Top Gun CUNNINGHAM: I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office.

On 13 Jul 2006 13:33:14 -0700, "Ed Rasimus"
wrote in .com::


Dave Stadt wrote:

Parker was guilty of murder the same as if he held a gun the head of the 172
pilot and pulled the trigger. He broke nearly every rule in the book and
got away with murder. The US military is the big loser as it is hard to
respect an organization that condones such actions and does nothing to
punish the guilty.

You might want to research the elements of "murder" before conducting
much more slander.

In the state of Florida, the crime of Third Degree Murder is what
would be called Manslaughter in other jurisdictions.

You might also want to spend some time in a
single-seat, single-engine aircraft making decisions at the speed
required by the job on a daily basis.

If you ever descend to descend into congested terminal airspace at
~500 knots without the required ATC clearance, you have taken
responsibility for the consequences of that violation of regulations,
and should suffer the consequences of your imprudent act.
Unfortunately, the USAF found justice would be served with a verbal
reprimand, no loss of pay or rank, nor incarceration nor restitution
to the widow and family, nor for the destroyed $30,000,000.00 F-15.
That slap on the wrist is so disproportionate to the carnage and
destruction Parker caused, as to outrageously offend any thinking
person's sense of justice.

Someone died and that is very, repeat very, unfortunate. But, with the
proliferation of restrictions on airspace and the continual
restrictions on military training it is increasingly more difficult to
avoid offending some petty bureaucrat or noise sensitive home-owner
while conducting training.

I hope I'm not hearing you say the military has it rough, so expect to
see the incompetence of cowboy fighter pilots go unpunished even when
civilian fatalities are involved.

No one needs to die and you can take to the
bank that no one in the military ever intends to participate in a
mid-air.

What would you expect the outcome to be of entering congested terminal
airspace at ~500 knots without talking to Air Traffic Control?

If you've read all of the testimony and understand all of the factors
involved, you are entitled to an opinion, but keep in mind that
opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all stink.

Not nearly as much as the injustice perpetrated by Gen. Rosa in
finding a verbal reprimand appropriate punishment for Parker's
infamous acts.