Posted on 09/06/2005 8:57:38 PM PDT by Uncle Joe Cannon
PENSACOLA, Fla.,Sept.6-Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 hurricane victims to safety.
Instead, their superiors chided the pilots, Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow, at a meeting the next morning for rescuing civilians when their assignment that day had been to deliver food and water to military installations along the Gulf Coast.
"I felt it was a great day because we resupplied the people we needed to and we rescued people, too," Lieutenant Udkow said. But the air operations commander at Pensacola Naval Air Station "reminded us that the logistical mission needed to be our area of focus."
The episode illustrates how the rescue effort in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina had to compete with the military's other, more mundane logistical needs.
Only in recent days, after the federal response to the disaster has come to be seen as inadequate, have large numbers of troops and dozens of helicopters, trucks and other equipment been poured into to the effort. Early on, the military rescue operations were smaller, often depending on the initiative of individuals like Lieutenants Shand and Udkow.
The two lieutenants were each piloting a Navy H-3 helicopter - a type often used in rescue operations as well as transport and other missions - on that Tuesday afternoon, delivering emergency food, water and other supplies to Stennis Space Center, a federal facility near the Mississippi coast. The storm had cut off electricity and water to the center, and the two helicopters were supposed to drop their loads and return to Pensacola, their home base, said Cmdr. Michael Holdener, Pensacola's air operations chief.
"Their orders were to go and deliver water and parts and to come back," Commander Holdener said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Is there some military policy concerning discussing this type of thing with the media (not years after the fact, but at the time close to an incident)?
BSx06...
Shoot, shovel, shut up
ORDERS...ORDERS...ORDERS...if troops can't follow orders...get out of the service.
They did follow orders and after that they rescued people. The military is becoming more politically correct and Liberal all the time. I'm telling you, I was in the Air Force and some bases are just awful in how people are treated. Increasingly there's less and less room to enjoy yourself while doing your job, less humour and more political correctness, more backstabbing, less room to come up with creative solutions to problems etc. I love my country, I served my country, I respect everybody in the service, I myself did not re-enlist because it pretty much sucked.
President Bush was prodding Governor Blanco to request nationalization of the Lousiana National Guard since he flew over New Orleans on Wednesday after the hurricane and saw what a hopeless situation it was.
He was lining up everything he could to do the job so he could respond credibly when requested.
Before the hurricane he had to prod her to ask for FEMA help and to evacuate New Orleans.
She's one selfish and stupid broad, IMO
nothing to do with political correctness just doing their job,
and that is to follow orders. Don't like to follow orders get out of the military are start your own business.
You're right too. BUT, I'm just saying that they did follow orders, they dropped off the supplies and on the way out saved some people. There commander doesn't have to reprimand them, doing that won't help anything.
And crying to the NYT's won't help anything either other than try and get themselves some kudos that they believe they deserve and reinforce the belief in liberals minds that the military has no control over it's soldiers. How many heroes in Iraq do their jobs everyday and don't go running to the media for a pat on the back?
The America hating bastards at the NYT must spend their entire life with their heads in the toilet
I'm gonna use that as my tagline if you don't mind
Be my guest...
Semper Fi
Not sure what the NYT point is here, but I'd be a little wary of jumping on this.
Bravo Zulu to you, Sir! Keep up the Excellent Work, and thatnks to you and your crew for the magnificent job you are doing!
Huummm
For the want of a nail, a shoe was lost,
for the want of a shoe, a horse was lost,
etc, you know the drill
Logistics ain't fun, no glory, but without it you don't win battles or wars....or rescuce people.
Sorry, I'll side with the 'stick to the task', call it out if you think someone needs help, but the mssion come FIRST.
Does remind me of some funny chopper stories, like being stuck in the Alaksa bush for 3 days because the chopper didn't come back.....
!. The chain of command must be respected and adhered to.
What if the next mission that the commander meant to
send them on, was to save lives, not just ferry
some people to a better location? and they could not
perform that task because they no longer had the fuel
lerft to do so?
2. I doubt that ths deserves more than a mild, non
punishment, dressing down. But they disobeyed orders.
Stuff like this is why the lefties in the media are having such a Blame Bush orgasm. Can't people in our government use common sense when a disaster like this hits?
And sometimes the reality on the ground is not available to the REMFs. Initiative has always been one of the great strengths of the American armed forces -- especially in the Cold War days when, to quote Fred Thompson's character in "The Hunt for Red October," a Soviet soldier couldn't "take a dump without a plan."
American servicemen are not, and are not expected to be, robots. They are the best-trained, best-educated, most versatile fighting men and women in the history of Earth. As such, they are expected not just to follow orders but to make decisions. Of course, that comes with an element of risk -- when you take initiative, you also take responsibility.
I have little doubt that these sailors knew they were risking a reprimand, and perhaps worse, when they made their decision to rescue civilians in danger. They made an informed decision, and I'm sure they have no difficulty sleeping at night.
Obviously, people zipping around disobeying orders is something that the military cannot tolerate, so an example had to be made. It's equally obvious, at least to me, that doing the right thing sometimes requires breaking the rules and accepting the consequences. That is what these pilots did and I hope that, if I were in their position, I would have the courage to do the same.
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