Posted on 09/07/2005 4:18:06 PM PDT by Michael Goldsberry
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Two Navy helicopter pilots were praised but then reminded of the importance of supply missions after delivering their cargo and then rescuing 110 hurricane victims in New Orleans instead of immediately returning to base, the military said today.
One of the pilots was temporarily assigned to a kennel, but that was not punishment, said Patrick Nichols, a civilian public affairs officer at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
"They were not reprimanded," Nichols said. "They were counseled."
Lt. Matt Udkow and Lt. David Shand returned to the base from their mission Aug. 30, a day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Nichols said.
Udkow and Shand were met by Cmdr. Michael Holdener, who lauded them for the rescues but reminded them their orders were to fly water and other supplies to three destinations in Mississippi — the Stennis Space Center, Pascagoula and Gulfport — and then return to Pensacola, said Lt. Jim Hoeft, another Navy spokesman.
"The Hollywood role of this thing is search and rescue," Nichols said. "Logistics was just as important. They realize that."
The two air crews picked up a Coast Guard radio call that helicopters were needed for rescues in New Orleans, Hoeft said. They were out of radio range to Pensacola, so they decided to fly their helicopters to New Orleans and join the rescue effort without permission.
It took only minutes for the H-3 helicopters to fly to New Orleans, where Udkow's crew plucked people off rooftops. Shand hovered over the roof of an apartment building where more than a dozen people had been stranded. When he returned to get more, two crew members entered the building and found two blind residents and led them to the helicopter.
Udkow later received permission to continue with the rescue missions when he landed to refuel in New Orleans.
Both helicopters returned to Pensacola, about 200 miles east of New Orleans, by dark, as required by flight rules. Nichols said they did not miss any additional supply runs because of the rescues.
The pilots and Holdener weren't available for interviews today, Nichols said. He said Udkow was flying and Shand was resting between missions.
"We all want to be the guys who rescue people," Holdener told The New York Times. "But they were told we have other missions we have to do night now, and that is not the priority."
The air over New Orleans was so thick with helicopters a few days later that crews were having a hard time finding people who needed rescuing, but that was not the case when Udkow and Shand flew their rescue missions.
"I would be looking at a family of two on one roof and maybe a family of six on another roof, and I would have to make a decision who to rescue," Udkow told the Times. "It wasn't easy."
Nichols said Udkow was in no way being punished by being put in charge of a temporary kennel in Pensacola for pets of military personnel who had been evacuated from hurricane-stricken areas.
"It's a collateral duty," Nichols said. "These guys don't just fly. They do other stuff."
LOL
Understand.
A$$ chewings I totally understand, have had a ton of em, and the individuals in this incident probly deserve a few.
Thing is I hope this incident does not damage their careers.
If it does then it is probly time to change careers.
These are most likely young guys, doing the best they can possibly do under the circumstances.
Being young, the upper eschelons should cut them a bit of slack.
Sorry. Whatever this is, it is not dereliction of duty.
Well the Nazis didn't think we would win. By that reasoning, I should probably follow Sharia, just in case the Islamofascists win.
!?
Wow, how twisted.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.......
As a 21 year Army soldier: this was dereliction of duty. They didn't follow orders and return to base, which was the standing order. When servicemembers don't follow orders, it is called dereliction of duty- regardless of the reasons. I simply bring that point out. I applaud the actions of these pilots and hope that they would do it again. The point was that the commander chose not to take actions that he could have under the Uniform Code of Military Justice- the law for us in uniform.
For grins and wiggles: it is covered under Article 92 of the UCMJ.
Please, don't look at me as the bad guy here- I simply shared some information with those not familiar with the military.
Wonder if it was a Verbal Counseling or a Letter of Counseling?
At the suggestion of writer Michelle Malkin last Friday, I have cobbled together a blogsite called Texas Clearinghouse for Katrina Aid to serve as a clearinghouse for refugee efforts in Texas.
Texas is getting more refugees than any other state -- that's fine, we'll take them all -- but we need help providing them with food, clothing, and shelter.
If you are a refugee, you can information that will help you find relief. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can find someone who needs you.
Right now the site mostly covers Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas but I will add various churches, schools, and other charities in Lubbock and Austin tonight. My wife was down at Reunion Arena in Dallas yesterday handing out care packages and spiritually ministering to the refugees as a representative of her employer. She says that the situation is tragic and that there's a lot of work to be done. There are so many children who don't know where their parents are or even if their parents are still alive.
There are a lot of churches and other organizations in Texas that need help in dealing with the problem and I would appreciate it if you would get the word out.
Many thanks,
Michael McCullough
Stingray blogsite
I'm glad they did it - however - you need to take into consideration a few things. Suppose they had damaged the aircraft while running their unauthorized mission? Now you've got one or two birds down that could have been used later on. Maintenance teams that could have been doing quick turns would be tied up making repairs - that would limit the number of sorties you could fly. Suppose they crashed during the unauthorized mission? How many other personnel and aircraft are you going to pull off other missions in order to support a recovery and investigation?
Do you really want that kind of thinking within our military?
"Suppose they might shoot back, we might get hurt!"
There is a line, sure. Let's allow that line to be wide in some cases.
"But in the military a commander is supposed to know what his troops are doing and where they are"
Yeah. There's the little matter of discipline. That's the main difference between an army and an armed mob, as far as I can figure. In reality, I guess every soldier has to decide for himself what to do. But officers have to be pretty strict about enforcement, I'm sure. Case by case does not rule, in this instance.
Publicity, however, can be dominant in a democracy. Publicity will trump discipline here.
We have that kind of thinking in the military already. That's why we have fire trucks stationed so close to the flightline and why we have ships following the carrier so close during air ops. It's why flight plans are filed and followed. Aircraft crash, it's a fact of life. Either you're prepared for it or you're not. It's not a defeatist attitude, it's a realistic attitude.
On the other hand - you could assume that everything is going to go just fine. Don't worry about the ops plan, just let everyone do what they want. And then - like mayor Nagin did - you can blame someone else when it all falls apart.
Makes you wonder how far out of radio contact they were.
Thank you. They stepped over the line (ever so slightly), and deserve KP duty for that reason.
However, they will smile the whole time, knowing they did the right thing.
Same as the other thread on this affair, we have several people that appear to have been paper shuffling lifers in the military.
It does, indeed.
Well, that's what it's all about, right, the glory of the pilots?
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