Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded

NY Times ^ | 9/6

[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.

[packrat35]

Thank. I would give you credit but I ran out of room in the tagline.

[gatex]

Were you in the military ?

When I was in Germany, in the Army as a helicopter pilot, a German told me about WW II -- "We had copies of your orders, but you crazy Americans wouldn't follow your own orders."

[Echo Talon]

Were you in the military ?

I wish. None of the branches would accept me(I tried), I have Epilepsy and take medication for it.

[gatex]

Those pilots did what all the helicopter pilots that I knew would have done.

[Echo Talon]

No wonder they fall out of the sky all the time.
Going into places without any briefings or Intel at all.

[gatex]

"No wonder they fall out of the sky all the time. Going into places without any briefings or Intel at all. "

Irresponsible -- you just admitted you were not in the military.

Tell us what you imagine is "briefings or intel."

I flew all over Germany and Berlin without "briefings or intel."

[ExSES]

The military can't tolerate people writing their own orders. What, they couldn't have radioed for permission? The only justification for them doing this is if they were out of contact with base and they could see citizens in imminent peril. And this might have been the case. I notice the report says they were 'chided'. It doesn't sound like they'll be courtmartialled or formally reprimanded. Their commander really can't simply overlook this.

IF you have ever been responsible for anything important..., most of all activities involving human lives, you would recognize that these guys used initiative well and received a minor ass-chewing as a result (probably followed up with a pat on the back and a "well done" UNOFFICIALLY!)

HOWEVER, if their initiative had resulted in a damaged aircraft on an unauthorized mission..., their careers would be toast (AND THEY KNEW IT)!

Such is life! You can always "GO BY THE BOOK" or you can make a difference... (recognizing that you are risking it all). In the end, you have to live with the consequences of your decisions (GOOD OR BAD).

"Better to be judged by 12 (or 3-6) than carried by 6!" (Sound familiar???).

[359Henrie]

Not that I'm aware of.

[359Henrie]

Minus the backbone your kid has.

[359Henrie]

Concure.

[navysealdad]

Explain please

[359Henrie]

And the boneheads in charge decided too late.

[359Henrie]

Backbone. Your boy has it, he don't. Knew a few Seals years back, SBU boys. Tell him I went to sea this past weekend, except I had a fishing pole. Cooking tuna tonight and hoisting a cold one for him.

[cmotormac44]

May you and your boy be safe--thanks

[nicollo]

I suppose there's a better place for this, but what fun to see your screen name:

"I’m goddamned tired of listening to all this babble for reform.
America is a hell of a success."

I like this guy, too:

[MadManDan]

Dunno. I just read what was on here too.

[stevie_d_64]

True...I agree...

Sometimes the little gadgets don't work...I'm sure they tried to raise comms to advise what they were doing...Even transmitting in the blind...Just to cover their bases...

I sure would like to see if the source were the actual pilots themselves...And even then, I would question that info...

The NYT's is not above fabricating and slightly embellishing (sp? echhh) certain things in stories to throw people off that question their motivations...

I've learned to read between the lines in stuff like this...

But somebody sure is screwing somebody's pooch on this one...And I am not sure its the usual suspects in this case...

The repremanded pilots???

The Ops boss???

The C.O. of the squadron???

Or could it be somebody else in the right place at the right time, to overhear something like this, and they dropped a dime on the whole issue...

Sounds very "deepthroat-ish" to me...

"Follow the money..."

[MadManDan]

They do deserve kudos, but were they the ones who went to the NYTs? Don't try to turn this around on me and make it sound like I'm siding with the liberals. With everything that goes on in the world our military doesn't need to f*** its own.

[OKSooner]

"I'm only gonna tell you this about four or five hundred more times, then I'm gonna have to crack down."

"Don't you ever do that again."

[Echo Talon]

I have no idea how this got to the media, from the quotes, it sounds like they talked to the reporters. I don't have the background on the story I wasn't there.
I'm not trying to make anything look like anything, just giving my opinion, we all have them(opinions). What they did deserves some kudos but, shouldn't become habit. How hard would it have been for them to fly within radio range and call in and say, "We just heard the coast guard on the radio requesting a chopper to evac some people can we provide assistance, we already delivered the water & supplies"