Scott Speicher

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Michael Scott Speicher
July 12, 1957 –

Official U.S. Navy photo, circa 1990
Place of birth Kansas City, Kansas, USA
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch U.S. Navy
Rank O-6 Captain
Unit USS Saratoga
Battles/wars Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm
Awards Purple Heart

Michael Scott Speicher (born July 12, 1957) is a U.S. Navy pilot whose F/A-18 Hornet fighter was shot down over Iraq on January 17, 1991, the first night of Operation Desert Storm. The U.S. Navy maintains in a 1997 document that Speicher was downed by a surface to air missile.[1] However, an unclassified summary of a 2001 CIA report states that Speicher's aircraft was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi aircraft,[2] most likely a MiG-25.[3]

Since then, there has been little evidence of either his survival or his death. There is much controversy over the possibility that he might have survived and been taken prisoner by the Iraqis. A lieutenant commander when shot down, he has been promoted to captain in his absence.

At the end of the Gulf War, Speicher was listed as "killed in action". In January 2001, the Secretary of the Navy changed his status to "missing in action".[4] According to former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, this was "the first time The Pentagon has ever made a change to killed in action, to MIA". The 2001 CIA report stated that he may have survived by ejecting.[2] His status was changed again, to "missing/captured", on October 11, 2002, one day after the United States Congress authorized the use of military force in Iraq.

His possible situation became a more high-profile issue in the build-up to war. In March 2002, the Washington Times ran five successive front-page articles about it and on September 12, 2002 U.S. President George W. Bush mentioned Speicher in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly as part of his case for war against Iraq.

Despite U.S. military control of Iraq and a major investigation on the ground in there, Speicher's whereabouts have yet to be discovered. Though there has been a great deal of intelligence gathered, including Speicher's E & E (Escape and Evade) sign left on the desert floor near the crash site along with the discovery of a flight suit believed to be worn by Speicher at the time of his crash, with his name cut out of it. Speicher himself is still missing.

[edit] Memorials and dedications

The Florida State University has named their tennis center after Speicher, an avid tennis player and FSU graduate.

In effort to honor Speicher, a former Iraqi air base has been renamed after him in Tikrit, northern Iraq; COB Speicher.

[edit] References

  1. ^ U.S. Navy Aviation, Ch 12, The First Half of the Nineties, U.S Navy, 1997.
  2. ^ a b "Intelligence Community Assessment of the Lieutenant Commander Speicher Case". 27 March 2001. FOIA Electronic Reading Room. CIA. 10 Sept. 2006.[1]
  3. ^ Weiner, Tim. "A U.S. Team Seeks Body of War Pilot." The New York Times 14 Dec. 1995: A1.
  4. ^ Navy Changes Status Of Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher, US DoD, January 11, 2001.

[edit] External links