ARCHIVES OF FRIENDLY FIRE NEWS RELEASES - 2002.

Illinois governor helps raise money for 'friendly fire' pilots

Oct. 24 2002

SPRINGFIELD, IL. - The governor of Illinois has opened his official residence for a fundraiser in support of the two U.S. pilots charged with killing four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of tickets were sold, at $50 each, for Wednesday evening's event at the governor's mansion in Springfield.

Gov. George Ryan has thrown his support behind Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach. Both men were charged in September with involuntary manslaughter. Money raised at the mansion event will go toward their legal costs.

On April 17, Schmidt, who was under Umbach's command, dropped a 220-kilogram bomb on Canadian troops engaged in a live-fire training exercise near Kandahar.

The bomb killed four members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and wounded eight more.

The Illinois Air National Guard pilots said they thought the muzzle flares they saw from the air were hostile fire. Investigations by both Canadian and U.S. authorities concluded the pilots were at fault in the incident.

The pilots' attorneys said on Monday they want a new investigation, and have written to the head of the Air Force to ask for one.

Residents of Springfield, where the pilots are based, have told reporters they support the pilots and don't believe they should be prosecuted as criminals for an incident that occurred under the fog of war.

Written by CBC News Online staff

US pilots face hearing in 4 deaths.

Friday Sept. 20, 2002

By Free Press news services. The London Free Press

WASHINGTON - A US military court will press ahead with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges against two Illinois Air National Guard fighter pilots involved in a mistaken bombing of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. The hearing could lead to court-martial proceedings against the pilots.

The decision to hold the hearing was made last Friday but not publicly announced, said Lieut. Jennifer Ferrau, a spokesperson at 8th Air Force headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Early that day, the Pentagon said the manslaughter and assault charges had been filed.

Ferrau said a date has not been set for the hearing, to be held at Barksdale, nor has a decision been made about whether the hearing will be open to news coverage.

The decision to proceed with what the military calls an Article 32 hearing -- similar to a grand jury proceeding in the civilian justice system -- was made by Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force. Carlson could have dismissed the charges or opted for non-judicial punishment of the pilots.

Ferrau said Carlson had not yet decided whether the cases of the pilots, Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach, would be heard jointly or separately.

Schmidt and Umbach stand accused of poor airmanship and judgment and failing to follow procedures in the April 18 accident. Saying he mistook the Canadian soldiers for enemy forces, Schmidt dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on their nighttime training exercise, killing four and wounding eight. Umbach was his flight commander in charge of the mission.

Manslaughter charges for Pilots goes before hearing.

Sept. 13, 2002

I just heard on CBC TV today at 10:04 am, that the charges against the 2 pilots will go before a hearing. The charges are involuntary manslaughter. More soon.

Controller 'cleared' US pilots after friendly fire

By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES ........(His article is no longer up)

Moments after an American pilot dropped a bomb that accidentally killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in April, an air controller told him, "You're cleared. Self-defense," according to a transcript of the communication obtained by The Washington Times.

The F-16 fighter pilot who dropped the bomb, Maj. Harry Schmidt, and his lead pilot, Maj. William Umbach, are expected to cite this clearance in their defense as the military decides whether they should face criminal charges.

A joint US - Canadian investigative board blamed both pilots for the April 17 "friendly fire," Canada's first combat deaths since the Korean War a half-century ago.

"I've got some men on a road, and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us," Maj. Schmidt says on the radio to Maj. Umbach and a controller on an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) jet.

"I am rolling in in self-defense," Maj. Schmidt, an Illinois Air National Guard pilot, says, according to the transcript.

The "artillery" was fire from Canadian ground troops undergoing live-fire training at the Tarnak Farms Range near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Neither pilot was told about the Canadian exercise that night before they left base for close-air support action. The Pentagon has declined to say whether the AWACS crew was made aware of the exercise.

After Maj. Umbach pinpointed the target, Maj. Schmidt dropped a 500-pound guided bomb.

"Can you confirm they were shooting us?" Maj. Schmidt then asks of the AWACS.

"You're cleared. Self-defense," a controller says.

The fact that the controller cleared the pilots after the bombing was not disclosed by US Central Command in June when it briefed reporters on the results of the Canadian-American investigation.

In another portion of the pilot-controller transcript, where Maj. Schmidt tells the AWACS he is "rolling in in self-defense," the controller does not tell him to stop. "Boss man copies," the controller says.

Charles Gittins, Maj. Schmidt's civilian defense attorney, said yesterday that the transcript shows a command failure, not pilot error.

"It shows that neither the air crew nor the AWACS were briefed about friendlies conducting a night live-fire exercise," said Mr. Gittins, a former Marine Corps aviator. "And that's a command-and-control failure, not an air crew failure."

Maj. Schmidt is a former Navy F-18 Hornet pilot and Top Gun instructor pilot. He transferred to the Air Force and is a full-time F-16 instructor pilot in the Air Guard.

A Central Command spokesman declined to comment on the communication.

"If that is accurate, that is one of the things that would be part of the determination to go forward, that we would document one way or another," said Lt. Col. Martin Compton.

The military investigative board stated "the cause of the friendly fire incident" was "the failure of the two pilots to exercise appropriate flight discipline, which resulted in a violation of the rules of engagement and an inappropriate use of lethal force."

The statement released by US Central Command, which runs the war in Afghanistan, specifically cited the pilots for going ahead with the attack after being told by the controller to "hold fire."

The investigation also cited "failings within the pilots' immediate command structures."

A source close to the investigation said this is an apparent reference to the fact that the Combined Air Operations Center did not brief the pilots on the Canadian exercise. The source said there has been a continuing problem during the war of ground forces not wanting to share operational details with the air component for fear that secret special-operations missions would leak out.

Gen. Tommy Franks, who leads Central Command, has turned over the case to his top Air Force officer, Lt. Gen. Michael Moseley, to decide what type of punishment, if any, the two officers should face. Gen. Moseley could hand out administrative punishment. He also has the option of convening an Article 32 hearing, a military version of a grand jury, that could lead to a court-martial.

On the night of April 17, when the two pilots spotted the fire, they had been in the air for six hours and were preparing to make the three-hour flight back to an airfield in Kuwait.

"Boss man," Maj. Schmidt says to the AWACS, "this is Coffee 52. I've got tally in the vicinity. Request permission to lay down some 20 mike [20 mm cannon]." "Let's just make sure it's not friendlies. That's all," says Maj. Umbach.

Maj. Schmidt: "When you've got a chance, put it on the spy. You've got a good hack on it." (The "spy" is a sensor.)

Later, Maj. Umbach, the lead pilot, says, "Check my sparkles. Check my sparkles. See if it looks good."

Maj. Schmidt: "I'm copying your sparkles well." ("Sparkle" is an infrared point to signify a ground target.) The pointer is visible only through night-vision goggles.

At this point, the AWACS says, "Hold fire. I need details on safire," a reference to surface-to-air fire. "I've got some men on a road, and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us," says Maj. Schmidt, who had begun evasive maneuvers. "I am rolling in in self-defense."

"Boss man copies," responds the AWACS.

Maj. Schmidt and Maj. Umbach then use lasers to pinpoint the target, and Maj. Schmidt releases the bomb.

"Shack," Maj. Schmidt exclaims as the bomb hits the target

"Can you confirm they were shooting us?" he asks.

"You're cleared. Self-defense," the controller responds.

Rowan's article is no longer up.

Families upset by conflicting Afghanistan bombing stories

Sat, 20 July 2002 14:53:45

OTTAWA - The relatives of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan are demanding that Ottawa clear up what really happened the night a US fighter bombed Canadian troops.

They say they're confused after a published report that seems to be at odds with two separate military inquiries into the April's tragedy.

The Washington Times says a transcript of a conversation between the pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt and an air controller apparently backs up the US pilot's decision to attack.

According to the transcript, Schmidt is first told to hold his fire. But then the pilot declares he is attacking in self-defense. After he drops the 225-kilogram bomb, an air controller states: "You're cleared. Self defense."

The full transcript has not been released, making it difficult to know if the controller knew whether the bomb had already been dropped. On Friday, Canadian defense officials and the Pentagon both refused to comment on the report.

Last month, an investigation by retired Canadian Gen. Maurice Baril blamed the deadly accident on pilot error. Washington conducted a separate inquiry that reached the same conclusion.

FROM JUNE 28, 2002: US

pilots disobeyed orders in deadly attack on Canadians

David Pratt, the Chair of the National Defense Committee, says it's too early to draw any conclusion because of lack of official information.

"The US government has released no information… with respect to whether these transcripts are bona fide," he told CBC Newsworld. "We're very much in the realm of speculation."

They're changing their story now

Families of the victims say they don't know what to believe.

"They're changing their story now," said Joyce Clooney of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, who lost her grandson, Ricky Green. "It seems to me as though they were trying to cover up mistakes."

Canadian Alliance MP Leon Benoit wants Baril called before the Commons Defense Committee to explain. "We find out from this transcript that in fact the information that was given to us was inaccurate," he said.

A spokesperson for the Defense Department says Canada wants to declassify more information to give a better picture of the tragedy as soon as possible.

Call for US pilot to be court-martialed

Friday, 28 Jun 2002 18:38:34

BRIDGEWATER, NS - At least one of the Canadian soldiers injured when a US jet mistakenly attacked them in Afghanistan wants the pilot responsible kicked out of the air force.

On Friday, two separate inquiries into April's fatal accident issued final reports. Investigators from both Canada and the United States blamed the tragedy on the Americans in the air.

Cpl. René Paquette, who was injured in the accident, is calling on Washington to court-martial the pilot who ignored direct orders and launched the attack

"I don't think he should fly again," Paquette said Friday. "You just don't ignore procedures and orders and expect to get away with it."

After listening to both inquiries' conclusions, Paquette said he's not satisfied the whole story has been made public. He wants to know exactly what led up to the deadly mistake April 18.

"I still want to know more of what the pilots were thinking. I still want to know why he was denied fire with his 20 millimeter (guns), and decided to up it and drop a 500-pound bomb instead."

Meanwhile, the grandmother of 21-year-old Pte. Richard Green, who was killed in the blast, wants the pilot to give her a direct apology.

Joyce Clooney said condolences from government officials and the words of lawyers aren't good enough.

"I would like them to look at us, to look into a camera, and say, 'I did this and I'm sorry.' He should be man enough to let us see what he looks like," Clooney said.

With tears welling in her eyes, she too called on Washington to kick the pilots out of the US military.

But Clooney said she doesn't think jail time or any other punishment is necessary or appropriate, saying her grandson would have wanted justice but not revenge

US pilot blamed for deaths of Canadians

Friday Jun 28 15:53:10 2002

OTTAWA - American pilots are solely at fault for the accidental bombing of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan earlier this year, according to defense officials in Ottawa.

Canada's final report into the tragedy was released Friday afternoon.

It clears Canadian soldiers of any blame, concluding that they had notified commanders and followed all rules when setting out on an overnight training exercise in April.

The report says the two US pilots wrongly assumed they were being attacked by the Canadians on the ground and were not authorized to fire back.

It says the Americans showed "failure of airmanship and technique" and a "failure of leadership" when they circled back over the Canadians and dropped a 225-kilogram bomb.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight injured when the laser-guided weapon exploded in the middle of the field they were in just after midnight April 18.

"Canadian troops conducting the live-fire exercise followed all appropriate procedures and regulations," said Defense Minister John McCallum. "The two American pilots contravened established procedures and were the direct cause of the incident."

US Air Force ponders punishment

As the Canadian inquiry's report was released, American investigators made their findings public Friday as well.

Washington also blames the fatal accident on "the failure of two pilots to exercise appropriate flight discipline," according to Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong.

Both men are now accused of "inappropriate use of lethal force," DeLong told reporters, and it will be up to the US Air Force to decide on appropriate punishment.

Problems with the F-16 crews' "immediate command structures" contributed to the tragedy, DeLong said, but he refused to elaborate. He also wouldn't say whether the pilots had been told about the Canadian training exercise before their mission that night.

DeLong, who is deputy commander of US Central Command in Florida, also would not say if the joint US - Canadian inquiry had recommended specific disciplinary action.

During their news conference, American officials stressed that relations between the US and Canadian military forces remain unchanged, despite the deadly mistake.

US pilot made mistakes in Afghan bombing: published report

Wed Jun 19 11:26:02 2002

TORONTO - A US military investigation says an American pilot who dropped a bomb on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan did not follow proper procedures, according to The New York Times.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight were injured during the April incident, which occurred during a night live-fire training exercise.

The Times story, published Wednesday, says a 1,500-page classified report concludes that the Illinois Air National Guard pilot did not take the time to properly assess the threat before firing.

The pilot, who believed he was under attack from the ground, failed to leave the area to assess the threat and plan a counterstrike, as procedures require. Instead, he and the pilot of a second plane rushed to attack before the target was confirmed.

According to the Times, which quotes unidentified military officials, a surveillance aircraft alerted the pilot that "potential friendlies were in the area." But the warning came seconds after the pilot dropped the 225-kilogram bomb on the Canadians.

The Times report says the investigation recommends the two pilots face an Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury. Canadian military officials in Afghanistan and Edmonton say they will not comment until the report is officially released.

The Pentagon has not confirmed the story, but did say the report from the inquiry will probably be released before the weekend.

US fighter pilot dropped bomb after his commanders denied him.

July 17th 2002

A US fighter pilot involved in a "friendly fire" incident that killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan dropped a laser-guided bomb after his commanders denied permission to do so, US officials said. This from the CNN site.

The bombing happened at about 1:55 a.m. in Afghanistan. The Canadian soldiers were conducting a live-fire training exercise in an area about nine miles (14 kilometers) south of the Kandahar airfield, Canadian officials said.

The soldiers were firing at inert targets in a "recognized training area," according to Maj. Jamie Robertson, a spokesman for the Canadian Joint Task Force. Henault said the American fighter pilot could not visually identify the troops because the exercise took place in the middle of the night.

Information on 'friendly fire' deaths may never be known

Thus May 9 12:31:25 2002

EDMONTON - We may never know why an American jet pilot dropped a bomb on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. The head of the Canadian inquiry says some of the information is classified.

According to retired Gen. Maurice Baril, much of the information his team has acquired came from the Americans. "We have agreed to the request of the Americans that nothing is made public unless they agree," Baril said.

He also said if some what they've learned is made public, it could endanger the lives of soldiers in the field.

On April 18, an American jet fighter dropped a bomb on Canadian soldiers. Four died and eight were injured.

FROM APRIL 19, 2002: Friendly fire report to be completed by June

Baril was in Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday speaking with some of the injured soldiers and the families of those who died.

Baril and his team have visited the site where the men died in Afghanistan.

Baril said he was able to get much of the information he needed during his trip to Afghanistan. His team did extensive interviews and "saw all the documents we wanted to see."

He added that it's too early to say exactly what went wrong last month.

Baril plans to release his interim report on Monday.

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