Punished for saving lives?
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  1. #1

    Cool Punished for saving lives?

    September 26, 2005
    Punished for saving lives?
    CO says pilots not reprimanded after mission. Not so, claims one dad
    By Andrew Scutro
    Times staff writer

    The two Navy helicopter crews had just finished delivering cases of bottled water and Meals, Ready To Eat in storm-torn Mississippi on Aug. 30 and were headed back to Pensacola, Fla., when a Coast Guard SOS squawked over the radio: Any aircraft available for search and rescue please respond.

    Lt. Matt Udkow and Lt. David Shand turned their UH-3H Sea King helicopters toward New Orleans. Over the next five hours, the pilots and their crews plucked more than 100 desperate flood victims from rooftops and raging flood waters.

    They got back well after dark, about 9:30 that night. But they were in high spirits, relieved, tired and proud.

    That much everyone agrees on.

    But what happened next is the subject of a dispute among the aircrews, their families, the unit commander and Navy leadership.

    Udkow’s father, David Udkow of Scottsdale, Ariz., told Marine Corps Times that the very next morning his son and Shand were “chewed out” for two hours by the air operations boss at Pensacola for trying to be heroes when their job was to simply deliver supplies.

    Navy officials and the commander deny the accusation and are steamed that the internal dispute became a national story after a Sept. 7 New York Times headline proclaimed the two pilots were “reprimanded” following their heroic actions.

    Instead of being “greeted as lifesavers,” the Times story said, the pilots were “chided” by superiors.

    Not so, says Cmdr. Michael Holdener, the ops boss. He was “totally ecstatic” to see his crews return safely, he said, and proud they’d saved scores of people. He did not “reprimand” his officers, he said, but merely “reminded” them in an unemotional, 10-minute conversation that delivering water and food to rescue workers is also a lifesaving act.

    The New York Times reported Udkow was later “assigned to oversee a temporary kennel” for displaced pets. But Navy spokesmen told Marine Corps Times the job was a welcome collateral duty, not unlike others given out to fellow pilots.

    Holdener, despite having worked many 18-hour days to help in hurricane relief, has been vilified in the press and on the Internet since word got out.

    In various accounts, Holdener has been alternately described as “chewing out” the returning heroes to simply “reminding” them of their logistics mission priorities.

    Holdener maintains the whole story was never told, and that what has been reported was blown way out of proportion.

    “At any time, if any helicopter pilot sees anyone in distress, he or she is always authorized to prioritize his or her mission to effect the rescue over their mission,” Holdener said Sept. 9. “Make no mistake about it: A life is more important than any supply.”

    Once the story broke, it quickly spread to newspapers around the nation via the Associated Press and across the globe on CNN. It even came up during a press conference at the Pentagon.

    Contacted for comment, David Cloud, the New York Times reporter who broke the story, said he had received no complaints about the story and was quick to point out that the word “reprimand” did not appear in his story, just the headline.

    “Everything in the story was on the record and we quote the air ops commander saying what he said. No one from the unit has said anything to us,” Cloud said.

    Neither pilot agreed to be interviewed by Marine Corps Times, though one initially agreed, then later backed out the morning of the scheduled interview.

    The drama unfolded something like this:

    After Hurricane Katrina plowed ashore and with hundreds of thousands of lives in danger, Shand and Udkow were assigned to deliver supplies to relief workers around the Gulf Coast.

    When the pilots took off on their Aug. 30 logistics run, the now-massive relief effort had barely begun and few helicopters were operating in the disaster area. Shand and Udkow were to deliver 2,000 bottles of water and cases of MREs to three sites along the Gulf Coast.

    Heading back to Pensacola after dropping their loads, they heard the Coast Guard SOS.

    Doug Wood, a civilian air operations duty officer at Pensacola, was working Aug. 30.

    “The Coast Guard sent out an SOS to any pilot listening and the helicopter pilots responded to that,” Wood said.

    Holdener said he authorized Shand and Udkow to answer that call and do search-and-rescue missions when the pilots called in from a refueling stop in Gulfport, Miss.

    But because Sea Kings are not equipped to fly with night-vision capability, Holdener wanted them to head back to Pensacola at sunset.

    “I was worried about my aircraft and my personnel because I had no comms,” he said.

    When the pilots returned, Holdener said he didn’t want to discuss the “details” of the larger logistics mission that night.

    He said he decided to save the discussion for the next morning.

    The nature of that conversation is the heart of the dispute. Holdener said what took place the next day was not the ear-splitting dressing-down that some allege, but a 10-minute discussion.

    “There was no yelling or screaming,” he said. “I told them it was a fantastic effort. One hundred twenty people in five hours is a fantastic job,” he said. “In no way did any of the crew get reprimanded. No one was taken off the flight schedule. Everyone was flying.”

    The Navy and Holdener officially described the discussion as the pilots being “reminded” that their primary mission that day was logistics support, not SAR.

    But Udkow’s father was more blunt.

    “They had their dressing-down, their chewing out, the two pilots together in the same room,” he said, describing what he called a two-hour event. “The commander never praised them. … it was bitter and my son was bitter at the end. Very bitter.”

    As a result, Udkow said, his son was kept on the ground for two days.

    Pensacola spokesman Patrick Nichols said the pilots were lauded for saving lives and that neither was removed from flying status.

    “The Navy leadership all the way up agrees these pilots are to be commended for their actions,” Nichols said.

    In fact, Nichols said on Sept. 9, both Shand and Udkow have flown eight other missions since Aug. 30, made 30 more rescues and delivered 30,000 pounds of supplies.

    Nichols said Holdener “just wanted to get the guys refocused. They didn’t get in trouble.”

    “The Navy is glad they did it and they were commended for it,” he added. “We’re all real proud of them.”

    Udkow’s father said he’s very proud of his son. He also thinks very highly of the Navy, calling it “the greatest navy in the history of the world.” He said it pains him that the public perception of it has been warped by the incident.

    As far as decorations for the aircrew, Holdener said that there is no time now for an awards board, but one will be forthcoming. “There will be recommendations to the CO,” he said.

    Andrew Scutro covers the Navy.

    Ellie


  2. #2
    Seems to be a conflict between the Navy and the aircrews and their families.. wonder who I believe.. lol. Watch where you step there are lots of chicken "droppings" here.


  3. #3
    This reminds me a lot of the USS Iowa Incident during Lebanon. The Navy has its story, and the Sailors know the truth!


  4. #4
    Ok Mr. Carey.. starting that could push this thread into LOTS of pages if we all start naming how our beloved Navy has really....Hummm tough choice of words here... SCREWED THINGS UP then played the CYA game.


  5. #5
    yellowwing
    Guest Free Member
    This is an in-house incident. The emotion of the aviator's father and the zealous reporter roped the public into a headline grabber.
    David Cloud, the New York Times reporter who broke the story, said he had received no complaints about the story and was quick to point out that the word "reprimand" did not appear in his story, just the headline.
    That's a bunch of double-speak bullcrap.

    Cmdr. Michael Holdener, the ops boss, is responsible for all of the air crews serving under him. Everyone that has put on a uniform understands that. But the general public doesn't know how serious a responsibility it really is.

    "They got back well after dark, about 9:30 that night...But because Sea Kings are not equipped to fly with night-vision capability" Damn right your Boss has the right to rant and rave for 2 hours or 'discuss' it for 10 minutes. Its his choice and his responsibility.

    It sounds like it was already handled in-house anyway with the the young LTs not wanting to push the graces of their OP Boss. Very wise of them!


  6. #6
    Marine Free Member Wyoming's Avatar
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    There never would have been an 'incident', and the Ops Boss would have handed a couple of DFC's out right after the arse-chewing.

    Problem was, the young LT's couldn't keep their mouth's shut.


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