Summary

MARTHA RADDATZ ABOARD THE USS KEARSARGE ( LHD3 / LHD-3 ) OFF THE COAST OF ITALY AS THEY SUPPORT OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN AGAINST LIBYA. 13:34:29 USS Mt. Whitney at pier / USS MOUNT WHITNEY FROM CATANIA, ITALY 13:34:37 ts mast of Mt. Whitney 13:35:02 Marines on board 13:35:12 sailors on board 13:35:43 commander? Mt. Whitney 13:36:02 female sailors lined up 13:37:36 sailors waiting around 13:38:17 sailors lined up on sides of red carpet 13:38:43 General Ham, MR. commander of Mt Whitney 13:38:56 NATS whistle, Ham arrives on board 13:39:09 NATS whistle, MR on board 13:39:46 helo / helicopter lands on tarmac 13:39:52 MV-22 Ospreys starting up, propellers turning 13:40:57 Blackhawk taxing 13:42:09 vs Gen Ham standing around 13:42:26 MR and Ham walking *** 13:42:54 ss Ham walking 13:43:19 MR putting on survival kits 13:44:59 MR walks on board MV22 Osprey / MV-22 13:45:24 MR and Ham in helmets, sitting next to each other in Osprey 13:46:31 Ham talking on comms system 13:47:28 ws group seated in MV-22 13:47:59 looking out back, flying over fields 13:48:50 MR and Ham seated, looking out back 13:49:01 Ham looking down 13:49:10 crew members sitting on floor 13:49:33 crew members in seats 13:50:24 other Osprey through shot 13:50:40 looking out back, ocean, bright light 13:50:50 better light 13:51:32 over water, shaky 13:51:55 sun reflected over water 13:52:18 landing on USS Kearsarge / NOW ABOARD USS KEARSARGE 13:53:05 moving bombs in front of helo, shaky 13:53:09 Ham arrives on board USS Kearsarge, shaking hands 13:54:09 group photo taken 13:54:38 Ham talking to officer, has cap in hand PILOTS Captain Joe Andrejack ( USMC ) / UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 13:55:27 TWO SHOT MJR: Tell me about that night. You knew you were going in to get a downed pilot right? (04) JA: Yes maam. That's about all the information we had. (06) We didn't know exactly what the situation was on the ground. (09) 13:55:55 TWO SHOT MJR: So you always look at it as possible hostile territory even thought that was a rebel-held area. JA: Yes maam. (05) 13:56:32 MJR: So you were on night vision? JA: Yes. 13:56:44 JA: We saw his flare on the ground. And we got eyes on his position. And a airplane way up overhead at about 25,000 feet was able to shine a laser down (15) in the vicinity of the downed pilot (17) and that just confirmed where we thought he was. (19) And we landed pretty much right on top of him. (21) 13:57:21 TWO SHOT MJR: How did he describe the situation? He was understandably a little frazzled. (06) And that was coming through in his communications over the radio. (10) CAPTAIN Erik Kolle, copilot ( USMC ) 14:00:52 EK: When we landed // and I turned and looked at Angry and // I was like you know that was probably the coolest thing I've done since I've been in the Marines. (05) 14:01:02 EK: We felt very good you know. We did something that was. (03) You know getting a guy out like that and having everything go off the way it's supposed to is very satisfying. (08) And it was very personally satisfying to see this guy - you know he's gonna get to go home. (13) 14:01:59 EK: Honestly the recon guys ran out and I was expecting to be there for a little bit and the crew chief about five seconds later said, "Hey, he's on board. Let's go." (09) 14:02:32 EK: We had our jets up there as well (ROUGH CAMERA PUSH) that were talking to him and I think they were just kind of telling him what they were seeing around him. (05) Because like Angry mentioned he didn't have goggles. Whereas the jets had a good picture what was going on down there. (11) So they were communicating with him. There was a few times I think his wing man was saying hey drink some water, take it easy. You know just trying to keep him a little bit - you know very mellow. (22) 14:03:06 MJR: So was he hiding in grass? (OFF CAM) EK: I think he was hiding like near a little bush. And there was - there was kind of rolling terrain there. (06) And there was little desert shrub-type bushes. I think he was hiding in that. And then (11) As soon as we set up for our approach to land he just started bolting to the airplane. I think he said that he was in our dust cloud by the time we landed. (21) 14:03:38 TWO SHOT EK: He had his sidearm away. Because he knew we had a lot of very -- MJR: You mean he had it out? Ready to shoot? EK: No he had it put away. (07) MJR: Put away, OK. Oh. And he was running at the airplane like this (09) (EK HAS HANDS UP IN SURRENDER) because you know the Marines in the back they're gonna treat everybody as an unknown until they identify that he's a friendly (16) so he didn't want any confusion that he was intending the airplane any harm or anything like that. (21) So he pretty much did everything right. Presented a very non-threatening image. 14:04:16 TWO SHOT MJR: Boy how'd that feel when you were taking off? EK: Oh it was awesome. (03) 14:04:32 TWO SHOT EK: It was awesome when they said "hey we got him," and I was like yes. You know he's not hurt. We got him on board. (04) And a few minutes from now we'll be out over the water and everything will be good. (08) Overall 45 minutes. Maybe 150-160 miles. 14:06:43 MR and pilots standing around talking 14:07:00 ws 14:07:13 low shot 14:07:27 MR walking in hallway of ship 14:08:08 following MR down ramp 14:08:31 Marines lined up in hangar of ship, vs 14:09:44 Raddatz SU - this crew has actually been underway for 210 days, only 4 days in port 14:10:58 reversal - Gen Ham speaking to crew 14:11:21 ss Gen Ham speaking 14:12:06 "tell anyone engaged in this operation, thanks from the President.whatever order he gives us will be accomplished precisely and with skill." 14:12:36 "recovery of downed jet crew or control of the air space..i used a very technical term as I was talking to the president, and he said 'how are the attacks going in Asidmihyah? And i said, mr President, the Marines are hammering the shit out of them.(laughter) he understood what that meant.all of us involved in this operation.we could not be more proud of what you're doing every day.there are missions out there that we can't see it.thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you are doing for our country, makes all of us very very proud" 14:14:24 Ham pinning awards on sailors Intv Gunnery SGT MABE / SERGEANT MABE 14:16:20 16 years, 2nd deployment since 2001 Intv Petty Officer Kelly Wiley 14:17:09 I was part of the intel support team, 14:17:21 first deployment 14:17:29 on board 2 and a half years.trying not to count anymore 14:17:51 from southern Maryland, calvert county 14:18:01 Lt Joshua Lyon, Danville, VA 14:18:15 2nd deployment, 1st to Afghan, last summer 14:18:28 24 years old 14:18:32 we just got here a little bit ago, it's been a whole new experience aboard ship 14:18:44 it's been great, we've worked a lot with sailors on board ship 14:19:16 Ham in survival gear, talking to others 14:19:45 following Ham out to MV-22 Osprey 14:20:34 MR and Ham in Osprey talking 14:21:52 USS Kearsarge aerial 14:22:18 MR riding in Osprey Interview with General Carter Ham 14:23:15 Q I want to ask you first about giving command to an intl body or NATO, where do we stand? HAM: as far I know there has not been a decision. But we're planning to hand over to NATO, the question is do we hand over the entirety of the mission, which is arms embargo, no fly zone and protect civilians, or some subset of that - obviously the preference is to hand off the entirety of the mission, so that's the discussion that's ongoing now - .what we are doing preparatory to that, is some of the mechanical work, establishing the NATO command and control system, communication system that is common throughout NATO, those kinds of things, starting to bring in officers from various NATO HQ so they become familiar with what we do so that when the decision is made, we are able affect this transition more easily. 14:24:18 Q it doesn't' sound like something that's just going to take a few days? 14:24:25 there are 2 pieces of it. The overall command piece can be done relatively quickly and I'm confident about that, but there are some frankly mechanical pieces and procedural pieces, particularly with regard to the air operations which are very, very complex, and we want to make sure that obviously we operate, we make that transition so that our airmen can operate safely, but we also want to ensure there is no loss of momentum in the air operations as well, while we affect the transition. 14:24:59 Q today, how kinetic? 14:25:06 there has been a shift - there are not as many fixed targets - we were targeting fixed sites, we are doing less of that, more dynamic targeting, regime ground forces that are engaging civilians in cities across the country 14:25:41 Q what do y ou see after you are no longer in command - how much involvement of US military 14:25:57 phrase we use is US will contribute its unique capabilities to second phase of operation - intel support we weill continue to provide, communications, tankers for aircraft, we wouldn'4t see a large number of fighter aircraft- the kind of mission would handover to others 14:26:47 Q first violation of nfz? 14:26:55 same report we saw a Libyan fighter jet taking off, it was detected by a French aircraft - in accordance with UNSCR, and withstanding rules of engagement appropriately, it attacked the aircraft 14:27:21 Q: in zirata, tanks and snipers 14:27:36 most difficult mission is when we have regime forces in cities - we remain conscouls and careful about civilian casualties = diff to distinguish btw opposition forces and regime forces, very difficult to discern who is attack who.toughest thing to do, it's very hard 14:28:26 Q how do you do that? 14:28:30 we have very precise weapons systems, we don't have all those systems brought to bear, even with those, there willb e difficulty of civilians in .very complex situation. What we are able to do what we have seen with good effect, disrupt command and control, effect on supply..get to a sniper on a rooftop is a very difficult for us 14:29:23 Q does it frustrate you? 14:29:29 as commander, I get the mission I get, I present operation to achieve that. There's, it's easy to say if we just had this or that, leads to other complicateing factors. Opposition says they don't want other ground forces engaged. It's a tough situation.it's going to be a tough one 14:30:18 Q you said you were worried about stalemate? 14:30:28 end state is pretty cleawr, establish NFZ, arms embargo, protect civilians and hand over to floow on HQ.this is an ongoing discussion, where is it where want to be.I am confident that conversation is occurring 14:31:09 Q does it surprise you that we are just now discussing what the next phase is? Given that you don't want to go in unless you know how you're going to get out? 14:31:23 sometimes conditions, things happen that don't let you do that. we could have had and obviously would have been nice to have , the longer debate about eventually what do you want to get to, like to see the intl community support in Libya. But he was slaughtering his own people, you can't stand by I don't think you can stand by and have a debate about that endstate while he is killing his own people, but that point it may have become a moot point. So I think what we did collectively to try to stop the killing is the right thing and I'm confident now that the discussions about what's next are occurring. 14:32:09 Q Gadhafi do you think he is waiting out? 14:32:20 we do see he is trying to be more on TV and radio, perhaps he is under int'l pressure, he is an int'l paraiah, I don't have a sense of his timeline.we are trying to protect as many civilians as we can 14:32:55 Q given his state of mind..do you see this thing dragging on for years. 14:33:10 I don't know, I can't state it any more plainly, I don't think about him. It's not in my mission set, disruopt the ability for leaders to control military forces, and that's what we focus on, that's the effort, our mission is clear, protect the civilians 14:33:48 Q could be a stalemate? 14:33:53 the way ahead, if we could get violence stopped - first step, Libyan people have self determination 14:34:16 Q to stop violence, you've said can't stop all the violence, you can't stop all the violence through air power, you can't get those snipers, you can't really tell people apart? 14:34:30 there are some pretty bad people, there is evil in the world, you just have look at regime actors. Maybe I'm just bought into this too much. I believe we are and can continue to make a difference, will we stopped all the violence, no, we haven't. does it bother me that there are innocent, civilian people who have been slaughtered by these people while it's been my mission to protect them, I absolutely take that to heart and that's why I think we have to do the absolute best we can each and every day for those who need our protection at this desperate moment. MR SU / RADDATZ STANDUP 14:35:30 Good evening david, we spent a day with Carter Ham..we traveled with him to in this Osprey behind me to see the troops at work OPEN: 14:36:17 Good David, from Sigonella Airbase in Italy. we spent an extraordinary day in the Mediterranean with General Carter Ham, who took over command of Africa command, just ten before this war began :15 CLOSE: 14:36:47 and David the Osprey that you see right behind me is the very one that rescued the F-15 pilot :08 CLOSE/ANSWER TO QUESTION: 14:37:03 that rescue truly was extraordinary, in fact the osprey right behind me is the Osprey they used in that rescue, David? :08 ] ANSWER TO QUESTION: 14:37:19 well those two Marine corps captains felt absolutely amazed by the whole rescue, as I said in the piece, it was the first time they'd ever done anything like that. Basically one of the captains said to me 'that was my best day in the Marine Corps,' David? :15 14:37:47 Question for David - tell us more what it was like, what they said to you, the marine corps pilots about the rescue... 14:38:05 Ham press conf cuts 14:38:22 side shot DV tape 4x3 14:40:37 Osprey taxiing 14:40:42 Erik in right hand (screen left) seat of Osprey 14:43:02 quick shot Osprey in flight 14:44:39 Ham arrival on deck 14:48:53 USS Kearsarge photo display 14:49:22 MV-22s on deck, props spinning 14:49:25 Anderjack walking out 14:52:12 Anderjack in pilot's seat 14:54:59 ws rear of Marines lined up 14:56:44 General Carter Ham talking to Marines 14:57:22 Marines milling around 14:57:28 MR / Martha Raddatz and Ham 14:58:32 Ham talking to aide