Further Action May Be Pending For May 17 Transgression

As if diplomatic relations between the US and Venezuela weren't rocky enough already, a veteran naval pilot and air wing commander apparently flew a US Navy S-3B Viking into Venezuelan airspace this past May 17, setting off a diplomatic firestorm.

The Navy Times reports Captain James Paulsen, commander of Carrier Air Wing 1, received his wings in 1985 and has logged more than 4,600 hours. His S-3B was operating under Joint Interagency Task Force South on what was claimed to be a counter-narcotics mission in international airspace.

The US admits Paulsen overflew a Caribbean Island called La Orchilla -- where there just happens to be a Venezuelan military base -- then contacted Venezuelan controllers to inform them he was returning immediately to international airspace, following the inadvertent incursion.

The S-3B is a surveillance and precision-targeting aircraft. If you were Venezuela... and being threatened by the US with blacklisting as a state sponsor of terrorism... well, what would you do?

The US Ambassador to Venezuela was called on the carpet to explain the overflight. On the US side, a JAG investigation is said to be ongoing.

The Times reports that on Friday, Paulsen was issued a punitive letter of reprimand from Fleet Forces Command chief Admiral Jonathan Greenert, and further action may be pending, according to the Navy.

But Paulsen remains in command of Carrier Air Wing 1, which is based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia. Sea Control Squadron 32 in Jacksonville, FL -- where the S-3B Viking involved in the incident was based at the time -- stood down earlier this month.

FMI: www.navy.mil