Shoot down your pals - make Admiral

[iambecomelife]

Yet another military story that drives me mad.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...uffers/?page=3

It's good to know my taxes help pay this sociopath's salary. He's living the high life while the man he shot down can no longer walk unassisted.

[gimpy117]

How can you do that? thats the most amazingly stupid thing I've ever heard heard....to shoot down a friendly aircraft on purpose. And Lieutenant Literal makes admiral? wow...

[Stealhead]

Interesting story my guess is that the guy must have had some very important relative in Washington or was the son or grandson of an Admiral those are the types that more or less are untouchable.

It is unfair and odd that little punishment was given it does not mean that every general officer is a scumbag like that Navy fellow but a few slip through the cracks just as in other parts of society certain people are more or less untouchable.Sometimes a screw up gets saved because his error puts other more powerful self centered officers in danger of being tarnished.Also he works with the Inspector General of the Navy the Quality Control branch to civilians while it serves a purpose IG people often are jerks for some reason it seems they always find something to write people and units off for even if they have to almost make it up give the correct answer and they will say that you should have refereed to documentation you get the picture they don't fit in the rest of their branch of service very well they are big time desk jockeys.

Old Boys network saved his butt ,daddy's an Admiral ,enough said

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

It's good to know my taxes help pay this sociopath's salary.

Yikes that's a bit harsh.

There is no doubt that the LT's actions indicated a severe incompatibility wiht flying fighter aircraft. The articles are using the word "deliberate" in an, in my opinion, unfair and inaccurate way.


Yes, the missile launch was not accidental so therefore it was deliberate. But it was not deliberate from a malicious standpoint. There was no indication that he intended on murdering the other aircrew.

I think your use of the word sociopath is inaccurate.

There has not been anything I have read that would indicate he was a sociopath. He may be an idiot and I am glad he was not entrusted to handle missiles any more.

The LT made a dumbass decision and subsequently he was yanked from flying. But then for the next 25 years he applied himself, rebuilt himself and has lived a militarily productive life. Twenty-five years. 25 years of loyal service to our country. That's what your tax dollars have paid for... 25 years of service during an officer's career.

There is no denying that he was incompetent at being a pilot. But to paint a picture that he somehow intended to shoot down a US aircraft or that he is sociopath is unjustified.

My question is why during a non-fire exercise would control give him an order to fire a missile. You train as you fight and in the excitement of combat, you want people to carry out orders pretty much automatically. But that's another issue. The core issue was that this LT was a dangerous and untrustworthy pilot.

I am not familiar with the details of his 25 year career, but I assume there are some in the Navy who are... and they feel his promotion is justified.

Is there a ring knocking culture in the Navy? Uh yeah. Does it help to have a dad who's a 3 star? uh yeah. But both of those will carry someone only so far. Yeah, he got a break when he was an LT, but that was 25 years ago and he has taken these 25 years and, evidently, made good use of them in the service of our country.

[Stealhead]

I still feel that for most pilots in the Navy the deliberate firing of a missile at an aircraft that is known to be friendly and being flown by a human pilot would be more than enough to end a career most are not going to get a second chance from that being removed form flying status was a very light punishment even in another job that violation should have capped his rank to an O3 at most.I am not so sure on the no intent to harm though what did the guy think air to air missiles do destroy the plane and also quite possibly anyone inside it survival in a several damaged aircraft is about 50/50 and someone might still die upon reaching the ground depending on the conditions many pilots have died after ejecting from aircraft including ones that had only suffered mechanical failures the danger goes up when a weapon has destroyed part of the aircraft assuming that the explosion of the weapon it self does not kill or seriously injure he knew that the plane was friendly that it was a training exercise and that thye where not to use live weapons and his still willingly fired the missile I dont know what he is/was but what i the hell was he thinking? He must have really disliked the Air Force or really wanted to see what a missile can do( and felt that he could get away with trying one out at least he did not try it on an air liner that is still malicious he willingly destroyed a multi million dollar aircraft he knew at least that missile would hit and very likely destroy the RF-4.

I knew people in the Air Force that made some fairly serious safety violations one person was driving a truck delivering a generator and knew that the crew chief had plugged the unit to the plane and then signaled for the driver to pull away that is a huge no no the plug got ripped out and hit the crew chief in the face breaking his jaw and cuasuing a few grand in damage to the aircraft they both got assigned to jobs away form the flight line in the tool control room for that one.That was much less minor than the F-14 shooting down an RF-4 Air Force pilots and a Marine forward observer have been seriously punished for friendly fire errors which is what the Navy pilots incident would bet be considered and most people found negligent in a friendly fire incident or I prefer fratricide usually it ends their career assumed they do not serve time in Leavenworth.

I agree that there is no evidence that the guy is a sociopath but he committed a very major violation that ends careers in most cases.

[Spike88]

When reading the part about him firing the missile, I was hit with a strong remembrance of that one scene in The Green Mile where the guard fries the inmate(doesn't wet his sponge) just to see what would happen.

While I can see the possibility that it was "accidental" and he isn't a sociopath, I feel that his career should have been over.