bobdina
10-01-2009, 03:55 PM
From staff and wire reports
Mideast edition, Thursday, October 1, 2009
The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has ordered a new investigation into a 2008 firefight that claimed the lives of nine American soldiers and led to allegations of negligence by senior commanders.
Army Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the U.S. Central Command, has appointed Richard Natonski, a Marine Corps lieutenant general, to handle the inquiry into events surrounding the battle at Wanat in Afghanistan, the command announced Wednesday. All the soldiers killed in the battle on July 13, 2008, were members of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment based in Vicenza, Italy.
The investigation will look into issues that have arisen since an official Army investigation into the battle was completed more than a year ago, according to the CENTCOM statement.
Family members of the soldiers killed have said the initial investigation was inadequate. More than two dozen soldiers were wounded during the battle when their remote outpost was attacked by an estimated 200 Taliban.
“When you have an entire infantry platoon basically rendered combat ineffective, surprised by 200 insurgents, something just doesn’t sit right,” said David Brostrom, a retired Army colonel whose son, Jonathan, was one of the soldiers killed. First Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, who led 2nd Platoon, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
Col. Bill Ostlund, the former battalion commander who is now deputy commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes on Thursday that he has “nothing to hide,” and expressed some displeasure about recent portrayals of his unit’s operations.
“It is unfortunate that select organizations, reporters, and bereaved individuals have ignored volumes of data, taken other data grossly out of context, and proactively perpetuated an alternate reality based on bogus information in order to further organizational and personal agendas ...” Ostlund wrote.
But Ostlund said he will cooperate with the investigation.
“I respect and appreciate Gen. Petraeus’ decision, his selection of investigator and deputy investigator, and stand ready with data and many dispersed points of contact that can and will answer all questions posed by the investigating team,” Ostlund wrote.
The deputy investigator is Army Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates, who reliquished command in September of the 10th Mountain Division. His new assignment has not yet been announced.
Ostlund’s battalion, known as “The Rock,” lost 24 soldiers in a 14-month tour. A Marine and sailor who were training Afghan forces in its area of operations were also killed. A soldier from the unit was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, while more than two dozen Silver Stars, 90 Bronze Star Medals with valor and more than 300 Army Commendation Medals with valor were also awarded. More are pending.
His former unit, as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, is readying to deploy again to Afghanistan in the next few months. Brigade spokesman Maj. Tom Gilleran said Thursday the brigade was aware of the investigation and would fully cooperate with inquiries while it continues to prepare to deploy.
In a July 9 letter, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had asked the Pentagon Inspector General for an independent review of “the actions taken at each level of the chain of command.”
In the letter, Webb cited information from Brostrom and the study by the Combat Studies Institute that counters the Army’s initial finding that there was no fault by senior commanders.
Kurt Zwilling, whose son, Gunnar, was killed, said putting an officer outside the Army in charge should give the review needed impartiality.
“The people that were in charge of that disaster investigated themselves and found that they did nothing wrong,” Zwilling said. “I thought the first investigation was a sham.”
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65137
Mideast edition, Thursday, October 1, 2009
The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has ordered a new investigation into a 2008 firefight that claimed the lives of nine American soldiers and led to allegations of negligence by senior commanders.
Army Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the U.S. Central Command, has appointed Richard Natonski, a Marine Corps lieutenant general, to handle the inquiry into events surrounding the battle at Wanat in Afghanistan, the command announced Wednesday. All the soldiers killed in the battle on July 13, 2008, were members of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment based in Vicenza, Italy.
The investigation will look into issues that have arisen since an official Army investigation into the battle was completed more than a year ago, according to the CENTCOM statement.
Family members of the soldiers killed have said the initial investigation was inadequate. More than two dozen soldiers were wounded during the battle when their remote outpost was attacked by an estimated 200 Taliban.
“When you have an entire infantry platoon basically rendered combat ineffective, surprised by 200 insurgents, something just doesn’t sit right,” said David Brostrom, a retired Army colonel whose son, Jonathan, was one of the soldiers killed. First Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, who led 2nd Platoon, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
Col. Bill Ostlund, the former battalion commander who is now deputy commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes on Thursday that he has “nothing to hide,” and expressed some displeasure about recent portrayals of his unit’s operations.
“It is unfortunate that select organizations, reporters, and bereaved individuals have ignored volumes of data, taken other data grossly out of context, and proactively perpetuated an alternate reality based on bogus information in order to further organizational and personal agendas ...” Ostlund wrote.
But Ostlund said he will cooperate with the investigation.
“I respect and appreciate Gen. Petraeus’ decision, his selection of investigator and deputy investigator, and stand ready with data and many dispersed points of contact that can and will answer all questions posed by the investigating team,” Ostlund wrote.
The deputy investigator is Army Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates, who reliquished command in September of the 10th Mountain Division. His new assignment has not yet been announced.
Ostlund’s battalion, known as “The Rock,” lost 24 soldiers in a 14-month tour. A Marine and sailor who were training Afghan forces in its area of operations were also killed. A soldier from the unit was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, while more than two dozen Silver Stars, 90 Bronze Star Medals with valor and more than 300 Army Commendation Medals with valor were also awarded. More are pending.
His former unit, as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, is readying to deploy again to Afghanistan in the next few months. Brigade spokesman Maj. Tom Gilleran said Thursday the brigade was aware of the investigation and would fully cooperate with inquiries while it continues to prepare to deploy.
In a July 9 letter, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., had asked the Pentagon Inspector General for an independent review of “the actions taken at each level of the chain of command.”
In the letter, Webb cited information from Brostrom and the study by the Combat Studies Institute that counters the Army’s initial finding that there was no fault by senior commanders.
Kurt Zwilling, whose son, Gunnar, was killed, said putting an officer outside the Army in charge should give the review needed impartiality.
“The people that were in charge of that disaster investigated themselves and found that they did nothing wrong,” Zwilling said. “I thought the first investigation was a sham.”
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65137