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CNN Saturday Morning News
U.S. Military Action Suggests bin Laden is in Tora Bora
Aired December 15, 2001 - 10:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: More on the intense U.S. aerial assault in eastern Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says the attack has led to the capture of at least 50 al Qaeda troops, but still no Osama bin Laden. CNN military analyst, retired Major General Don Shepperd is back again with more on the operation.
General, talking about this assault on eastern Afghanistan, because it's specific, this assault, is this an indication that intelligence sources are feeling pretty strongly that this is definitely where Osama bin Laden is?
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: That's my judgment, Kyra. I absolutely -- by looking at the number of strikes going into the area, the intensity of the strikes, the fact that it's really the only thing going on in the way of significant air operations, I think all the sensors are telling us he is there. I believe we believe it. I believe the Eastern Alliance believes it. And I believe we're after him.
PHILLIPS: All right, more special forces, we've got, in the Tora Bora area, there's a beefed-up U.S. presence. Are you concerned at all about a friendly fire situation because there are more men going in there like what happened in Kandahar?
SHEPPERD: Always concerned, Kyra. The more people you put in, the more likely something is to happen either from enemy action or misfire, friendly fire accidents. You have to have to be exceedingly careful anytime you are delivering air power or fire support of any types to the front lines. It can come from the air, it can come from your own troops, you can get hit by your own people. Coordination in a fast moving battle is extremely difficult and we're having to be very careful. And the same thing could happen there that happened in Kandahar.
We still don't know exactly what took place, but human error is always possible, especially when you're getting shot at, especially when you're transmitting coordinates either automatically or over the air, lots of things can go wrong. So it's always a concern.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's shift gears for a moment. An article that just came out, I wanted to talk to you about. This is from the Associated Press talking about the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Records have been demolished aboard this U.S. carrier. Are we -- are we -- is it specifically talking about setting new sites here and setting a new record with regard to sorties?
SHEPPERD: Yeah, what they're talking about is the length of the operations and the number of the sorties, the intensity of the operations and the length of time. This is a tremendous performance by our great American Navy out there.
These guys are flying long missions. These guys and gals, also, I might add, flying long missions, anywhere from five to nine hours, refueling several times, coming back to the boat. After a period of time, fatigue really takes over. One of the squadrons, VFA-82, the Morators (ph) and F-18 squadron reportedly flew 1,300 hours in one month. A normal month would be around 500 hours. So you can see approaching three times their normal level of intensity.
Another pilot from VF-102, the Diamondbacks, one of their commanders basically has flown about 90 hours in a month. It requires, I believe, medical clearance to fly above 65 hours a month. So these are intense operations and they really take a toll on the pilots and the maintainers as well.
PHILLIPS: Well, that's what I wanted to ask you, General and you flew also. I was looking at this article, it says, "the operation has strained people and equipment." And like you just mentioned, it says, "pilots have been forced to get medical clearance to let them exceed the monthly limit of 65 hours of flight time." Is this safe to be doing this? Doesn't this open up opportunity for trouble?
SHEPPERD: It does. Here's the thing -- pilots want to fly, maintainers want to maintain and war fighters want to fight. And you can do it and you do do it. Adrenaline takes over in beginning, but as this stretches out over a long period of time, fatigue sets in. When you get fatigued, it leads to bad judgment. It leads to mistakes and interestingly enough, even in a wartime situation where you're getting shot at, it leads to complacency.
Complacency and fatigue are your two biggest drivers for accidents and we have to be very, very careful on this. And the commanders out there are watching this very carefully because the guys and girls want to do much more than their body really allows them to do, especially in a wartime situation.
PHILLIPS: Sure, that adrenaline starts pumping and you just want to -- you want to get down to business, don't do?
SHEPPERD: Indeed you do.
PHILLIPS: All right, General Don Shepperd, thank you so much.
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