Posted on 01/19/2016 11:56:43 AM PST by Bruce Campbells Chin
Document: U.S. CENTCOM Statement on Events Surrounding Iranian Detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors
January 18, 2016 1:57 PM
The following preliminary timeline of the events surrounding the Iranian detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors from January 12-13, 2016, is based upon multiple operational reports received by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in the first 24-48 hours after the incident. A Navy command investigation initiated on Jan. 14, will provide a more complete accounting of events.
On Jan. 12, two NAVCENT Riverine Command Boat (RCB) crews were tasked with the mission of relocating two RCBs from Kuwait to Bahrain, with a planned refueling en route alongside the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Monomoy. The two RCBs were traveling together since they train and deploy in two-boat elements. They departed Kuwait at 9:23 a.m. (GMT). The planned transit path for the mission was down the middle of the Gulf and not through the territorial waters of any country other than Kuwait and Bahrain.
The two RCBs were scheduled to conduct an underway refueling with the USCGC Monomoy in international waters at approximately 2 p.m. (GMT). At approximately 2:10 p.m. (GMT) NAVCENT received a report that the RCBs were being queried by Iranians. At approximately 2:29 p.m. (GMT) NAVCENT was advised of degraded communications with the RCBs. At 2:45 p.m. (GMT) NAVCENT was notified of a total loss of communications with the RCBs. Immediately, NAVCENT initiated an intensive search and rescue operation using both air and naval assets including aircraft from USS Harry S. Truman and the U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Coast Guard, U.K. Royal Navy and U.S. Navy surface vessels. At the time of the incident, two carrier strike groups were operating nearby. USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group was 45 miles southeast of Farsi Island and Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group was 40 miles north of Farsi Island. NAVCENT attempted to contact Iranian military units operating near Farsi Island by broadcasting information regarding their search and rescue effort over marine radio, and separately notified Iranian coast guard units via telephone about the search for their personnel. At6:15 p.m. (GMT), U.S. Navy cruiser USS Anzio received a communication from the Iranians that the RCB Sailors were in Iranian custody and were “safe and healthy.â€
NAVCENT’s initial operational reports showed that while in transit from Kuwait to Bahrain the RCBs deviated from their planned course on their way to the refueling. The command investigation will determine what caused the change in course and why the RCBs entered into Iranian territorial waters in the vicinity of Farsi Island.
At some point one RCB had indications of a mechanical issue in a diesel engine which caused the crews to stop the RCBs and begin troubleshooting. As the RCBs travel together, the second RCB also stopped. This stop occurred in Iranian territorial waters, although it’s not clear the crew was aware of their exact location. While the RCBs were stopped and the crew was attempting to evaluate the mechanical issue, Iranian boats approached the vessels.
Based upon initial operational reports, the first boats on scene were two small craft with armed personnel on board. Soon after, two more Iranian military vessels arrived on scene also with armed personnel on board.
Initial operational reports indicate there was a verbal exchange between the Sailors and the Iranians but no exchange of gun fire. Armed Iranian military personnel then boarded the RCBs, while other Iranian personnel aboard the Iranian vessels conducted armed over-watch of the boats with mounted machine guns. At gunpoint, the RCBs were escorted to a small port facility on Farsi Island where the U.S. Sailors disembarked and were detained for approximately 15 hours. At this point there are no indications that the Sailors were physically harmed during their detainment. The Navy command investigation will focus on the Sailors’ treatment while in Iranian custody, including any interrogation by Iranian personnel. All indications are that the RCB crews were detained by Iranian military personnel operating from Farsi Island.
The Sailors departed Farsi Island at 8:43 a.m. (GMT) Jan. 13, aboard the two RCBs. The Sailors were later transferred ashore by U.S. Navy aircraft from the cruiser USS Anzio and the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. Other Sailors took charge of the RCBs and continued transiting toward Bahrain, the boats’ original destination. The RCBs arrived in Bahrain at 10:38 p.m. (GMT) Jan. 13.
A post-recovery inventory of the boats found that all weapons, ammunition and communication gear are accounted for minus two SIM cards that appear to have been removed from two handheld satellite phones.
The Sailors are in good health and continue to go through the reintegration process. The Navy command investigation continues and more details will be provided when it is completed.
My reading is that they never reached the ship to refuel. It would have been contained in the CENTCOM report if they had.
That being said, unless this Lt. has some very good excuse, it's kind of tough for me to think that his career shouldn't be ruined.
So, if one engine has a problem, you just sit there? Two boats? With an aircraft carrier group 45 miles away?
And no one can talk to the sailors now?
Lies.....lies.....lies.
That’s all the Democrats know how to do.
Not considered a career builder in USN up until recently....
Well, no. You normally wouldn't. You'd either start towing one boat with the other, or call for assistance. But that apparently didn't happen.
The question is, why? And that begs the question of why they were off course and in Iranian waters at all. Folks can come up with all the conspiracy stuff they want, but I can't think of a conspiracy theory that could hold together at all.
As I said, my guess is a complete screw-up. Someone was not paying attention, they ended up where they shouldn't be, and panicked when approached by the Iranians. Perhaps there was a minor mechanical problem, or perhaps that was just the only lame-ass excuse the OIC could come up with on short notice when they got busted.
i THINK THERE WAS SOMEONE OR SOMETHING ON THE BOAT.
Thank goodness they are healthy and are reintegrating. After all, isn't that what matters most to combat units?
Sounds to me that they put the wrong coordinates for the refueling into the GPS and were off course by miles before they realized the mistake. It was just a routine trip so they were skylarking and not alert in the navigation. Shooting up the Iranians would just have made things worse. The OinC is going down along with the senior enlisted. I was the xo and navigator of a navy ship and can well imagine a routine passage gone wrong due to multiple human and mechanical problems.
If our President was being blackmailed, he would still have to ask somebody to disburse US funds to the blackmailers.
This way, he has an explanation for giving money to his blackmailers.
“We can’t tell the people and the press that we paid ransom for these Sailors, so just keep this under your hat.”
Libya.
Look at the report. Everything is in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Why not in local time?
GMT doesn’t mean anything to most people. They are trying to obfuscate the time this happened.
Anybody here remember the time difference between ZULU and GMT for this location?
What you ask is applicable during war. The Commander-in-Chief of these sailors just gave the Iranians permission to build nuclear weapons. He just returned their military prisoners in exchange for tourists and Iranian/Americans returning to visit family and friends. He just gave the Iranians $150 billion.
He probably passed down through the chain of command the word that "anyone firing on the Iranians will get 20 years in Leavenworth, guaranteed".
Congress needs to bring these 10 sailors before a committee with guarantees of no retaliation now or ever. Get testimony from the next three levels of command authority. Under oath.
Of course, until Hillary is in jail, without bail, for Benghazi AND FileGate and Obama impeached for High Treason, no one will believe Congress' promises.
From word one until now and beyond...
DISCRACEFUL!
I can almost (not quite) feel how the OIC felt in the moment he realized he was in the wrong place, and those Iranian light boats were bearing down on him. The sudden realization that you've screwed up beyond all comprehension.
At that point, his options were very limited. A more ballsy guy might have just made a run for it, but he probably decided that he didn't want to be responsible for perhaps making a bad situation worse. So, he did whatever was necessary to end it quickly. Probably thought the worst result would be if shooting started, and someone on either side was killed because of his error.
I might have been inclined to run for it, but I can't fault him for deciding not to fight it out.
This smells
Maybe. But screw-ups do happen in the military.
I believe the Navy SEALS: The “legacy†is TARNISHED! Send this info VIRAL: Iran SEIZED our two small, PT-style boats from INTERNATIONAL waters and kidnapped the crew, in a BOLD demonstration of pure POWER over the Wimp of the White House. Read the 2nd comment, by Matt Bracken, linked below:
http://bit.ly/1nf3vTw
Detainment? Don’t they teach English at Annapolis?
What is the basis for claiming that the boats were seized in international waters?
>> Anybody here remember the time difference between ZULU and GMT for this location? <<
Yes, I remember. It’s ZERO.
So they are in the same time zone.
Thanks for all your help.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.