Military Pilots reprimanded

[Wingate1217]

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. Here is a commander who thinks more of himself than the plight of the nation.....There was probably a better way to handle this....



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</TD><TD vAlign=top width="100%">Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 9:41 a.m. EDT
Military Reprimands Navy Rescuers
Two Navy helicopter pilots were reprimanded for their actions after Hurricane Katrina struck – they rescued more than 100 people and brought them to safety.

Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow each piloted H-3 helicopters out of Pensacola, Fla., and were ordered to deliver emergency food, water and other supplies to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on Tuesday, August 30, the day after Katrina made landfall. <!-- 24/7 Middle Position --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://oascentral.newsmax.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.newsmax.com/@Middle"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> </NOSCRIPT>
The storm had cut off electricity and water to the center. The two pilots delivered the supplies and were heading back to Pensacola when they picked up a Coast Guard transmission saying helicopters were needed in New Orleans, the New York Times reports.
So the pilots headed for the stricken city and began picking up people who were stranded on rooftops and a highway overpass and ferrying them to an airport where a makeshift medical center had been set up. They rescued 110 people in all. But the next morning, the two pilots were called to a meeting with Cmdr. Michael Holdener, Pensacola’s air operations chief. He said their rescue effort was "an unacceptable diversion” from their mission of delivering supplies, according to the Times – even though Lt. Udkow said there was a "shocking” lack of other rescue helicopters around flooded New Orleans. Udkow, who reportedly complained to superiors about the reprimand, was taken out of flying rotation and given a new assignment: overseeing a temporary kennel set up at Pensacola to hold pets of service members evacuated from hurricane-stricken areas.

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[SWOhioBuckeye]

What a douchebag. That guy is without a doubt a career desk jockey.

 

[Oh8ch]

I would be interested to hear from other former military types on this one, but I tend to side with the reprimand. Diverting military resources and creating your own orders because you 'picked up' a Coast Guard transmission doesn't cut it. Having military helicopter pilots decide what is best to do with their helicopters is not a good idea in war or in peace.

Of course, the unanswered question is what sort of malfunction they were experiencing with their radio that they were unable to coordinate with command while making this decision.

There is a reason they call them ORDERS.

 

[scooter1369]

I would be interested to hear from other former military types on this one, but I tend to side with the reprimand. Diverting military resources and creating your own orders because you 'picked up' a Coast Guard transmission doesn't cut it. Having military helicopter pilots decide what is best to do with their helicopters is not a good idea in war or in peace.

Of course, the unanswered question is what sort of malfunction they were experiencing with their radio that they were unable to coordinate with command while making this decision.

There is a reason they call them ORDERS.

Agreed. In Somalia, there were situations where you wished you could do something for a child who was obviously malnurished and just days from death or intervene when a guy started kicking the snot out a woman on the street. But we couldn't do it. Our orders weren't "humanitarian". They were to secure this area or that. Not feed hungry kids or protect pedestrians.

That diversion the pilot took, saved lives. If he felt the need to go, he could have radioed command and asked permission to slip up there. If he was denied, so be it. If permission was granted, he's a hero to all.

The reprimand is justified