Hearing today for 'friendly fire' pilot

[memphiz]

Hearing today for 'friendly fire' pilot
Last Updated Thu, 01 Jul 2004 15:26:46 EDT

NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. pilot who mistakenly bombed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, killing four, expects to find out on Thursday what punishment he'll get, if any.

Maj. Harry Schmidt of the Illinois Air National Guard has a hearing with U.S. Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, in Louisiana. Carlson could pass a sentence of house arrest or a fine of about $5,600 US. He could also say no punishment is warranted.

Schmidt dropped a 227-kilogram bomb on Canadian troops near Kandahar in April 2002. The Canadians were conducting nighttime exercises at the time, which Schmidt and his wingman thought were hostile fire. Four Canadians were killed, eight more were wounded.

The veteran pilot was originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault, then with dereliction of duty. Last week, the air force announced it wouldn't put Schmidt on trial for dereliction of duty, shifting the charges from a court martial to a "non-judicial" forum, overseen by a general.

Schmidt plans to plead not guilty to the charges, his lawyer, Charles Gittins, has said. In his defence, Schmidt's lawyer plans to use classified information from the mission to show that dropping the bomb on the Canadians was a reasonable thing to do.

The bombing killed Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Richard Green, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Pte. Nathan Smith.

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/photos/shmit1_harry_file.jpg

[Royal]

Schmidt's lawyer plans to use classified information from the mission to show that dropping the bomb on the Canadians was a reasonable thing to do.

A reasonable thing to do?????????????????????????????

:cantbeli:

The bastard should be spending the next 20 years in Leavenworth.

[Abolith]

The Canadians were conducting nighttime exercises at the time, which Schmidt and his wingman thought were hostile fire.

If they thought that they were taking fire then yes it was the resonable thing to do. It is sad that they were wrong, however they did what they thought was right at the time. beside they did say that they have classified info that proves them innocent. Friendly fire happens, it is a terrible thing, but it does happen in times of war.

[Royal]

If they thought that they were taking fire then yes it was the resonable thing to do. It is sad that they were wrong, however they did what they thought was right at the time. beside they did say that they have classified info that proves them innocent. Friendly fire happens, it is a terrible thing, but it does happen in times of war.

The fact that his controller twice ordered him to weapons tight, would kind of give the game away (IMHO).

[martinexsquaddie]

hey look theys some grunts down there I'm rolling in
oh **** they were friendly's
oh well does'nt matter its not like they were americans :(

[Ratamacue]

I'm not gonna be happy if this guy just gets off entirely.

[Gringo]

An example needs to be made of for pilots who do this ****. It might make them think twice before they drop there bombs.

[Scrim]

hey look theys some grunts down there I'm rolling in
oh f*** they were friendly's
oh well does'nt matter its not like they were americans :(

Not always true. Look at Nassariyah(sp?)
Hey look down there, I didnt know Iraqis drove Marine Corps Amtracs.
A Marine's ****ing my wife back home, light em up. YEEEHAW.

[Ratamacue]

hey look theys some grunts down there I'm rolling in
oh f*** they were friendly's
oh well does'nt matter its not like they were americans :(

Not always true. Look at Nassariyah(sp?)
Hey look down there, I didnt know Iraqis drove Marine Corps Amtracs.
A Marine's f*** my wife back home, light em up. YEEEHAW.
Didn't they put the blame for Nasiriyah on some Marine officer on the ground too?

[Gringo]

When a man with a .45 meets a man with a A10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft, you said the man with a pistol is a dead man. Let's see if that's true

*5 seconds later*

OK! OK! It's true! It's true!

damn cowboy pilots.

[Abolith]

If they thought that they were taking fire then yes it was the resonable thing to do. It is sad that they were wrong, however they did what they thought was right at the time. beside they did say that they have classified info that proves them innocent. Friendly fire happens, it is a terrible thing, but it does happen in times of war.

The fact that his controller twice ordered him to weapons tight, would kind of give the game away (IMHO).

ok I hadn't heard that part...If that is true then it changes things. always listen to your controller he is the man on the ground and can see **** you can't.....