Richard Green (soldier)
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The Tarnak Farm incident is the killing, by an American
Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...
pilot, of four
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
soldiers and the injury of eight others from the 3rd Battalion,
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricias) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...
Battle Group (3PPCLIBG) on the night of April 17, 2002, near
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. A United States
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
fighter jet piloted by Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt dropped a laser-guided
bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
on the Canadians, who were conducting a night firing exercise at Tarnak Farms. The deaths were the first of Canada's war in Afghanistan, and the first Canadian deaths in a combat zone since the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
.


Incident

F-16 pilots
Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
William Umbach and his wingman Major Harry Schmidt were returning to their base after a 10-hour night patrol. While flying at , they reported
surface-to-air A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...
fire. The fire was actually from a
Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...
and machine-gun exercise, which was taking place on a former
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
firing range. Schmidt descended a few thousand feet to take a closer look, and asked for permission to "lay down some 20 mike-mike", or spray the area with 20-millimeter cannon fire, but was told to stand by. Umbach cautioned his wing man to wait, as well. "Let's just make sure that it's, that it's not friendlies, is all", he said. At 9:25, the pilots' AWACS controller ordered them to "hold fire" and asked Schmidt for more information on the surface-to-air fire. A minute later, after seeing another firing plume from an anti-tank weapon, Schmidt reported seeing "some men on a road, and it looks like a piece of artillery firing at us." "I am rolling in in self-defense", he said. After Umbach reminded him to unlock his weapons, Schmidt called "bombs away". Twenty-two seconds later, he reported a direct hit. Ten seconds later, the controller ordered the pilots to disengage, saying the forces on the ground were "friendlies Kandahar". Schmidt's testimony at his '' Article 32'' hearing was that he believed his flight leader, Umbach, was under attack. The radio logs show that Schmidt requested permission from flight control to fire his 20 mm cannons at what he said to be an
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
or
Multiple Launch Rocket System A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a vol ...
below.


Casualties

The soldiers who were killed were: *Sergeant Marc Daniel Léger, Age: 29, from Lancaster, Ontario. *Corporal Ainsworth Dyer, Age: 24,
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Quebec. *Private Richard Green, Age: 21, Mill Cove, Nova Scotia. *Private Nathan Lloyd Smith, Age: 27,
Porters Lake, Nova Scotia Porters Lake (2011 population: 3,202) is a rural community in the Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia), Eastern Shore region of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, between Nova Scotia Trunk 7, Trunk 7 and Nova Scotia Route 207, Route 207, 27.8 km from ...
. The eight wounded men include: *Sergeant Lorne Ford, Age: 33,
Brampton, Ontario Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
*Corporal René Paquette, Age: 33,
Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
*Corporal Brett Perry, Age: 26,
Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
*Private Norman Link, Age: 24,
Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in Northern Alberta, northwestern Alberta, Canada, within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Alberta Highway 43, Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) ...
, Alberta *Corporal Brian Decaire, Age: 25,
Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
*Master Corporal Curtis Hollister, Age: 29,
Cupar, Saskatchewan Cupar ( ) is a town northeast of Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Cupar is settled on the flat plains north of the scenic Qu'Appelle Valley. Known for its remarkable hockey history, it is often called the ''Home of Eddie Shor ...
*Master Corporal Stan Clark, Age: 35,
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
*Corporal Shane Brennan, Age: 28,
Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...


Findings of Board of Inquiry

Two Boards of Inquiry, one Canadian and one American, were held simultaneously. The two boards shared personnel information. Canadian Brigadier-General M.J. Dumais was specialist advisor to the Canadian board and co-chair of the American board. The findings of the four-member Canadian Tarnak Farm Board of Inquiry, chaired by General Maurice Baril, were released on June 28, 2002. The Board found that the Canadian troops engaged in the night live-fire exercise had conducted their operations as authorized and in accordance with the established range procedures for the types of weapons fire. The Board concluded that the American
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
pilots contravened established procedures and were the cause of the incident. The Board further concluded that correcting deficiencies in air coordination and control and tactical planning might have prevented the accident:
"... as much as the F-16 pilots bear final responsibility for the fratricide incident, there existed other systemic shortcomings in air coordination and control procedures, as well as mission planning practices by the tactical flying units, that may have prevented the accident had they been corrected."


Schmidt's rationale and apology

In his official apology to the family and friends of the dead and injured Canadians, Schmidt stated:


Article 32 hearing

During the
Article 32 hearing An Article 32 hearing is a proceeding under the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice, similar to that of a preliminary hearing in civilian law. Its name is derived from UCMJ section VII ("Trial Procedure") Articl32(10 U.S.C. § 832), ...
, five F-16 pilots testified, including one who had led the US Board of Inquiry. All five pilots agreed under oath that the dropping of the bomb by Schmidt was a reasonable action. Michael Friscolanti summarized their comments in his book ''Friendly Fire'': :*Major John Milton: A reasonable fighter pilot could have believed he was trapped in a threat envelope and had no choice but to drop a bomb. It was Maj. Schmidt's right to roll in self-defense, even after the "hold fire" order. :*Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Viets: Rolling in would be a reasonable response because Maj. Schmidt was reasonable to believe that he was already in the threat envelope of a rocket-based weapons system. :*Colonel David C. Nichols: A reasonably prudent F-16 pilot might have done the same thing. "Combat aviation is not a science. It's an art." :*Lieutenant Colonel Craig Fisher: There were no "significant departures from flight discipline". A reasonable fighter pilot would have egressed the area, but that doesn't mean Maj. Schmidt and Maj. Umbach were reckless. :*Major General Stephen T. Sargeant: A reasonable pilot never would have believed that the fire on the ground was a threat to his flight. And even if he did, turning, descending, and decelerating was an unreasonable reaction. However, disregarding all the alleged reckless maneuvers Maj. Schmidt made to reach the spot where he invoked self-defense, dropping a bomb at that instant was not unreasonable. In other words, if Maj. Schmidt suddenly woke up at and four nautical miles (7 km) away from the mystery fire, it would be reasonable to drop a bomb in self-defense. One of the issues highlighted by the Inquiry related to the use of
amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from Alpha and beta carbon, alpha-methylphenethylamine, methylphenethylamine) is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, an ...
s in combat.Air Force scientists battle aviator fatigue
/ref> In testimony it was revealed that Schmidt and Umbach were told by their superiors to use " go pills" on their missions, and the airmen blamed the incident on the drugs. This was a significant part of the defense of the two pilots. Schmidt's defense also blamed the
fog of war The fog of war is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary Intent (Military), inten ...
. Another issue that was evident, but remained largely in the background, was the quality of communications between the various coalition forces in Afghanistan.


Disposition

On September 11, 2002, William Umbach and Harry Schmidt were officially charged with four counts of negligent manslaughter, eight counts of
aggravated assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...
, and one count of
dereliction of duty Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform their duties (or follow a given ...
. Umbach's charges were later dismissed. Schmidt's charges were reduced on June 30, 2003, to just the dereliction of duty charge. On July 6, 2004, Umbach was reprimanded for leadership failures and allowed to retire. U.S. Lieutenant General Bruce Carlson found Schmidt guilty of dereliction of duty in what the U.S. military calls a "non-judicial hearing" before a senior officer. He was fined nearly $5,700 in pay and reprimanded. The reprimand, written by Carlson, said Schmidt had "flagrantly disregarded a direct order", "exercised a total lack of basic flight discipline", and "blatantly ignored the applicable rules of engagement". The
letter of reprimand A letter of reprimand is a US Department of Defense procedure involving a letter to an employee or service member from their superior that details the wrongful actions of the person and the punishment that can be expected. A ''Formal Letter of R ...
given to Schmidt read in part: : "You acted shamefully on 17 April 2002 over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, exhibiting arrogance and a lack of flight discipline. When your flight lead warned you to "make sure it's not friendlies" and the Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft controller directed you to "stand by" and later to "hold fire", you should have marked the location with your targeting pod. Thereafter, if you believed, as you stated, you and your leader were threatened, you should have taken a series of evasive actions and remained at a safe distance to await further instructions from AWACS. Instead, you closed on the target and blatantly disobeyed the direction to "hold fire." Your failure to follow that order is inexcusable. I do not believe you acted in defense of Major Umbach or yourself. Your actions indicate that you used your self-defense declaration as a pretext to strike a target, which you rashly decided was an enemy firing position, and about which you had exhausted your patience in waiting for clearance from the Combined Air Operations Center to engage. You used the inherent right of self-defense as an excuse to wage your own war." In April 2006, Schmidt sued the USAF, saying that the military violated the federal Privacy Act by disclosing parts of his military record without his permission and by doing so ruined his reputation. On September 22, 2007, U.S. District Judge Jeanne Scott ruled against Schmidt, stating, "The release of Schmidt's reprimand gave the public ... insight into the way in which the United States government was holding its pilot accountable. Thus considering all of the circumstances, the disclosures at issue were clearly warranted." This was the most serious case of
friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...
to have been experienced by the
Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
in joint operations with allies since the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
.


Legacy

Private Green's mother, Doreen Coolen, was chosen by the
Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925. Members include people who served in the military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial or municipal police, Royal Canadian Air, Army and Sea Cade ...
to be the Silver Cross Mother for the
Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...
ceremony in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
in 2002. Private Smith's mother, Charlotte Lynn Smith, was named the Silver Cross Mother in 2003. Camp Nathan Smith in Afghanistan was named after him. Corporal Dyer's mother, Agatha Dyer, was chosen as the Silver Cross Mother in 2004. Ainsworth Dyer Memorial Bridge in Rundle Park, Edmonton, was named in his memory. Sergeant Léger's mother, Claire Léger, was chosen as the Silver Cross Mother in 2005. Léger was awarded the South-West Asia Service Medal and the United States
Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
posthumously."2005 Memorial (Silver) Cross Mother – Mrs. Claire Léger"
/ref>


Notes


References

* * Friscolanti, M. (2005). ''Friendly Fire: The Untold Story of the U.S. Bombing that Killed Four Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan.'' John Wiley and Sons Inc. * National Defence Canada (2002).

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External links

{{coord missing, Afghanistan 2002 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 2002 in international relations 2002 in the United States Explosions in 2002 2002 disasters in Canada April 2002 in Afghanistan Canada–United States military relations Friendly fire incidents of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry