USAF MX dude was a Libyan mercenary Pilot/POW

[gearhog]

Just saw this in the news this morning. I thought this would have already been posted here, but couldn't find it. I'd like to buy this guy a beer. I bet he has some insane stories.

U.S. Air Force veteran accused as mercenary in Libya’s civil war is freed

June 25 at 10:48 PM

An American Air Force veteran who was accused of acting as a mercenary in Libya has been freed after a six-week detention, officials said Tuesday, in a murky episode that highlights the tangled nature of that country’s civil war.

Jamie Sponaugle, a 31-year-old Florida man, was piloting an aircraft near the Libyan capital of Tripoli on May 7 when his plane went down, according to officials and individuals familiar with the incident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Libyan National Army said it shot down the aircraft, which it said was a Mirage F1 combat jet piloted by a man The Washington Post is now identifying as Sponaugle, as it conducted bombing raids against LNA forces in the area. The Post withheld publication of Sponaugle’s detention at the request of U.S. officials who were working to secure his release.

The LNA is one of two factions locked in a years-long fight for control of Libyan territory and government institutions, a conflict that has plunged the country into a protracted limbo and erased much of the hope created by the 2011 revolution.

The apparent involvement of an American military veteran in a battle for Tripoli between the LNA and its rival, the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord, illustrates the complexity of a long-simmering conflict that has emerged as a major global proxy war involving illicit arms and dueling accusations of mercenary use.

It also draws attention to the shifting U.S. policy on Libya. While senior Trump administration officials have devoted limited time to Libya, the president appeared to upend years of steady support for the Tripoli-based GNA in April when he publicly praised Khalifa Hifter, the strongman who heads the rival LNA.

“We are always pleased to see Americans held captive overseas returned home to their friends and family,” Ambassador Robert O’Brien, President Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, said in a phone interview. “We appreciate his captors’ decision to release him. We also thank the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its role in resolving this case.”

Officials said that Sponaugle was flown on Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, where he was expected to meet with U.S. consular officials and undergo a medical and psychiatric examination.

According to an individual familiar with the case, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took an interest in Sponaugle once Saudi officials learned he was being detained and asked subordinate officials to get involved. The Saudi government did not pay the LNA for his release, the individual said.

In remarks to the media the day after Sponaugle’s release, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mismari, spokesman for the LNA, said the American had been held in the eastern city of Benghazi before being “extradited” to his home country.

Showing a video of Sponaugle pointing to locations on a map of western Libya, Mismari said he had “confessed” to conducting strikes on bridges and other infrastructure but had not carried out requested operations on more populated areas around Tripoli.

Stephen Payne, president of Linden Government Solutions, a firm the LNA has retained to lobby on its behalf in the United States, called on the United States to “seriously investigate reports of other American mercenaries fighting for the GNA, including other pilots, and, if proven true, demand their immediate return.”

The GNA did not respond to a request for comment.

Sponaugle, whose identity as an American has not been previously reported, became an enlisted airman in 2006 and worked as a mechanic, Air Force officials said. After leaving active duty in 2013, he served in the Florida Air National Guard until late 2016. His last job as an active-duty airman was airspace technician, and his last duty station was MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

He was not a pilot in the Air Force but earned a pilot’s license following his active duty service.

In images released by the LNA shortly after the incident, Sponaugle is seen bloodied and receiving medical treatment from LNA forces after his aircraft went down. Video that appeared on social media showed him identifying himself as a Portuguese national named Jimmy Rees and saying he was in Libya under a civilian contract focused on “destroying bridges and roads.”

Sponaugle did not say in that video that he worked for the GNA but named someone named “Hadi” as his chief Libyan contact. Senior GNA officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeg, who was in Washington this month as part of a trip designed to drum up American support for his government, have denied that the GNA uses foreign pilots. A Western official with knowledge of Libya said that foreign instructors had long worked at Libya’s air academy, based in the city of Misrata.

Even after his release, U.S. officials do not have a clear understanding of what Sponaugle was doing in Libya. If Sponaugle was piloting a Mirage, a French-made fighter jet, as the LNA alleges, he is unlikely to have had the kind of combat training that military pilots typically undergo because he was not a pilot in the Air Force.

It’s not clear whether Sponaugle would have violated U.S. law by working for or fighting in Libya. Many countries, including the United States, employ foreign security contractors, who can play a variety of roles and are sometimes armed. The GNA and the LNA have repeatedly accused each other of using foreign fighters.

Ben Fishman, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who worked on Libya policy during the Obama administration, said the incident “demonstrates that the longer this phase of the conflict lasts, the . . . higher the risk will be of more foreigners getting involved.”

“It’s bad enough that there’s a clear flow of weapons and technology,” Fishman said. “Mercenaries or contractors from the region, Africa, or even the West would signal a new and dangerous form of escalation.”

Already the Libyan conflict involves a host of foreign actors. U.S. officials have said that the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have long provided support, including weaponry, to Hifter and the LNA, which have sought to depict themselves as the only force capable of defeating extremists in Libya. Turkey, meanwhile, is among the nations that have provided support to the GNA.

Just before he launched the Tripoli operation in April, the Saudi government offered to help Hifter fund the operation, the Wall Street Journal reported.

U.N. officials have sought for years to broker an end to the Libyan conflict in a peace process that has moved in fits and starts. While the feuding sides have at times seemed close to striking a deal, they now appear far apart as the Tripoli operation remains locked in what analysts say is an extended stalemate.

Initially, the State Department condemned Hifter’s offensive in pointed terms. Then, in a seeming about-face, the White House shortly afterward announced that Trump had held a call with Hifter. Describing the call, the White House highlighted Hifter’s efforts against extremists and did not address the ongoing battle for Tripoli, appearing to enhance the Libyan leader's stature on the world stage.

The LNA said following Sponaugle’s capture that he — at a moment when he was still being identified as Portuguese — was being treated humanely and in accordance with international law. But U.S. officials remained concerned about his welfare as they spent weeks in discussions with LNA officials. Sponaugle’s father declined to comment when reached at his home before his son’s release.

More details:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-air-force-veteran-accused-as-mercenary-in-libyas-civil-war-freed/2019/06/25/08cafbe6-49b2-4295-88e0-56c2377312e3_story.html?utm_term=.b6fa2d930e78

https://taskandpurpose.com/air-force-veteran-libya-mercenary

https://www.rt.com/news/462716-libya-pilot-identified-american/

Edited June 27, 2019 by torqued

[Scooter14]

Well, add this to the list of alternate ways to get a fighter slot.

Can’t get hired at your ANG unit? AFOQT scores too low? No bachelors degree? No problem!

[McJay Pilot]

Good to see the #FloridaMan search will continue to have strong input!

[CharlieHotel47]

1 hour ago, Scooter14 said:

Well, add this to the list of alternate ways to get a fighter slot.

Can’t get hired at your ANG unit? AFOQT scores too low? No bachelors degree? No problem!

Wonder if I could get this bro to write me a good LOR... fighters here I come!!!

[Blue]

I have a tough time believing that this guy was flying a Mirage as a mercenary.  If nothing else, there has to be hundreds (if not thousands) of folks out there with actual tactical jet experience who would have been more qualified than this guy.  Thinking former pilots from third-world Air Forces, etc.  Got to think that any organization sophisticated enough to have a flyable Mirage would at least capable of performing enough vetting to determine if someone had some semblance of previous experience.

Although hell, maybe this guy is enough of a bullshit artist to pull it off.  Think someone could practice enough on a PC-based flight sim to credibly fly a Mirage? 

 

Edited June 27, 2019 by Blue

[Mighty Mighty]

Well...these are the guys flying the MiGs in Syria - it doesn't seem like they do much vetting - this guy looks like a goofball. I bet Libya isn't that far off 🤣Full video below - I burst out laughing when the camera panned over to him 

[Mighty Mighty]

[Scooter14]

Libyan Air National Guard - what are my chances

Hi everyone, long time lurker. It’s been my dream to fly the Mirage F1. I’m 45 years old, been flying KC-135s for the last 15 years. Hearing shift, slightly overweight, decent AFOQT and PCSM scores and even better Microsoft Flight Sim scores. What are my chances to fly the mighty Mirage F1?

[CharlieHotel47]

20 minutes ago, Scooter14 said:

Libyan Air National Guard - what are my chances

Hi everyone, long time lurker. It’s been my dream to fly the Mirage F1. I’m 45 years old, been flying KC-135s for the last 15 years. Hearing shift, slightly overweight, decent AFOQT and PCSM scores and even better Microsoft Flight Sim scores. What are my chances to fly the mighty Mirage F1?

Seems like you you’ve put some hard work in to setting yourself up for success. Don't be a tool and Don’t obsess over the size of the ride (135s to F1s), they are all great. Overall, looks promising, keep us informed!

Edited June 27, 2019 by CharlieHotel47

[M2]

37 minutes ago, UPTapplicant2017 said:

Well...these are the guys flying the MiGs in Syria - it doesn't seem like they do much vetting - this guy looks like a goofball. I bet Libya isn't that far off 🤣Full video below - I burst out laughing when the camera panned over to him 

Appears to be a Russian ZSh-5 helmet, not uncommon for MiG drivers.  Was standard Soviet issue for its pilots in the 1970s and 80s, and beyond for those who bought them secondhand...

[jonlbs]

How lenient is the Libyan Mercenary Air Force on vision waivers?

Asking for a friend.

[12xu2a3x3]

here i was thinking i HAD to get a T-38 Form 8 to make shit happen for me

[Steve Davies]

It's well known that the Libyans have been hiring mercenaries who don't have prior military or even fast jet experience. I am also aware of a Swiss national who morted flying the Mirage F1ED/AD a year or two ago.

As for laughing at someone because he looks like a "goofball", how old are you? 

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, Steve Davies said:

As for laughing at someone because he looks like a "goofball", how old are you? 

Well, In his defense I was told I couldn’t grow up to be a pilot because most people can’t do both. Hence 90% of the threads.

[Blue]

1 hour ago, Steve Davies said:

It's well known that the Libyans have been hiring mercenaries who don't have prior military or even fast jet experience. I am also aware of a Swiss national who morted flying the Mirage F1ED/AD a year or two ago.

Source?  Genuinely curious to read more.

[Prosuper]

The real question is how a guy with no military flying training get into a Mirage and fly it. Sounds like the story of a Marine Crew Chief who applied for a commission and pilot training numerous times and kept being denied. After his last chance he said screw it stole his A-4 and got some stick time, went to the brig, discharged and had a long successful career as a civilian pilot. There are numerous Enlisted maintainers who have to go the simulator to stay engine run qualified once a year, after emergency procedures especially if it's a heavy and the mx guys have a ton of experience we got through our requal quick and spent the rest of the time flying it (E-3). Some guys were awful and some guys had the talent to land it every time. One guy was real good at doing AR's, pretty good with no formal training. There are a bunch of enlisted who busted their butt to get a degree, do all the paperwork to apply but are in certain career fields the USAF deem critical and are stuck and get denied. I can guarantee the first time a young kid goes to an air show a dreams it is not about being a Crew Chief.  Being nearsighted I was forever denied the chance to have a future of getting paid to fly, now to all the rated guys here pray to your creator for thanks that everything fell into place to have those wings pinned upon your chest.

 

[hindsight2020]

 

1 hour ago, Prosuper said:

 now to all the rated guys here pray to your creator for thanks that everything fell into place to have those wings pinned upon your chest.

 

That's a bit broad brushed. I was also willing to not enlist, go become a proverbial dentist, buy into a Meridian partnership on the side and move on with my life, if I didn't get a mil pilot slot.

There are alternative avenues to get to fly, even if not for a living or for the military.

Edited June 28, 2019 by hindsight2020

[Steve Davies]

13 hours ago, Tonka said:

Well, In his defense I was told I couldn’t grow up to be a pilot because most people can’t do both. Hence 90% of the threads.

I can't argue with that!

12 hours ago, Blue said:

Source?  Genuinely curious to read more.

Regarding the Swiss guy? I will try to find the link. He was a CPL whose day job was dropping parachutists from a Twin Otter (or some such). He got hired to go and fly Mirages, and got shot down by a MANPAD almost immediately on flying combat sorties, IIRC.

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Steve Davies

[12xu2a3x3]

23 hours ago, Prosuper said:

There are numerous Enlisted maintainers who have to go the simulator to stay engine run qualified once a year

if only being viper run qualified and goofing around in the sim had been enough for me to do well in upt but alas

Edited June 28, 2019 by 12xu2a3x3

[Sprkt69]

I would love to see this dudes resume. Bet there were some great AF buzzwords

[fire4effect]

Guess this means the enlisted guys flying the Global Hawk have an argument to move into manned tactical platforms. I'm waiting for Air Force program that direct commissions these foreign trained F1 pilots to mitigate the pilot shortage. "Expedited US Citizenship available for  those who qualify"😀