Navy Commander \'counseled\' Pensacola Pilots for Non-Assigned Resc
Just in case MikeD needs impetus to throw someone else over the bar at the OC...
[ QUOTE ]
Navy Commander 'counseled' Pensacola Pilots for Non-Assigned Rescues
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press Writer
Published: Sep 7, 2005
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Two Navy helicopter pilots were reminded of the
importance of supply missions after delivering their cargo and then
rescuing 110 hurricane victims in New Orleans instead of immediately
returning to base, the military said Wednesday.
One of the pilots was temporarily assigned to a kennel but that was not
punishment, said Patrick Nichols, a civilian public affairs officer at
Pensacola Naval Air Station.
"They were not reprimanded," Nichols said. "They were counseled."
Lt. Matt Udkow and Lt. David Shand returned to the base from their
mission on Aug. 30, a day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Nichols
said.
Udkow and Shand met the next morning with Cmdr. Michael Holdener, who
reminded them their orders were to fly water and other supplies to three
destinations in Mississippi - the Stennis Space Center, Pascagoula and
Gulfport - and then return to Pensacola, Nichols said.
"The Hollywood role of this thing is search and rescue," Nichols told
The Associated Press. "Logistics was just as important. They realize that."
According to an account in The New York Times, the two air crews picked
up a Coast Guard radio call that helicopters were needed for rescues in
New Orleans. They were out of radio range to Pensacola, so they decided
to fly their helicopters to New Orleans and join the rescue effort
without permission.
It took only minutes for the H-3 helicopters to fly to New Orleans,
where Udkow's crew plucked people off rooftops. Shand landed his
helicopter on the roof of an apartment building where more than a dozen
people had been stranded. When he returned to get more, two crew members
entered the building and found two blind residents and led them to the
helicopter.
Udkow later received permission to continue with the rescue missions
when he landed to refuel in New Orleans.
Both helicopters returned to Pensacola, about 200 miles east of New
Orleans, by dark, as required by flight rules. Nichols was unsure
whether any supplies went undelivered as a result of the rescues.
The pilots and Holdener weren't available for interviews Wednesday,
Nichols said. He said Udkow was flying and Shand was resting between
missions.
"We all want to be the guys who rescue people," Holdener told the Times.
"But they were told we have other missions we have to do night now and
that is not the priority."
The air over New Orleans was so thick with helicopters a few days later
that crews were having a hard time finding people who needed rescuing,
but that was not the case when Udkow and Shand flew their rescue missions.
"I would be looking at a family of two on one roof and maybe a family of
six on another roof, and I would have to make a decision who to rescue,"
Udkow told the Times. "It wasn't easy."
Nichols said Udkow was in no way being punished by being put in charge
of a temporary kennel in Pensacola for pets of military personnel who
had been evacuated from hurricane-stricken areas.
"It's a collateral duty," Nichols said. "These guys don't just fly. They
do other stuff."
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Just in case MikeD needs impetus to throw someone else over the bar at the OC...
[ QUOTE ]
Navy Commander 'counseled' Pensacola Pilots for Non-Assigned Rescues
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press Writer
Published: Sep 7, 2005
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Two Navy helicopter pilots were reminded of the
importance of supply missions after delivering their cargo and then
rescuing 110 hurricane victims in New Orleans instead of immediately
returning to base, the military said Wednesday.
One of the pilots was temporarily assigned to a kennel but that was not
punishment, said Patrick Nichols, a civilian public affairs officer at
Pensacola Naval Air Station.
"They were not reprimanded," Nichols said. "They were counseled."
Lt. Matt Udkow and Lt. David Shand returned to the base from their
mission on Aug. 30, a day after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Nichols
said.
Udkow and Shand met the next morning with Cmdr. Michael Holdener, who
reminded them their orders were to fly water and other supplies to three
destinations in Mississippi - the Stennis Space Center, Pascagoula and
Gulfport - and then return to Pensacola, Nichols said.
"The Hollywood role of this thing is search and rescue," Nichols told
The Associated Press. "Logistics was just as important. They realize that."
According to an account in The New York Times, the two air crews picked
up a Coast Guard radio call that helicopters were needed for rescues in
New Orleans. They were out of radio range to Pensacola, so they decided
to fly their helicopters to New Orleans and join the rescue effort
without permission.
It took only minutes for the H-3 helicopters to fly to New Orleans,
where Udkow's crew plucked people off rooftops. Shand landed his
helicopter on the roof of an apartment building where more than a dozen
people had been stranded. When he returned to get more, two crew members
entered the building and found two blind residents and led them to the
helicopter.
Udkow later received permission to continue with the rescue missions
when he landed to refuel in New Orleans.
Both helicopters returned to Pensacola, about 200 miles east of New
Orleans, by dark, as required by flight rules. Nichols was unsure
whether any supplies went undelivered as a result of the rescues.
The pilots and Holdener weren't available for interviews Wednesday,
Nichols said. He said Udkow was flying and Shand was resting between
missions.
"We all want to be the guys who rescue people," Holdener told the Times.
"But they were told we have other missions we have to do night now and
that is not the priority."
The air over New Orleans was so thick with helicopters a few days later
that crews were having a hard time finding people who needed rescuing,
but that was not the case when Udkow and Shand flew their rescue missions.
"I would be looking at a family of two on one roof and maybe a family of
six on another roof, and I would have to make a decision who to rescue,"
Udkow told the Times. "It wasn't easy."
Nichols said Udkow was in no way being punished by being put in charge
of a temporary kennel in Pensacola for pets of military personnel who
had been evacuated from hurricane-stricken areas.
"It's a collateral duty," Nichols said. "These guys don't just fly. They
do other stuff."
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