Scott O'Grady

Infobox Military Person
name=Scott O' Grady
born= birth date and age|1965|10|12
died= [Still alive]
placeofbirth= Brooklyn, New York
placeofdeath= [Still alive]
placeofburial= [Still alive]


caption= Scott O'Grady (center) at a press conference after the Mrkonjić Grad incident.
nickname=Zulu — call sign: "Basher 52"
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Air Force
serviceyears=1989-2001
rank= Captain
commands=
unit=555th Fighter Squadron,
31st Fighter Wing
battles=Operation Deny Flight
awards=
relations=Scott has one brother named Paul,one sister named Stacy, and his parents are divorced.
laterwork=author:"Return With Honor", speaker

Scott F. O'Grady (born October 12, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after the Mrkonjić Grad incident, in which he ejected over Bosnia when his F-16C 89-2032/AV was shot down by a Bosnian Serb SA-6 on June 2, 1995 while patrolling the no-fly zone.

The incident occurred near Mrkonjić Grad in Serb-held territory. He survived for six days eating leaves,grass,and ants. Avoiding Serb patrols and trying to contact Magic, NATO's airborne command center. He evaded capture and was rescued six days later, on 8 June, by U.S. Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based on the USS "Kearsarge".

Their mission, known as a TRAP (Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel), was something they all had trained for and conducted many times as training exercises prior to the actual mission. Their parent unit, the 24th MEU-SOC, was actually the "standby" unit that was slated to go only after the primary unit in Italy waived off the mission and insisted on another day of prep.

The film "Behind Enemy Lines" is loosely based on his story. Although he gave it a positive rating on the movie review television show "Hot Or Not", he sued the movie company in 2002 for making the film without his permission.

O'Grady penned two books along with Michael French and Jeff Coplon detailing his experiences of being shot down over Bosnia and his eventual rescue — "Return with Honor" and "Basher Five-Two".

O'Grady is a former cadet in the Civil Air Patrol and a 1989 Air Force ROTC graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Three years after he was rescued, O'Grady left active duty in the U.S. Air Force. In May 2007, he completed a master's degree in biblical studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

The incident was later depicted on the documentary television program "Situation Critical" in episode #5 "Downed Pilot", and "Escape! - Escape From Bosnia: The Scott Ogrady Story" on the History Channel.

Bibliography

*O'Grady, Captain Scott (with Jeff Coplon). "Return with Honor", New York: Doubleday, 1995. "("ISBN 0385483309)"'
*O'Grady, Scott (with Michael French). "Basher Five-Two: The True Story of F-16 Fighter Pilot Captain Scott O'Grady", New York: Doubleday, 1997. (ISBN 0-385-32300-X)
*Kelly, Mary Pat. " "Good to Go": The Rescue of Capt. Scott O'Grady, USAF, from Bosnia", Naval Institute Press, 1996. (ISBN 1-55750-459-8)

ee also

*Mrkonjić Grad incident

External links

*cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9903/30/ogrady/index.html|title=O'Grady calls rescuers who saved American pilot 'heroes'|publisher=CNN|date=1999-03-30|accessdate=2006-07-30
*cite web|url=http://www.lastfrontiercouncil.org/character-counts-speaker-06.htm
accessdate=2006-12-14
title=Captain Scott F. O'Grady (profile)
publisher=Last Frontier Council, Boy Scouts of America
*cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2205560.stm
date=2002-08-20
accessdate=2008-01-05
title=Pilot sues over Bosnian escape movie
publisher=BBC News
* [http://www.f-16.net/varia_article10.html More Information on the rescue of Scott O'Grady]
*National Geographic Critical Situation profiles Scott O'Grady's story [http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/critical-situation/episodes.html]

Persondata
NAME = O'Grady, Scott
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after the Mrkonjić Grad incident
DATE OF BIRTH = October 12, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH = Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =