kbf1, I still consider you to be a friend and whilst we may disagree with some of the emotive language used in our arguments I would have thought you were made of sterner stuff than that. My invocation of your 'apparent' anti-Americanism is based not only on what I read into your comments but also what others read into them. You appear to have made up your mind that the A10 pilot was a maverick and acting purely on gung-hoism and lacked any professionalism. In reality you do not know anything about the pilot, what his orders were, who he was talking to at the time or anything. You have drawn your conclusion and shroud it in language that has a pre-determination and nothing else matters.
Yes, it is a tragic incident and if the pilot was acting alone and in contravention of orders and with total disregard for laid down RoI then he should be dealt with. Under the circumstances though, we do not know his side of the story and until such time you should perhaps refrain from making judgements.
As was pointed out by HAL, making decisions at the speeds and altitudes mentioned is not easy and the equipment in the a/c is not quite as all singing and dancing as the manufacturers advertising brochures would have you believe.
I note that spotting something at 300kts is dificult. I know that trying to spot another heavy jet 2.5 miles in front of me when on approach at only 150kts can be almost impossible so applying that concept to trying to spot somthing at twice that speed which is camouflaged and blends into the surrounding terrain must be many more times more difficult. The expectation that the pilot is going to spot an 18 x 12 inch flag or a similar sized dayglo panel, assuming it is not covered by dirt or faded is also one that those making the criticisms obviously have little understanding of. I have seen on many of the news footage shots of our vehicles, the dayglo panel is either partly obscured, faded or covered in dust.
Also, you have not answered my or HAL's question about the British BoB incident. As HAL mentioned, that one was made at a lot closer range and at less that 10% of the speed of the A10. Will you be as quick to come to a conclusion about that incident? I doubt it and it is because of your haste and vehemence in condemning the A10 pilot that I accuse you of being anti-American. I won't even get into your private email which you have decided to reveal to everyone. It is not just me who senses your frustration at the US forces methods of dealing with their BoB incidents. It is your continued jumping to conclusions that I and quite a few others have noted that causes me to assume that you are anti-American. As you say yourself and pointed out by Jackonicko, just because you don't like something American doesn't mean you can't be proi-American can be twisted just as easily and read 'just because you like something American doesn't mean you can't be anti-American. My concern is for the amount of undermining some people try to do at the wrong time. When the conflict is over then there will be time for recriminations.
I am not defending the A10 pilot, but I will not condemn him at this stage either. The same goes for any of our servicemen or women and those of our allies involved in BoB incidents. In due course I have no doubt that they will all be investigated and lessons learnt. Trust the free press to give us the balanced picture... NOT!
(This report was made from Newcastle Library and is subject to military restrictions.)