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US 'Friendly Fire' Pilots' Stimulant Use Examined
Thu January 2, 2003 01:54 PM ET
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. F-16 pilots charged with manslaughter in the April "friendly fire" bombing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan that killed four soldiers routinely took amphetamines that may have impaired their judgment, a lawyer for one of the men said on Thursday.

An Air Force spokeswoman said U.S. pilots have used low doses of dextroamphetamine while flying long missions since World War II, but insisted use of the drug was voluntary and safe.

Illinois Air National Guard pilots Majs. Harry Schmidt and William Umbach face a possible court-martial for dropping a laser-guided bomb near Kandahar on April 17 because they thought they were being fired on from the ground.

An Air Force investigation determined the pilots "demonstrated poor airmanship" and ignored standard procedure by not making sure there were no allied troops in the area.

Lawyers for the two men will argue at a Jan. 13 hearing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana that the accident could have been averted if the pilots had been told about ground exercises in which the Canadian soldiers were taking part.

They also say the Air Force forced the pilots to use the stimulant "go pills" because they kept the pilots on an erratic schedule, flying missions some days and some nights, and did not tell them about a warning from manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, about the use of the drug, Dexedrine.

"The manufacturer specifically counsels doctors to tell patients they should not operate heavy machinery or engage in potentially hazardous activities while using this drug. No pilot was ever told that," said Charles Gittins, a former Marine Corps pilot and lawyer who is representing Schmidt.

Gittins said his client flew seven 10-hour missions during his several weeks in the region, and used the "go pills" on every one because he got too tired without them.

"My client had to take them every mission to complete the mission. They overtasked the pilots in theater," Gittins said.

"The one time he tried not to use the pill, he nearly had a collision with a tanker," he said, noting that the manufacturers' warning was not included in a voluntary consent form provided to pilots by the Air Force.

Schmidt, 37, and Umbach, 43, are former full-time military pilots and now serve in the Illinois Air National Guard, where they were called to active duty to help the United States in its war on terrorism.

AIR FORCE SAYS PILLS VOLUNTARY, SAFE

Col. Alvina Mitchell, chief of Air Force media operations, confirmed that Schmidt and Umbach did take dextroamphetamine before the April mission, but said the drug had long been used to combat fatigue during long missions of eight to 12 hours, or if pilots were flying during normal sleeping hours.

She said the pilots always tested the drugs on the ground before using them while flying, and the decision to use the medicine was strictly up to the pilots.

Mitchell also said pilots typically took a 10 milligram dose of the drug dexedrine, half the dosage routinely given to children who have attention deficit disorder.

Moreover, Mitchell said the Air Force had never received any report of the drug contributing to an accident, whereas fatigue was cited as a factor in nearly 100 mishaps.

"The fact of the matter is that these stimulants are strictly voluntary," she said. "No one is forced to take these drugs."

But Gittins said use of the drug was commonplace during the time his client was in the region, despite a decision after the Gulf War to discontinue its use after the Air Force learned pilots were becoming dependent on the narcotics routinely taken to counter the effect of the "go pills."

Gittins noted that neither Navy pilots nor commercial pilots are permitted to use amphetamines, and Air Force pilots would face a court-martial if they used them while driving.

Mitchell said the Air Force encouraged pilots to use other techniques to counter fatigue during long missions, such as adjusting their sleep schedule and in-flight exercises.

She could not say how many pilots used the amphetamines.