What do special instructions bring to the rules of engagement? Chaos or clarity

Air Force Law Review, Spring, 2004 by Paul E. Jeter

This command structure meant that the CFACC, as the commander in the sense of the SROE, has tactical control over all OEF flying missions within the tactical area of responsibility. This included tactical control of the F-16 aircraft involved in the Tarnak Farms accident. (77)

C. 17 April 2002: The Bombing

   On 17 April 2002, Major [Harry Schmidt] and Major [William
   Umbach], both members of the 170 Expeditionary Force
   Squadron (EFS), were scheduled to fly a mission to provide two
   F-16 aircraft over Afghanistan, readily available for on-call
   taskings to support coalition ground forces. COFFEE flight was
   tasked on the daily Air Tasking Order (ATO), to be armed with
   precision-guided bombs. COFFEE 51, [Major Umbach], was
   the flight leader for the mission and COFFEE 52, [Major
   Schmidt], was his wingman. (78)

   On 17 April 2002, both COFFEE pilots were commanders for
   ROE purposes. COFFEE 51 was the commander of the two-ship
   flight and COFFEE 52 was the commander of his
   individual aircraft ... Therefore, the right to invoke self-defense
   was an inherent right of each of the pilots. (79)

This is important because as a commander for ROE purposes, each pilot had the right to use force in self-defense. (80)

In analyzing whether self-defense was appropriate, taking into account what relevant information they were exposed to before and during the flight are important in determining the decision process of the pilots. One key question during the mission planning is whether they were rebriefed on the current SPINS and ROE.

   At 1500L, [they] both attended a pilot meeting that included a
   discussion of an unsuccessful bombing mission flown by the
   squadron on a previous day ... At 1620L, they attended the mass
   brief for their mission that night ... Major Umbach presented the
   briefing that was prepared by the 170 EFS Mission Planning
   Cell ... The mass brief lasted approximately 20 minutes. (81)

   COFFEE flight took off from [base] tasked to conduct an on-call
   interdiction mission in the northeastern section of
   Afghanistan. In this role, COFFEE flight was to transit to the
   assigned area, loiter for [ ] hours, and then return to its home
   base. A KC-135 tanker aircraft ... was assigned to support this
   mission with pre- and post-strike [air-to-air refueling] AAR.
   The refueling was to take place in an area located
   approximately []nm southwest of the Tamak Farm/[Kandahar
   Air Field] KAF area. (82)

   No significant events occurred during the scheduled period of
   flight, and COFFEE flight was not tasked to employ any
   weapons ... At approximately 2115Z, COFFEE flight departed
   heading for the refueling site ... The weather was clear and it
   was a dark night as the moon had already set ... To prepare for
   the rendezvous with an air refueling tanker, the COFFEE flight
   pilots had made their weapons systems safe ... COFFEE flight
   planned to return to their base after refueling ... COFFEE flight
   was preparing to rendezvous with the assigned air refueling
   tanker near Tarnak Farms Range. (83)