Different Spanks For Different Ranks

[willy4pres]

I hate officers.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/....ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three U.S. soldiers slaughtered in a grisly kidnapping-murder plot south of Baghdad last June were not properly protected during a mission that was poorly planned or executed, a military investigation has concluded.

Two military officers have been relieved of their commands as a result of the litany of mistakes, but neither face criminal charges, a military official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

A report on the investigation said the platoon leader and company commander -- whose names were not released -- failed to provide proper supervision to the unit or enforce military standards.

A seven-page summary of the investigation provided to the AP also said it appears insurgents may have rehearsed the attack two days earlier, and that Iraqi security forces near the soldiers' outpost probably saw and heard the attack and "chose to not become an active participant in the attack on either side."

"This was an event caused by numerous acts of complacency, and a lack of standards at the platoon level," said the investigating officer, Lt. Col. Timothy Daugherty, in the summary.

Three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were killed in the June 16, 2006, attack. Spc. David J. Babineau, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was found dead at the scene, and two others -- Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston, Texas, and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras, Oregon -- were abducted. Their mutilated bodies were found three days later, tied together and booby-trapped with bombs.

Details of the attack and what led up to it came as thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces were scouring the same area near Yusufiya, in what's called the Triangle of Death, for three soldiers believed to have been abducted last Saturday by an al Qaeda-related group. (Watch how the search for the missing soldiers has intensified )

According to the investigation of last June's attack, Tucker, Menchaca and Babineau were ordered to guard a mobile bridge over a canal to prevent insurgents from planting mines. Other members of their platoon, who were at two locations up to three-quarters of a mile away, heard small-arms fire at 7:49 p.m. When they arrived at the checkpoint about 25 minutes later, Babineau was dead and the others were gone.

Daugherty said the soldiers were told to stand guard for up to 36 hours with just one Humvee, and there were no barriers on the road to slow access to them or provide early warning.

To expect them to operate an observation post for 24 to 36 hours was unrealistic, he said. "From the time a vehicle was seen, it would have been in front or beside the (Humvee) in a matter of seconds," he wrote.

Daugherty concluded that the platoon did not get the supervision or direction it needed. And he said the unit was hurt by the loss of 10 troops, including several leaders, who were killed in action as well as by the need to shuffle the platoon's leadership three times.

The platoon also had been dogged by an ongoing investigation into the rape and killing of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family by several other members of the unit.

Daugherty said there was no malicious intent by the officers who were leading the unit.

"Although the leaders in this platoon care and are staying in the fight, the platoon is frayed," he said in his report.

Daugherty's investigation found no evidence linking the three soldiers' deaths to the rape-murder, which occurred three months earlier. An al Qaeda-linked group, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, claimed last July that the attack on Babineau, Menchaca and Tucker was revenge for the rape-killing. (Full story )

Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, who was serving as the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad last year, ordered the investigation, and later handed out the punishments. His decision to remove the two officers -- a lieutenant and a captain -- from their commands was a harsher penalty than the one recommended by Daugherty, who suggested they get letters of reprimand.

Thurman, who is now commander of Fifth Corps in Heidelberg, Germany, also accepted Daugherty's recommendations that the platoon be ordered to stand down for 10 days to address combat stress and get refresher training. In addition, administrative actions were taken against an unknown number of other officers, but those have not been disclosed because they are protected by the privacy act.

Release of the investigation's results has been delayed for months. The probe was completed and the punishments delivered by last August. Families of the three soldiers were given unclassified briefings on the results of the investigation later in the fall. According to a military official, part of the delay was because of legal reviews and the movement of the units involved out of Iraq.

In the rape-killing case, five soldiers were charged in the March 12, 2006, incident. Three have entered guilty pleas, one soldier's trial has been delayed and the fifth is being prosecuted in federal court because he had already left the military when he was charged.

[willy4pres]

No need to post another thread, but I thought somebody might find this interesting/horrible.

javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/world/2007/05/17/black.iraq.stoning.cnn','2009/05/16');

[willy4pres]

Sorry about that, you used to be able to link CNN videos. It's the story about the young women that was stoned to death in Iraq because she was in love with someone.

[jimmy812]

Wait a second, there was a poorly planned mission in Iraq that resulted in the unnecessary death of American soldiers? That can't be.

Just another reflection of the entire Iraq war.

[willy4pres]

Yeah, but this was at the small unit level, different story entirely.

[Axxman300]

According to the investigation of last June's attack, Tucker, Menchaca and Babineau were ordered to guard a mobile bridge over a canal to prevent insurgents from planting mines. Other members of their platoon, who were at two locations up to three-quarters of a mile away, heard small-arms fire at 7:49 p.m. When they arrived at the checkpoint about 25 minutes later, Babineau was dead and the others were gone.

If it's a mobile bridge and you're worried about it then why not take it down at night and block the fucking road?

Is it a pain in the ass? Yes. So is war.

Now you've got three missing (likely dead) GI's along with the others who were killed all because some dipshit didn't want to move his wittow bwidge.

Hey, here's a thought, if the AO is too dangerous to leave a bridge unguarded then do put it there. If you insist on leaving it in place then put a fucking Company there to watch it and have a Preditor overhead at ALL TIMES.

Here's another thought, if you're going to guard it with a small force, don't announce this fact. Tow some dead Humvees out there to make it look like there are more guys, OR conceal your watch postitons so that the enemy doesn't know you are there. That way, if they try to booby-trap the bridge you can puree them with your heavt machine guns and Claymores.

Why do I have to think of everything?

[willy4pres]

If it's a mobile bridge and you're worried about it then why not take it down at night and block the fucking road?

Is it a pain in the ass? Yes. So is war.

Now you've got three missing (likely dead) GI's along with the others who were killed all because some dipshit didn't want to move his wittow bwidge.

Hey, here's a thought, if the AO is too dangerous to leave a bridge unguarded then do put it there. If you insist on leaving it in place then put a fucking Company there to watch it and have a Preditor overhead at ALL TIMES.

Here's another thought, if you're going to guard it with a small force, don't announce this fact. Tow some dead Humvees out there to make it look like there are more guys, OR conceal your watch postitons so that the enemy doesn't know you are there. That way, if they try to booby-trap the bridge you can puree them with your heavt machine guns and Claymores.

Why do I have to think of everything?

Exactly, we have three dead young men because of a few incompetent officers. It's the UCMJ, you don't have to willfully do anything, you do wrong you get punished. Reprimand my ass, and dismissal isn't any better. If this isn't brig-worthy I don't know what is. Enlisted men and women get sentenced to the brig for far less then this every day. If it was a Gunnery Sergeant that were responsible they would throw the book at him.

[gently_collapse]

This whole situation get more and more ridiculous as the months go on . I hate seeing these stories week after week.

[jimmy812]

Yeah, but this was at the small unit level, different story entirely.

...different story, but same reflection of the war...a fuck-up

[willy4pres]

...different story, but same reflection of the war...a fuck-up

Brother, I don't think having shitty platoon leaders and company commanders has anything to do with Bush's decision to go to war.

[jimmy812]

Brother, I don't think having shitty platoon leaders and company commanders has anything to do with Bush's decision to go to war.

Oh, willy, I agree with you. But they made mistakes in a war that was a big mistake. That's all I was saying. Either way you look at it, whether it be a grander scale or a smaller scale like this particular incident, it's a fuck-up (as well as a damned shame).

[willy4pres]

Oh, willy, I agree with you. But they made mistakes in a war that was a big mistake. That's all I was saying. Either way you look at it, whether it be a grander scale or a smaller scale like this particular incident, it's a fuck-up (as well as a damned shame).

I know you understand jimmy. I just have a short fuse with anyone trying to say that tactical mistakes are somehow related to the wisdom of going to war in the first place. The guys on the ground could care less about that, they have other priorities.

[jimmy812]

I know you understand jimmy. I just have a short fuse with anyone trying to say that tactical mistakes are somehow related to the wisdom of going to war in the first place.

No I'm not saying that at all. There's no relation. I'm not saying any tactical mistakes made are a relation to the decision to go to war, I'm saying that they're a reflection of the war itself; a mistake.

[willy4pres]

No I'm not saying that at all. There's no relation. I'm not saying any tactical mistakes made are a relation to the decision to go to war, I'm saying that they're a reflection of the war itself; a mistake.

Man, im sorry jimmy, it's a crazy day at work. I was trying to say that I know you understand what I was talking about (to begin with). Im not trying to argue your point at all, I just wanted to add to it.

[jimmy812]

Man, im sorry jimmy, it's a crazy day at work. I was trying to say that I know you understand what I was talking about (to begin with). Im not trying to argue your point at all, I just wanted to add to it.

No apology necessary. This is funny. We were both just trying to add to the other person's point and look what happens.

I think I'll go recharge my batteries over at the Beautiful Girls thread.