Friendly Fire
The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq
Published on 27. January 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
280 pages
978-0-691-09518-9 (ISBN)
Description
On April 14, 1994, two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters accidentally shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopters over Northern Iraq, killing all twenty-six peacekeepers onboard. In response to this disaster the complete array of military and civilian investigative and judicial procedures ran their course. After almost two years of investigation with virtually unlimited resources, no culprit emerged, no bad guy showed himself, no smoking gun was found. This book attempts to make sense of this tragedy--a tragedy that on its surface makes no sense at all. With almost twenty years in uniform and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior, Lieutenant Colonel Snook writes from a unique perspective. A victim of friendly fire himself, he develops individual, group, organizational, and cross-level accounts of the accident and applies a rigorous analysis based on behavioral science theory to account for critical links in the causal chain of events. By explaining separate pieces of the puzzle, and analyzing each at a different level, the author removes much of the mystery surrounding the shootdown.
Based on a grounded theory analysis, Snook offers a dynamic, cross-level mechanism he calls "practical drift"--the slow, steady uncoupling of practice from written procedure--to complete his explanation. His conclusion is disturbing. This accident happened because, or perhaps in spite of everyone behaving just the way we would expect them to behave, just the way theory would predict. The shootdown was a normal accident in a highly reliable organization.
Based on a grounded theory analysis, Snook offers a dynamic, cross-level mechanism he calls "practical drift"--the slow, steady uncoupling of practice from written procedure--to complete his explanation. His conclusion is disturbing. This accident happened because, or perhaps in spite of everyone behaving just the way we would expect them to behave, just the way theory would predict. The shootdown was a normal accident in a highly reliable organization.
Reviews / Votes
Winner of the George Terry Award "The reader will be fascinated... The conclusion is eye-opening and the 'lessons learned' are insightful... A lucid and well-argued book that is a must-read for anyone seeking to comprehend the complexity of fratricide."--John Davis, Air Power History "Friendly Fire is a deeply intriguing analysis of a highly complex incident that resulted in needless deaths... Drawing on an extensive knowledge of systems theory and organizational behavior, [Snook] weaves an account of an organization on the edge of chaos, a nearly deterministic system ultimately responsible for the resultant loss of life. His conclusions are as disturbing as they are fascinating... Snook paints a disconcerting picture of the potential pitfalls of organizational complacency that every military professional should take to heart... A concise, well-written account of human tragedies... Snook presents a thoroughly analytical, yet exceptionally unambiguous, narrative of the events that ultimately led to the deaths of 26 peacekeepers. Any research into this incident would be incomplete without the information [this] author provide[s]."--Steven Leonard, Military HistoryMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
1 table, 12 line illus., 6 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
405 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-09518-9 (9780691095189)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2015
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€161.95
Available for download
Person
United States Army LTC Scott A. Snook serves as an Academy Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy. He also directs West Point's Center for Leadership and Organizations Research.
Content
List of Figures ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii List of Abbreviations xv 1. Introduction: How In the World Could This Happen? 3 Motivation: To Learn from and Correct Our Mistakes 7 Theoretical Domain: A Normal Accident in a Highly Reliable Organization 10 Data: We Know Exactly "What" Happened 15 Analytical Strategy: Constructing a Causal Map 18 Outline of the Book: An Explanation Across Levels 22 2. The Shootdown: A Thin Description 26 Background: Context Is Important 26 Command and Control: Dense Webs of Crosscutting Guidance 31 The Players: SAVVY, COUGAR, MAD DOG, DUKE, EAGLEs, and TIGERs 40 The Shootdown: A Deadly Dance 52 Multiple Explanations: A Walk Through the Causal Map 65 3. Individual-Level Account: Why Did the F-15 Pilots Misidentify the Black Hawks? 71 Making Sense: Seeing Through the Mind's Eye 75 Ambiguous Stimulus: What Did They Actually See? 76 Expectations: What Did They Expect to See? 80 Desire: What Did They Want to See? 94 Summary: Why They Saw What They Saw 96 4. Group-Level Account: Why Did the AWACS Crew Fail to Intervene? 99 A Weak Team: Overmatched 104 Diffuse Responsibility: When Everyone's Responsible No One Is 119 Summary: The Fallacy of Social Redundancy 135 Organizational-Level Account: Why Wasn't Eagle Flight Integrated into Task Force Operations? 136 Differentiation and Integration: Whatever You Divide, You Have to Put Back Together Again 143 Interdependence: Multiple Failures to Coordinate 152 Summary: How It All Came Apart 177 6. Cross-Levels Account: A Theory of Practical Drift 179 Practical Action: A Core Category 182 Practical Drift: A Theory 186 7. Conclusions: There But by the Grace of God 202 On Theoretical Reminders: Normal Behavior Abnormal Outcome 204 On Practical Drift: Or Is It Sailing? 220 Implications: Let's Build a Library 232 Appendixes 1. Method 237 2. Friendly Fire Applied: Lessons for Your Organization? 239 References 241 Index 251