Scott O'Grady

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Scott O' Grady
October 12, 1965-

Scott O'Grady (center) at a press conference after the Mrkonjić Grad incident.
Nickname Zulu — call sign: Basher 52
Place of birth Brooklyn, New York
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Air Force
Years of service 1989-2001
Rank Captain
Unit 555th Fighter Squadron,
31st Fighter Wing
Battles/wars Operation Deny Flight
Relations Scott has one brother, one sister, and his parents are divorced.
Other work author:Return With Honor, speaker

Scott F. O'Grady (born October 12, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after the Mrkonjić Grad incident, in which he ejected over Bosnia when his F-16C 89-2032/AV was shot down by a Bosnian Serb SA-6 on June 2, 1995 while patrolling the no-fly zone.

The incident occurred near Mrkonjić Grad in Serb-held territory. He survived for six days eating little, avoiding Serb patrols and trying to contact Magic, NATO's airborne command center. He evaded capture and was rescued six days later, on 8 June, by U.S. Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based on the USS Kearsarge.

Their mission, known as a TRAP (Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel), was something they all had trained for and conducted many times as training exercises prior to the actual mission. Their parent unit, the 24th MEU-SOC, was actually the "standby" unit that was slated to go only after the primary unit in Italy waived off the mission and insisted on another day of prep.

The film Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based on his story. He sued the movie company in 2002 for making the film without his permission.

O'Grady penned two books along with Michael French and Jeff Coplon detailing his experiences of being shot down over Bosnia and his eventual rescue — Return with Honor and Basher Five-Two.

O'Grady is a former cadet in the Civil Air Patrol and a 1989 Air Force ROTC graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Three years after he was rescued, O'Grady left active duty in the U.S. Air Force. In May 2007, he completed a master's degree in biblical studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

The incident was later depicted on the documentary television program Situation Critical.

[edit] Bibliography

  • O'Grady, Captain Scott (with Jeff Coplon). Return with Honor, New York: Doubleday, 1995. (ISBN 0385483309)
  • 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)
  • Kelly, Mary Pat. "Good to Go": The Rescue of Capt. Scott O'Grady, USAF, from Bosnia, Naval Institute Press, 1996. (ISBN 1-55750-459-8)

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Persondata
NAME O'Grady, Scott
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after the Mrkonjić Grad incident
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages