Toronto Star August 3, 2002
Hopped-up pilots spark uproar
by William Walker
Related ResourcePERFORMANCE MAINTENANCE During Continuous Flight Operations A GUIDE FOR FLIGHT SURGEONS - NAVMED P-6410 - 1 JAN 2000 -- Intermittently since Vietnam up through Desert Storm the Air Force has used both amphetamines and sedatives in selected aircraft for specific missions. USAF pilots during Desert Storm stated that 5 mgs of dextro-amphetamine (Dexedrine) helped maintain alertness without causing other changes in mood or perception. |
The British, who have been more openly critical of U.S. President George W. Bush's war in Afghanistan - including newspapers characterizing Prime Minister Tony Blair as Bush's "lapdog"- appear alarmed that hopped-up pilots may have been involved in a series of 10 "friendly-fire" accidents in Afghanistan.
"It's caused quite a commotion, quite a reaction, in Britain," said Andrew Buncombe, a Washington correspondent for the London newspaper The Independent. "People are raising all kinds of new questions about these friendly-fire accidents." The news, revealed by The Star this week, has been mostly greeted with silence in the United States, however. Major U.S. newspapers and television outlets have ignored the issue. The Star story has been posted on various U.S. Websites of think-tanks and interest groups.
"I think it's one of those things where the American reporters know this is going on, but the American public has absolutely no idea," said John Pike, a defence analyst for the Washington-area think-tank Globalsecurity.org.
"I think it's long overdue that these kinds of questions are being raised. But I think that for many American reporters who know about this, it's not worth it to risk losing access to their senior Pentagon sources, so they don't report it," said Pike, a defence commentator for several major U.S. TV networks and for CTV's Canada AM.
"A statement issued yesterday by the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General's Office confirmed the use of amphetamines by pilots," Buncombe reports in today's edition of The Independent. "It said: 'During contingency and combat operations, aviators are often required to perform their duties for extended periods without rest. While we have many planning and training techniques to extend our operations, prescribed drugs are sometimes made available to counter the effects of fatigue during these operations.'
"The use of stimulants by American combat pilots appears to be an open secret within the defence world, although it is believed this is the first time the Pentagon has confirmed their use was officially condoned," the article says.
The Star revealed that U.S. Air Force doctors routinely give pilots Dexedrine to fly longer hours. When they return to base, they are given sleeping pills, either Restoril or Ambien, to help them "come down," before beginning the whole cycle again.
During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, an anonymous pilot survey by the U.S. Air Force showed that in some front-line squadrons, 96 per cent of pilots who saw regular combat duty used amphetamines. Usage is common for pilots on missions over eight hours.
It's not known whether the pilot who bombed Canadian troops, killing four members of the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on April 18 was using the drug.
The pilot, Maj. Harry Schmidt, ignored a "hold fire" warning from air traffic controllers and suddenly declared "I'm rolling in" to drop a 500-pound laser-guided bomb on the Canadian soldiers.
Schmidt thought the Canadians were enemy troops firing on his F-16 jet. But the troops were conducting a pre-approved night-time training exercise using live ammunition, in a designated training area near the coalition base at Kandahar.
Schmidt's lawyer, Charles Gittins, was unavailable yesterday but he told The Star this week he didn't know whether the pilot had taken Dexedrine on that mission.
"I never asked my pilot if he was medicated," Gittins said. "But it's quite common."
Two reports by Canadian and U.S military investigators into the April 18 friendly fire incident concluded Schmidt erred because he failed to properly assess his threat before striking with "lethal force."
Neither report mentioned drug use by pilots.
Copyright 2002 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.
