kg4kpg
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Interesting reading, see below. I copied all of this over from another forum, pretty long.
Navy officer who shot down Air Force jet won't be promoted after all
By Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Thursday, January 3, 2013
A Senate committee has refused to approve a promotion to admiral for a Navy officer who, as a young fighter pilot during a training mission, deliberately shot down an Air Force plane whose flier has suffered a life of pain from his forced ejection.
The Senate Armed Service Committee took no confirmation vote on the nomination of Capt. Timothy W. Dorsey as the 112th Congress ended.
Because the Senate did not act, the nomination goes back to the White House. The Navy has the option of trying to resubmit his nomination during the 113th Congress, which convened Thursday.
The Washington Times first reported in February that President Obama had submitted Capt. Dorsey to the Senate despite the officer's misdeed as an F-14 Tomcat pilot 25 years ago during an exercise over the Mediterranean Sea.
A source close to the committee told The Times on Thursday that the Navy was aware of his checkered past, but did not tell the office of Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, which forwarded the nomination to the White House.
Committee staff members read The Times story on Feb. 16, the same day the nomination officially reached the Senate. It arrived absent any information about the incident or the impact it had on the shot-down pilot, the source said.
The committee expects the Pentagon to "fully inform it on any potential adverse information," the source said, adding that the panel sent a letter to Mr. Panetta's office asking for full disclosure.
The source also said the Navy and Pentagon "did not fully grasp" that there was a victim, retired Air ForceCol. Mike Ross, who has undergone seven back surgeries and lives in constant pain.
Col. Ross told The Times Thursday the Navy "made a mistake" because he believes the promotion board did not thoroughly investigate Capt. Dorsey's background.
"Obviously, there was a mistake in the Navy's records check before they brought somebody up for promotion with that kind of a mark on their record," he said.
Capt. Dorsey told The Times, "I still look forward to the confirmation process and look forward to confirmation by the Senate."
In 1987, while flying off the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, a Lt. j.g. Timothy W. Dorsey fired a missile at an Air Force F-4 reconnaissance jet piloted by then-Lt. Ross. Lt. Ross. He and his backseat officer ejected as the F-4 plunged into the sea.
A Navy investigation called Lt. Dorsey's decision an "illogical act" that "raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment."
"The September 22, 1987 destruction of USAF RF-4C was not the result of an accident, but the consequence of a deliberate act," the investigator wrote. "His subsequent reaction [to the radio command] demonstrated an absolute disregard of the known facts and circumstances."
The Navy banned him from flying for life.
At the time, his father, James Dorsey, commanded the carrier USS America. He later attained three-star rank as a vice admiral.
Capt. Dorsey reinvented himself as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer, earned a law degree, served in the war on terror, and was picked for a unit command as an admiral.
Upon learning of Capt. Dorsey's nomination to admiral, "I almost got sick," Col. Ross told The Times last year.
His ejection caused a powerful whiplash that resulted in a degenerating spine and a premature end to a career he believed was on a path to make the rank of general.
"I'm not trying to say I flew when I was unable. I never did that," Col. Ross said. "But it got to the point where I started getting myself in positions where I was doing more desk work than flying."
All told, he said, he has had seven back surgeries in which surgeons have installed screws, plates, and rods to keep him functional.
Fished out of the water and taken to the Saratoga, Col. Ross waited for an apology from Lt. Dorsey. It did not come until last year, when the former Air Force pilot received a note from Capt. Dorsey as his nomination was pending in the Senate Armed Services Committee.
================================
Admiral nominee rose through ranks despite "illogical act"
By Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Thursday, February 16, 2012
When Lt. j.g. Timothy W. Dorsey intentionally fired his fighter jet's missile at an Air Force reconnaissance plane, nearly killing its two aviators and destroying the aircraft during a training exercise, it was hard to imagine then how his Navy career would wind up 25 years later.
The official investigation into the 1987 shoot-down said the F-14 pilot's decision "raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment." The Navy banned him from flying its aircraft.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta this month announced to the Senate several nominations for promotion to admiral.
On the list is Navy Reserve Capt. Timothy W. Dorsey, the same man who, while assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, committed what the report said was an "illogical act".
Capt. Dorsey today is the inspector general for Navy Reserve Detachment 106 in Norfolk, Va.
His promotion to admiral has some in the aviation community shaking their heads, especially because minor discretions by flight officers over the past decades have resulted in reprimands and the ends of careers.
Lawyer Charles Gittins, a former Marine Corps aviator, has represented several naval officers whose careers were ended for what he considered minor misconduct.
"It is shocking that the Navy would promote an officer with this background to flag rank, particularly in an environment where the Navy relieves commanding officers of their commands at the drop of a hat for trivial or insubstantial reasons," Mr. Gittins told The Washington Times.
Capt. Dorsey's father, James Dorsey, was at the time of the incident commander of the carrier USS America and an aviator. A year later, he became assistant deputy chief of naval operations at the Pentagon and later attained three-star vice admiral rank.
In his civilian job, Capt. Dorsey is general counsel at USA Discounters in Virginia Beach.
He said Thursday that he did not want to discuss the shoot-down or his career because he is about to take a Navy Reserve intelligence post.
"I'm going to have to decline to talk right now, based on the kind of job I'm going to be taking," he said. "I'm not really big on talking to press for anything. It means heading up some intel factions. So it's really not something I would typically do. I [would] rather not see my name in the paper at all right now because of the job I'm getting ready to take. A lack of press is good on what I'm getting ready to do."
Capt. Dorsey kept his Navy career on track by reinventing himself, first as a Reserve intelligence officer and then as an inspector general in charge of investigating wrongdoing. In 1995, he earned a law degree from the University of Richmond.
A 2010 alumni magazine profile says Capt. Dorsey "has endured countless physical and mental tests in his 47 years -- first, as a fighter pilot flying F-14 Tomcats and later during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq as an intelligence officer interrogating prisoners."
"I've been through naval aviation training, survival training, and a dual-degree program in college," he told the magazine, "and nothing came close to the rigors of first-year law."
The flattering profile does not mention what Capt. Dorsey did in 1987 as a rookie Tomcat pilot, with 245 flying hours, in one of the naval air community's most embarrassing incidents.
Then-Lt. Dorsey was taking part in a non-fire flight exercise over the Mediterranean Sea.
He was given a command to simulate a missile firing, but took it literally, armed his Sidewinder missile without telling his back-seat radar intercept officer, and shot down the Air Force plane. Its two aviators ejected moments before the plane exploded.
The Navy's 1988 investigative report on Lt. Dorsey was blunt and damning, according to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy via the Freedom of Information Act in 1988. It said Lt. Dorsey knew the plane was "friendly" and knew he was on a routine exercise.
"The September 22, 1987 destruction of USAF RF-4C was not the result of an accident, but the consequence of a deliberate act," the investigator wrote. "His subsequent reaction [to the radio command] demonstrated an absolute disregard of the known facts and circumstances.
"He failed to utilize the decision-making process taught in replacement training and reacted in a purely mechanical manner. The performance of Lieutenant Timothy W. Dorsey on September 22, 1987, raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment."
Vice Adm. Kendall E. Moranville, who had headed the 6th Fleet, said, "We necessarily rely on the self-discipline and judgment of pilots to prevent such incidents; we have no other choice. Nothing, in my opinion, can mitigate Lieutenant Dorsey's basic error in judgment."
Jon Ault, a retired F-14 pilot, said Capt. Dorsey never took responsibility.
"I would never have guessed he'd ever make it to commander, much less admiral," he said. "In fact, I thought his career was over back when the shoot-down happened. He refused to accept any blame for the shoot-down and swore he was just following [rules of engagement] even though he knew it was a friendly. I mean, the guy did it on purpose."
Here are some facts about this incident:
Overview-On 22 September 1987, an F-14A-70-GR Tomcat, BuNo 162707, of VF-74 out of NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, operating from the USS Saratoga, accidentally shot down a USAF RF-4C-22-MC Phantom II, 69-0381, 'ZR' tailcode, of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, out of Zweibr?cken Air Base, West Germany, at 1550 hrs. EDT over the Mediterranean during a NATO exercise, DISPLAY DETERMINATION. Both RF-4C crew ejected, pilot Capt Michael Ross of Portsmouth, Ohio, and WSO 1st Lt Randy Sprouse of Sumter, South Carolina, both of the 38th TRS, and were rescued by a helicopter from the Saratoga within 30 minutes, suffering numerous injuries.
Specifics: On an early fall afternoon in September, 1987, Vodka 51, an RF-4C, departed Aviano Air Base in Italy bound, for the Mediterranean. Their job that day was to find the US aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Of course, part of Exercise Display Determination, a joint USAF, USN and NATO exercise, taking place in the Med, was for Navy assets to defend the carrier and stop detection of its location. The search for the carrier and the defense of it, as always, were to occur within the exercise ROE.
Vodka 51 was flying a special RF-4 TEREC that day. TEREC, Tactical Electronic Reconnaissance, was the AN/ALQ-125, which enabled detection of electronic beeps and squeaks that could emanate from various sources, one being an aircraft carrier group. That?s how Vodka 51 planned to find the Saratoga.
After the flight across Northern Italy and into the Mediterranean, the first order of business for Vodka 51 was to hit a tanker for airborne refueling. Join up and hook up with the tanker was routine and uneventful. While taking gas the RF-4 crew noticed a Navy F-14 had joined on the tanker?s wing. Thinking nothing of it Vodka 51 concentrated on the task and hand and, once topped off, disconnected and left the tanker track to start their search. As they turned away, Vodka noticed the Tomcat did not stay with the tanker but appeared to follow them.
Vodka 51 got their TEREC equipment up and running then started their flight search pattern to hunt for the Saratoga. As it seems to happen on occasion, the cosmic stuff decides not to work and, on this day, the TEREC gear failed to operate. However, the RF-4 guys did notice the TACAN channel that was in use on the Saratoga three days prior was up and transmitting. That would allow them to make the briefed intercept of the Saratoga. As the Vodka 51 started down to the intercept altitude they lost sight of the Tomcat. Fifteen minutes after departing the tanker. a massive explosion engulfed the RF-4. Both the pilot and the WSO were able to eject. Although ejection parameters were not ideal, 550Kts, 5500 feet and negative 2.5 G?s, it was better than not getting out at all. All the egress equipment worked as briefed and, once they regained consciousness, they both found themselves under parachute canopies that settled them down to the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Their time in the water was relatively short, 45 minutes. A Navy rescue helicopter picked them up and brought them to the carrier. Vodka 51 had finally found the Saratoga.
Once they had been medically checked over and given dry clothes Vodka 51 met with the carrier CO. He asked them if they knew what had happened. When they said they thought they might have had a mid-air with the F-14 that had been following them, the CO said, ?No, that F-14 was one of ours and he shot you down.? The WSO?s response was, "I thought we were on the same side sir!" To which the Admiral answered, "Normally we are."
After departing the tanker, the F-14 had indeed followed Vodka 51. The Tomcat was being flown by a young, Navy LTJG, tactical call sign "Smoke," a player in the exercise, whose task it was to defend the carrier. Apparently, this was going to be quite an atta-boy, quickly eliminating an adversary so early in the exercise It was his luck that day to see the RF-4 come on station and to be able to follow him into the exercise area after refueling. It was also his luck, or misfortune, that day to be flying with live ordinance for Fleet defense when he was re-tasked from that role to participate in the exercise. The F-14 HUD video recorded his call to the carrier asking, within exercise rules, to engage the RF-4. He was given clearance, within exercise rules, to shoot and destroy Vodka 51. On the video you can plainly hear the Navy fighter pilot call up his left missile. You can hear him say everything is good, announce he?s firing the missile and a release cue is displayed. However, the left missile had a motor malfunction and didn't fire. You can hear the pilot is somewhat confused when no missile departed the rail. Next you hear on the HUD video as the Tomcat pilot called up his right missile and announce everything is good. This time when the release cue is displayed you also see the F-14 is inside the Break X signal, that he's 2500 feet behind the RF-4 and the Air Force jet?s Zweibrucken AB, Germany tail flash, ZR, can plainly be seen. Then a live AIM-9 flashes into the HUD field of view and makes its way to the RF-4 where it impacts in front of the tail section resulting in a huge explosion. While all this is going on, you can hear the RIO?s profanity filled screams asking his pilot what has he done. Then starting a rescue effort the RIO transmits, ?MAYDAY, MAYDAY MAYDAY, WE'VE JUST SHOT DOWN THE F-4 AT 060/05 FROM MOTHER, NO CHUTES, NO CHUTES, NO CHUTES.?
A few interesting side notes.
?One of the ROE?s of the exercise was that no participating aircraft were allowed to carry live missiles.
?The Navy LTJG, when asked later by the accident investigation board, said, yes, indeed, he intended to shoot a live missile. He was not court-martialed but put on non-flying duties and never flew again.
?This very same LTJG?s father was an active Navy Vice Admiral who, when flying combat missions in Vietnam, accidentally shot down his wingman.
?The pilot of Vodka 51 has ever since been known as Squidbait. He?s had numerous back surgeries as a result of the Martin-Baker ejection; the most recent, earlier this year, 2008.
?The accident board determined that Vodka 51 was very lucky to have almost full fuel tanks. Had those fuel tanks been mostly empty, filled with fuel vapors, the explosion would have been much more massive, ripping the RF-4 apart and almost certainly killing the crew.
Navy officer who shot down Air Force jet won't be promoted after all
By Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Thursday, January 3, 2013
A Senate committee has refused to approve a promotion to admiral for a Navy officer who, as a young fighter pilot during a training mission, deliberately shot down an Air Force plane whose flier has suffered a life of pain from his forced ejection.
The Senate Armed Service Committee took no confirmation vote on the nomination of Capt. Timothy W. Dorsey as the 112th Congress ended.
Because the Senate did not act, the nomination goes back to the White House. The Navy has the option of trying to resubmit his nomination during the 113th Congress, which convened Thursday.
The Washington Times first reported in February that President Obama had submitted Capt. Dorsey to the Senate despite the officer's misdeed as an F-14 Tomcat pilot 25 years ago during an exercise over the Mediterranean Sea.
A source close to the committee told The Times on Thursday that the Navy was aware of his checkered past, but did not tell the office of Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, which forwarded the nomination to the White House.
Committee staff members read The Times story on Feb. 16, the same day the nomination officially reached the Senate. It arrived absent any information about the incident or the impact it had on the shot-down pilot, the source said.
The committee expects the Pentagon to "fully inform it on any potential adverse information," the source said, adding that the panel sent a letter to Mr. Panetta's office asking for full disclosure.
The source also said the Navy and Pentagon "did not fully grasp" that there was a victim, retired Air ForceCol. Mike Ross, who has undergone seven back surgeries and lives in constant pain.
Col. Ross told The Times Thursday the Navy "made a mistake" because he believes the promotion board did not thoroughly investigate Capt. Dorsey's background.
"Obviously, there was a mistake in the Navy's records check before they brought somebody up for promotion with that kind of a mark on their record," he said.
Capt. Dorsey told The Times, "I still look forward to the confirmation process and look forward to confirmation by the Senate."
In 1987, while flying off the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, a Lt. j.g. Timothy W. Dorsey fired a missile at an Air Force F-4 reconnaissance jet piloted by then-Lt. Ross. Lt. Ross. He and his backseat officer ejected as the F-4 plunged into the sea.
A Navy investigation called Lt. Dorsey's decision an "illogical act" that "raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment."
"The September 22, 1987 destruction of USAF RF-4C was not the result of an accident, but the consequence of a deliberate act," the investigator wrote. "His subsequent reaction [to the radio command] demonstrated an absolute disregard of the known facts and circumstances."
The Navy banned him from flying for life.
At the time, his father, James Dorsey, commanded the carrier USS America. He later attained three-star rank as a vice admiral.
Capt. Dorsey reinvented himself as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer, earned a law degree, served in the war on terror, and was picked for a unit command as an admiral.
Upon learning of Capt. Dorsey's nomination to admiral, "I almost got sick," Col. Ross told The Times last year.
His ejection caused a powerful whiplash that resulted in a degenerating spine and a premature end to a career he believed was on a path to make the rank of general.
"I'm not trying to say I flew when I was unable. I never did that," Col. Ross said. "But it got to the point where I started getting myself in positions where I was doing more desk work than flying."
All told, he said, he has had seven back surgeries in which surgeons have installed screws, plates, and rods to keep him functional.
Fished out of the water and taken to the Saratoga, Col. Ross waited for an apology from Lt. Dorsey. It did not come until last year, when the former Air Force pilot received a note from Capt. Dorsey as his nomination was pending in the Senate Armed Services Committee.
================================
Admiral nominee rose through ranks despite "illogical act"
By Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Thursday, February 16, 2012
When Lt. j.g. Timothy W. Dorsey intentionally fired his fighter jet's missile at an Air Force reconnaissance plane, nearly killing its two aviators and destroying the aircraft during a training exercise, it was hard to imagine then how his Navy career would wind up 25 years later.
The official investigation into the 1987 shoot-down said the F-14 pilot's decision "raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment." The Navy banned him from flying its aircraft.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta this month announced to the Senate several nominations for promotion to admiral.
On the list is Navy Reserve Capt. Timothy W. Dorsey, the same man who, while assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, committed what the report said was an "illogical act".
Capt. Dorsey today is the inspector general for Navy Reserve Detachment 106 in Norfolk, Va.
His promotion to admiral has some in the aviation community shaking their heads, especially because minor discretions by flight officers over the past decades have resulted in reprimands and the ends of careers.
Lawyer Charles Gittins, a former Marine Corps aviator, has represented several naval officers whose careers were ended for what he considered minor misconduct.
"It is shocking that the Navy would promote an officer with this background to flag rank, particularly in an environment where the Navy relieves commanding officers of their commands at the drop of a hat for trivial or insubstantial reasons," Mr. Gittins told The Washington Times.
Capt. Dorsey's father, James Dorsey, was at the time of the incident commander of the carrier USS America and an aviator. A year later, he became assistant deputy chief of naval operations at the Pentagon and later attained three-star vice admiral rank.
In his civilian job, Capt. Dorsey is general counsel at USA Discounters in Virginia Beach.
He said Thursday that he did not want to discuss the shoot-down or his career because he is about to take a Navy Reserve intelligence post.
"I'm going to have to decline to talk right now, based on the kind of job I'm going to be taking," he said. "I'm not really big on talking to press for anything. It means heading up some intel factions. So it's really not something I would typically do. I [would] rather not see my name in the paper at all right now because of the job I'm getting ready to take. A lack of press is good on what I'm getting ready to do."
Capt. Dorsey kept his Navy career on track by reinventing himself, first as a Reserve intelligence officer and then as an inspector general in charge of investigating wrongdoing. In 1995, he earned a law degree from the University of Richmond.
A 2010 alumni magazine profile says Capt. Dorsey "has endured countless physical and mental tests in his 47 years -- first, as a fighter pilot flying F-14 Tomcats and later during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq as an intelligence officer interrogating prisoners."
"I've been through naval aviation training, survival training, and a dual-degree program in college," he told the magazine, "and nothing came close to the rigors of first-year law."
The flattering profile does not mention what Capt. Dorsey did in 1987 as a rookie Tomcat pilot, with 245 flying hours, in one of the naval air community's most embarrassing incidents.
Then-Lt. Dorsey was taking part in a non-fire flight exercise over the Mediterranean Sea.
He was given a command to simulate a missile firing, but took it literally, armed his Sidewinder missile without telling his back-seat radar intercept officer, and shot down the Air Force plane. Its two aviators ejected moments before the plane exploded.
The Navy's 1988 investigative report on Lt. Dorsey was blunt and damning, according to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy via the Freedom of Information Act in 1988. It said Lt. Dorsey knew the plane was "friendly" and knew he was on a routine exercise.
"The September 22, 1987 destruction of USAF RF-4C was not the result of an accident, but the consequence of a deliberate act," the investigator wrote. "His subsequent reaction [to the radio command] demonstrated an absolute disregard of the known facts and circumstances.
"He failed to utilize the decision-making process taught in replacement training and reacted in a purely mechanical manner. The performance of Lieutenant Timothy W. Dorsey on September 22, 1987, raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment."
Vice Adm. Kendall E. Moranville, who had headed the 6th Fleet, said, "We necessarily rely on the self-discipline and judgment of pilots to prevent such incidents; we have no other choice. Nothing, in my opinion, can mitigate Lieutenant Dorsey's basic error in judgment."
Jon Ault, a retired F-14 pilot, said Capt. Dorsey never took responsibility.
"I would never have guessed he'd ever make it to commander, much less admiral," he said. "In fact, I thought his career was over back when the shoot-down happened. He refused to accept any blame for the shoot-down and swore he was just following [rules of engagement] even though he knew it was a friendly. I mean, the guy did it on purpose."
Here are some facts about this incident:
Overview-On 22 September 1987, an F-14A-70-GR Tomcat, BuNo 162707, of VF-74 out of NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, operating from the USS Saratoga, accidentally shot down a USAF RF-4C-22-MC Phantom II, 69-0381, 'ZR' tailcode, of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, out of Zweibr?cken Air Base, West Germany, at 1550 hrs. EDT over the Mediterranean during a NATO exercise, DISPLAY DETERMINATION. Both RF-4C crew ejected, pilot Capt Michael Ross of Portsmouth, Ohio, and WSO 1st Lt Randy Sprouse of Sumter, South Carolina, both of the 38th TRS, and were rescued by a helicopter from the Saratoga within 30 minutes, suffering numerous injuries.
Specifics: On an early fall afternoon in September, 1987, Vodka 51, an RF-4C, departed Aviano Air Base in Italy bound, for the Mediterranean. Their job that day was to find the US aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Of course, part of Exercise Display Determination, a joint USAF, USN and NATO exercise, taking place in the Med, was for Navy assets to defend the carrier and stop detection of its location. The search for the carrier and the defense of it, as always, were to occur within the exercise ROE.
Vodka 51 was flying a special RF-4 TEREC that day. TEREC, Tactical Electronic Reconnaissance, was the AN/ALQ-125, which enabled detection of electronic beeps and squeaks that could emanate from various sources, one being an aircraft carrier group. That?s how Vodka 51 planned to find the Saratoga.
After the flight across Northern Italy and into the Mediterranean, the first order of business for Vodka 51 was to hit a tanker for airborne refueling. Join up and hook up with the tanker was routine and uneventful. While taking gas the RF-4 crew noticed a Navy F-14 had joined on the tanker?s wing. Thinking nothing of it Vodka 51 concentrated on the task and hand and, once topped off, disconnected and left the tanker track to start their search. As they turned away, Vodka noticed the Tomcat did not stay with the tanker but appeared to follow them.
Vodka 51 got their TEREC equipment up and running then started their flight search pattern to hunt for the Saratoga. As it seems to happen on occasion, the cosmic stuff decides not to work and, on this day, the TEREC gear failed to operate. However, the RF-4 guys did notice the TACAN channel that was in use on the Saratoga three days prior was up and transmitting. That would allow them to make the briefed intercept of the Saratoga. As the Vodka 51 started down to the intercept altitude they lost sight of the Tomcat. Fifteen minutes after departing the tanker. a massive explosion engulfed the RF-4. Both the pilot and the WSO were able to eject. Although ejection parameters were not ideal, 550Kts, 5500 feet and negative 2.5 G?s, it was better than not getting out at all. All the egress equipment worked as briefed and, once they regained consciousness, they both found themselves under parachute canopies that settled them down to the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Their time in the water was relatively short, 45 minutes. A Navy rescue helicopter picked them up and brought them to the carrier. Vodka 51 had finally found the Saratoga.
Once they had been medically checked over and given dry clothes Vodka 51 met with the carrier CO. He asked them if they knew what had happened. When they said they thought they might have had a mid-air with the F-14 that had been following them, the CO said, ?No, that F-14 was one of ours and he shot you down.? The WSO?s response was, "I thought we were on the same side sir!" To which the Admiral answered, "Normally we are."
After departing the tanker, the F-14 had indeed followed Vodka 51. The Tomcat was being flown by a young, Navy LTJG, tactical call sign "Smoke," a player in the exercise, whose task it was to defend the carrier. Apparently, this was going to be quite an atta-boy, quickly eliminating an adversary so early in the exercise It was his luck that day to see the RF-4 come on station and to be able to follow him into the exercise area after refueling. It was also his luck, or misfortune, that day to be flying with live ordinance for Fleet defense when he was re-tasked from that role to participate in the exercise. The F-14 HUD video recorded his call to the carrier asking, within exercise rules, to engage the RF-4. He was given clearance, within exercise rules, to shoot and destroy Vodka 51. On the video you can plainly hear the Navy fighter pilot call up his left missile. You can hear him say everything is good, announce he?s firing the missile and a release cue is displayed. However, the left missile had a motor malfunction and didn't fire. You can hear the pilot is somewhat confused when no missile departed the rail. Next you hear on the HUD video as the Tomcat pilot called up his right missile and announce everything is good. This time when the release cue is displayed you also see the F-14 is inside the Break X signal, that he's 2500 feet behind the RF-4 and the Air Force jet?s Zweibrucken AB, Germany tail flash, ZR, can plainly be seen. Then a live AIM-9 flashes into the HUD field of view and makes its way to the RF-4 where it impacts in front of the tail section resulting in a huge explosion. While all this is going on, you can hear the RIO?s profanity filled screams asking his pilot what has he done. Then starting a rescue effort the RIO transmits, ?MAYDAY, MAYDAY MAYDAY, WE'VE JUST SHOT DOWN THE F-4 AT 060/05 FROM MOTHER, NO CHUTES, NO CHUTES, NO CHUTES.?
A few interesting side notes.
?One of the ROE?s of the exercise was that no participating aircraft were allowed to carry live missiles.
?The Navy LTJG, when asked later by the accident investigation board, said, yes, indeed, he intended to shoot a live missile. He was not court-martialed but put on non-flying duties and never flew again.
?This very same LTJG?s father was an active Navy Vice Admiral who, when flying combat missions in Vietnam, accidentally shot down his wingman.
?The pilot of Vodka 51 has ever since been known as Squidbait. He?s had numerous back surgeries as a result of the Martin-Baker ejection; the most recent, earlier this year, 2008.
?The accident board determined that Vodka 51 was very lucky to have almost full fuel tanks. Had those fuel tanks been mostly empty, filled with fuel vapors, the explosion would have been much more massive, ripping the RF-4 apart and almost certainly killing the crew.
