
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 16, 1995                   TAG: 9508160098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

AIR FORCE GROUNDS 7 OFFICERS

The Air Force closed the book Tuesday on one of its worst friendly fire disasters by grounding five officers and imposing penalties that effectively end their careers and those of two generals in the shootdown over Iraq.

The pilots of the two F-15 Eagle jets that shot down two Army Black Hawk helicopters over Iraq on April 14, 1994, have been disqualified from flying for at least three years, Air Force officials said.

Twenty-six people, including 15 Americans, were killed in the shootdown. Only one Air Force officer was tried on criminal charges, and he was acquitted.

In addition to the action against the F-15 pilots, the Air Force said it grounded three crew members of an AWACS radar warning and control aircraft that was at the scene but failed to warn off the F-15 pilots. The pilots said they had mistaken the Army helicopters for potentially threatening Iraqi Hind choppers.

The three AWACS crew members include Capt. Jim Wang, senior director on that ill-fated mission. Wang was acquitted June 20 by a military jury in Oklahoma City on three counts of dereliction of duty. The two other crew members who have been grounded are Capt. Joseph Halcli and Lt. Ricky Wilson.

The F-15 pilots are Lt. Col. Randy May and Capt. Eric Wickson, who each shot down one helicopter. May has not been allowed to fly since the incident; Wickson has gone through flight instructor school, but that path is now blocked.

Maj. Gen. Nolan Sklute, the Air Force's top legal officer, detailed the punishments at a Pentagon news conference. He said families of the 26 victims were notified of the disciplinary actions Monday.

Gen. Ronald Fogleman, the Air Force chief of staff, took the extraordinary step of writing a derogatory ``letter of evaluation'' on seven officers, including the five who were grounded. The two others were Brig. Gen. Jeffrey S. Pilkington, who was commander of the operation under which the F-15s were enforcing a ``no fly'' zone in Iraq; and Brig. Gen. Curtis Emery II, who was Pilkington's top aide for air operations.

by CNB