Scott O'Grady

Captain Scott F. O'Grady (center)

Scott O'Grady (born October 12, 1965 in Brooklyn , New York ) is a retired US Air Force pilot . He became known when he was shot down on a mission over Bosnia on June 2, 1995 and later rescued by US Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit . The film In Crosshairs - Alone Against All is loosely based on what happened. In May 2007 he completed a degree in theology .

Life

Military career

O'Grady graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott , Arizona in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautics. In April 1989, O'Grady was accepted into the Air Force Reserve Training Corps program. He then completed between November and December 1989 training in the NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard Air Force Base (AFB) in Texas . He then served as a pilot at Luke Air Force Base and completed his first assignment in December 1991 in the 80th Juvat Combat Squadron at Kunsan Air Force Base in South Korea . From March 1993 he was stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany in the 526th Black Knights Combat Squadron . In May 1994 he became the 555th squadron Triple Nickles to the Aviano Air Base in Italy added. After his crash over Bosnia, he served from October 1995 in the 466th Squadron at Hill Air Force Base , Utah . Since July 1998 he has been an instructor at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane , Washington State . In 2001, O'Grady retired from active service.

Crash over Bosnia

In the summer of 1995, NATO had been monitoring the no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than 2 years . NATO was determined to maintain the so-called Safe Area by raising military resources. Combat, reconnaissance and surveillance flights were therefore carried out as part of Operation Deny Flight . During the operation on February 28, 1994, Scott O'Grady fired an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile at a Bosnian Serbian Soko J-21 Jastreb fighter , but missed it.

On June 2, 1995, started USAF pilots Captain Robert Wright (nickname: Wilbur ) and Captain Scott O'Grady of the 555th Fighter Squadron Air Force Base Aviano in Italy to a combat air patrol ( Combat Air Patrol , CAP ) to carry on the no-fly zone. Both flew an F-16 C / D Block 40 "Fighting Falcon" . During the course of the patrol , the lead aircraft, which Wright was flying, reported several times that it was being tracked by a ground-based search radar .

Both pilots did not know that Bosnian Serbs one of its 2K12 Kub- - aircraft missiles had moved into the no-fly zone. Since O'Grady was not warned by his instruments, he gave the all-clear over the radio with the Code Basher Five-Two naked . When an AWACS could not confirm the data from Wright, both pilots assumed that it was about devices that are located outside the no-fly zone.

Shortly after O'Grady was on its radar warning system ( Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) warned) that he had been hit by a search radar. Wright, however, reported this time that he had not been recorded.

A little later, O'Grady received a warning that an anti-aircraft missile was heading for his aircraft. At this point, however, no evasive maneuver was possible, so his machine was hit by the missile. He had no choice but to use his ACES-II ejector seat and shoot himself out of the machine.

During the descent with his parachute, O'Grady watched as Serbian troops formed to take him prisoner. In the days and nights that followed, he tried to evade the search parties. In doing so, he used the tactics he had learned in his SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training, a course that was specially designed for pilots to look for a Survive shooting down behind enemy lines while fleeing in the wild. The standard equipment of the F-16 pilots at this time included a. a 121-page survival manual, an emergency radio, a first aid kit, signal flares and a compass.

During this time, O'Grady tried again and again to make contact with friendly aircraft using an emergency radio. Although it was unclear at the time whether O'Grady was still alive and whether he had been captured, the commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU / SOC), Colonel Martin Berndt , transferred his TRAP team ( Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel , to German about: Tactical rescue of aircraft and personnel ) on standby.

On June 7th, two more F-16 fighter planes reached their CAP area shortly before midnight . They sent a radio message every minute in order to be able to contact O'Grady. This radiogram was This is Basher One-One, looking for Basher Five-Two ( Here Basher one-one, looking for Basher Five-two ). After a few hours, O'Grady was able to answer the radio message. He is alive and ready to be saved. In the course of the following hours he was in constant contact with various pilots.

After Colonel Berndt additional close air support ( close air support , CAS had asked), the operation on 8 June at 4:39 was given the green light. The TRAP team immediately boarded the two available CH-53E “Super Stallions” . In addition, several combat and surveillance aircraft were in the air to cover the rescue.

Although this increased concentration of troops did not go unnoticed by the Serbs, they did nothing at first. At around 6 a.m. O'Grady noticed the first F / A-18 "Hornet" overhead. Shortly before the goal, the Cobras accelerated to secure the landing zone . After O'Grady was able to display his position using a smoke grenade , the Super Stallions landed with the Marines and secured the area.

After O'Grady got out of cover, he was immediately taken aboard the waiting helicopter. After six minutes on the ground, the helicopters took off again. On the flight home, they were hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire from the Serbs. To avoid the surface-to-air missiles, the pilots flew at the lowest possible low altitude. Nonetheless, they were hit by anti-aircraft and infantry weapons , but no one was injured and the helicopters were able to continue flying. Immediately upon his arrival on the USS Kearsarge , a Wasp-class ship , O'Grady received medical attention and care. Aside from dehydration , weight loss and hypothermia , he was doing fine according to the circumstances. O'Grady sustained no physical injuries or permanent damage.

Next life

Scott O'Grady studied theology at Dallas Theological Seminary after completing his service and graduated with a Masters in May 2007 . As a professional speaker, he offers lectures on motivation , is involved with charities and was appointed to the Texas Parole Board for juvenile offenders in May 2008.

Film adaptations

• The 2001 feature film Im Fadhreuz - Alone Against All was inspired by O'Grady's experiences in Bosnia, but can by no means be considered a true documentary.
• The documentary - TV Series Critical situation ( "critical situation") of the US television channel National Geographic in 2007 dedicated her fifth episode Downed Pilot , O'Grady crash, survival and rescue. The German-language first broadcast followed in 2009 by the National Geographic Channel under the title Shot over Bosnia , there as the 3rd episode.

literature

• O'Grady, Scott (with Jeff Coplon). Return with Honor, New York: Doubleday, 1995 ISBN 0-385-48330-9
• O'Grady, Scott (with Michael French). Basher Five-Two: The True Story of F-16 Fighter Pilot Captain Scott O'Grady, New York: Doubleday, 1997 ISBN 0-385-32300-X (children's book)

See also

• Combat Search and Rescue

Individual evidence

1. ↑ O'Grady at the Premiere Speakers Bureau
2. ↑ Gov. Perry Appoints Four to Texas Juvenile Probation Commission ( Memento of the original from June 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ situation Critical S01E03: Shot down over Bosnia (Downed Pilot) In: Fernsehserien.de . Retrieved October 23, 2018.