Thursday, 11 February 2010
Devastation ... the mangled remains of Scimitar that was destroyed by Kohntopp's jet
Lance Corporal Matty Hull stood no chance as the flier strafed these armoured vehicles with the 30mm cannon from his A10 Thunderbolt.
The tops of the eight-ton Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles were ripped off, leaving a blazing tangle of metal.
Colonel Kohntopp can be named by The Sun today as the reservist at the controls of call sign POPOV36, who attacked a British convoy of four vehicles in Iraq.
And in a second development, we can also reveal how the official British and US reports into the attack on March 28, 2003 widely differ.
Colonel Kohntopp and his wingman in another A10 ? who was call sign POPOV35 in the leaked video tape of the attack ? were cleared by the US investigation. But they were slammed in a secret British probe.
Click here to see the shocking video
As we revealed yesterday, Kohntopp was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Idaho Air National Guard when the horror occurred.
Now he is a full colonel and has also been promoted to the top job of training hundreds of other US pilots in ground attack skills.
Until today, balding Colonel Kohntopp’s identity has only been known to a handful of US military chiefs.
The flier, in his 40s, joined the US Air Force straight from university and left in 1999 when he became part of the reserves.
He moved right into a job as a commercial pilot and now flies Boeing 737s for a living.
At the time of the tragedy seven days into the invasion of Iraq, Skeeter was flying his very first combat mission ? despite his 20 years as a military pilot.
He and POPOV35 were from the 190th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron of the Idaho Air National Guard.
The colonel went on to fly a total of 27 combat missions during four months in the war zone.
US chiefs were so impressed by his work as head mission planner for the A10 fleet, they awarded him the cherished Bronze Star.
In an interview with a magazine in his home state, he revealed: “My best piloting experience has been flying the A10 in Iraqi Freedom.”
Despite lacking combat experience at the time, Skeeter had proved himself an expert flier and was highly regarded by top brass.
During his earlier career in the mid-1980s he was a test pilot and instructor for the world’s first Stealth bomber, the F-117A Nighthawk.
It was a highly classified job ? as the Pentagon only admitted the plane existed in 1988.
Of his 22-year flying career, Skeeter told the magazine: “You have to live with your actions so make them worthwhile to your loved ones and this great nation.”
The pilot has lived with wife Saunie, a jewellery designer, for 16 years. They have two children Jared, 13, and Jessica, eight.
Their home is a four-bedroom suburban house in Boise, Idaho, where Skeeter is a keen hunter and regular in local game-hunting competitions.
Saunie yesterday refused to talk about the incident.
A neighbour told The Sun: “We had no idea about this incident in Iraq. We all know Gus as a dedicated pilot and a family man.
“He is a good guy and I am sure that whatever happened out there will weigh heavy on his conscience.”
Naming Colonel Kohntopp will allow Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker to bypass US top brass who have blocked the flier giving evidence at Matty’s inquest.
He can now be approached directly to come to Oxford and testify so the soldier’s campaigning family can learn the full truth over what happened. The coroner is already able to use an official US military copy of the formerly secret cockpit video when he resumes the inquest, thanks to The Sun’s leaked version.
He halted the hearing last week because he had been denied an official copy of the film by the US and Ministry of Defence.
Mr Walker has now tabled an official request for all relevant US military personnel to appear, we have learned.
Neither pilot was reprimanded by US authorities for the friendly fire horror. On Tuesday, The Pentagon said a US inquiry concluded the pilots “followed the procedures and processes for engaging targets”.
But a British Army report concluded: “The Board found that procedures were not followed.”
It then listed a series of failings by the A10 pilots.
Among them, it states that “the degree of aircrew/Forward Air Controller awareness and understanding was insufficient”. It continued: “Neither target description nor location of the final target was passed by POPOV35 to MANILA HOTEL (the ground controller’s call sign).” And crucially, it damningly stated: “The aircrew did not receive clear authority from the Forward Air Controller for POPOV36 to engage.”
Colonel Kohntopp’s individual actions are also singled out for criticism. The report said: “POPOV36 showed a single-minded pursuit of the UK vehicles.
“There is no indication he was sensitive to POPOV35’s workload or the difficulties posed by addressing two possible targets at the same time.”
PM Tony Blair said yesterday he “deeply regretted” the distress to the family of Blues and Royals soldier Matty caused by the inquest delay.
He told MPs he believed the MoD had acted “in good faith”. But he promised to look again at the system to ensure “in similar such circumstances we are able to deal with things in a better way”.
SEVEN crew and passengers were killed when a US Marine helicopter crashed last night amid gunfire near Baghdad.
Four others have been shot down in Iraq in less than three weeks.
An al-Qaeda group claimed it had downed the fifth chopper.
The five crashes have claimed the lives of 28 US servicemen.
A military spokesman said: “We can confirm there were seven casualties in the latest incident.
“We are still looking into the cause of the aircraft going down.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered a speed-up of a US-backed crackdown in Baghdad.