The Air Force has lodged criminal charges against the two Illinois Air National Guard fighter pilots involved in a “friendly fire” night attack in Afghanistan last April that killed four Canadian soldiers and injured eight others, the Pentagon announced Friday.
The incident caused an uproar in Canada and prompted a public apology from President Bush. It was one of a rash of “friendly fire” incidents in the Afghan anti-terrorist campaign, one of which involved an AC-130 gunship firing on a civilian engagement party in July.
Both F-16 pilots engaged in the attack on the Canadians–Maj. Harry Schmidt of Sherman, Ill., and Maj. William Umbach of Petersburg, Ill.–were assigned to the Springfield-based 170th Fighter Squadron. The Defense Department investigation on the incident, released Friday, criticized the unit for poor leadership practices.
The report was prepared by a joint board of inquiry that included a number of Canadian officials.
“There is nothing we can do to bring our lost soldiers back,” said Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum, responding to the report. “But we will do all that is humanly possible to mitigate the risk of such a tragedy happening again.”
The case now goes to the 8th Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, who must decide whether to proceed with a full court-martial or settle for one of several more lenient options, including dismissal of the charges, said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Denise Kerr.
“Confinement and fines are definitely a possibility if it goes to a full court-martial,” she said.
Kerr said Carlson also could choose to submit the case to a military grand jury proceeding or to a “special courts-martial” that would be limited to sentences no greater than 6 months in jail.
Schmidt and Umbach have been recalled to active duty so they will remain under the control of the military.
A woman answering Schmidt’s home phone identified herself as his wife and said she could say “many great things” about him.
His attorney, Charles Gittins of Middletown, Va., issued a statement saying Schmidt regrets that Canadian troops were killed and injured, but that he “honestly and reasonably” believed his plane was taking hostile fire.
“Maj. Schmidt also regrets that the Air Force has taken the unprecedented step of charging a combat aircrew involved in a combat mission criminally where those officers were required to make split-second life-or-death decisions without benefit of detached and calm reflection,” the statement said.
Umbach and his attorney could not be reached for comment.
Maj. Gen. David Harris, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, attributed the incident to “the fog of war.”
“All of us, certainly, within the Illinois National Guard, want the matter to be resolved as fairly and impartially and in the best manner possible,” he said, adding that the pilots “are experienced, professional people and this is very, very difficult for them. This occurred in the fog of war, and this is a gut-wrenching experience.”
Rules allegedly violated
Schmidt, the pilot who dropped the bomb on April 17, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of assault, as well as with violating the rules of engagement governing U.S. combat in Afghanistan and failing to exercise proper flight discipline.
According to Air Force records, Schmidt is a veteran flier with more than 3,200 hours of military flight time. He served in the Persian Gulf war and subsequent “no-fly” zone patrols over Iraq. The Pentagon has rated him “well above average.”
The Pentagon report said that at the time of the attack the Canadian troops were conducting a night live-fire training exercise in an area set aside for such drills. The site was 5 miles south of Kandahar.
Schmidt mistook the ground shooting for enemy anti-aircraft fire and requested permission from a nearby AWACS command and control aircraft to attack the site with his 20 mm cannon. He was denied permission and told to stand by, but he then dropped a 500-pound laser-guided bomb on the position, claiming he was acting in self-defense, the report said.
Umbach, the other pilot, was flight commander on the two-plane mission and was charged with the same offenses for failing to make Schmidt adhere to the rules of engagement.
The Pentagon report said Umbach assisted Schmidt in preparing for his bomb attack, thus “endorsing” it.
According to a cockpit recording of radio transmissions at the time Schmidt was preparing to attack, Umbach instructed him: “Check master arm, laser arm. And check you’re not in mark.”
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“This `check master arm’ radio call demonstrated his endorsement of the action by reminding his wingman of the steps he should take to enable the GBU-12 [bomb] to hit the target,” the investigation said.
Before Schmidt announced he was taking action in “self-defense,” Umbach had told him, “Let’s just make sure that it’s, uh, that it’s not friendlies is all,” according to the recording.
The report faulted Umbach for taking a “passive observer” role in the incident in deference to “the TOPGUN reputation of his wingman.”
It noted that leadership positions in the 170th Fighter Squadron were rotated so that members of the unit would “have a certain duty title for career progression.”
“As such, `commander’ was viewed more as a title than as a responsibility,” the report said. “It appeared from witness testimony that there was confusion as to exactly who was in charge in the deployed squadron environment and who had the ultimate responsibility to ensure that standards were met.”
Bomb falls amid drill
The Canadians were members of the elite Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, a force of 800 troops who were participating in operations against Taliban and Al Qaeda elements still active in southern Afghanistan.
Their training exercise involved firing automatic weapons and anti-tank weapons at a stationary tank body used as a target. The troops were firing horizontally and not into the air, the report said.
Though the moon had set, skies were clear and weather was not a factor in the incident, according to the investigation.
Asking permission to “lay down some 20 mike-mike,” meaning 20 mm cannon fire, Schmidt was told “stand by” by the AWACS controller, who relayed the request to the area chief of combat operations. The controller was told to deny the request, the inquiry found.
“In immediate response to direction to hold fire and request for information on the SAFIRE [surface to air fire],” Schmidt said, according to the report, “`OK, I’ve got a, uh, I’ve got some men on a road and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us. I am rolling in self-defense.'”
“The GBU-12 impacted the ground approximately 3 feet to the left of the machine-gun crew on the west lip of Wadi East,” the investigation reported.
According to the Pentagon, the rules of engagement in Afghanistan permit pilots to take action in self-defense, but a determination is supposed to be made whether the use of lethal force is necessary and in proportion to the threat, and whether the danger is imminent. Pilots are supposed to access all available information about the threat before firing.
It is often recommended that pilots evade anti-aircraft fire rather than attack it, according to the report.