendly Fire Pilots 'Pressured' to Use Uppers

[boulder]

New Orleans -- A lawyer for one of two U.S. pilots who dropped a bomb killing four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan last April says the U.S. air force had pressured the pilots to take amphetamines that may have impaired their judgment during the mission.

 

Majs. Harry Schmidt and William Umbach face a possible court-martial for dropping the laser- guided bomb near Kandahar on April 18. A U.S. air force investigation determined the pilots ``demonstrated poor airmanship" and ignored standard procedure by not making sure there were no allied troops in the area.

 

But Umbach's lawyer, David Beck, said he will prove at a Jan. 13 hearing on whether to court-martial the pilots that the U.S. air force routinely pressures pilots to take dexamphetamine, a prescription drug also known as "go pills." He said the drug can impair judgment and is not recommended for people operating heavy equipment.

 

The U.S. air force prevents pilots from flying if they refuse to take the pills, Beck said.

 

U.S. air force spokeswoman Lieut. Jennifer Ferrau acknowledged the pills are used as a "fatigue management tool" to help pilots stay alert through long missions. But she said the use of the pills is voluntary, and that their effects have been thoroughly tested.

 

"There have been decades of study on their efficacy and practicality," she said. "The surgeon general worked very closely with commanders on this."

 

On Dec. 20, ABC News 20/20 reported that at the time of the mistaken bombing, Schmidt and Umbach had been under the influence of Dexedrine, also called "go pills" which are regularly distributed to U.S. air force pilots. ABC said they are known on the street as speed or uppers and are illegal narcotics.

 

"This is speed," Dr. Robert DuPont, former White House drug czar, told ABC. "This is where we got the phrase, `speed kills."'

 

Beck and Charles Gittins, Schmidt's lawyer, said the U.S. air force's investigation of the friendly-fire incident is full of errors. Beck said the pilots were not told in advance that allies were holding combat exercises, and that Schmidt dropped the bomb in self-defence after seeing gunfire on the ground.

 

"What happened was a terrible tragedy. You don't honour (the victims) by wrongfully prosecuting these pilots," Beck said. "This is political appeasement of Canadians who are angry."

 

Ferrau said U.S. air force officials would not comment on specifics of the case.

 

On the night of the bombing, 15 Canadian soldiers were practising anti-tank attacks with live ammunition at Tarnak Farm, a former Al-Qaeda training camp.

 

A Canadian report released last June said the soldiers were using firearms ranging from sidearms to shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons.

 

Schmidt and Umbach were flying F-16s toward their base after six hours of a mission in which "no significant events occurred," the air force report said.

 

Just after midnight, they spotted gunfire on the ground and reported it to flight controllers. One of the pilots asked for permission to fire his 20-millimetre cannon and was told to wait, according to the air force investigators' report.

 

Sixteen seconds later, Schmidt reported surface-to-air fire and said he was going to "roll in," or attack the shooters.

 

"I've got some men on a road and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us," Umbach said, according to the report. "I am rolling in, in self defence."

 

Schmidt released the bomb, which landed about one metre from a Canadian machine gun crew. Killed instantly were Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pvt. Richard Green and Pvt. Nathan Smith.

 

The U.S. air force report said Schmidt soon asked controllers, ``Can you confirm that they were shooting at us?"

 

The controller did not answer, but said "friendlies" could be on the ground nearby, the report said. The controller told Schmidt and Umbach to return to their base.

 

Air force investigators concluded that Schmidt and Umbach should have left the area when they spotted gunfire to allow time to determine its source. Remaining in the area led to the pilots' misperception that they were under attack, the investigators said.

 

The pilots' lawyers said Schmidt and Umbach had good reason to believe they were being attacked.

 

Beck said it's unusual for troops to conduct night exercises in a combat zone.

 

"How dare you do a training exercise at night in a combat zone?" Beck said. "And how dare you not tell the pilots?"

 

The deaths were Canada's first combat fatalities since the Korean War and were mourned publicly for months across the country. They sparked a national debate about the country's role in the U.S.-led war on terror and became the top news story of 2002, as voted by newspaper editors and broadcasters in an annual survey by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News.

 

Beck said air force officers should take the blame for the bombing, because their communications system did not inform the pilots that the gunfire came from allies.

 

After the hearing, a recommendation on whether to court-martial the pilots will be delivered to Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th air force, who will make the final decision.

 

Schmidt and Umbach face charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and dereliction of duty. If convicted of all charges, they face a maximum of 64 years in military prison.

[pipeman]

Whatever happens those pilots don't deserve to go to jail. If they are found negligent then discharge them, but you can't hold a man criminally accountable for a mistake made in an act of war.

 

If they want to throw someone in jail it should be the polititions who sent them there.