Friendly-fire pilot guilty of dereliction

 Photo: Canadian Press
U.S. Air Force pilot, Major. Harry Schmidt is seen in this 2003 file photo.

(New Orleans)  A U.S. fighter pilot who mistakenly bombed Canadian soldiers
in Afghanistan in 2002, killing four, was found guilty Tuesday of
dereliction of duty, was reprimanded and will lose more than $5,000 (U.S.)
in pay, the air force said.

Major Harry Schmidt, 38, had blamed the bombing on "the fog of
war," saying he mistook the Canadians' gunfire for an attack from
Taliban fighters. The pilot said his superiors never told him that the
Canadians would be conducting live-fire exercises near Kandahar airport
that night. In the reprimand, Lieutenant-General Bruce Carlson, who handed
down the verdict, wrote that Schmidt "acted shamefully on April 17,
2002, over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, exhibiting arrogance and a lack of
flight discipline."

The four soldiers were the first Canadians killed in combat since the
Korean War. Killed were Sergeant Marc Leger, Private Richard Green,
Corporal Ainsworth Dyer and Private Nathan Smith. Eight other Canadians
were wounded, including Corporal Brian Decaire. Cpl. Decaire's mother,
Maureen, said she understands that mistakes happen and that Maj. Schmidt
didn't intend to cause harm but said the decision still leaves her
unsatisfied. "I would like to see him accept responsibility, which I
don't think has happened," she said from Winnipeg. "That's the
only other thing I would like."

Cpl. Dyer's mother said justice was not done. "Is that what the boys'
life is worth? Five thousand dollars?" Agatha Dyer said from Montreal.
She said that while Maj. Schmidt's case is over, her pain lives on. "I
cry every day. I cry every single day for two years," she said,
breaking down in sobs.

In Ottawa, a spokesman for the Department of National Defence said they
won't comment on the case because it is in U.S. jurisdiction. "Our
focus is with the families [of the lost soldiers]," said Lieutenant
Luc Charron.

Maj. Schmidt, who turns 39 on July 16, was originally charged with
manslaughter and aggravated assault, but the charges were reduced last year
to dereliction of duty. The Illinois National Guardsman was found guilty
after a closed hearing held last week. Lieut.-Gen. Carlson, commander of
the 8th Air Force, presided over the hearing at Barksdale Air Force Base in
northwestern Louisiana. The air force announced June 25 that it decided not
to put Maj. Schmidt on trial to face dereliction-of-duty charges for the
bombing.

The pilot could have faced up to six months in prison if convicted in a
trial. Instead, the charges were shifted out of the air force's criminal
court system to a lesser level, a "non-judicial" forum, overseen
by the general. The sentencing options did not include a prison term. In
addition to the reprimand, the air force said Maj. Schmidt will lose
one-half of a month's pay for two months  $5,672.

Maj. Schmidt had transferred to the National Guard in 2000 after a
decorated career as a U.S. navy pilot and an instructor at the navy's top
gun" fighter pilot school. He remains employed by the Illinois Air
National Guard, but has agreed that he will never fly air force jets again.

Charles Gittins, Maj. Schmidt's civilian defence lawyer, has said an air
force-issued amphetamine given to pilots to help them stay awake on long
missions might have impaired the pilot's judgment. The air force says the
amphetamine, Dexedrine, is given to pilots only in small doses, with a mild
stimulative effect.

In videotape of the mission taken from Maj. Schmidt's F-16, the pilot can
be heard telling airborne air controllers that he and his mission
commander, Maj. William Umbach, were under attack from the ground as the
two flew at more than 3,000 metres. He then requested permission to open
fire with his 20-millimetre cannon. "Hold fire," an air
controller responded. Four seconds later, Maj. Schmidt said: "It looks
like a piece of artillery firing at us. I'm rolling in, in
self-defence." Maj. Schmidt released the bomb 39 seconds after the
"hold fire" order. The bomb landed about a metre from a Canadian
machine-gun crew, killing four Canadians instantly.

Fellow F-16 pilots testified at a January 2003 hearing that a "hold
fire" order means a pilot should not attack. However, they also
testified that a fighter pilot can disregard such an order if he believes
he is under attack.
A U.S.-Canadian military investigation found that Maj. Schmidt should have
flown out of the area instead of releasing the bomb. Maj. Umbach was also
charged with assault and manslaughter. Those charges were dismissed last
summer and he was allowed to retire from the Air National Guard, as he had
requested.


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