Wed, Oct 22, 2008
Further Action May Be Pending For May 17 Transgression
As if diplomatic relations between
the US and Venezuela weren't rocky enough already, a veteran naval
pilot and air wing commander apparently flew a US Navy S-3B Viking
into Venezuelan airspace this past May 17, setting off a diplomatic
firestorm.
The Navy Times reports Captain James Paulsen, commander of
Carrier Air Wing 1, received his wings in 1985 and has logged more
than 4,600 hours. His S-3B was operating under Joint Interagency
Task Force South on what was claimed to be a counter-narcotics
mission in international airspace.
The US admits Paulsen overflew a Caribbean Island called La
Orchilla -- where there just happens to be a Venezuelan military
base -- then contacted Venezuelan controllers to inform them he was
returning immediately to international airspace, following the
inadvertent incursion.
The S-3B is a surveillance and precision-targeting aircraft. If
you were Venezuela... and being threatened by the US with
blacklisting as a state sponsor of terrorism... well, what would
you do?
The US Ambassador to Venezuela was called on the carpet to
explain the overflight. On the US side, a JAG investigation is said
to be ongoing.
The Times reports that on Friday, Paulsen was issued a punitive
letter of reprimand from Fleet Forces Command chief Admiral
Jonathan Greenert, and further action may be pending, according to
the Navy.
But Paulsen remains in command of Carrier Air Wing 1, which is
based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia. Sea Control Squadron
32 in Jacksonville, FL -- where the S-3B Viking involved in the
incident was based at the time -- stood down earlier this
month.
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