No trial for friendly-fire strike controller

[unhappycamper]

No trial for friendly-fire strike controller
Staff report
Posted : Monday Nov 3, 2008 14:51:13 EST

A British controller who mistakenly called in an air strike from a U.S. Air Force fighter on a group of British soldiers will not be prosecuted, British newspapers reported Saturday.

The British Army Prosecution Authority decided against taking the unnamed senior noncommissioned officer to a court-martial because officials thought there was little chance a trial would produce a conviction.

The mistaken attack took place Aug. 23, 2007, in the Mazdurak region of Helmand province, Afghanistan, after British infantrymen came under fire from Taliban fighters. Close-air support was requested and the controller apparently gave the wrong target coordinates to an F-15E Strike Eagle.

The F-15E released a 500-pound bomb, killing three soldiers and wounding two others.

When the British military announced earlier this year that the controller might face a court-martial for manslaughter, several relatives of the soldiers killed in the blast said they didn’t want the controller prosecuted because the mistake was made while under fire in the heat of battle.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/11/airforce_british_friendlyfire_110308w/%2e