Friendly-fire pilot to face court martial

The US Air Force dropped manslaughter and assault charges today against a fighter pilot who mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan, killing four soldiers.

Major Harry Schmidt is to face a court martial on the lesser charge of dereliction of duty and could be sentenced to six months in prison if convicted.

The dereliction count alleges Schmidt “failed to comply with the applicable rules of engagement” and ”willfully failed to exercise appropriate flight discipline over his aircraft”.

Schmidt’s guilt or innocence will be determined by a jury of Air Force officers. Air Force judges and lawyers will assign a judge and set a date for the court martial.

A joint US-Canadian investigation found that Schmidt and Major William Umbach, the mission commander, were at fault over the April 17, 2002, bombing. The head of the probe said they showed “reckless disregard” for standing orders against attacking and should have simply flown their F-16s out of the area.

Schmidt, 37, claimed the Air Force gave no warning that allies would be performing live-fire exercises when he dropped a laser-guided bomb. The Canadians were conducting night exercises with live ammunition, and Schmidt said he mistook them for Taliban fighters.

The bombing near Kandahar killed Sgt Marc Leger, Pt Richard Green, Cpl Ainsworth Dyer and Pt Nathan Smith. They were the first Canadians to die in combat since the Korean War. Eight Canadian soldiers were also injured.

A two-week hearing in the case was held in January at Barksdale Air Force Base in north Louisiana.

An Air Force judge recommended dropping charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault and sending Schmidt to an administrative hearing to face criminal dereliction counts.

Lt Gen Bruce Carlson, commander of the Barksdale-based 8th Air Force, recommended last week that Schmidt should face possible administrative punishment instead of court martial. Schmidt rejected a hearing, saying he did not believe he would be treated fairly.

Schmidt had transferred to the National Guard in 2000 after serving as a Navy pilot and an instructor at the Navy’s “Top Gun” fighter pilot school.

Charges were dropped last week against Umbach, 44, a United Airlines pilot who had served in the Air Force. Umbach was given a letter of reprimand and allowed to retire, as he had requested.