Missing Pilot’s Status Changed

The Navy has changed the status of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher to missing in action, from missing/captured. Speicher disappeared when his F/A-18 Hornet was shot down on Jan. 17, 1991, during the early hours of Operation Desert Storm, in Iraq. He is listed as the first casualty of the Gulf war. The Navy classified Speicher as killed in action/body not recovered in May 1991, but changed his status to MIA in 2001, then to missing/captured in 2002, based on reports that he was spotted in Iraq. Those reports have since been discredited. Last October, intelligence officials determined that Speicher probably is dead. A new status review board met and determined that Speicher’s status should be changed again, based upon that finding.