I'd have thought that there'd be a policy that the first time a pilot was sent out on a combat mission, if at all possible, they'd be in the company of someone who had been out before. Sending out a two pilot mission with it being the first time in combat for both - is that really normal practice?

It apears that not everyone in the US military was at all happy about the internal inquiry finding that no one was to blame - here's a piece in today's Independent - Fratricide: That's what the military calls 'friendly fire':

"The Government faced a call last night for a full inquiry into the issue of "friendly fire" after it was revealed that one of America's top generals had disputed his own side's finding that two US pilots were not to blame for the death of a British soldier...."