MiG Pilot: the Final Escape of Lt. Belenko

He understood, even admired Belenko's motives. He himself would prefer to be with combat forces in Germany or the Far East, where one might «see some action.» But the overriding desire of every officer must be to serve the Party, and the Party needed him here. In a combat squadron he would provide the Party with one pilot; as an instructor he was providing the Party with many. Therefore, Golodnikov asked that Belenko withdraw his request, take some leave, and resume his duties with fresh dedication. If he had any problems, with his apartment or anything else, they could be worked out.

Belenko thanked the general but said that having been an instructor almost four years, he believed he could best serve the Party by becoming a more accomplished pilot, and that he could not do unless he learned to fly more sophisticated combat aircraft.

«Belenko, let's be frank with each other. You are an excellent instructor and a fine officer. Both your record and your superiors tell me that. You know as well as I that many of the young instructors they are sending us are not ready to be instructors; they barely can fly themselves. That is why we cannot afford to lose experienced instructors. I am not proposing that you spend the rest of your career as an instructor. I will be retiring in a couple of years, and I have friends. When I leave, I shall see that they help you.»

Belenko understood the invitation to accept initiation into the system, to sell himself to the system. Yet it only reinforced his determination. When he said no a second time, Golodnikov abruptly dropped the mask of reason and affability.

«You are defying me!»

«No, sir, Comrade General. I am making a request in accordance with the regulations of the Soviet Army.»

«Your request is denied.»

«But, Comrade General, the regulations say that my request must be forwarded.»

«That matter is closed.»

«You will not forward my request?»

«You are dismissed. You may leave.»

Belenko stood up and stared straight into the eyes of the general. «I have something to say.»

«What?»

«I will stay in this school. I will work harder to follow every rule and regulation, to teach the students to fly, to enforce discipline in our regiment and school, to combat drunkenness, the theft of alcohol, the forgeries, embezzlement, and corruption that exist everywhere in our school. To do that, it wffl be necessary to dismiss from the Army certain officers and commanders who are aiding and abetting these practices. And to do that, it will be necessary for me to write a letter to the Minister of Defense, in accordance with the Soviet Army Manual of Discipline, proving what is going on in our school.»

«You may not do that.»

«Why not? It's strictly in accordance with regulations. Let me tell you some of the things I will say. I will talk first about the death of Lieutenant Lubach and his student. The investigating commission said it was an accident. It was murder. You said that many of our young instructors are not qualified. But why do you certify them as qualified? Why did you send Lieutenant Lubach's records to a combat squadron and have them returned so it would look as if he had experience in a combat squadron when you knew he couldn't fly? Why did you let him take that student up and kill himself and the student?»

The general's face flushed. «That is none of your business.»

Belenko cited a colonel, one of the general's deputies, who, while piously haranguing officers to curb alcoholism, supervised the wholesale theft of aircraft alcohol, even using military trucks to transport it into Salsk for sale.

«All right. We know about that. That is being taken care of.»

Next, Belenko detailed how officers forged records and reported more flight time than had been flown so as to obtain excesses of alcohol and how huge quantities of aviation fuel were being dumped to keep the records consistent.

«All right. What next? Go on.»

Belenko recalled how during a recent practice alert another of Golodnikov's aides, a lieutenant colonel, had staggered among students on the flight line, raving incoherently, provoking laughter, and causing one student to say aloud, «To hell with all this. Let's go have a drink.»

«That officer has been punished.»