Risk of Capture Proves Sobering for Pilots

“Rake,” an F-14 Tomcat pilot, was just back from Iraq, and he was bragging about his hits and belittling enemy pilots for running from dogfights.

“I don’t think they wanted to die,” he said.

He asked that his radio call name be used instead of his real name.

Why? If shot down and captured by Iraq, Rake said his bravado could be used against him.

American pilots are anxious these days, horrified by the scenes of captured pilots and other servicemen being shown on Iraqi television. But they are determined not to allow their emotions to distract them from their mission.

Still, the Iraqi capture and treatment of downed pilots and crew--and the daring rescue behind enemy lines Monday of a Navy pilot--underscore the dangers of being shot down.

The stark images of the first American prisoners of the Persian Gulf War hark back to Vietnam, a war most troops here are too young to remember.

They also remind the nearly 500,000 American servicemen and women in Operation Desert Storm of training they would rather forget.

For Air Force pilots and crews, it is 17 days in the mountains of Washington state, learning to collect drinking water from condensation on a plant, or to search the desert for dry stream beds that might yield a life-saving gulp of gritty water. Members of the Army, Navy and Marines receive similar training.

They are also taught when they should--or should not--resist the demands of captors.

Military spokesmen refuse to discuss specifics of “resistance training” except to say that most combat troops receive at least a briefing on the potential enemy’s culture and likely interrogation tactics.

The spokesmen refuse to disclose orders given to troops.

But there are indications that given Iraq’s brutal history, soldiers have not been ordered to risk their lives to defy enemy interrogators.

Saddam Hussein has a history of television “confessions,” including ones by public officials arrested for crimes and a British journalist who was executed for alleged espionage. During his eight-year war with Iran, Saddam often broadcast interviews with Iranian prisoners of war.

Two Marines, among his latest POWs, denounced the war on Iraqi television, but most American servicemen believe the statements were beaten out of them.

“The lessons of Vietnam come back, I think,” said Air Force Col. Hal Hornburg, an F-15 wing commander. “I would say that every American flying an aircraft over here . . . under extreme duress, may say some things they certainly don’t mean. . . . As far as I’m concerned, that’s not a problem, because I know where their hearts are.”

The Pentagon is restricting the information it will release about missing fighters for fear that it could be used in interrogations; it will provide only names, ranks, ages and branch of service of anyone who might be a prisoner. It will not release hometowns or other personal information.