Female Ex-Bomber Pilot Will Appeal Air Force Discharge, Attorney Says

WASHINGTON — Hoping to draw on the congressional support his client enjoys, the lawyer for Air Force 1st Lt. Kelly Flinn said Sunday that he will appeal the order under which the nation’s first female B-52 pilot agreed to leave the service to escape a court-martial on charges involving adultery, lying and disobedience.

Attorney Frank Spinner said on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” that Flinn will seek to have her general discharge changed to an honorable discharge in an appeal to be filed after Air Force Secretary Sheila E. Widnall, who decided the case, retires in the next few months.

The Air Force’s handling of the case against Flinn sparked criticism from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and other lawmakers, who argued that the military is out of step with a more tolerant civilian world. Such criticism continued Sunday.

“Hopefully . . . they will handle these cases differently in the future,” said Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) on “Meet the Press.”

Snowe, the only woman on the Senate Armed Services Committee, added that she believes Flinn should receive an honorable discharge. She also expressed concern that the pilot’s treatment by the Air Force will “have a chilling effect on women serving in the military at a time when our force-level requirements depend upon them.”

But other members of Congress appearing on the NBC program accused their colleagues of overlooking the military’s need for conduct beyond reproach. Rep. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an Air Force veteran, said he believes that the Air Force commander who pressed the charges against Flinn “made the decision best for his unit. I think the legal officers involved gave sound advice, and we in Congress are doing very inappropriate things by suggesting that the people in charge are not professional, don’t know what they’re doing.”

In pursuing an appeal, Flinn will have the option of taking her case before the Air Force Discharge Review Board, composed of military officers, or before the Board for the Correction of Military Records, a civilian body, said Eugene R. Fidell, a lawyer who is an expert in military law and heads the National Institute of Military Justice in Washington.

While not saying which route Flinn will choose, Spinner indicated that he and his client believe they can benefit from congressional reaction to the case and a change in Air Force leadership.

“We know that Secretary Widnall will be leaving the Air Force in some months ahead, and with a new secretary of the Air Force and with the support [Flinn] received from Congress, we think that option [of gaining an honorable discharge] might be available,” he said.

Although hundreds of men and women in the armed forces appeal general discharges, experts say Flinn could face an uphill battle in an appeal because she accepted Widnall’s decision voluntarily. Also, the expected departure of Widnall may not be legally significant because the Air Force secretary is not directly involved in handling such appeals.

Spinner also said Flinn has already received phone calls concerning positions with some commercial airlines and may try to earn a living as a commercial pilot. He said she may also entertain a book or movie deal about her life.

On Thursday, the Air Force announced that Flinn would be given a general discharge instead of a court-martial on charges stemming mainly from an admitted affair with the civilian husband of a female member of the service, lying during an official investigation into the affair and disobeying a direct order to stay away from the man.

Flinn originally vowed to face the court-martial unless she was granted an honorable discharge. But her family said she decided to accept the general discharge after deciding the Air Force was determined to make an example of her.

A general discharge is ordinarily given when faithful service is marred by negative aspects of a person’s conduct or performance.

In her first public comments on the incident since her discharge, Flinn acknowledged to Time magazine that she made a mistake by becoming sexually involved with Marc Zigo, the married civilian.

Flinn said she should not “get off scot-free” for her actions. Rather, she said she should have received an administrative disciplinary action, such as a reprimand, instead of being forced out of the service with the general discharge--an action that will prevent Flinn from flying for the Air Force Reserve or the Air National Guard unless she obtains a waiver in her appeal.

“Then I could salute smartly, get Marc Zigo the hell out of my life and move on,” she said.

Flinn once had a very different attitude about Zigo, whom she said she fell for within one week of meeting him.

Flinn said Zigo “told me he was in love with me and he would follow me anywhere.” Zigo, added Flinn, said: “ ‘A feeling like this only comes around once in a lifetime, and you should seize it.’ ”