A rchive Date
[ 04-01-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/1723124
Families defend 2 pilots in bombing of Canadians
By ROBERT E. PIERRE
Washington Post
Jan. 2, 2003, 11:27PM
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - What began high above Afghanistan is now being played out daily from an Illinois kitchen, where Joan Schmidt, on a newly purchased computer, kicks out e-mails and drafts letters declaring that her son, a "Top Gun" Air Force pilot, is being made a scapegoat in a friendly fire incident that killed four Canadian soldiers last year.
Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in last April's incident that also wounded eight other Canadians during the Afghan campaign. The Air Force says the two pilots recklessly fired upon the soldiers, who they thought were hostile forces, and failed to follow instructions from superiors on the ground - with Schmidt declaring "bombs away" only seconds before an air controller cautioned him that friendly troops were below him.
But Schmidt's mother, wife and other relatives have mounted an effort on the pilots' behalf that has drawn the support of outgoing Illinois Gov. George Ryan and raised $150,000 for their defense. They insist the Air Force is second-guessing the split-second decisions of battle and believe the Bush administration is sacrificing the pilots to diplomatic efforts to enlist Canadian support for a war against Iraq.
If the pilots are court-martialed, the Air Force will "look like a petty, two-bit outfit, and it is a label the Air Force will deserve," declared Joan Schmidt, of East St. Louis, an Illinois suburb of St. Louis, Mo.
The charges against Schmidt and Umbach, both attached to the Illinois Air National Guard's 183rd Fighter Wing, are unprecedented. They are the first for manslaughter against pilots of any branch of the service for the performance of their job in a wartime situation.
If convicted, both men face as much as 64 years in prison.
As the United States prepares for a possible fight with Iraq, it will be relying on pilots such as Schmidt and Umbach - national guardsmen, called to active duty - to help in the air war. Their cases will be a serious reminder of the need for combat pilots to follow procedure, Air Force officials say. Or, the pilots' supporters say, the cases will be a worrisome sign that battle decisions will be second-guessed.
"This kind of action is likely to cost other pilots their lives in the future," said lawyer Charles Gittins, a former naval flight officer who is representing Schmidt. "They will hesitate when they shouldn't, and they're gonna be shot down. If one American is killed because they are worried they will be prosecuted, that's criminal."
In its report on the April 17 incident in southern Afghanistan, the Air Force said the pilots "demonstrated poor airmanship and judgment and a fundamental lack of flight discipline." Lt. Col. Jennifer Cassidy, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the two men are being afforded all of their rights as their Article 32 hearing approaches on Jan. 13 at Barksdale Air Force Base in northern Louisiana. That hearing, expected to last two weeks, will be much like a grand jury proceeding and will determine whether the pilots should be court-martialed.
"We have full faith and confidence that justice will be served," said Cassidy.
Schmidt, 37, born in St. Louis, was so good that he was tapped to teach at the Navy's prestigious Top Gun school for fighter pilots, and the Air Force's equivalent. A year ago, he left the Navy to become a full-time pilot and instructor for the Illinois National Guard.
Umbach, 43, graduated from the Air Force Academy and is the son of a pilot who flew in the Korean War. He served seven years on active duty, became a pilot for United Airlines and joined the National Guard.
On the fateful day in Afghanistan, the Canadians were engaged in a live-fire exercise near Kandahar. From high above, Schmidt saw what he thought was hostile enemy groundfire and requested permission to fire his20 mm cannon. But before doing so, he descended below the allowed altitude to mark the target with his laser targeting pod, "a serious breach" of flight procedures, according to Air Force investigators. Air commanders denied his request, asking for more information.
Schmidt immediately radioed back: "I've got some men on a road, and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us. I am rolling in in self-defense." Seconds later, he said, "Bombs away."
Twenty-five seconds later, the air operations center radioed back: "Be advised Kandahar has friendlies; you are to get out of there as soon as possible." It was too late. The Canadian casualties were that nation's first combat deaths since the Korean War.
A board impaneled by the U.S. and Canadian governments determined the pilots did not follow procedure. It also criticized Umbach, the flight commander, for not stopping Schmidt. "As an average pilot, especially in comparison with the Top Gun reputation of his wingman," the board found, "he deferred his lead responsibilities, took a `passive observer' role, and allowed the wingman to take actions clearly not in line with accepted procedures."
The pilots' lawyers insist the men are being second-guessed with the comfort of hindsight.
"Nobody could seriously believe that it was other than an accident," Gittins said. "I believe that the Canadians needed to be placated. Air Force pilots have killed nearly 100 Afghanis, and nobody has been charged. Is it that Afghanis are not worth as much as Canadians?"
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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