[antiwar-van] Americans who bombed Canadians on speed

[Macdonald Stainsby]

Vancouver Sun. 5 June 2002. Fatigue dogged U.S. pilots: Crews urged to
use amphetamines days before Canadian troops killed.

OTTAWA -- Pilots from the U.S. fighter squadron that mistakenly bombed
Canadian troops in Afghanistan had told their commanders shortly before
the fatal accident that they were exhausted and needed more rest between
missions.

The informal meeting between pilots of the 183rd Fighter Wing and their
commanding officers was convened after the unit misidentified a bombing
target during a previous mission over Iraq. The 183rd, an Air National
Guard unit currently stationed in Kuwait, was flying patrol missions in
the no-fly zone in Southern Iraq as well as sorties over Afghanistan.

In the meeting, held in the week before Canadian soldiers were shelled
by American bombs in Afghanistan, at least one F-16 pilot complained
that requirements for crew rest were not being observed and that many of
the pilots were overtired. The pilot was told, however, that further
questions about crew rest would not be looked on favourably by the wing
command.

Instead, pilots were advised to speak to a flight surgeon about
so-called "go/no pills" -- amphetamines used to help stay awake on long
missions, and sedatives to help sleep.

Then, on April 17, a fighter from the 183rd flying a patrol mission
accidentally bombed Canadian troops conducting a live-fire exercise
south of Kandahar. Four soldiers from the Princess Patricia's Canadian
Light Infantry were killed and eight injured.

Pilots are supposed to get 12 hours of rest between missions, but that
can be changed when the unit is in a state of alert. The 183rd has been
flying missions in the no-fly zone since March.

Although U.S. air force rules allow flight surgeons to prescribe
dextro-amphetamine (dexe-drine), the drug is supposed to be used for
long transoceanic transport flights, not combat missions.

"If they can't work around the scheduling, and people have to work
extended hours, then dextro-amphetamine is approved," said Betty-Anne
Mauger, a public affairs officer with the U.S. air force surgeon
general.

The Canadian and U.S. military have convened their own boards of inquiry
to find out why the F-16 dropped a laser guided-bomb on the Canadians.
Canada's board, led by retired General Maurice Baril, said in a
preliminary report last month that Canadian troops did nothing to
provoke the incident.

It is still unclear whether Baril's board will be able to interview the
F-16 pilot, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed.

The use of amphetamines was common among American fighter pilots in the
Gulf War, according to journalist Rick Atkinson, author of Crusade: The
Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War.

"There was concern in some squadrons that the pilots were becoming
psychologically, if not physically, addicted to the pills," he told
PBS's Frontline last year.

Atkinson estimates two-thirds of all pilots in Desert Storm used
dexedrine at least once. "Some commanders became concerned enough to ban
the flight surgeons from issuing further 'go' pills. It became
remarkably divisive within some squadrons."




-- 
Macdonald Stainsby

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