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INDEPTH: FRIENDLY FIRE
The ‘Friendly Fire’ Reports
CBC News Online | Updated October 22, 2003
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They're not calling it "friendly fire" anymore. Canadian military personnel are now using the term "fratricide" to describe the deaths of four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. The new terminology was used by Defence Minister John McCallum, Chief of Defence Staff General Ray Henault and retired general Maurice Baril as they released details of their inquiry into the tragedy.
Here are some key points from the inquiry report:
- American pilots are solely at fault for the bombing of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in April. Four soldiers were killed and eight more wounded.
- Canadian soldiers have been cleared of any blame. The report concludes that they had followed proper military procedures and notified commanders before embarking on an overnight training exercise.
- Canada had notified American military officers in advance that soldiers would be doing live-fire exercises near Kandahar.
- The pilots of two American F-16s mistakenly assumed that they were being attacked as they returned from a mission and flew over the Canadian military exercise site.
- The Americans showed "failure of airmanship and technique for the wingman and a failure of leadership for the flight leader" when they dropped a 250-kilogram laser-guided bomb on the Canadian troops.
- "The two American pilots contravened established procedure and were the direct cause of the incident."
- The Americans engaged in an "inappropriate use of force."
- Until the moment the bombs struck, Canadian forces had no knowledge of impending danger.
- American pilots were in the position to stop the chain of events that led to the accident so it has been concluded that the American pilots are at fault.
The Canadian inquiry was eight weeks long, investigating not only what happened, but also why it happened. Some of the information will remain classified for now, but both American and Canadian officials insist they know exactly what happened that night, minute by minute.
The American inquiry, released simultaneously with the Canadian report, made similar findings, but the American inquiry names one of the pilots responsible for the attack, and also comments on "command structures" breaking down.
Here are some key points of the American report:
- Major Harry Schmidt of the Illinois Air National Guard's 170th Fighter Squadron and another unidentified pilot are directly responsible for the incident.
- All pilots had been told in advance that the Canadian troops were conducting live-fire exercises.
- The incident was caused by "the failure of the two pilots to execute appropriate flight discipline which resulted in a violation of the rules of engagement and inappropriate use of lethal force."
- Failings within the pilots' immediate command structure were contributing factors to the incident.
- Disciplinary action against the pilots will be taken, but this action will be considered by the air force, and the kind of action could not be elaborated on.
- The succession of events is reported as follows:
- Two U.S. F-16s were returning from a mission in Afghanistan early on April 18, 2002, when they saw what they believed to be enemy fire near Kandahar.
- The lead pilot reported seeing what looked like fireworks. He thought it was ground-to-air fire.
- The pilot requested and received permission to determine the exact co-ordinates of the fire.
- The second F-16 pilot requested permission to fire his 20mm cannon at the target, but he was instructed to "hold fire" while more information was obtained.
- The pilot then stated that he was "rolling-in in self-defence," dropped down to 10,000 feet and dropped a 250-kilogram laser-guided bomb on the target, killing four Canadian soldiers and wounding eight others.
General Ray Henault expressed an urge to increase and improve “interoperability” between Canadian and American forces, by continuing to analyse, discuss and implement both of the inquiries’ findings.
Canadian investigator Brigadier General Michel Gauthier commented on Canada/U.S relations since the accident saying that, "…the spirit of co-operation that we've seen following the event has only strengthened the relationship between our two countries."
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