How a US Marine colonel decided to speak to a journalist

The Post and Courier faced a prolonged silence from the Pentagon regarding a US Marine F-35 pilot's ejection in September 2023. Six months after the incident, the crucial question of why the pilot ejected remained unanswered, a stark contrast to the typical few months investigations usually take.

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Why did the pilot eject?

An article titled "Eject!" delved into these lingering questions, but the pilot's identity remained unknown. A subsequent Marine Corps press release attributed the ejection to an electrical malfunction, yet key details about the malfunction's cause were missing. This "command investigation" also assigned responsibility to the pilot, but inconsistencies began to surface.

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The Pentagon was not communicating anything, while investigations into accidents generally only take a few months.

Around the time of the press release, the Marine who commanded Del Pizzo removed him from his post as squadron head in Yuma, Arizona. Military affairs journalists connected the dots, and soon after, Del Pizzo himself called the newspaper. He confirmed that their reporting was largely accurate and appreciated their work.

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The command investigation indicated that the pilot ejected following an electrical malfunction, but we did not know the cause of this malfunction.

Del Pizzo clarified that lightning was not the cause of the malfunction, a detail later confirmed by other investigations. More significantly, he revealed that two other, more thorough investigations by the Aviation Mishap Board and the Field Flight Performance Board had concluded his ejection was justified and followed established procedures. These critical findings, however, were never made public, leaving the initial command investigation's conclusions to stand alone.

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Absolutely!