The Wednesday crash of a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet in California on a “routine training mission” that left the pilot dead and seven injured on the ground has already faded from the public consciousness. It should not have because this incident should serve as a reminder. While this crash in under investigation, there is one thing that must be said: This pilot is a fallen hero.
People often focus on troops killed in combat, but they forget all too easily that being deployed in the United States on a base during a time of peace is no guarantee that the troops will be safe: Troops are often training to be ready to carry out the missions that they will be performing in a time of war. The best training will come as close as possible to replicating conditions that these troops will see in combat.
Our troops are at risk every day – whether at peace or in time of war, whether deployed to Afghanistan or even when they are in the United States. The Super Hornet crash highlights the latter. Training, of course, doesn’t just take place in the United States. In the Persian Gulf, F-15E Strike Eagles trained with a P-3 Orion and USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) to practice what an Air Force release called “real world tactics, techniques and procedures to execute joint interoperability in maritime air control and dynamic targeting.”
While this mission was in close proximity to Iran, which shot down a Navy MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle, that joint training mission would not have been risk-free if it were taking place off the coast of North Carolina. Those who plan the training do their best to minimize the risks, but they can’t be eliminated. After all, our troops are supposed to be prepared to go to war, and war is an inherently risky endeavor.
This is true whether they are preparing to go on deployment, or whether you are training new troops that have just entered the service. They don’t just take their oath when they enlist and get a rifle and go to war. Preparing our troops for war takes time, money, and training. Equipment not only needs to be tested, but troops need to learn how to use it properly. That, too, is risky: The submarine USS Thresher (SSN 593) was lost with all hands while being tested in 1963.
At times, when the defense budget faces cuts, all too often it can be training that takes the hit. The skills needed to fly a Super Hornet or to operate an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer are perishable. In addition, that training comes with a catch: It puts wear and tear on equipment. Furthermore, the same unpredictability that strikes in combat can also strike during training. In 1987, heavy rain led to an accident that ended the military career of former FCC Chairman Michael Powell. This past May, a Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicle rolled over and killed First Lieutenant Hugh C. McDowell.
It is said that when someone signs up for the military, they have for all intents and purposes signed a blank check to the United States, up to and including their life. Wednesday’s crash shows that the ultimate sacrifice can be given in peacetime, as well as in war.
Harold Hutchison has 15 years of experience covering military issues for multiple outlets.
