He shouldn't be a pilot. Firing on his own people is more than just a simple mistake. Ground him!

If you have ever nearly missed a mailbox with your car, or had a fender bender, you lost more situational awareness than this pilot. As a soldier on the ground I understand the pilot in this piece has a far more complex and daunting job than most. Furthermore, the pilot has been "grounded" for the duration of the investigation. Now, they will use the lessons learned to ensure all F-16 pilots can better support soldiers around the globe.

Re:Maybe;These Soldiers, train a great deal, and they take their actions and responsibilities very
seriously. Try to understand,that this particular
training mission was at night,the pilot wearing NVG's, and flying a fighter jet,and they are not
slow. Thank God the soldiers are ok! I have flown
at night, using night vision goggles, and there are
challenges to deal with, also it is easy to lose your target, in an instant, just by simply redirecting your gaze. I would wager, that that pilot is in far more personal torment, than you could imagine. And don't worry, the Military will
address the issue.

If this air force pilot were a Marine aviator he could kiss his wings and career good buy. This is an unacceptable "accident". I have worked around CAS for several years and have seen good and bad pilots from a ground perspective. I must say when it comes to CAS the air force just isn't up to par with the other services. I know I am not the only one who has decided not to use fixed wing in theatre when an Air Force air frame checks in on station.

On another note, what is it with Hill AFB? Nuclear weapons on aircraft, missing M-16, nuclear fuses sent to Taiwan. Does Hill AFB breed incompetence?

It is easy to judge, but what gives us the right?

Nothing!

These men and women are training to protect every civilian and not just the Americans either. They put their lives and families on the line for us.

So everyone needs to sit back, shut up, and accept that these are human beings. No one is perfect, he made a mistake, and thank God no one was hurt. Except the vehicle he shot up.

"On another note, what is it with Hill AFB? Nuclear weapons on aircraft, missing M-16, nuclear fuses sent to Taiwan."

Those came from Hill?

Nuclear weapons on B-52s came from Minot, North Dakota

RE: Lady L

What gives me the right to judge? I evaluate my fellow men and women in uniform on a daily basis. Thats part of the job. Some jobs in the military come with a zero defect requirement out of necessity, aviation is supposed to be one of them.

"These men and women are training to protect every civilian and not just the Americans either."

The last I checked the men and women of our military are sworn to protect the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. That simple statement concludes that it is the military's job to protect our system of government and our nations way of life as defined by the constitution. The military has no obligation to protect the citizens of other countries.

RE: What?

I apologize for adding one too many debacles to Hill's list. I'll make a correction to my original comment, On another note, what is it with the Air Force lately?

What gives us the right to comment? Umm, how about we're paying him with our hard-earned tax dollars. He may not be the only one to blame but his wingman targeted the correct target. We don't want to waste our tax dollars training him, so let him fly cargo transports, something without guns.

That was an incredibly brave thing you did for Cougar today...what you should have done was land that plane. You don't own that plane; the taxpayers do. Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash....If you screw up just this much, you'll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog.... out of Hong Kong.

Speaking from experience, in the world of artillery, if you have a shell land outside of the designated impact area by ANY amount multiple people would be packing their bags. Thats how important getting these things correct is. It's time for this pilot to say hello to a new air frame that doesn't have weapons.

I dare say that those calling for his blood and to be grounded, probably are not pilots and if so have never flown fighter jets. The guy made a mistake, that is what training is all about, making mistakes so that when you go into the real scenario, you don't make so many of them. These guys train hard and do a great job protecting this great country. Back off and leave the guy alone.

RE: jim

I dare say those not calling for the pilot to be grounded have never had to sit on the ground while a pilot drops ordinance danger close to their position. I agree that training exists to work through certain issues but there are limits, even in training, of what is acceptable and what isn't. When it comes to close air support not making as many mistakes in the real scenario is not good enough for me. When I need close air support I need it to be flawless.

If you have the option of flawless CAS, or no CAS at all, you'd rather none? If that is the case, I would expect infantry to also be flawless on a fluid battlefield, with an absolute zero accident rate in training or operations.

Hmmm, Pat Tillman, anyone?