Posted on 05/29/2007 6:02:58 PM PDT by RedRover
Hearing fact sheet
Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani was the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at the time of the Haditha incident and is the highest-ranking officer to have charges filed against him.
Chessani, who grew up in northwest Colorado, was relieved of his command in April 2006 along with the Kilo Company's commander, Capt. Lucas McConnell. At the time, a Marine Corps spokesman told reporters that the two men had been relieved of duty, "due to lack of confidence in their leadership abilities stemming from their performance during a recent deployment to Iraq."
Before being relieved of duty, Chessani appeared to be on a solid career path. He was reportedly involved in helping to plan the 2004 assault on Fallujah. He also served in the first Iraqi war in 1991.
He received his first command position at an Albany, New York, recruiting station and later attended the Command and Staff College in Quantico, Va., where he earned a master's degree in military studies.
He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 2004 and assigned to the post of operations officer for the 1st Marines in Iraq. His first combat command came in May 2005, when he took over the base's 3rd Battalion. The Denver Post has reported that during the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, he captured several of former President Manuel Noriega's top officers.
Lt. Col. Chessani is facing three years in prison and a dismissal from the service if convicted on all three counts.
Preferred Charges and Specifications:
Charge: Violation of the UCMJ, Article 92
Specification 1 (Violation of a lawful order): wrongfully failed to accurately report and thoroughly investigate a possible, suspected, or alleged violation of the law of war by Marines under his command. (Maximum punishment: dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years)
Specification 2 (Dereliction): willfully failed to ensure that this possible, suspected, or alleged violation of the law of war was accurately reported to higher headquarters. (Maximum punishment: Dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months)
Specification 3 (Dereliction): willfully failed to direct a thorough investigation into this possible, suspected, or alleged violation of the law of war. (Maximum punishment: Dismissal, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months)
Investigating officer: Col. Christopher Conlin
Convening authority: Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commanding general for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Central Commander for Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa.
In Lt. Col. Chessani's defense: Civilian attorney, Richard Thompson of the Thomas More Law Center says, "The testimony we will elicit will show just how ridiculous and politically motivated these charges are."
For the official USMC advisory, click at the link.
Source: Various articles in the North County Times.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani
Recent related threads:
Previous Article 32 threads:
The first hearing starts tomorrow at 8:00 am, Pacific.
B U M P
Prayers
Thanks...
Jeff is a good friend of mine... have a picture of his beautiful family on my fridge... our wives are close friends too.
I got an email from him this weekend, his faith in God and his spirits remain high.
I have a hard time believing that he knowingly did wrong... that’s just not his character... a more honest, God-fearing man would be hard to find...
Head over to YouTube and check out this awesome video created by a high school friend of Justin Sharratt. Just click at the link!
Help spread it around!
Hearing begins tomorrow.
Be sure to tell the lieutenant colonel that the whole country hasn’t gone crazy. There are plenty of us who stand behind him.
Thanks, RR.
I may just send him the link to this thread...
Thanks for the heads up.
Good video.
BUMP!
that too...
Please do! Some Haditha Marine families come to our threads and have found them to be a balm.
Let your friend know that he’s in our thoughts and prayers.
Keep us posted.
I thought they did a nice job. Musically, though, I wish Sgt Barry Sadler (if I got his name right) would come out of retirement and make another ballad!
Thanks, Vel! The other side has Murtha and the media. But we have lots of prayers going up!
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