Posted on 05/18/2007 6:22:25 PM PDT by TexKat
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two US army officers were relieved of command after an investigation found that three soldiers killed by insurgents in Iraq last year were left alone for 36 hours at an undermanned and unprotected observation point, army officials said Thursday.
The June 16 attack, in which two of the soldiers were abducted and their mutilated bodies were found days later, has come under renewed scrutiny following the abduction of three other US soldiers during an insurgent attack this week.
The investigation, which was completed last year but not released until Thursday, found a string of errors that exposed the soldiers to insurgent attack near Yusufiyah.
"This was an event caused by numerous acts of complacency and a lack of standards at the platoon level," Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Daugherty, the investigating officer, wrote.
When the attack came, other soldiers heard shots and saw tracers but failed to respond quickly enough to save Specialist David Babineau, Private First Class Kristin Menchaca, and Private First Class Thomas Tucker.
Babineau was found dead at the scene, but the other two soldiers were missing. Their mutilated bodies were recovered three days later after an intensive search.
The investigation called for letters of reprimand for the company commander for not adequately supervising the platoon, and the platoon commander for failing to correct obvious mistakes or enforce minimum standards.
The army said no charges were brought under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice.
"Administrative disciplinary action resulting from the investigation included relieving the platoon leader and company commander from their duties for failure to supervise and enforce standards," it said.
The soldiers' mission was to guard an armored bridging vehicle in Yusifiyah, but they were left for 36 hours on a stretch of road with only a single armored Humvee for protection.
The army field manual calls for at least four soldiers to be posted on an observation post, including a non-commissioned officer, and says that none should be there for more than two to four hours, the investigation report said.
"To expect three soldiers without NCO (non-commissioned officer) leadership to operate a functional OP for 24-36 hours is unrealistic," it said.
The report also said "force protection was minimal at best."
The soldiers' armored Humvee was parked 12 meters (yards) off the road in front of a low barrier. There were no barriers on the road to slow approaching vehicles. And neither the company nor the platoon commander analyzed the risks.
The investigation found the platoon did not plan or rehearse procedures for a quick response in support of the soldiers, who were positioned 1,300 meters from the platoon command post and 1,100 meters from a traffic checkpoint.
Soldiers at both those posts heard an explosion and small arms fire coming from the observation post when the attack began.
Minutes later, a Humvee with four soldiers left the platoon command post in response, but was stopped by what turned out to be a fake roadside bomb.
A second Humvee then left from the traffic check point, arriving on the scene 22 minutes after the first shots were heard only to find one soldier dead and two missing.
The report said it was likely that an Iraqi army unit at a bridge 900 meters away also heard the attack "but chose to not become an active participant in the attack on either side."
You men are not forgotten!
(That is truly a horribly written title.)
The MotherFxxxxxx French Press always does anything possible to mislead or insult.....
The French Press makes it sound like the Iraqi Army chooses to fight against the Americans from time to time.....
They should publish their names, so all the troops know not to take them seriously.
Well, those careers are finished. No need to identify them.
Wasn't there at least one case where that happened?
I know it's incredibly PC to trust the Iraqi army, and I'm sure the US commanders were told to do so. But we should have been in the Ronald Reagan "trust but verify" mode. That is, no US commanding officer in his right mind should have entrusted his forces to the Iraqi army.
They’ll be field grade under President Hillary. Chances are they were academy appointments under Bill.
LAST TIME SAME AREA !!!
Probe Into Murders of 3 GIs in Iraq Faults Commanding Officers
http://www.foxnews.com/index.html
WASHINGTON — 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 not well 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 faced 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.
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STUCK ON STOOOPID !!!
Three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were killed in the June 16, 2006, attack. Spc. David J. Babineau, of Springfield, Mass., was found dead at the scene, and two others — Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras, Ore. — 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 Youssifiyah, in what is called the Triangle of Death, for three soldiers believed to have been abducted Saturday by an Al Qaeda-related group.
According to the investigation of last June’s attack, Tucker, Menchaca and Babineau were ordered to guard a mobile bridge over a canal in order to prevent insurgents from planting mines. Other members of their platoon, who were at two locations up to three-quarters of a mile (about a kilometer) 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 had been 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.
FOX NEWS...
FOX NEWS (snip)
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 in July that the attack on Babineau, Menchaca and Tucker was revenge for the rape-killing.
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 August. Families of the three soldiers were given unclassified briefings on the results of the investigation later last year. According to a military official, part of the delay was due to legal reviews and the movement of the units involved out of Iraq.
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Just some “DOTS” for all to see...A “Pattern” here ??
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Other members of their platoon, who were at two locations up to three-quarters of a mile (about a kilometer) 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.
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(bangin’ Head On Wall)...JUST DAMN !!!
I only caught a snip on FOX
earlier today,,,FOX gal reported from the ambush-site,,,
I saw it twice,,,it’s called “Route Malibu”,,,(dirt-road)
runs near/parallel to the Euphrates River,,,Damn Jungle,,!!
The road-cut mite be 40ft. wide...no field of fire at all.
NO KILL ZONE !!!
the under-brush in this so-called “palm-grove” must be 20ft.tall,,,can’t see 10ft.,,,this “WIRE” we keep hearin’ bout ???,,,Strung Rite Up Against The Jungle !!!
Showed 2 burn-spots where the trucks were ,,,
One on each side of the “road”,,,
Only a Friggin’ Moron would allow his Troops to be put in that situation...!
SAME AREA AS THE 3/31 10th.Mt. TODAY !!!
Interesting. Is this where the Hazi’s got their idea of having the doomed man do their dirty work for them?
I mean Nazi’s, of course.
Amen.
I think that is a bit unreasonable.
By inference, you are disrespecting Troops simply because they went active duty while a scumbag was CIC.
I read the article, and I discern that there is a lack of vigilance at times, the enemy likes to capitalize on that, and the end result is simply all bad.
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