Harry Schmidt ( Air National Guard ) Harry Schmidt was a Major in the Illinois Air National Guard and was at one time an instructor at the Navy ' s elite TOPGUN fighter pilot school . Major Schmidt is a 1987 graduate of the U . S . Naval Academy where he was the starting goalie on the soccer team . Friendly fire . On April 17 , 2002 over Afghanistan , while flying an F - 16 , Schmidt , in spite of orders to hold fire , dropped a 500 - pound laser - guided bomb on members of the 3rd Battalion of the Princess Patricia ' s Canadian Light Infantry during an anti - tank and machine - gun exercises . The Tarnak Farm incident resulted in eight wounded and four dead : Sgt Marc Leger , Cpl Ainsworth Dyer , Pte Richard Green and Pte Nathan Smith . On July 6 , 2004 , Schmidt was found guilty of dereliction of duty and is no longer allowed to pilot Air Force aircraft . Schmidt ( whose flight name was " Psycho " ) , and his flight lead , Major William Umbach , were returning from a 10 - hour patrol . They were flying at more than 15 , 000 feet when they spotted surface fire . Claiming Umbach was under attack , Schmidt asked flight control permission to fire his 20 mm cannons , to which flight control replied " hold fire . " Four seconds later , Schmidt said he was " rolling in , in self defense . " He dropped a laser - guided bomb 35 seconds later . On September 11 , 2002 , Schmidt and Umbach were officially charged with 4 counts of negligent manslaughter , 8 counts of aggravated assault , and 1 count of dereliction of duty , but Schmidt ' s charges were later reduced ( on June 30 , 2003 ) to dereliction of duty . He was initially offered non - judicial punishment proceedings before Lt . Gen . Bruce Carlson , 8th Air Force Commander , on June 19 , 2003 , which he declined to accept , demanding trial by court - martial . The charge was referred to a court - martial on June 30 , 2003 . On June 24 , 2004 — in connection with negotiations between the prosecution and Schmidt ' s attorneys — Schmidt was allowed to reverse his earlier demand for trial by court - martial and accept the previously offered non - judicial punishment proceedings . The charges against Umbach were later dismissed . Schmidt has apologized for the incident , but he has never apologized for his role in it . Go pills . According to the defense lawyers of the two pilots , Schmidt and Umbach were told by their superiors to use " go pills " ( amphetamines ) on their missions , and blamed the incident on the drugs . Schmidt ' s defense also blamed the fog of war , specifically poor and needlessly complex communication procedures regarding the identification of friendly forces on the ground . After a closed , non - judicial punishment hearing held at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana , Schmidt was found guilty on July 6 , 2004 of dereliction of duty and was docked nearly $ 5 , 700 in pay and reprimanded . The reprimand , written by Lt . Gen . Carlson as part of the non - judicial punishment said Schmidt had " flagrantly disregarded a direct order " , " exercised a total lack of basic flight discipline " , and " blatantly ignored the applicable rules of engagement . " On July 8 , 2004 , Schmidt ' s lawyer Charles Gittins announced plans to appeal the ruling and to file a lawsuit against the Air Force over the public release of documents in the case . On April 7 , 2006 , Schmidt filed a lawsuit complaining of violations of the Privacy Act for the release . On September 20 , 2007 the lawsuit was dismissed , with the judge writing in her decision that " the competing public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs Schmidt ' s privacy interest . " The wounded . The eight wounded in the incident were Sergeant Lorne Ford , Corporal René Paquette , Corporal Curtis Hollister , Corporal Brett Perry , Corporal Brian Decaire , Private Norman Link , Master Corporal Stanley P . Clark and Corporal Shane Brennan .