US Pilots in Colombia Dispel Image Friday, August 17, 2001 5:55 p.m. EDT http://news.lycos.com/headlines/World/article.asp?docid=APAP-Colombia-Pilots&d ate=20010817 E-mail or Print this story - - - - - By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press Writer BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Trying to dispel their mercenary image, U.S. contract pilots waging a drug war in Colombia insisted Friday they are just regular pilots doing a job - which happens to involve them getting shot at. Flying crop dusters and helicopters, the American employees of DynCorp, of Reston, Va., have been on the front lines of Washington's campaign to eradicate cocaine- and heroin-producing crops in the South American country. Three Americans have been killed in two crashes since 1997. Other aircraft have been hit by gunfire from rebels and paramilitaries who ``tax'' and protect the coca and poppy crops. The pilots have been earning a reputation as daredevils. A leading Bogota newsmagazine, Semana, last month called the Americans ``mercenarios'' and ``Godless Rambos'' in a cover story. In a public relations counteroffensive, three veteran U.S. pilots and a manager met with reporters in a drab DynCorp briefing room full of maps at Bogota's airport. The conversation was monitored by a U.S. Embassy official, who said the pilots could only be identified by their first names and that they could not be photographed. FROM THE LYCOS NETWORK: Lycos Travel Regional Web Sites Translate Anything Wearing T-shirts or sport shirts, and in their 30s and 40s, they look like any regular group of guys you might find in a working-class area of Dallas or Detroit. And if they make the news, it won't be good news. DynCorp pilots earn upward of $75,000 per year, but volunteers for the job are not plentiful. ``It's tough to find people who are willing to come down here and do this,'' said Bob, a veteran pilot from Texas who wears his hair long and sports a thick mustache. ``It's a little different,'' agreed Mark, another crop-duster pilot with a boyish face. Meanwhile, concern is building in Washington that the Bush administration is quietly increasing America's involvement in the Colombia conflict by using civilian fliers to avoid a direct U.S. military buildup. Americans also fly Colombian army and search-and-rescue helicopters. The U.S. Congress has mandated that up to 300 U.S. contractors and 500 U.S. military personnel are allowed in Colombia. DynCorp acknowledged Friday that it already has 335 employees in the country. But the company and the U.S. Embassy insist the contractor limit is not being broken because only about 100 of the personnel are U.S. citizens, with the rest coming from Peru, Guatemala and other countries. ``This raises a whole new set of issues, like how the United States may be trying to circumvent the contractor cap,'' said Ingrid Vaicius, an analyst with the Center for International Policy in Washington. Critics charge the widespread spraying of herbicide is harming the environment and making people sick. Mark, from his bird's eye perspective, said he has seen farmers burning down the rainforest to replace their fumigated coca fields. Some of the three dozen American pilots - like Thomas, a lanky Texan - are veterans of Vietnam and other conflicts. Others fell into this risky business through classified ads or word-of-mouth with no prior experience in hostile environments. Mark, who crisscrossed the United States working as a crop-duster, said he took the DynCorp job because he could work year-round. If he works two weeks on, he gets two weeks off, and the company flies him home during the break. The pilots carry sidearms on missions and have received survival training. Beyond facing being shot down, the Americans also risk capture by members of the 16,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who earn millions of dollars in the drug trade. ``We're just concerned that we survive the incidents,'' said Bob. ``We've been hit over solid jungle, we've been shot at by people standing on the banks of small streams, over coca fields and open fields, in almost every segment of the flight.'' Copyright © 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> <FONT COLOR="#000099">The Nissan Sentra Everything but compact </FONT><A HREF="http://NissanDriven.com";><B>Click Here!</B></A><FONT COLOR="#000099"> </FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/3vsIKC/txlCAA/ySSFAA/xYTolB/TM";><B>Click Here!</B></A> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Please let us stay on topic and be civil. To unsubscribe please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs -Home Page- www.cia-drugs.org OM Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
