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Two U.S. F16 pilots will avoid criminal charges in the friendly fire bombing deaths of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, an air force general will announce today.
Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach will not face courts martial over the April 2002 accident that left four Canadians dead and eight others injured. Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson of the USAF will make the announcement this afternoon.
His decision will be in line with recommendations handed down by an air force judge who presided over hearings into the accident in January.
Col. Patrick Rosenow reported that the U.S. government would not have a strong enough case to secure criminal convictions at court martial and instead recommended a lesser form of administrative punishment, which could take the form of loss of pay.
The U.S. air force gave advance notice of the decision to the Department of Defence yesterday, according to spokesperson Shane Diaczk.
The decision is sure to disappoint family members of the dead and injured Canadians.
Although none wanted to see either pilot receive the maximum sentence of 64 years in a military prison, most wanted some form of punishment, said Richard Léger, father of Sgt. Marc Léger, who was killed in the accident.
"I think there should be some kind of punitive action taken against," Mr. Léger said last night from his home in Stittsville when told of the decision. "It says something about the justice system."
He pointed to two boards of inquiry -- one Canadian, another American -- that found last June that pilot error was the main cause of the accident.
"Here's two panels of experts saying one thing, how can the justice system say they're not guilty?"
The pilots were flying near Kandahar on the night of April 17 when they mistook the Canadians nighttime exercise on the Tarnak Farms firing range for anti-aircraft fire.
Only moments after Maj. Schmidt's laser guided bomb hit the ground were they told by an air controller to "Disengage, friendlies, Kandahar."
The four members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who died in the blast were the first Canadian combat fatalities since the Korean War.
During hearings at the Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, in January, the pilots' lawyers argued that poor co-ordination of the air-ground forces during Operation Enduring Freedom left aircrews in the dark about the movement of friendly forces.
They also suggested the pilots' judgment could have been skewed by amphetamines they were forced to take to stay awake on long missions.
Mr. Léger, who attended the hearings, said his son would have been more interested in seeing the problems that led to the accident fixed than the pilots imprisoned.
But he doesn't believe the problems have been resolved, as evidenced by the numerous friendly fire incidents in the war in Iraq.
"That's what's disheartening to me. That's what hard to accept. There's no reason."
Marc Léger's mother said she also was disappointed with the decision, and expressed regret that Maj. Schmidt would not be court-martialed. "He went to Afghanistan to win a medal. That's why my son is dead," said Mrs. Léger. "He blamed everyone but himself, and it seems to have worked."
Advocates from the U.S. air force are travelling to visit Mr. Léger, and his wife, Claire, and the families of the Canadians who were killed.
They will provide counselling and explain the decision in greater detail tomorrow morning. The U.S. government has made no offer of compensation to the Canadian families.
Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach will not face courts martial over the April 2002 accident that left four Canadians dead and eight others injured. Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson of the USAF will make the announcement this afternoon.
His decision will be in line with recommendations handed down by an air force judge who presided over hearings into the accident in January.
Col. Patrick Rosenow reported that the U.S. government would not have a strong enough case to secure criminal convictions at court martial and instead recommended a lesser form of administrative punishment, which could take the form of loss of pay.
The U.S. air force gave advance notice of the decision to the Department of Defence yesterday, according to spokesperson Shane Diaczk.
The decision is sure to disappoint family members of the dead and injured Canadians.
Although none wanted to see either pilot receive the maximum sentence of 64 years in a military prison, most wanted some form of punishment, said Richard Léger, father of Sgt. Marc Léger, who was killed in the accident.
"I think there should be some kind of punitive action taken against," Mr. Léger said last night from his home in Stittsville when told of the decision. "It says something about the justice system."
He pointed to two boards of inquiry -- one Canadian, another American -- that found last June that pilot error was the main cause of the accident.
"Here's two panels of experts saying one thing, how can the justice system say they're not guilty?"
The pilots were flying near Kandahar on the night of April 17 when they mistook the Canadians nighttime exercise on the Tarnak Farms firing range for anti-aircraft fire.
Only moments after Maj. Schmidt's laser guided bomb hit the ground were they told by an air controller to "Disengage, friendlies, Kandahar."
The four members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who died in the blast were the first Canadian combat fatalities since the Korean War.
During hearings at the Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, in January, the pilots' lawyers argued that poor co-ordination of the air-ground forces during Operation Enduring Freedom left aircrews in the dark about the movement of friendly forces.
They also suggested the pilots' judgment could have been skewed by amphetamines they were forced to take to stay awake on long missions.
Mr. Léger, who attended the hearings, said his son would have been more interested in seeing the problems that led to the accident fixed than the pilots imprisoned.
But he doesn't believe the problems have been resolved, as evidenced by the numerous friendly fire incidents in the war in Iraq.
"That's what's disheartening to me. That's what hard to accept. There's no reason."
Marc Léger's mother said she also was disappointed with the decision, and expressed regret that Maj. Schmidt would not be court-martialed. "He went to Afghanistan to win a medal. That's why my son is dead," said Mrs. Léger. "He blamed everyone but himself, and it seems to have worked."
Advocates from the U.S. air force are travelling to visit Mr. Léger, and his wife, Claire, and the families of the Canadians who were killed.
They will provide counselling and explain the decision in greater detail tomorrow morning. The U.S. government has made no offer of compensation to the Canadian families.
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