THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120460
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: OKLAHOMA CITY LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
An officer charged in the downing of two U.S. helicopters over Iraq earlier this year admitted responsibility for the disaster Tuesday and waived his right to a military hearing.
``I'll never believe that any one action on my part caused this. But I'll always know in my heart that I had the power to stop it,'' Maj. Douglas Martin said in a statement.
``The bottom line is that it happened on my watch.''
Later Tuesday, a second officer, 1st Lt. Joseph Halcli, waived his right to the Article 32 hearing - the military equivalent of a grand jury - after the hearing officer denied a defense request to hold separate hearings for the officers. The hearing is being held at Tinker Air Force Base, where four of the officers are based.
Halcli's attorney, Capt. Rita Teague, said Halcli withdrew from the hearing because it was unfair to have one officer hear all the cases.
Martin, Halcli, Maj. Lawrence Tracey, Capt. Jim Wang and 2nd Lt. Ricky Wilson face charges of dereliction of duty in the April 14 air disaster over northern Iraq that killed 26 people.
The officers were on board an AWACS radar plane monitoring a no-fly zone when F-15 fighter jets brought down two Black Hawk helicopters, mistaking them for Soviet-made Iraqi Hinds.
An Air Force report alleges that the officers failed to tell fighter pilots that the helicopters were American, failed to ensure that the aircraft used the right identification codes and failed to monitor the entire no-fly zone properly.
Both Martin and Halcli asked for administrative disposition of their cases or speedy court-martials.
Maj. Bob Coacher, an attorney representing the Air Force, indicated that the government will pursue the cases against the two men.
After the hearings the hearing officer, Col. Bill Colwell, will recommend to the commander of the 8th Air Force whether the officers should be court-martialed, disciplined or cleared. On Tuesday, Colwell denied the request to hold separate hearings ``due to the amount of evidence that applies to all the members of the crew.''
Dereliction of duty carries a maximum punishment of dismissal, forfeiture of two-thirds of all pay for three months and confinement up to three months. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Martin
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT MILITARY IRAQ HELICOPTERS FATALITIES by CNB