[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 57 (Thursday, April 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H2020-H2022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CLEARING THE NAMES OF JOHN BROW AND BROOKS GRUBER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Nunnelee). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Jones) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.
  Mr. JONES. I am coming to the floor again to clear the names of two 
marine pilots who crashed in Arizona April 8, 2000. Not only two 
pilots, but there were 17 marines in the back.
  The V 22, which is the plane that goes from a helicopter mode to a 
plane mode, at that time was really an experimental plane. Major Gruber 
and Colonel Brow in the cockpit had no idea of what was happening when 
the plane went into what's called ``vortex ring state.''
  I would like to go through this 10-year journey for the record, Mr. 
Speaker.
  It so happened that in November 2002, Major Gruber's wife, who lives 
in my district in Jacksonville, North Carolina, wrote me a letter that 
I would like to read. Her husband, Brooks Gruber, was the copilot.

                              {time}  1530

       I contact you in hopes that leaders of integrity, free of 
     bias, would have both the intelligence and the courage it 
     takes to decide the facts for themselves. If you do that, you 
     will agree the ``human factor/pilot error'' findings should 
     not stand as it is in the marine military history. Again, I 
     respectfully ask for your support. Please do not simply pass 
     this matter along to General Jones without offering the 
     support my husband and his comrades deserve. Please remember, 
     these 19 marines can no longer speak for themselves. And I 
     certainly am not afraid to speak for them and I believe 
     someone has to. Even though it's easier to put to rest and 
     forgotten, please join me in doing the right thing by taking 
     the time to address this important issue.

  Mr. Speaker, on March 9 of this year, The Hill magazine--and I would 
like to thank a new young man on the staff named Jeremy Herb, who did 
an article in the magazine about this 10-year journey that started with 
Connie Gruber's letter to me.
  Mr. Speaker, over the 10-year journey, I have spoken to many, many 
experts. One that I would like to quote today for the Record is a 
former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Phil Coyle, and he states: Major 
Gruber should not be blamed for an accident caused by loss of lift due 
to the aircraft entering ``vortex ring state,'' a phenomena which no 
one in the Marine Corps adequately understood in relation to the Osprey 
at the time of the accident.
  Secretary Coyle further states: Not only did the Marine Corps not 
understand Osprey performance under VRS, the root cause of the 
accident, but neither did the contractor nor the Marine Corps had not 
tested the aircraft near VRS--vortex ring state--conditions, something 
which, following the accident, it later took the Marine Corps years to 
accomplish. Surely Major Gruber and Colonel Brow could not be blamed 
for something that the Marine Corps, itself, did not grasp until years 
after the accident and after the death of the 19 marines. Considering 
that it was ignorance on the part of the Marine Corps that caused the 
April 2000 accident, the Marine Corps should make it clear to the 
Gruber and Brow families, with no ifs, ands, or buts, that Gruber and 
Brow were not responsible for the accident.
  He further stated: I don't suppose the Marine Corps ever apologizes, 
but considering that the accident was their fault and not Major 
Gruber's and Colonel Brow's fault, an apology to the family would be in 
order also.
  Mr. Speaker, I read that because this 10-year journey--and I will 
continue to add names in the next few minutes of people trying to help 
me. These two marines were the very best of the pilots, Major Brooks 
Gruber and Colonel John Brow. They gave their life for this new plane 
known as the V 22 Osprey. And those young marines sitting in the back, 
19, 21, 23, 24, and 25, were selected from other marines to sit in the 
back of that plane. Those in the Marine leadership that created the 
mission in Arizona should join me in clearing the names of these two 
pilots.
  Mr. Speaker, I further read for the Record, a former adviser to the 
Secretary of Defense, Rex Rivolo, stated in a letter trying to clear 
these names, and I read:

       The failure of the manufacturer, Bell-Boeing, and the Navy 
     to characterize the slow speed, high rate of descent handling 
     qualities of the V 22 through flight testing, to describe 
     them for the aircrew in the NATOPS, and to provide an 
     adequate warning system were the causes of the mishap--not 
     aircrew error.
       With the passing of 10 years, and the future of the 
     aircraft now secure, I sincerely hope that the names of 
     Lieutenant Colonel Brow and Major Gruber can now be 
     exonerated and cleared for posterity. I strongly support any 
     and all measures to this end and request this letter be 
     included in any official record regarding the causes of the 
     MV 22 mishap at Marana, Arizona, on April 8, 2000, or any 
     resolution attempting to clear the names of Lieutenant 
     Colonel Brow and Major Gruber.

  Mr. Speaker, what has been so ironic about this 10-year journey of 
everyone that was part of reviewing the accident, or maybe it was in 
the air like Lieutenant Colonel Jim Schaeffer who is joining this 
effort. Colonel Schaeffer was a friend of John Brow and Brooks Gruber, 
and Colonel Schaeffer was in a third airplane that night, a V 22, and 
he saw his friends and the 17 marines in the back flip, crash, and 
burn. And there is no reason that the Marine Corps will not give the 
wives what they're asking, and I'll explain that in just a moment, Mr. 
Speaker.
  In this 10-year journey, Mr. Speaker, I've gotten to know the two 
attorneys, Jim Furman in Arizona, who defended the families of John 
Brow and Brooks Gruber before Bell-Boeing--it was a major suit--and 
then Brian Alexander in New York, who defended the 17 families of the 
marines sitting in the back of the plane. They have all joined in this 
effort to clear the names of John Brow and Brooks Gruber.

[[Page H2021]]

  Mr. Speaker, what is so ironic in their effort, Jim Furman and Brian 
Alexander, to see the names cleared, they have given letters to the 
commandant that clearly state there can be no future lawsuits. It has 
all been settled. There can be no more lawsuits.
  I must say that along this journey, at one time I had the Marine 
Corps to take the findings of the experts and put it into the personnel 
jacket of Colonel John Brow and Major Brooks Gruber. But, Mr. Speaker, 
I knew at that time that was not enough because the press continues to 
put articles about the crash in Arizona, and they say pilot error, 
human factors.
  The JAGMAN report, which was the official report that was written by 
and signed by Colonel Mike Morgan, Colonel Ron Radich and Major Phil 
Stackhouse--they were the three investigators sent from Camp Lejeune, 
North Carolina, to Arizona the day after the crash, and they were given 
the responsibility, Mr. Speaker, of determining what caused the crash. 
Mr. Speaker, in the JAGMAN report that I just made reference to, on 
Page 77, those three men that I just named wrote this:

       During this investigation, we found nothing that we would 
     characterize as negligence or deliberate pilot error.

  Mr. Speaker, all the two wives are asking the Marine Corps is a 
letter from the commandant on his stationery that clearly states one 
paragraph: Lieutenant Colonel John Brow, pilot, and copilot, Major 
Brooks Gruber, were not at fault for the accident that occurred on 
April 8 of the year 2000.

                              {time}  1540

  Mr. Speaker, the three investigators have joined in this effort, and 
I'd like to read from retired Lieutenant Colonel Ron Radich, one of the 
three investigators that I just named:

       Despite the fact procedures were in the NATOPS for vortex 
     ring state, there was no discussion concerning the aircraft 
     flight characteristics during high rates of descent at slow 
     airspeeds. No mention was made of a possible asymmetric 
     condition that could lead to an uncontrolled and 
     unrecoverable situation. With no knowledge, training, or 
     warning concerning the possible consequences of VRS, the 
     pilots of Nighthawk 72 were essentially on their own in 
     unchartered territory.

  These two pilots did not know what was happening, and it was the 
fault of Bell-Boeing and the Marine Corps. He further stated:

       It was through their misfortune that the MV22 VRS hazard 
     was identified.

  Because of the accident, they learned so that nothing like this would 
ever happen again to a pilot. Colonel Radich further stated:

       The Marana mishap of April 8, 2000, represents a monumental 
     discovery that enhanced the overall safety and effectiveness 
     of this highly capable weapon system. May the marines of 
     Nighthawk 72 rest in peace knowing that the ultimate 
     sacrifice they made for their country also led to a critical 
     advancement in V22 safety and capability, and overall 
     readiness of the United States Marine Corps. My thoughts and 
     prayers go out to the families who continue to cope with the 
     loss of their loved one and search for some form of closure.

  Mr. Speaker, I further would like to add some comments from 
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Morgan. Again, he was the lead investigator of 
this crash that happened in Arizona. And I read:

       I applaud and fully support the extraordinary effort you 
     have undertaken in support of John Brow, Brooks Gruber, and 
     the families who lost loved ones in the tragic crash of 
     Nighthawk 72. One merely needs to look at what has transpired 
     in the years since this tragic accident. After a second MV22 
     crashed just 8 months later, a blue ribbon panel closely 
     examined the MV22 program. NAVAIR also aggressively pursued a 
     test program to understand VRS and develop safety measures to 
     educate and protect future MV22 pilots from the dangers. This 
     was such a monumental undertaking that the lead developmental 
     test pilot, Mr. Tom McDonald, was awarded the Society of 
     Experimental Test Pilots Kinchloe Award for outstanding 
     professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing.

  Colonel Morgan further states:

       John Brow and Brooks Gruber did their job and did it well. 
     I look forward to the day when DoD officials accurately 
     recognize the sacrifice made by them and all the marines of 
     Nighthawk 72.

  Mr. Speaker, I'd like to read the third letter from the third 
investigator, Major Phillip Stackhouse. It states:

       I do not believe that it would be a surprise to anyone that 
     it is in my opinion the mishap was not a result of pilot 
     error, but was the result of a perfect storm of 
     circumstances. During the conduct of the investigation, we 
     collected some 20 binders of evidence--including, among other 
     things, maintenance records, training records, telemetry 
     records, operational and testing records, and dozens of 
     photographs.
       I do not feel that our investigation reflects that the 
     mishap was a result of pilot error and if the investigation 
     was interpreted that way, it was misinterpreted. For any 
     record that reflects the mishap was the result of pilot 
     error, it should be corrected. For any publication that 
     reflects the mishap was a result of pilot error, it should be 
     corrected and recanted.

  Mr. Speaker, the problem has always been that after the JAGMAN 
report, which I just made reference to, if the Marine Corps in 2001, 
2002 had issued a press release stating that new evidence has shown and 
proven that Colonel John Brow, pilot, and copilot Brooks Gruber were 
not at fault, Mr. Speaker, I wouldn't be on the floor today. But the 
Marine Corps has never, in a press release, corrected the 
misinformation that happened shortly after the Osprey crash when the 
Marine Corps' original press release indicated possible pilot error.
  Mr. Speaker, that's why all these names that I have read today have 
joined me in asking the United States Marine Corps--who I have great 
respect for; they're among the best--to give the families, Connie 
Gruber and her daughter Brooks, to give Trish Brow and her two sons, 
Matthew and Mark, one letter on the commandant's heading on his 
stationery, clearly state to the Brow family that your husband, John 
Brow, a true American hero, was not responsible for the crash on April 
8, 2,000. The same for Connie Gruber and her daughter Brooks down in 
Jacksonville, North Carolina, one paragraph with the same language that 
I just mentioned for Colonel John Brow, the same language for Major 
Brooks Gruber.
  Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that as long as I have the privilege to 
serve in the United States Congress, and with all these experts that 
I've quoted today that are willing to join me, that the right thing 
must be done for the family, and the right thing is that letter from 
the commandant.
  Mr. Speaker, I would not be the kind of person that I am without the 
faith that I have in my God. My mom and dad taught me the Bible. They 
taught me right from wrong, and they taught me that truth does matter. 
I have, with the help of God and the many experts, we have the truth. 
The truth is that these two outstanding pilots were put into an 
impossible situation without any training to understand how to react to 
vortex ring state. So, therefore, Mr. Speaker, we will continue to 
speak out on the floor of the House.
  I have told the families that when this clarification comes through 
and their husbands are cleared, I would like to go with the Brow family 
to Arlington Cemetery and stand there with Trish, Matthew, and Mark and 
salute the colonel and say, Colonel, rest in peace. You're not blamed 
for this accident any longer.
  I want to do the same thing with Connie Gruber down in Jacksonville, 
North Carolina, where her husband is buried. I want to walk with Connie 
and Brooks, and I want to stand at the grave and say the same thing to 
Major Gruber: Rest in peace. You no longer will be blamed for the 
accident on April 8, 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, before closing, there's a quote that someone sent me in 
this 10-year journey to clear these names by Voltaire that says:

       To the living we owe respect. To the dead we owe the truth.

  That's what this is all about, Mr. Speaker, is the Marine Corps could 
issue one paragraph to the two families so that never again will they 
have to read in the paper the accident in Marana, Arizona, on April 8, 
2000, was due to pilot error. Because as the families have said to me, 
help us get this clarification, and we will make sure that any print 
about the pilot error on April 8, we will ask and demand that it be 
retracted because it is not the truth.

                              {time}  1550

  I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to 
please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I ask God to 
hold in

[[Page H2022]]

His loving arms the families who've given a child dying for freedom in 
Afghanistan and Iraq.
  I ask God to please bless the Brow family and the Gruber family. 
Bring peace to these families, God, by helping us get this 
misinformation corrected.
  And I'll ask God to please bless the House and Senate that we will do 
what is right in the eyes of God for God's people.
  I will ask God to bless the President that he will do what is right 
in the eyes of God for God's people.
  And I'll ask three times, God, please, God, please, God, please 
continue to bless America.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________