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CAPT Scott Speicher - KIA
- Thread starter Dave Shutter
- Start date
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I feel for his family. Over ten years of not knowing, having some fashion of closure, has to tear them up.
I have my own ideas on what may have happened, but they're not based on anything other than what I've read.
G-d bless and keep you, CAPT Speicher, wherever you are.
I have my own ideas on what may have happened, but they're not based on anything other than what I've read.
G-d bless and keep you, CAPT Speicher, wherever you are.
I think that speculation like that is highly inappropriate.
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The hearing that is going to take place is rare in today's environment, but is standard procedure (actually, the Navy has gone well above and beyond standards in the Speicher case). Basically, the purpose of the board is to determine if there is any credible evidence that Capt Speicher is alive or could have been captured. Based on what they find, they could direct the SCO to issue a "Presumptive Finding of Death". The standard is to issue such a determination 366 days after a service member goes missing, if there is no "proof of life" in that period of time.
For those who are not fully up to speed on the case, but the Navy had good reason to change his status from KIA to Missing/Captured when they did. Nobody was ever 100% certain that he was captured but given the uncertainty, the guidance is to always treat any possibility like it has happened (err on the side of caution). There was enough of a possibility in this case that he could have survived and been captured to warrant the change in status. Now, 18 years after the incident, with our access to all things Iraqi, we have had the opportunity to run every possible lead to ground. The review board will look at what our inel agencies have found, and make a reccomendation to SECNAV.
What the reporter who wrote the AP article failed to communicate is that this hearing is really only about pay and allowances. Speicher's wife has continued to get his full paycheck, allowances, benefits, etc (including promotions and flight pay). If a presumptive finding of death is issued, she will get his full SGLI payment, death gratuity, and retirement pay for the rest of her life. The hearing is about his status in the system, and has no bearing on the amount of effort that will be expended to continue the search for answers to what happened to him. DPMO, JPAC, and the Navy's POW/MIA Branch will continue to work the case just like they are for all other 37,910 unaccounted for sailors. If any credible evidence comes up, we will investigate it and see where it goes. If Capt Speicher walks out of a Syrian prison in 2011, then there are provisions for us to "bring him back to life".
Everyone who has had to deal with the Speicher case has always done the best they could with the information that they have at the time. At this time, there is no evidence that he is alive. There are no fresh leads. There is no body, and he is not sitting in the room with us. We can't promote the man to Admiral, and it has been 18 years. The family is not going to like the status change, but the case has to at least be reviewed.
I apologize if you found my comment to be so. Absolutely no disrespect intended to anyone.
As a Jacksonville area native, I've been emersed in this story from my middle school days and have followed it ever since. The book is a good read, makes you wonder how things happened. I look at it like a mishap as far as the speculation rules go.
If/When we find out what really happened, it will be good closure for everyone.
BTW - Wasn't there an Iranian pilot or some other country's pilot that was held captive for 20 some odd years unbeknownst to everyone except his captors?
Fester,
I am not talking speficifally about the Speicher family, but many family members and groups follow this story (and others) FULL TIME. If you think that they won't find this forum and start asking questions about it, you are wrong.
I don't want to have to answer a bunch of questions about why a bunch of Naval Aviators are making comments about what they "think" happened. Someone will see your FO wings and assume that you were an F-14 RIO on the flight, or someone that could have actual knowledge if the events. The last thing that we need is some media outlet to read your comment and quote you as "A Naval Flight officer who kept his identity secret has stated that Capt Speicher was captured and killed in captivity."
This case is sticky. Let the process roll. If you have any questions PM me. I really wish you would edit your post.
Thanks.
Up until the fall of Saddam, they were still doing prisoner exchanges and exchanging remains of combatants from the Iran/Iraq war. I had an Uncle (my dad was the youngest of 12) who was held over 15 years. That's all I have to say..back to Scott Speicher.
Fair enough. Done.
I'd hope the media would be more responsible than to quote a random, unverified posting they found on the Interwebs...but I suppose we know better than that.
You bet they don't. You would be amazed at some of the stuff that I hear from POW/MIA conspiricy theory nuts. Just last month one of them demanded that I produce documents to back up something that she had read on the internet 5-6 years ago. Should could not explain what it was that she had read, but had damn well come up with the documents. She also insistend that I needed to call another family member who has been deceased for nearly a decade. She called me a liar when I told her that the guy was dead, and kept insisting that "He is alive on the internet."
Face/Palm
There is no written instruction on where promotions stop, and this was discussed several years ago when the Capt would have been up for a star. There was presidential precident from the Vietnam era to stop the promotions at 0-6. That was what was the reccomendation from NAVPERSCOM, and it was accepted by the folks in DC. If they made Capt Speicher an admiral, it would take up a flag job that could have gone to someone else.
I don't think that shoot-downs are classified as mishaps. At least they aren't in the records that I see. Someone with a maintenance background can correct that if I am wrong.
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