Free Republic

Schmidt reprimanded Letter scathing; appeal planned By LISA KERNEK STAFF WRITER An Air Force general issued a scathing reprimand to Maj. Harry Schmidt Tuesday, saying he had "acted shamefully" on the night of a friendly-fire bombing that killed four and wounded eight Canadian soldiers. Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson found Schmidt guilty of dereliction of duty for the accident, which occurred in April 2002 in Afghanistan. Schmidt, 38, of Sherman, will lose one month's base pay, about $5,600, and won't fly again when he returns to the Illinois Air National Guard. "You acted shamefully," Carlson wrote in his letter to Schmidt,...

Illinois Air National Guard F-16 pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt has chosen to face a court-martial--and six months in prison if convicted of dereliction of duty--to clear his name in the wake of an Apr. 17, 2002, friendly fire incident in Afghanistan that killed four Canadian soldiers. Although military pilots have been disciplined in the past for such events, this is the first time a U.S. pilot has ever faced a court-martial for a wartime friendly fire incident. Schmidt would not speak for this article. His wife, Lisa, however, said her husband could not accept the non-judicial punishment the Air Force...