# .Task Force Violent



## BloodStripe (Mar 8, 2015)

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/03/04/task-force-violent-the-unforgiven/23940295/

First part of a five part series.

This is what happens when we allow the media to control a warzone.


----------



## racing_kitty (Mar 8, 2015)

I'm only to chapter 3, and this already has my blood boiling.  My initial impression: did you know that Pihana and pizza cutter both starting with the letter P is NOT a coincidence?  Juuuuust checking.

This is nuts.


----------



## DA SWO (Mar 8, 2015)

I'd like to know what Pihana's background was/is? JAG? Pilot?
Glad Kearney thinks this incident derailed his career, as he derailed other careers.
We need to stop publishing names until charges are filed as you are guilty the second an allegation is leveled.


----------



## Gunz (Mar 11, 2015)

DA SWO said:


> ...We need to stop publishing names until charges are filed as you are guilty the second an allegation is leveled.



The media clamps down like a pitbull on anything that suggests our combat troops acted negligently. You want to clear your name? Good luck finding a reporter within 500 miles who thinks that's news. But they'll be right there to parrot anything the enemy says about our forces causing civilian casualties.


----------



## CDG (Mar 13, 2015)

Here's part 2: http://www.militarytimes.com/longform/military/2015/03/12/task-force-violent-part-2/24309397/


----------



## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Mar 15, 2015)

A very, very interesting read. I never accepted what was initially reported as there is always more to a story. These guys for one thing are Marines, and second they are Operators. These guys are skilled, disciplined, and know what they are doing. The idea that one blast went off and suddenly they go rock and roll killing everything nearby was ridiculous. The politics of what happened to these guys makes me sick honestly. It's a classic example of ass covering, people putting careers over the troops, and the public's willingness to believe the first thing told them and not learn the whole truth. This just further increases my hard learned belief that there is always more to a story, and to not make snap decisions until you have all the relevant information to make a conclusion. Glad the truth is finally starting to make it's way out, not that you will see anyone aside from us military news watchers notice.


----------



## AWP (Mar 15, 2015)

Something to consider, from the first article in the series:



> O'Rourke, Sloat and Morgan questioned the propriety of Pihana and the commander who ordered the investigation, Army Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney, then the head of Special Operations Command Central. The court's final report says Pihana took an "unbalanced approach" to his investigation and thus reached "inaccurate conclusions." It says Pihana, Kearney's chief of staff, may have been "negatively influenced" by Kearney and others in the command — and that, above all, it was inappropriate for Kearney even to have assigned the investigation to his chief of staff, as doing so inherently raises questions about neutrality.


 
Then the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/us/18hearing.html?_r=0



> Mark Waple, a civilian lawyer representing Captain Staffel, said the charges against his client and Sergeant Anderson carry a whiff of “military politics.” In an interview, Mr. Waple said that General Kearney proceeded with murder charges against the two soldiers even after an investigation by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command concluded in April that the shooting had been “justifiable homicide.”


 
The DoD IG's redacted report:
http://www.dodig.mil/foia/ERR/H07L105376221 Locked.pdf

At "best" there's no cover up, no incompetence, no bias, and this is all an unfortunate series of events? At worst we have rogue commanders led by biased, agenda-driven "generalticians" more concerned with looking good than the 3M's? Even the middle ground is a heart breaking "good men led by incompetent dirtbags."

Very sad what we've become...


----------



## AWP (Mar 15, 2015)

DA SWO said:


> I'd like to know what Pihana's background was/is? JAG? Pilot?


 
https://books.google.com/books?id=D...#v=onepage&q=patrick pihana air force&f=false

Prior-enlisted, OTS grad, career CCT officer, commanded 320th STS, 23rd STS, and 18th ASOG. Retired 2013 as an O-6.


----------



## Mac_NZ (Mar 15, 2015)

Wow, those Marines got given a shit sandwich.  The conduct of some of those Officers involved is disgraceful and in a perfect world they would be committing seppuku right about now to try and salvage the tattered remnants of their honour.


----------



## 8654Maine (Mar 15, 2015)

I know some of those guys and the absolute shit storm that they went through.

It'd be easy to lay the blame on inter-service rivalry and the fuck-stain douchenozzles like Kearney, Nicholson, Pihana, et al, but intra-service issues are also to blame.

I'm glad this article is coming to light.

Those in charge who facilitated this debacle should be shamed.  And publicly beaten.


----------



## DA SWO (Mar 15, 2015)

I do find it ironic that one of the feeding frenzy organizations (Military Times) is now putting this story out.


----------



## AWP (Mar 16, 2015)

DA SWO said:


> I do find it ironic that one of the feeding frenzy organizations (Military Times) is now putting this story out.


 
At the end of the day they are media and the media are vermin...


----------



## BloodStripe (Mar 19, 2015)

http://www.militarytimes.com/longform/military/2015/03/19/task-force-violent-part-3/24309667/

Part 3


----------



## Teufel (Mar 21, 2015)

This is a great series of articles and very illuminating.  I know "Fast Freddy" Galvin very well and know him to be a good officer.  A few points:

Your LNO is a direct reflection of you and your unit.  Sounds like a lot of these problems were exacerbated by having an incompetent and lazy LNO at HHQ.  Sometimes you are only as good as your LNO.  This LNO Major should have been selling Fox Company's capabilities to get them missions and assuaging any doubts about their conduct or proficiency.  Clearly he didn't do either and the Marines paid for it.

The perception of an act may outpace its reality.  Task Force Violent?  It may just be a call sign but that choice of words makes you look over aggressive during an investigation.  Which is what happened.  I am sure there were other cases where the Marines came off as overly aggressive and this probably came back to haunt them.  I have to watch this myself since crazy shit comes out of my mouth all the time.  I was quoted the other day as saying: Most tactical problems can be solved with an equal dose of aggression and violence.  I honestly believe that but you have to know your audience.  Saying that to the devils before patrol is great, having that as your email signature line may not be as great.

Don't lie to your HQ and tell them you are doing one thing and then do another.  That's a no-go under any conditions.


----------



## DA SWO (Mar 21, 2015)

Teufel said:


> This is a great series of articles and very illuminating.  I know "Fast Freddy" Calvin very well and know him to be a good officer.  A few points:
> 
> Your LNO is a direct reflection of you and your unit.  Sounds like a lot of these problems were exacerbated by having an incompetent and lazy LNO at HHQ.  Sometimes you are only as good as your LNO.  This LNO Major should have been selling Fox Company's capabilities to get them missions and assuaging any doubts about their conduct or proficiency.  Clearly he didn't do either and the Marines paid for it.
> 
> ...


Was the LNO from MARSOC, or just an officer no one wanted around?


----------



## Teufel (Mar 22, 2015)

DA SWO said:


> Was the LNO from MARSOC, or just an officer no one wanted around?


Both I think.


----------



## x SF med (Mar 22, 2015)

Teufel said:


> Both I think.



And, THAT, is one of the issues.


----------



## CDG (Mar 27, 2015)

Part 4: http://www.militarytimes.com/longform/military/2015/03/27/task-force-violent-part-4/24310087/


----------



## CDG (Apr 7, 2015)

The 5th, and final, part: http://www.militarytimes.com/longform/military/2015/04/03/task-force-violent-part-5/24310609/


----------



## devilbones (Apr 7, 2015)

I read the final yesterday.  Good read, thanks for posting.


----------



## Ooh-Rah (Feb 8, 2018)

*- UPDATE -*

Very pleased to read this.  It sounds as if Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina took the idea of Semper Fi more seriously than the senior brain-wizards in the Corps.  That is my snarky, uninformed opinion after reading the 5 part story from Military.com.

Corps Affirms Full Exoneration for MARSOC Unit Rocked by Scandal

A senior lawmaker is hailing the Marine Corps for reviewing a decade-old case in which members of a MARSOC company were accused of murdering civilians in Afghanistan, and publicly affirming a full exoneration of the unit. But the commanding officer of the unit in question believes the service should go further to show its support.

Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican and member of the House Armed Services Committee, announced Wednesday he had received a letter from the service confirming the innocence of the Marines assigned to an element they called Task Force Violent.

The letter also promised to follow up with the troops through the Corps' Wounded Warrior Regiment, tasked with caring for the service's wounded, ill and injured service members.


----------



## DA SWO (Feb 8, 2018)

Ooh-Rah said:


> *- UPDATE -*
> 
> Very pleased to read this.  It sounds as if Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina took the idea of Semper Fi more seriously than the senior brain-wizards in the Corps.  That is my snarky, uninformed opinion after reading the 5 part story from Military.com.
> 
> ...


How about lost promotions and ruined careers.


----------



## Centermass (Jan 9, 2019)

**BUMP**

A Marine Special Forces officer has been promoted in retirement after the Navy acknowledged that he was falsely accused of war crimes for leading his men through a terrorist ambush.

The Board for Correction of Naval Records admitted that Marine Maj. Fred Galvin was railroaded when he led the Corps' first special operations unit (MARSOC) into Afghanistan. In March 2007 his unit was attacked by a suicide bomb followed by small arms fire from terrorists. Galvin and his men returned fire, killing 12 enemies, only to see senior military leaders and investigators accuse his men of massacring civilians.

The report said that Galvin should be promoted to lieutenant colonel and given back pay, while also removing the negative reports attached to his record that were associated with the false accusations. Galvin was pleased that the department had finally admitted he was wrongfully accused.

"Findings in this new report from the Pentagon are the full exoneration that has been sought after nearly 12 years," he told the _Washington Free Beacon _in an email. "False reports not only from locals but up to the Prime Minister of Afghanistan that were publicly reinforced by senior military officers led to our removal from Afghanistan, a criminal investigation, and following trial that left many of the facts unclear as they were never publicly addressed by the Pentagon until today."

"This just doesn't clear Fred, this clears his Marines," Morgan said. "As I came to know during the Court of Inquiry and have known ever since, Fred's integrity is intact and unquestionable."

Galvin is now seeking to return to the Marine Corps on active duty. His attorney, Raymond Toney, said the board's report should end any doubts about Galvin's ability to lead future troops.

"The Navy has finally acknowledged that there was no massacre and that Major Galvin and his Marines were unfairly punished for the mistakes of senior military leaders," Toney said in a statement. "Fred Galvin is a model Marine and he should be promoted and reinstated."

Read More


----------



## R.Caerbannog (Jan 9, 2019)

Centermass said:


> **BUMP**
> 
> A Marine Special Forces officer has been promoted in retirement after the Navy acknowledged that he was falsely accused of war crimes for leading his men through a terrorist ambush.
> 
> ...


Any word on what's gonna happen to the investigators and senior officers that tried to frame Major Galvin? I mean, sweet Jesus. Hope to god the brass is held accountable for aiding the enemy.


----------



## Centermass (Jan 9, 2019)

R.Caerbannog said:


> Any word on what's gonna happen to the investigators and senior officers that tried to frame Major Galvin? I mean, sweet Jesus. Hope to god the brass is held accountable for aiding the enemy.



Probably the same thing that happened to those that railroaded Navy SEAL SCPO Keith Barry.....nothing.


----------



## TacoTraplord (Jan 9, 2019)

Major Galvin was the best CO I ever had. Immensely happy to hear about the exoneration.


----------



## R.Caerbannog (Jan 9, 2019)

Centermass said:


> Probably the same thing that happened to those that railroaded Navy SEAL SCPO Keith Barry.....nothing.


That is unfortunate. I guess some animals are more equal than others.


----------



## Gunz (Jan 9, 2019)

And it only took eleven fucking years to make it right. 🙄


----------



## DA SWO (Jan 9, 2019)

R.Caerbannog said:


> Any word on what's gonna happen to the investigators and senior officers that tried to frame Major Galvin? I mean, sweet Jesus. Hope to god the brass is held accountable for aiding the enemy.



One of those officers now wears 4-stars and is the JTF Cdr in Iraq.


----------



## Kraut783 (Jan 9, 2019)

Was the investigation criminal or 15-6 initially? I looked at early links but they are not active anymore.


----------

