Friendly Fire Deaths Linked To US Pilots 'On Speed'

Independent (UK) ^ | 8-3-2002 | Andrew Buncombe

[ozzymandus]

Gives a new meaning to being "buzzed".

[toupsie]

Now we have "War while on Drugs". Seems like there should be better pilot and target management so we don't have pilots on Speed. Sounds like a dangerous proposition.

[Gunrunner2]

Let me jump in here, as a former A-10 and F0-15E fighter pilot I have first-hand knowledge about this.

We know about the drug and we are aware of its usage.

The most common use is to combat fatique while flying fighters on extended, boring, non-combat deployment flights. The article gets a lot wrong. We do NOT routinely use drugs while flying fighters on a combat mission. No sir! Taking drugs, any kind of drugs, is bad for your judgment and for staying alive. When in combat with bullets flying and bombs dropping, and hi-G stresses placed on the body, you want a clear head.

The pilots are NOT encouraged to use the drug. They are told that if, while on a long deployment flight involving hours and hours and hours of being strapped in a cockpit and bored outta your gord you might become sleepy, and in that case the pilots are told the drug may be used--MAY be used, not directed.

The reference about the statement we sign is out of context: The statement was required when we envisioned flying days and night NON-STOP while fighting back the Soviet hordes. . .not when you are flying missions on a regular schedule, with regular crew rest.

Do the pilots carry the pills on combat missions? Not usually. If they do it is merely because it is in their combat flight checklist pub-bag, and not because they want a "rush" while trying to stay alive in combat--there is enough rush as it is.

Not a factually correct story.

BTW: "Heavy" drivers don't usually take the drug on long deployments. Why? Because they usually have relief crews on-board. While one crew fly's the jet, the other relaxes/sleeps.

[VOA]

Seems like there should be better pilot and target management so we don't have pilots on Speed.

It would be nice. But I suspect that after 8 years of Clinton/Gore intensive mining
for the "peace dividend", the resources are stretched too thin, what with commitments in
Bosnia, South Korea, etc.
(and yes, the admin. of Papa Bush probably did get the ball rolling on
reducing our resources...Clinton/Gore just took it too far.)

Besides, the US Army Air Force used ritalin as their stimulant of choice during
WWII during long-haul missions, while the Luftwaffe used methamphetamine.

My understanding (from six years working as a toxicologist) is that the ritalin
usually delivers a more "even keeled" level of relaxed alertness...not nearly as nasty
as the effects of methamphetamine.

[genefromjersey]

Writer is well named: what a batch of buncome !

[lelio]

better pilot and target management
Article says that it takes 3 hours to fly from Kuwait to Afganistan, fight for 3 hours, and then 3 hours back. Surely we should be able to take off from somewhere closer ... Turkey?

[mercy]

Whatayawannabet that a rash of murders committed by special forces soldiers coming home to Fort Brag have a similar connection?

[Djarum]

Egregious hypocrisy bump.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Thanks for your info and for your service, Gunrunner. What you say makes sense and indicates to me that the article is long on spin and short on facts.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Looks like Bungcome might be a little behind on his plagiarism.

Fatigue dogged US pilots

[Djarum]

Should have read the replies first!

[KeyLargo]

Thanks for clearing it up Gun.

As a commercial pilot I know that FARs state any narcotics use while flying is a no no, including cold meds, etc.

[537 Votes]

The key word in your reply may well be 'former.' Maybe in your time as a military pilot, drug use was managed and kept under control. And maybe in your parent's day, doctors didn't dispense mood-altering drugs like candy.

History shows that drug use always gets out of hand.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Turkey?

Think Syria, Iraq or Iran would give us permission to overfly their countries on the way to Afghanistan from Incirlik? Not likely. Besides, Turkey is about 500 nm farther away, as the crow flies, than Kuwait is from Afghanistan. This is why the aircraft carrier, for now, is the preferred base for fixed wing fighter operations over Afghanistan until a land base in country is established.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Pappy Boyington and many others used to put pepper in their eyes over the South Pacific to ward off fatigue. Boyington was usually fighting a hangover at the same time.

[Imal]

Chronic use of amphetamines leads to psychosis and other neurological disorders that can affect the user's judgment. Occasional use can cause such effects, but on a more sporadic and unpredictable basis. It is possible that such use by pilots might lead to subtle deficits in perception and judgment.

I don't see a very well-made case in this article. As Gunrunner2 pointed out, "go pills" are issued to pilots, but that doesn't mean they are used chronically or irresponsibly. The article seems to use selective statistics, since the percentage of pilots who have used amphetamines is less important than how much and how frequently they have used them. Some pilots in some circumstances may apparently, at their discretion, use amphetamines chronically. If so, the use of "go pills" may indeed be a factor in some cases of pilot error. It should at least be considered, and hopefully is being carefully supervised by relevant commanders.

There may be a connection between amphetamines and friendly fire incidents. However, this article does little other than raise the possibility and support it with speculation, innuendo and incomplete statistics. It is an intriguing thesis, and may be true to some extent. But the information presented here doesn't support a conclusion.

Ultimately, these incidents don't tend to involve only one pilot acting alone: all missions are team efforts, and involve the judgment of several well-trained professionals acting in concert. We owe it to those involved to consider all factors when investigating and discussing friendly fire/collateral damage incidents.

Imal

[blam]

"Not a factually correct story."

Thanks. I suspected that.

[Gunrunner2]

"Former" but not out of touch.

Like I said, pilots are issued a dose when they are about to deploy, and this dose is given by the Flight Surgeon and noted in the pilots medical records. The dose and number of doses are monitored and tracked very closely. Any pilot that used his ONE DOSE would have to go to the Flight Doc for a re-fill, and since these guys are flying regular missions with regular crew rest, the Doc would turn him down. Period.

The missions over Afghanistan are hardly "sustained and continuous," therefore the pilots would have no legitimate reason to take the drugs. An 8-hr mission is long, butt-numbing long in a fighter, but it ain't a sleepy-town flight requiring drugs.

Again, I stress pilots are issued a dose when they are about to deploy, and this dose is given and monitored and controlled by the Flight Surgeon, as well as noted in the pilots medical records. Hardly a situation where you could zip along on drugs and no one would notice or care.

I'd be careful accepting the squishy implications and veiled accusations of a UK reporter. He is just trying to muck rake.

[Gunrunner2]

Thanks. Its nice to be appreciated.