buckeyedoc
11-22-2003, 09:46 AM
Should these pilots face court-martial charges or did they do the right thing?
Pilots Speak Out, Face Charges
ABCNEWS.com
November 22, 2003
Two U.S. Army pilots charged with ferrying American military brass around Iraq decided to speak out about the vulnerability of their aircraft. Their reward: criminal charges.
Chief Warrant Officers William Lovett and Robert Jones have 53 years of service between them in the active duty and Army Reserves. Jones has flown in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Bosnia.
But their current mission in central Iraq may be their last. Long before U.S. helicopters were being shot down, the reserve pilots told National Defense Magazine their planes were not properly equipped to fly in a war zone. That interview, which appeared in the September 2003 issue of the magazine, has now led to the charges of dereliction of duty against the pilots for disclosing "vulnerabilities" of the "mission, procedures, and aircraft."
"These are planes that fly around generals, they fly around VIPs," said attorney Eugene Fidell, who is representing Lovett. "He and the other people involved should not be facing a court-martial; they should be getting decorations for this."
The reserve pilots fly the VIPs around in C-12 and UC-35 aircraft -- the military equivalent of a Beechcraft King Air and a Cessna Citation.
But there aren't many differences between the military and the civilian aircraft. Both are defenseless.
An Unarmed Foot Soldier
They are the only Army aircraft operating in Iraq without any equipment to warn or defend against surface-to-air missiles.
"I really want the equipment for them," said Lesley Barber, whose husband flies with Lovett and Jones in Iraq. "They have a right to have it. It's like sending a foot soldier in without an armored vest or a gun. It's nuts."
In June, Lovett wrote to Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"We are not equipped to operate in a combat area," Lovett wrote. "This seems to be an unnecessary risk of not only losing expensive aircraft but more importantly, losing valuable lives."
The Army admits that the aircraft has no survivability equipment, but says defensive measures -- making steep descents, or spiral takeoffs -- provide adequate protection.
In a written statement to Congress, Brig. Gen. Guy Swann III, the Army's chief of legislative liaison, said: "The threat mitigation procedures instituted by the Army are appropriate for the unit's location."
But Swann went on to write: "However, the 12th Aviation Brigade commander has forwarded an operational needs study addressing the additional equipment requirements, such as the installation of an anti-missile defense system, to permit safer and greater use of this unit's aircraft in the Iraqi theater."
Swann added that the application of Aviation Survivability Equipment to the C-12 and UC -35 aircraft would "take some time."
Lovett and Jones say pilots need defense systems now -- and for saying that, they could be court-martialed. Their fellow pilots continue to fly.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent?file=FL_pilots_112203
Pilots Speak Out, Face Charges
ABCNEWS.com
November 22, 2003
Two U.S. Army pilots charged with ferrying American military brass around Iraq decided to speak out about the vulnerability of their aircraft. Their reward: criminal charges.
Chief Warrant Officers William Lovett and Robert Jones have 53 years of service between them in the active duty and Army Reserves. Jones has flown in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Bosnia.
But their current mission in central Iraq may be their last. Long before U.S. helicopters were being shot down, the reserve pilots told National Defense Magazine their planes were not properly equipped to fly in a war zone. That interview, which appeared in the September 2003 issue of the magazine, has now led to the charges of dereliction of duty against the pilots for disclosing "vulnerabilities" of the "mission, procedures, and aircraft."
"These are planes that fly around generals, they fly around VIPs," said attorney Eugene Fidell, who is representing Lovett. "He and the other people involved should not be facing a court-martial; they should be getting decorations for this."
The reserve pilots fly the VIPs around in C-12 and UC-35 aircraft -- the military equivalent of a Beechcraft King Air and a Cessna Citation.
But there aren't many differences between the military and the civilian aircraft. Both are defenseless.
An Unarmed Foot Soldier
They are the only Army aircraft operating in Iraq without any equipment to warn or defend against surface-to-air missiles.
"I really want the equipment for them," said Lesley Barber, whose husband flies with Lovett and Jones in Iraq. "They have a right to have it. It's like sending a foot soldier in without an armored vest or a gun. It's nuts."
In June, Lovett wrote to Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"We are not equipped to operate in a combat area," Lovett wrote. "This seems to be an unnecessary risk of not only losing expensive aircraft but more importantly, losing valuable lives."
The Army admits that the aircraft has no survivability equipment, but says defensive measures -- making steep descents, or spiral takeoffs -- provide adequate protection.
In a written statement to Congress, Brig. Gen. Guy Swann III, the Army's chief of legislative liaison, said: "The threat mitigation procedures instituted by the Army are appropriate for the unit's location."
But Swann went on to write: "However, the 12th Aviation Brigade commander has forwarded an operational needs study addressing the additional equipment requirements, such as the installation of an anti-missile defense system, to permit safer and greater use of this unit's aircraft in the Iraqi theater."
Swann added that the application of Aviation Survivability Equipment to the C-12 and UC -35 aircraft would "take some time."
Lovett and Jones say pilots need defense systems now -- and for saying that, they could be court-martialed. Their fellow pilots continue to fly.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent?file=FL_pilots_112203