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NEWS ARTICLE
Pentagon Launches Review of Fort Hood Shooting
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced the Defense Department will conduct a broad review of the Nov. 5 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting that left 13 dead and dozens injured.
Former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Adm. Vernon Clark, former chief of naval operations, will head the initial 45-day review, which will inform a follow-on investigation expected to last four to six months.
“The shootings at Fort Hood raise a number of troubling questions that demand complete but prompt answers,” Gates said during a Pentagon briefing. “It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future.”
The department review is separate from both the criminal investigation of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan — the soldier charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder — and a review ordered by President Barack Obama to take a governmentwide look at all intelligence related to the incident. Initial findings of the president-mandated review are due Nov. 30.
The purpose of the department review is three-fold, Gates said, including targeting possible gaps in procedures for identifying dangerous servicemembers who could pose credible risks to other troops. The review also will assess how “adverse information” about troops is recorded and handled, and will gauge the level of security and emergency response capabilities at Defense Department facilities.
As part of the initial review, each military service branch will appoint a senior official to work with Clark and West on service-specific issues, Gates said.
“In light of the Fort Hood incident and unique challenges, the Army will conduct a more in-depth, detailed assessment of whether Army programs, policies and procedures reasonably could have prevented the shooting,” he said. The Army’s findings will be submitted as part of the Army’s contribution to the departmental review, Gates added.
He noted the initial review represents only the beginning of the process, with preliminary findings leading into a follow-up investigation.
“Its results will inform and largely shape a departmentwide follow-on examination of any systemic institutional shortcomings, an examination I expect to be completed within four to six months,” he said.
The more in-depth review will entail each service selecting an investigative panel that will report their findings up the chain of command to a department-level panel. The departmentwide group will assess the findings and identify changes needed in policy and procedure, as well as areas where additional resources are required, Gates said.
“Among other issues, this review will cover topics such as servicemember support programs, care for victims and families of mass-causality events, how we assess and sustain the performance of health-care providers, and overall stress on the troops and their families,” he said.
The department will exercise “full and open disclosure” amid the review process, Gates said, speaking a day after he attended a memorial ceremony in the small Tennessee hometown of Army Spc. Fred Greene, one of 13 killed in the Fort Hood massacre.
“There is nothing any of us can say to ease the pain for the wounded, the families of the fallen, and the members of the Fort Hood community touched by this incident — pain I saw vividly and firsthand yesterday in Mountain City, Tenn.,” he said. “All that is left for us to do is everything in our power to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.”
Biographies:
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Special Report: Tragedy at Fort Hood
Transcript
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Muslim Leader Calls Fort Hood Review Critical to National Security
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – The director of a Muslim veterans organization said he welcomes Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ announcement today of a Pentagon probe into the attacks at Fort Hood, Texas, calling it a matter of national security.
Qaseem Ali Uqdah, executive director of the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, and a retired Marine gunnery sergeant, credits military leaders with establishing a climate that’s prevented any backlash against Muslims servicemembers since the Nov. 5 shooting.
Gates announced a sweeping review today that will look into events leading up to the rampage that left 13 people dead, and whether military officials should have been more aggressive in raising a red flag about the accused shooter, Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan.
“This is not about Muslim,” Uqdah said of the probe. “This is about national security. This is about an incident in which an individual committed a criminal act.”
The fact that Hasan is Muslim, he said, doesn’t matter. A review would have been necessary whatever the perpetrator’s religion, as a “preventative measure” to prevent a similar incident from ever happening again, he said.
And to be truly effective, he said, the review should go beyond Muslims, to help identify and weed out zealots of any kind who could become potential threats. “It would be most prudent to go across the military and leave no stone unturned,” Uqdah said.
The world situation demands it, he said. “We have to recognize this for what it is: a war on several fronts, with no boundaries, and here on our own shores,” he said. “So we have to be vigilant. If that requires all of us being examined, then so be it,” as long as it doesn’t overstep civil liberty boundaries.
“So long as it is not prejudicious, a review right now is necessary,” Uqdah said.
While providing an important “litmus test,” the Pentagon review will also help highlight the contributions Muslim servicemembers make to the U.S. military, and the sacrifices they have made, he said.
More than 3,500 active-duty troops identify themselves as Muslim, with about half of them serving in the Army, Defense Department officials said.
“I think the takeaway [of the review] will be that there are a lot of servicemembers, men and women, across the board, serving very honorably,” Uqdah said.
The Fort Hood incident was an isolated incident that casts an unfortunate shadow on the entire Muslim community, he said.
Uqdah’s organization wasted no time in condemning the attack, extending condolences to the victims and their families, as well as the local community, in a statement posted on its Web site within hours of the incident.
“Islam holds the human soul in high esteem, and considers the attack against innocent human beings a grave sin,” the statement said. “This is a criminal act that is now best dealt with by the law enforcement community.”
Uqdah serves as an ecclesiastical endorser, vetting Muslim chaplains in the Defense Department to ensure they meet religious standards. In that capacity, he communicates regularly with seven Muslim chaplains serving on active duty, in the Air Force Reserve or in seminary preparing to go into the military.
With his finger on the pulse of the Muslim military community, Uqdah reported he has yet to hear of a single incident of backlash against Muslim servicemembers that some had predicted after the Fort Hood incident.
“I attribute that to strong leadership positions, starting from the commander in chief on down, with establishing a ‘zero tolerance’ climate,” he said.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey Jr. set the tone quickly after the incident. “Speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers,” he said. “What happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy is our diversity becomes a casualty here.”
“By saying that,” Uqdah said, “he made certain to his commanders and everyone else that he wasn’t going to tolerate [a backlash]. I think it’s been a key factor in preventing it.”
Uqdah said he’s always experienced a climate of relative tolerance within the military. He recalled back to the mid-1990s, when he was assigned to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and overheard an allied officer attending classes there ask a U.S. field grade officer if he suspected the loyalty of Muslims serving in the military.
The officer responded that Muslims are no different than any other troops, and serve just as courageously and with the same dedication, he recalled. “Then he asked him, “’Is there any reason we should suspect them?’”
The events of 9/11 increased scrutiny of Muslims across the board, including in the military, he conceded.
But Uqdah said Hasan’s alleged proselytizing while in uniform – if proven true – should never have been tolerated. Other questionable behavior should have been identified and reported, he said.
“This was a failure in terms of us as a whole,’ he said, clarifying that all servicemembers, not just Muslims, share the blame. “We saw something suspicious and really didn’t report it. It really wasn’t taken seriously. As a whole, we have to get better at being vigilant in terms of our security.”
Related Sites:
Special Report: Tragedy at Fort Hood
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Pentagon Launches Review of Fort Hood Shooting