European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 02, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 the stars and stripes sunday october 2,1994 agony from Page 1 to name the Lead Pilot Wick Solt was identified by sources who wished to re main Anonymous. Wickson could not be reached for comment. There Are no charges on the Lead Pilot at this time said maj. Bob Williams a spokesman for the . Air forces in Europe. That does t mean that charges could t be preferred the other five airmen facing an Arti Cle 32 hearing were in the airborne warning and control system radar plane that oversaw the incident. They face dereliction of duty charges. West who served under May As an f 15 Eagle Pilot at Tilburg a Germany said the entire affair from the Down Ings to the charges brought against May has stunned the close knit fraternity of fighter pilots. They know he said that it just As easily could have been them taking off from in Ciurlik a tur key on that april morning on what was supposed to be a routine patrol Mission of the no Fly zone Over Northern Iraq. It s one of those things where you sit Back and say there but for the Grace of god go i " said West who is now the Squadron commander of the 510th fighter so at Aviano a Italy. I Don t know if gun shy is the proper word to use he said but the pilots have the downings in the Back of their everyone takes it As a warning sign that you Are going to be held responsible for actions regardless of what your intentions Are col. Jim Reed col. Jim Reed who was. May s com Mander during the 1991 persian Gulf War acknowledged that the incident has had a sobering effect among pilots. Reed views that As a Good sign explain ing that it s easy for pilots who sit in powerful multimillion Dollar flying machines to sometimes lapse into a false sense of infallibility " everyone tuck set As a warning sign that you Are going to be held responsible for actions regardless of what your intentions arc said Reed the Deputy i Vcctor of plans policy and requirements for the air Force operational test and evaluation Center Headquarters at fab no. F i m not going to prejudge him Reed said. When you look Back at what happened he was wrong. But at the same time was he wrong when he mashed the Button Given what he knew. I can t what is known is that May seemed to be a Man climbing the corporate ladder. Exactly two months before the Friendly fire incident May was entrusted with disown f-15 fighter Squadron. For Many in his line of work it s both a dream and an Honor to command a Squadron after so Nany years of hard work and training. Although news reports identify May As a Pilot stationed at Span Dahlem a Ger Many he had been assigned to nearby bit Burg a for much of the past four years. In fact when May accepted the Squadron Gui Don from his predecessor in february the 53rd fighter so was still at Pitburg though most of the jets had already left the base which officially closed Friday. At another ceremony held four Days after he assumed command of the squad Ron May was scheduled symbolically to Fly out one of the last of less assigned to bit Burg although that was changed at the last minute ironically he would have been joined on the flight by Brig. Gen. Roger e. Carleton the Pitburg base commander who has since been assigned to command the provide Comfort Mission and Mai. Gen Eugene d. Santarelli the 17th air Force commander. Santarelli is the person who will de cide after next month s article 32 hear ing whether to proceed with a formal court martial against May. Born in Tucson ariz., the 42-year-old May graduated in 1970 front George Washington High school in Denver. He later received a Bachelor of science de Gree in journalism from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in 1974. May who is married with two children was commissioned As an officer in june 1974 and entered the Active duty ranks eight months later. Before coming to bit Burg in july 1990, May s Only other euro Pean assignment was at Hahn a Ger Many from december 1976 to March 1979. When May deployed to in Ciurlik for the War he was Pitburg s assistant operations officer for the 22nd tac fighter , who was a major at the time was among a handful of pilots sent to Turkey to augment Reed s Pitburg unit the 525th. May later was permanently As signed to the unit. _ Reed remembers May As being the kind of Pilot who took initiative was insightful and was always Well prepared. Randy May being a major was certainly part of the Chain of command within the unit during the War Reed said. Shortly after noon feb. 7,1991, May registered his first and Only kill of the War. May fired an aim-7 Sparrow a radar guided t air to air missile at an iraqi Hind. A year after the Downing May was awarded the distinguished flying Cross. _ May led a f-15 Force tasked to escort the largest strike Force to Date into the Baghdad area according to the bit May awarded dec for War efforts u. Col rsm a gym awarded the flying Cros during t Friday. Tor m raft aft f-15 flight tad7, a Ted it Sims Tore tasked to escort to tt9st a Otto to to 6ft Havy Tel aircraft Artil by it and Nel Tain superiority of a tha Targ the Pitburg Germany base newspaper reported the awarding of the distinguished flying Cross to it. Col. Randy . Burg base newspaper. Despite very heavy antiaircraft artillery fire and sur face to air missile activity colonel May helped establish and maintain air superiority Over the target absent from the account is May s Downing of the iraqi Hind the Type of helicopter that f-15 pilots mistakenly thought they were tracking last april. The kill May registered during the Gulf War apparently led him or someone else to change his Call sign. My recollection is that he got the Call sign Rotor after that West said. It terribly the irony of course is the word Rotor which conjures up images of a helicopter. It s a term used to different. Tate Between fixed Wing and rotary air Craft. Another irony is the misidentification of the Black Hawk helicopters. Accord ing to one source Wickson served for about three years As a Forward air con troller for the army and was More familiar than most air Force pilots with the configuration of . Helicopters. In the Accident investigation report both pilots said later that they had never seen a Black Hawk with external fuel tanks attached to the sides. These bul let shaped tanks Are in a similar position As the external weapons on an Mi-24 iraqi Hind. Pilot training at in Ciurlik for provide Comfort did not include discussion of the color differences Between american dark Green and iraqi Tan helicopters according to the report. Photograph viewed for training were typically snot from the ground and did not show retail Section. Wickson made one High Speed pass by the Black Hawk helicopters. His fighter Jet sped past the helicopters at 450 Nau tical Man about 518 statute Mph the report said. The Jet was 1,000 feet to the Side and 500 feet above the Black Hawks. Based on the visual sighting and erroneous information from the Azacs plane he concluded they wereiraqi., the first helicopter shot out of the sky was hit by a radar guided aim-120 advanced medium Range air to air missile launched by Wickson. May the Wing Man fired a heat seeking aim-9 Side Winder missile taking out the second helicopter which had been the Lead air Craft. Nobody s there May is quoted As saying in the Pentagon report As he passed Over the wreckage site. Nobody could survive very few people in this world West said find themselves doing jobs that can have such a devastating like Reed West is unfamiliar with the investigation report and was reluctant to pass judgment on the pilots actions or on the air Force inquiry. However West took Issue with non i lots who have been Quick to criticize the fliers without knowing All the facts. And even if they did know what transpired most people Don t have a clue about what it s like to Fly a Jet fighter Over hos tile territory at 500 Man with deadly weapons at the ready. There is no Way anybody could know what it feels like to be there at that moment West said. It s easy to Finger Point those of us who Aren t close to used to decide whether to fire a weapon presents itself within a few seconds and there s a massive amount of Dat coming Reed described May As a great family Man. He s a great religious Man. He s a solid West said he knows May and his wife Mary Well enough that he has the Mays on his Christmas card list. I have their family in my prayers he added. We love but West also knew air Force 1st it. Laura Ashley Piper who was one of the 26 people killed in the Friendly fire Inci Dent. He said it makes such a tragedy that much tougher to accept. Said West May and All of his Bud Dies More than anything else in this world would love to Call those 7 f-15 Jedi let eau by Kevin Dougherty Bureau of the six airmen charged so far in the Downing of two . Army Black Hawk helicopters the judicial Gavel has fallen hardest on it. Col Randy . May one of two f-15 pilots involved in the april Friendly fire incident faces 26 counts of negligent homicide and two charges of dereliction of duty according to the Pentagon. May is due to appear at an article 32 hearing the military equivalent of grand jury probe on nov. 7 at Simbach a Germany the other Pilot identified by sources As capt. Kric a. Wickson has not been charged though his Case remains open for possible prosecution later. . Air the charges when he appear at an artide32 hearing on nov. 7. It. Col. Randy w. May faces 26 counts off negligent homicide 2 charges of dereliction of duty Force officials would not confirm that Wickson is the second Pilot involved in the Accident. Five members of the airborne warn ing and control system radar plane that monitored the engagement face dereliction of duty charges according to the Pentagon. Their article 32 hearings Are slated for oct. 11. If. May s Case leads to a court martial hearing and he is found guilty the Maxi mum penalty he could receive is 6viyears in prison said maj. Bob Williams a spokesman for . Air forces in Europe. Each count , of negligent homicide carries with it a Maxi mum confinement period of one year in addition to the possible prison sentence the uniform code of military Justice Al lows for a bad conduct discharge and forfeiture of All pay and allowances the two dereliction of duty charges brought against May carry a maximum confinement period of three months Anda forfeiture of two thirds pay per month for three would be up to the military judge or jury whichever May chooses to decide if the counts should run concurrently or consecutively Williams said. A court martial hearing however is predicated on what occurs at the article 32 hearing. At such a hearing evidence is presented witnesses Are called to testify and the defense is free to Challenge. Afterwards a hearing officer considers the evidence and then makes a recommendation to the court s convening authority in this Case maj. Gen. Eugene a Santarel see Pilot on Page 5
