[Auth. Note – For ease of understanding and full context, you may want to read some or all of the preceding pieces in this series: AMST Intro, AMST 1, AMST 2, AMST 3, AMST 4, AMST 5, AMST 6, AMST 7, AMST 8, AMST 9, AMST 10, AMST 11, AMST 12, and AMST 13. I used my ‘stack links because I was too lazy to redo all of them to the corresponding pieces here on Glibs.]
After Clark’s crash, I had a week or so before my 2L year law school classes started. Daughter number 4 came along a few months thereafter, then came the holidays. The first few months with a new baby can be a bit of a blur, and as we now had 3 girls under the age of 5, that time is largely forgotten to me now besides the odd family 8mm tape that my ex- still has.
Just into second semester, however, first week of February, I got a phone call from Major Mike Stahlman, USMC. While unexpected, it wasn’t completely unusual. I’d met Major Stahlman the prior summer while interning as a prosecutor at Camp Lejeune. He was the Review Officer at Lejeune, as well as being a former FLEP officer and aviator – a backseater in F-4s. We got on well and he had occasionally checked in on me regarding fitness reports and to see how I was doing while I was back at school. This call, however, was entirely professional.
“You see the news about the Prowler in Italy?”
“Yes, sir, I did.” And I had. While it’s been 26 years now, and the internet back then was just getting started, this crash was a very big deal at the time – as in, it made the evening news. Wikipedia calls it the Cavalese Cable Car crash. Nice bit of alliteration there, but I think the Italian is way more dramatic: La Strage del Cermis (The Cermis Massacre).
On 3 February 1998, an EA-6B Prowler, BuNo (bureau number) 163045, ‘CY-02’, callsign Easy 01, an electronic warfare aircraft belonging to Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 (VMAQ-2) of the United States Marine Corps, was on a low-altitude training mission. At 15:13 local time it struck the cables supporting the aerial lift from Cavalese. The aircraft was flying at a speed of 470 knots (870 km/h; 541 mph) and at an altitude of between 80 and 100 metres (260 and 330 ft) in a narrow valley between mountains.
When reaching approximately 46.2837°N 11.4672°E, the aircraft’s right wing struck the cables from underneath. The cable was severed, causing the cabin from Cermis with twenty people on board to plunge over 80 metres (260 ft), leaving no survivors. The plane had wing and tail damage, but was able to return to Aviano Air Base.
I’m not sure I had even heard the kind of detail above, but the news had reported the essentials pretty quickly: a Marine EA-6B Prowler had clipped a cable holding a ski gondola in the Alps, killing 20 people of various nationalities who were on vacation. The lift was below 500’ AGL; I remember that detail came out fairly quickly.
I thought of my own crash – 6 seconds from the time the first engine coughed until we impacted the ground – and what it was like to fall roughly 130 feet in a helicopter sans power. Terrible, but at least a chance. Double the height and make it a ski gondola and it does not… get better. Horrifying. That is several seconds of everyone looking around at each other in free fall and knowing what the end is in advance… perhaps enough time for a parent to grab hold of a child. Believe me when I tell you that.
“Well, I’d like to see if you would be interested in working for the Defense Team of one of the pilots. I’ve been detailed, and there are a number of other folks who are going to be involved, and I wanted to reach out to you to see about your orders for this summer.” I was flattered and conflicted. I also recognized that I was one of only three people in the Marine Corps who had tactical aviation experience and was either a Judge Advocate already, or in the pipeline: there was Major Stahlman, the guy who was calling me, and another officer a few years ahead of me, a former C-130 pilot at Cherry Point, named Vernon Stuart Couch, “Stu” to his aviation buddies.1
He laid out what he expected and needed from me; I acknowledged I understood and would be honored to work on such an important case. Frankly, I couldn’t believe I’d been asked. I hung up and over the next few days I read what I could find – this was the early days of the internet, and internet search, so I was probably combing through millions of results on altavista to see what I could glean about the mishap. It did not look good.
Less than a week later, I got a call at night, just after dinner. And also from Camp Lejeune – except this time it was Major Carol K. Joyce, USMC, Chief Trial Counsel.2 I had worked for both Major Joyce and Major Stahlman the prior summer, although I’d probably had more face-time with Major Stahlman. Major Joyce was from Brockton, Mass., and also had a prior career in the Marine Corps before becoming a judge advocate. It didn’t take her long to get to the point.
“You hear about the EA-6 out of Aviano?” she asked.
“Yes, Ma’am, I did. Major Stahlman called me up to ask if I would be willing to work for the defense.” There was a long pause.
“…Yeah, well… that ain’t gonna happen. You’re coming down here to work for the prosecution – for me, and Lieutenant Colonel “Doc” Daugherty. Do you know Doc?”
“Uhh, no. No, Ma’am.”
“Okay. You’ll meet him. He’s a former federal prosecutor; he got out, and then back in. We’re going to be litigating this for the government, along with Stu Couch… and yourself.”
“Oh. Okay. Yes, Ma’am. Do I need to let Major Stahlman know-”
“No. I’ll take care of it. Keep an eye out in the papers and let me know when classes and exams end so we can get your orders set.”
And just like that I went from Defense to Prosecution before I’d even had a chance to take out a legal pad and pencil.
I got down to Camp Lejeune in late April, early May 1998. I know because the dates for the Article 32 hearing for the backseaters – Lieutenants Raney and Seagraves – was May 3, and I remember being in the courtroom for it, the big one behind the Legal Services building. It was a zoo compared to how staid it normally is. I was fortunate enough to have a pretty decent seat in the courtroom because technically I was assisting the prosecution – but I wasn’t on “fetch” duty (yet) because I had just gotten down there from law school. I also wasn’t there for my court-martial or trial acumen, but rather for my view of the events and the government’s evidence in light of what I knew about flying tactical aircraft in the Marine Corps.
Major Couch was already around and we renewed acquaintances. Stu had finished the Law Program a few years before, so had already graduated law school and taken the Bar. His prior experience in fixed-wing aircraft was invaluable, moreso than anything I had to add as a tactical helo guy. Most of my contribution – and our attention – focused on the Squadron, Group, and Wing procedures (SOPs) and – in many ways – acting as our own internal, mini-Aircraft Mishap Board to try to reconstruct what happened along the low level route and jive it with the blackbox and all of the other information we had.
Knowing where to find things Notices to Airmen, local SOPs, etc., and all of the other information that the crew would – and should – have looked at in the conduct of the flight was both an AMB and a prosecution function. It’s also important information in determining possible culpability and at what level.
Some background on military law
Each of the pilots had their assigned (“detailed”) military defense counsel, their own civilian attorney (at their own cost), and an individual military counsel (IMC), which is typically granted in cases as serious as this. It’s an additional, experienced judge advocate that the accused asks for by name and the Convening Authority has the discretion to grant or not. Given the magnitude of the case, all four of the pilots involved had multiple attorneys and it made the proceedings kind of a circus. I don’t remember who the Article 32 Investigating Officer was, but I recall it was someone experienced – it may even have been one of our judges.
Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is basically akin to a grand jury proceeding, presided over by an Investigating Officer (IO) who is detailed by the ‘Convening Authority’. The CA is the senior officer, at least a General, who is the Commander with court-martial jurisdiction over the accused. The Article 32 IO is typically a judge advocate because Article 32 is only invoked for cases that are potentially going to the highest level court-martial the GCM, or General Court-Martial, where felonies, up to and including death penalty cases, are tried.33 Like a grand jury proceeding, it’s basically run by the prosecutor and the strict rules of evidence do not apply, however, legal privileges and self-incrimination still do and, most importantly, the accused is present and represented by counsel and gets to cross-examine witnesses and participate in the hearing – unlike a civilian grand jury proceeding. At this time, 32’s were routinely transcribed verbatim by a court-reporter, although that practice changed during my time in the business. The vast majority of JAs I knew and practiced with treated 32’s as serious business because they were; a 32 is the prelude to a possible GCM and I can promise the General who’s convening it gives a shit about it. Consequently, everyone else does, too.
By the time of the Article 32 hearing, when I showed up on the scene, a lot had already happened, both politically and legally.
In a formal investigation report redacted on 10 March 1998, and signed by Lieutenant General Peter Pace,4 the U.S. Marine Corps agreed with the results of the Italian officers. The investigation was led by General Michael DeLong, along with Italian Colonels Orfeo Durigon and Fermo Missarino. The document was kept secret until the Italian newspaper La Stampa legally obtained a copy from the U.S. archives and published it on 13 July 2011.
The Marine aircrew was determined to be flying too low and too fast, putting themselves and others at risk. The investigation team suggested that disciplinary measures against the flight crew and commanding officers should be taken, that the U.S. had to bear the full blame for what happened, and that victims’ relatives were entitled to receive a monetary settlement.
The Italians, and a number of other European countries, were livid. The prosecution, understandably – and maybe even justifiably – was on jihad.
“Hey, I Think I know that Guy.”
I’m not sure if I already knew from a friend or not, but I can recall sitting in the courtroom when one of the two pilots came in and we locked eyes for a moment. Joe Schweitzer was the senior man in the aircraft, sitting right seat (IIRC) in the EA-6B Prowler, but he was not the pilot – he wasn’t a trained pilot at all, in fact, he was an NFO – and therefore not “on the sticks” when it happened.
He was senior to me by a few years, but after his first tour in EA-6, he had gone to a ground tour as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) with 2nd Tank Battalion at Camp Lejeune.5 One of the other aviators in the fire support team Schweitzer served with at 2nd Tanks was was my best friend, Jeff “Stinky” Prowse (who has previously appeared here and here). As it turns out, the summer before – in 1997 – I had enjoyed beers and burgers with the accused Captain Schweitzer at a BBQ at Jeff and Debbie’s in New River base housing. This was just before Schweitzer got orders back to VMAQ-2 in Italy.
Again, I don’t know or even if he recognized me, or if Stinky had already raised it with me, but at some point I remember becoming cognizant that I knew one of the men in the dock – the senior guy in the aircraft.
And so we return (yet again) to the issue I raised in the first one of these about Bud Carson’s infamous Fairchild AFB crash, and that distinction between the daredevil and the adventurer, and the critical role that ego plays in fatal mishaps.
“It Doesn’t Look Good; that’s for sure.”
One of the most critical, but unreported facts by the Media, of the subsequent trials and even the second trials, was that the pilot, Richard Ashby, was on his last flight in the squadron. His transition package had finally come through approved and he had orders to go to the F/A-18 training squadron to become a Hornet pilot.
Ashby had always been a bit of an ill-fit for the Prowler. He was good flight student and wanted Hornets, but instead got Prowlers. The best analogy I can think for the EA-6B and the F/A-18 is like a VW Microbus to a Lamborghini – both “cars” in the sense of being “vehicles that have 4 wheels and carry people” but otherwise being about as far apart as they can be while still technically in the same Kingdom.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CekJWJFFfHY?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
He wanted this (See link)
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TyQbuv64-5c?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
But he was flying this. “The Sky Pig Aircraft That You Have Never Seen.”
The EA-6B is an electronic warfare platform that is considered a national asset because of what it can do with electrons and electromagnetic energy. I have heard it claimed that the EA-6B could shutdown – i.e. broadband jam – all of the air traffic control radars that cover the DC to Boston corridor, among other tricks they have in their bag. The rumor is that Gulf War attack pilots couldn’t buy enough beer for the EA-6 guys back at the O’Club in Doha or wherever they were.
But the Prowler is an absolute pig compared to the Hornet… and Ashby was on his last flight in the Prowler. Nobody went out planning to kill 20 people or clip a cable, but there is little question in my mind that they went out to fly low and fast as part of the going-away for Ashby’s last hurrah in his airframe. The problem is that at that level – because they hadn’t been doing much low-level training all along – they got the navigation wrong and were one canyon over from where they thought they were.
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys.
Thankfully, my participation in the case was extremely limited – for two reasons. First, my “expertise” – if one could even use that phrase for my background – wasn’t needed. They had no shortage of fixed-wing pilots they could talk to and I wasn’t even finished with law school yet. I also had my own stable of cases I was working; Camp Lejeune was the busiest jurisdiction in the Marine Corps and I needed trial experience, something I wasn’t going to get on the Aviano case. The second reason, and a more interesting phenomena for me, was the overt hostility by the prosecutors for aviators that resulted from their investigation. Let me suss this out a bit.
I have nothing but love and respect for Col Carol K. Joyce, who was a mentor to me and I would later serve under twice, but even her husband Robert F. Joyce – himself a Marine officer and CH-46 pilot(!) – used to joke with me when he would pop in the office to meet his wife for lunch that “…since Aviano, I’ve had to sleep on the couch. What are you guys doing over here!?” She would yell from her office next door through the paper thin walls: “All you aviators, you’re all the same!”
Then Majors Joyce and Daugherty were very frustrated by the lack of aviators willing to come forward and call what Ashby did recklessly criminal, or to testify that Ashby had so deviated from rules and regulations that it should be considered at a certain level of culpable criminal mental state. Even the Prosecution’s own witnesses hemmed and hawed and were unwilling to opine with the kind of certainty and zeal necessary to convince a jury of military members that these guys should be convicted and go to prison. More than once both prosecutors referred to aviators as being like cops with the “thin blue line” or “code of silence.”
Doc Daugherty once reamed me out in his office and the reasons were because (1) I was “an aviator” and (2) the good Major thought that made me “biased” in my charging recommendation, which is that I disagreed with charging manslaughter. I believed it should be negligent homicide, which is a slightly lower level of criminal culpability, and more importantly, had a much lower maximum punishment under the UCMJ. Art 119 under the Code is manslaughter and carries a maximum term of confinement of 10 years per offense for involuntary manslaughter. With 20 dead, they would be facing 200 years total for the aircrew. My analysis was that it was more properly charged as negligent homicide – but “neg hom” under Article 134 only carries a max of 3 years confinement per offense, 60 years total, probably not sending quite the “message” that higher-ups would like with the world watching.
As it turns out…
It was determined that the maps on board did not show the cables and that the EA-6B was flying somewhat faster and considerably lower than allowed by military regulations. The restrictions in effect at the time required a minimum flying height of 2,000 feet (610 m); Ashby said he thought they were at 1,000 feet (305 m). The cable was cut at a height of 360 feet (110 m). Ashby further claimed that the altitude-measuring equipment, the altimeter, on his plane had been malfunctioning, and that he had been unaware of the speed restrictions. In March 1999, the jury acquitted Ashby,[3] outraging the Italian public.[11] The manslaughter charges against Schweitzer were then dropped.
Wikipedia on the cavalese cable car incident
Ashby and Schweitzer were later tried for obstruction of justice when it came to light that they had destroyed a videotape they had taken during the flight. Immediately upon landing, they had gotten rid of the camera and tape, and only later – as a result of the first trial – did the existence of the tape and its import, come to light. By the time the second trial concluded, I was back at law school and studying for finals and the Bar exam. My chief contribution to the case was getting the Gondola back from Italy because I knew how to work the Navy logistics flight system overseas.6
At the time, I thought that the Cavalese cable car tragedy marked my end with aviation mishaps for all time… but I had one more yet to go.
- Small world that the Marine Corps is, I had met Stu when we were aviators at some point during coordination for an exercise or something or other at Cherry Point during my days as a helicopter pilot just a few years earlier. ↩︎
- In military JAG parlance, the “trial counsel” is the Prosecutor. ↩︎
- By contrast, a Special Court-Martial (SpCM) can jurisdictionally give out no worse than one year of confinement (back then it was only 6 months), so it is in many ways like a state misdemeanor court, even if some of the offenses involved are (in fact) felonies. A Special also does not require an Art 32 investigation. ↩︎
- A note on LTGeneral Peter Pace – in AMST-12, I wrote about the deadliest training crash in Marine Corps (and maybe US) history. It occurred less than 2 years before this fatal mishap. The Commander during that exercise? Yes, General Peter Pace. Not to pile on the guy, HOWEVER… when I used to teach “Hazing” to legalmen at the Naval Justice School, I would play a 13 minute piece first aired by ABC News “PrimeTime Live” in February 1992 called “Hell Night.” It was a searing expose on one of the worse, and more embarrassing, hazing scandals in Marine Corps history because it occurred at Marine Barracks 8th and I, Washington, DC, home to the Silent Drill team. It’s pre-internet, but I still have the files and powerpoint deck. CO of the Marine Barracks at the time? Then Col. Peter Pace, who – completely unbelievably – claimed ignorance of the whole thing. (All of it was captured on videotape and one of the abused Marines got a copy and – justifiably – gave it to ABC News. It showed direct knowledge by the senior enlisted leadership that the abuse was going on; it was clearly institutional.) Pace somehow went on to 3 stars, and was Commanding for at least 2 of the deadliest aviation mishaps ever, with 34 total dead. He’s either the unluckiest/most cursed commander ever, OR… ↩︎
- A FAC is assigned to a ground combat unit and trains and deploys with them. FACs and FOs, forward observers, are part of a small cell within a headquarters element that directs supporting arms. i.e. They call in planes to drop bombs, arty batteries to fire shells, and naval gunfire from ships to rain on someone’s parade. ↩︎
- A bit of useful military esoterica I picked up from my deployment to the Med a few years before while coordinating for various exercises. ↩︎
“After Clark’s crash, I had a week or so before my 2L year law school classes started. Daughter number 4 came along a few months thereafter”
Christ on a cracker, man. Any one of those would be a full plate.
RC – At some point, I think I got the sense that my Life was going to be an unending series of major events from which I would careen, like a pinball, one to the next – and over which I would have (basically) no control. Hence my love of Stoicism (and our weekly Stoic posts here!)
Sorry for the two FN #3s and a couple of other missed edits. My fault.
I’m not a big fan of WP.
Bullshit, it’s the editors’ fault, You did fine. Tonio, on the other hand should be ashamed of hisself.
LOL. Tonio is doing just fine, Hype.
Don’t poke the bear. 😉
Some bears enjoy being poked, as I understand it.
My kingdom for the ability to post the Austin Powers “Oh, Behave” gif.
I was going to First, but then I saw those typos and I says to myself nah. Firsting is for perfection.
Fair cop. No point in wasting a perfectly good First, Bro.
Can’t find part 1, but I assume this is the USMC hazing scandal in question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ckO9BT5PfI
Lots of metaphorical crayon eating in the comments.
I hated this crap when I was in the Army, but by the same token, I get it to some extent. Going to war isn’t fun and games. There’s no sympathy from enemies.
Yeah – I get the need for traditions, and even some kind of “ritual” of initiation for folks to join the club, but inevitably it attracts the sadists and what you get is the “can you endure the kind of abuse that I did” generational brutality.
The problem is as old as Man. One of my best takeaways in all of the stuff I’ve seen and done is that if it has to be done at night, privately, where no one can know about it, then it’s almost assuredly abuse that’s being hidden. It’s also amazing how many of these things involve some sexual humiliation component to them. Idiocy.
Pinning a new chevron on (or your NCO stripe) was never a big thing when I was in. A couple of guys would get a bit too carried away, but for the most part everyone just gave a token tap.
Now the wetdown party ….. That couldn’t be fucked with.
Crawling up the bore of one of the big guns on a battleship seems hazing enough.
No need for ass play (I’m assuming the other stuff involved ass play, as all hazing seems to devolve to).
Bill McNeal :
I myself am a certified “cannoncocker”! (heh)
I crawled – okay, that’s exaggerating – I inch-wormed all the way from the breach in the turret to the end of one of the 16″ guns on the USS New Jersey…. that was in 1988, of course, a much more svelte version of myself.
You mentioned crawling up the barrel before, Ozzy – it still gives me a third-hand claustrophobia attack.
(Second-hand, I guess?)
I also ‘get’ hazing. I don’t like it, but I do understand the literally primal instinct behind it. It’s universal and always has been. Question I have for all who’ve served and been hazed: Did it ‘work’ in your units, making them more cohesive, more ‘functional?’ It’s easy to see when the rituals go too far, but to a large extent, I reckon ‘soft’ hazing is quite effective.
I suppose the trick is ensuring folk stay within certain lines. Having good watchdogs. I’ve never come close to experiencing it, myself, not in any group I’ve belonged to. I’m quite thankful. No idea how I’d react to it, though I ‘know’ it’d depend on the group. Likely, sadly(?), quite well. Persistently chipper is my natural state, which has (mostly) served me well. (I’m being quite tried at the moment, however.)
Derpy – Nope, it’s a DIFFERENT hazing scandal. The one in the clip you posted was a bunch of idiots at 2nd LSB (Landing Support Bn) at Camp Lejeune. That came out when I got back from my 2L summer – the same summer I was writing about above.
Man, did I have to answer a bunch of questions from my law school classmates and professors when I started 3L year. (Fall ’98)
Important note for warriors: 2 LSB isn’t some “elite” unit – this is not 2nd Force Recon, for example, or some other hardcore unit.
Nope – these are guys who have to get jump qualified because they drop stuff. Fuckheads, all.
I remember some Army/NSA anti-hazing video that involved the story of a soldier sent to an infantry(?) unit where the ritual was everyone in the platoon sticking their finger up the asshole of the new guy.
Retardation, a celebration.
Speaking of which, behold the rum, buggery, and lash of today’s Royal Navy:
Recruit Kicked Out of the Navy for Ejaculating on a Pillow | Royal Navy Sailor School | Our Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-AF_1RATA
Dedovshchina – not just for Russian cannon fodder anymore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_aL7nFIw7U
On second thought, let’s NOT join the military – tis a silly place.
“I LIKE TO PUSH THE PRAM A LOT!”
Fascinating story Oz. Thank you.
Cheers, rd. Only two more left and it’s basically one long story that I had to break up so I could fully rant about the V-22 Osprey.
My young son asked me what I did in the Army. I told him I was the janitor. Busy cleaning up the messes the more senior officers had made.
Every SNCO’s job description pretty much.
Fantastic series, Ozzy.
As soon as I read
“You see the news about the Prowler in Italy?”
I thought, “cable car”.
Awful.
Italians were right to be outraged over the acquittal but, as you wrote, they may have overreached with manslaughter.
Outstanding point about the overreach. They didn’t *intend* to do it. It was, in my non-legal, but agreeing mind: negligent homicide.
Yeah, that was my 2L intern (and former pilot) view of it.
That did not make me popular in the prosecution shop and earned me a quick push to the side for insufficient zeal – which was fine by me.
Italians also tried to blame seismologists for not predicting that big earthquake.
As of today
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-workforce-optimization-initiative/
Sec. 3. Reforming the Federal Workforce to Maximize Efficiency and Productivity. (a) Hiring Ratio. Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025 (Hiring Freeze), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition (Plan). The Plan shall require that each agency hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart, consistent with the plan and any applicable exemptions and details provided for in the Plan. This order does not affect the standing freeze on hiring as applied to the Internal Revenue Service. This ratio shall not apply to functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement. Agency Heads shall also adhere to the Federal Hiring Plan that will be promulgated pursuant to Executive Order 14170 of January 20, 2025 (Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service)
The hits keep coming.
First off, if you want to read and consume more tears go here….
https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/new/
Now as a fed drone, i do have trouble figuring out what this means. First off, which departments qualify? I care about the Air Force, and to a lesser part the Navy. RIF’s take a long time to figure out. A base wide RIF where 28K military and civilians work is not going to be done quickly. AI or not.
I can wash aircraft if needed. But wow, they are NOT thinking small.
“M*sk”
LOL one word and done
Saw one of those clowns using the term “civil service” and it made my skin crawl.
I hate that as much as cops referring to “civilians.” You’re a civilian, too, you fat fuck.
Amen Bro. Cops are civilians. Cops working for DoD, the Army, Navy, etc, who are not members of the Military Police Corps, are still civilians. Cops who are also MPs in the Reserves are still civilians unless they are at drill or on orders.
Oh yeah, if you are an MP drilling at my base you do not have police powers unless I or my Public Safety Director sign a memorandum for record granting you police powers from X to Y date. Forget that at your peril SSG.
Damn. So many cinematic levels. Thank you so much for these. The cable car is absolutely tragic, but this is perhaps the ‘best’ story I’ve ever read here. As in, such a story few (on Earth) can tell, and in this instance, only you can. The ‘last-hurrah fly-by’ is chilling, utterly believable. At fucking 360’?! Fucking purposeful insanity, indeed. The Italians were correctly enraged. Ah, the tape. Damn. Bastards.
The insight into Article 32 is fascinating. Many wiki rabbit holes have been opened to read more. Thank you for sharing all of these. I’m quite sure they’re dreadful to ‘reminisce’ on. I hope the knowledge you’re rewarding us with is reward enough for you.
Thank you for coming by and reading, Evan. Your appreciation of the story is all the recompense any storyteller needs.
Thanks again for this series Ozy. I always thought that the Article 32 process was better in many ways to the Grand Jury system since the defense is part of the process. I was an Art 32 officer a couple of times and I sure as hell learned a bunch in a short period of time. That was my fuck up. I did so well by the end of the first time, after much painful learning, that I got the honor of being selected twice more.
Thanks, DE. I think the Art 32 process is better than grand jury for the same reason you do.
Glad you’ve had the pleasure of doing several! The hardest part is the report afterwards and preparation really helps a LOT.
I have heard it claimed that the EA-6B could shutdown – i.e. broadband jam – all of the air traffic control radars that cover the DC to Boston corridor, among other tricks they have in their bag.
I can personally verify that the flying taxi cab can shut down ATC. I saw it during Team Spirit ’88 in Korea. It was no surprise, they had to clear it with all the local air bases, but they did a training run and it was amazing to watch all the ATC screens get filled up with garbage.
Those suckers were loud. !993 i lived in the hiltop area of Virginia Beach. The engines on those planes would set off car alarms when they took off of Fentress air field.
rd – I’ve been to Fentress! I’ve got a couple of good stories from my 1 week with an F-14 squadron as a midshipman. Went out to Fentress to watch the Tomcats do bounces and sat in the LSO shack. Almost shit my pants the first time an F-14 came in to land. Never been that close to an aircraft landing and was in shock at how close we were.
I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard tell by some older pilots that indeed the EA-6 is as good or better than advertised. The pilot and B/N are basically the taxi service for the two dudes in the back (ECMOs – electronic countermeasures officers) who are the ones managing the electrons.
Please tell me you didn’t drink the water when you were there!
Yeah, that’s all that comes to mind. After seeing that commercial ten thousand times or so.
I can tell you that an unusual number of wives in New River base housing (across from CamLej) had miscarriages and they all were asking about possible water contamination or buried ordnance, etc. Eventually some was found, but we were assured it couldn’t possibly be related.
You can always trust the govt.
Of course, JI! Selfless public servants, all.
That’s why we need these judges to stop the Drumpfenfuhrer and his DOGE Nazis!
Slumbrew – re: crawling through the 16″ barrel. I am not at all claustrophobic – at least never had any experience to think I was – but to fuck with me, while I was trying to inch my way along, a couple of the Gunner’s Mates capped the end of the barrell – and I almost lost it. I had to close my eyes and just inch along “blind” because keeping my eyes open was a blackness so total that it freaked me the fuck out. Crazy how bad that was.
Nooooooope.
As for the gunner’s mates, they never found the bodies, right?
Thanks for the story. I hope your career wasn’t affected too badly for not agreeing to help throw the book at the pilots. I assume they may have thought you might be biased because you knew the one man.
I’m somewhat familiar with the area, although the details have faded because it was a very long time ago and I saw it through a child’s eyes. My dad was the JAG at Aviano in the late 1960’s, when security was much more relaxed. Remember some fun stories about the place he told me years later. The scenery to the north of course was spectacular.
Thanks for the series Ozy.
Every week is another compelling story.
+1
The Price Fitness Center at DLI is named after a Navy linguist who died when an EA-3B crashed. That plane was an electronic warfare aircraft similar to the EA-6B (same plane W flew on for his “Mission Accomplished” photo op).
***
Navy Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 3rd Class Patrick R. Price, 1958-1987, graduated from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s Russian basic course in 1985. He died during an EA-3B night landing attempt on the USS Nimitz in the Mediterranean Sea in 1987. From Opp, Alabama, Price was fluent in Russian and Spanish and was also a gifted musician. At South Alabama College, Price joined the band, rifle squad and cheerleading team, and also volunteered regularly at a Baptist Children’s Home. “A dedicated professional and a super athlete, he left a lasting impression on all who knew him,” reads the memorial plaque at the fitness center.
***
correction – the EA-3B was basically a spy plane.
I was once a fire-brand, shake things up kind of guy. Let’s get it on! Work within the sytem to git shit done.
I have realized that the system is it’s own system.
More and more, I’m a fuck shit up low key kind of guy.
I don’t need a permit for dat.
Bitch, dis my property. Im’a do the fuck I want with it.
/whatchu gonna do?
/burns two decades of accumulated waste this weekend
Dis ma hood!
For those in need of bathos, behold the Socialist Rifle Association:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ndPOs8Q1c
Commie hats, nose rings, chicks with dicks…the usual suspects.
I don’t have 22 min, but *damn* that’s fun. “Are you an enemy of the state?”
“Ooh, that’s hard. *OUR* state, or our 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 of the state?” <– No erudition was behind his(?) use of that phrase. I've seen good trigger discipline at least. Plus that, 'spose.
I was amused by trans Sam saying he didn’t think, as a trans woman, he would be welcome at gun ranges (or whatever).
This amuses me because one the range masters at the Pima County range is a trans woman. Nobody bats an eye.
Hippies hardest hit…
I’m guessing because the State hasn’t figured out a way to profit from it yet.
Elon and his squirmy, gravitas-less kid were hilarious in the Oval Office today. E.g.:
“Detractors? I have detractors?”
“I expect regular proctology [from the press]”
“Fraud shouldn’t go overseas; if there’s fraud it should go to Americans.”
🤣
I saw that.
Advice: Trump and Musk should have separate press conferences. Elon – keep the kid. It would be even better if while you are trying to talk to the press the kid starts tugging on your sleeve “Dad…..dad…..dad….”
Trump…I dont really have any advice for you. You seem to have this interviewing thing nailed.
I especially liked the bit about “These people are public servants on a salary yet some of them have tens of millions…we are going to ask ‘where did that come from’.
I never dreamt that I would see this in my lifetime. The system has gone so far off the rails with corruption and incompetence that people cant ignore it anymore and everyone is seeing the abortion our government has become. Let’s clean this shit up but try not to slip into reign of terror territory.
If the left were smart, they’d ignore Donald and Elon instead of obsessing over every little brain fart.
“Let’s clean this shit up but try not to slip into reign of terror territory”
Much depends on how the corruptocrats, deep staters, etc. respond/behave.
Aux armes, citoyens 🎶
Early morning musings….
We are idiots. Reading some very smart people who have access to more information than any humans in history and discovering an endless store of heredity-derpity.
Is the universe a simulation? A simulation of what? No one ever says.
Good morning to my favorite imaginary people!
😁🎩🐢
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=myc_RViTHhY
🎶🎶
What about the rest of us?
Good morning to the people who wake up late and complain about it screwing up their commute!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsmVgoXDq2w
You really shouldn’t be emulating me, however flattering it is you’ve decided to make me your role model.
Я толька плод твоего воображения.
Good morning, Sean, Suthen, U, Ted’S., Roat, and homey!
Morning. How goes?
I didn’t sleep well last night, so I hope I’m not dragging too much today. Still have a lot to do at work, so it wouldn’t do to take the day off.
How are you?
After staying awake for about 24 hours, I had expected tiredness to put me to sleep last night, but despite my efforts to do so, I was unable to nod off until between 1 and 2 am, and still woke up with my 4:30 alarm but lay there until 5:30 because I didn’t want to start the day yet.
On my drive in, some asshole decided that getting the bumper of his pickup half a car length in front of mine was far enough to change lanes, prompting me to apply my horn on the highway for the first time more or less ever. He still changed lanes and I had to slam on the brakes.
People suck.
Can confirm.
As I’ve been archiving, I’ve realized I have stuff in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection that I’ve never watched for one reason or another. I keep debating doing an article/series reviewing the stuff I’ve never watched, but I’m just not sure I want to commit to watching that much content.
I’d read that eagerly.
suh’ fam
whats goody
There’s snow on the ground. Schools are closed for at least another day.
Commute…ugh. I have to go to town today for reasons I cannot put off. I am gonna need a snorkel.
Montgomery County Council approves plastic bag ban — with some exceptions
Plastic bag bans expand. For anyone familiar with Monkey County, I’m surprised it took this long.
I have to remember to bring my own when I go to Fredericksburg.
We need a ban on bag bans.
We need a ban on people who think they are qualified to tell others what they are allowed to have.
How am I supposed to dispose of used cat litter??
Buy purpose-made single-use kitty litter totes
Take it to the store in reusable bags?
Single use?
What about the White Margin Stargazers? Why do you hate White Margin Stargazers?
Kitty litter bags must be mandated to be reusable.
FTFY
if Trumpy can executive order plastic straws he can executive order plastic bags.
^^ This vampire gets it.
UCS, have you seen a doctor about your insomnia? I can think of several soporifics but most are rX.