# MARSOC Q & A



## Boondocksaint375 (May 23, 2008)

*Just revised on the site:
*

*Summary Statement:* On 23 May 08, the Commander, MARCENT, announced his decision regarding the findings of the Court of Inquiry into the events surrounding the VBIED ambush of elements of Marine Special Operations Company F in Afghanistan on March 4, 2007. He determined that the members of the MSOC-F convoy acted appropriately and in accordance with the rules of engagement and tactics, techniques and procedures in place at the time in response to a complex attack.

*Q1: Does this finding by                                                  the Commander, MARCENT, mean that no further action will                                                  be taken against the MSOC F Marines?**(23                                                  May 08)*
*R1:*                                                 Administrative action related to incidents separate from                                                  the March 4 ambush will be initiated against three MSOC                                                  F officers by MARCENT. Additionally, the Commander,                                                  MARCENT, recommended that two MSOC enlisted Marines face                                                  administrative action by MARSOC. The Commander, MARSOC,                                                  received that recommendation and has not yet made a                                                  determination regarding what actions, if any, he will                                                  take. 
*
Q2: Do the findings of the                                                  Court of Inquiry mean that the issue is resolved?**                                                  (23 May 08)*
                                                 R2:                                                 Although it was determined that MSOC F reacted within                                                  the operations plan, rules of engagement, and law of                                                  warmed conflict at the time of the March 4 ambush, the                                                  scope of the Court of Inquiry extended beyond that                                                  single event. Administrative actions will be initiated                                                  by MARCENT against three MSOC F officers and the MARCENT                                                  Commander concurred with the Court of Inquiry                                                  recommendation that MARSOC initiate administrative                                                  action against two enlisted Marines for incidents                                                  distinct from the March 4 ambush. The MARSOC Commander                                                  will determine what action, if any, is appropriate with                                                  regard to that recommendation.
*
Q3: One Marine was injured                                                  during the March 4 ambush and was not awarded a Purple                                                  Heart medal because of the investigation. Will he                                                  finally receive his Purple Heart?* *(23 May 08)*
                                                 R3:                                                 Receipt of a Purple Heart award requires that a service                                                  member's actions following a distinguishing act are                                                  honorable. The findings of the Court of Inquiry that the                                                  Marines’ response to the ambush was consistent with the                                                  operations order, rules of engagement, and law of armed                                                  conflict clears the way to award the Marine injured in                                                  the ambush with a Purple Heart medal. The ongoing                                                  investigation also delayed the presentation of several                                                  Combat Action Ribbons. The MARSOC Commander, MGen.                                                  Dennis Hejlik, is the awarding authority for MSOC F. He                                                  has directed that any awards placed on hold due to the                                                  ongoing investigation be processed as quickly as                                                  possible now.
*
Q4**: Did the Court of                                                  Inquiry make any other recommendations that were                                                  endorsed by the MARCENT Commander?* *(23 May 08)*
                                                 R4: Yes.                                                  MARSOC was advised to review its Joint Mission Essential                                                  Task List(JMETLs) and organizational structure to                                                  determine if any changes might be made to further                                                  improve the ability of MARSOC units to integrate                                                  operationally with other SOF units. In fact, this review                                                  was conducted several months ago on MARSOC’s initiative                                                  and resulted in a significant re-organization and                                                  alignment of our personnel and capabilities. These                                                  changes occurred in two general areas.
                                                                                                                                                   First, we recognized a need                                                  for a more robust “indirect” warfighting capability, so                                                  we re-aligned our table of organization to more teams                                                  within the Marine Special Operations Advisor Group and                                                  we injected Foreign Internal Defense training into the                                                  pre-deployment training cycle of the Marine Special                                                  Operations Companies.
                                                 Second, we reduced the size                                                  of the Marine Special Operations Companies to free up                                                  structure spaces for more maintenance and sustainment                                                  personnel. 
                                                 The basic building block of                                                  any MARSOC unit is now the Marine Special Operations                                                  Teams that consist of approximately 14 Marines and                                                  Sailors. These teams can deploy individually or as                                                  Marine Special Operations Companies of that include                                                  three teams and are task-organized as needed to include                                                  additional teams and specialized enabler detachments to                                                  provide intelligence fusion, fire support, maintenance,                                                  logistics, and a wide range of capabilities based on the                                                  needs of the mission.
*
Q5: When this incident                                                  occurred, some people held the opinion that the MSOC F                                                  Marines were falsely accused and that they were caught                                                  up in the gears of an inter-service rivalry. Now that                                                  the Court of Inquiry found that they reacted                                                  appropriately after the March 4 ambush, do you think                                                  your Marines were treated fairly?* *(23 May 08)*
                                                 R5: The senior leaders in this                                                  situation made decisions based on the information                                                  available to them and that were within their authority                                                  and responsibility as leaders. Our concern from the                                                  start has been to preserve the presumption of innocence                                                  of our Marines while at the same time ensuring the                                                  investigative process was carried out fairly and                                                  thoroughly. This sort of investigative process is one of                                                  the key distinctions between the U.S. military and our enemy. Our                                                  enemy kills civilians without hesitation and with                                                  complete disregard for the law of armed conflict; Your                                                  military sees this type of behavior as reprehensible and                                                  investigates allegations of such incidents in order to                                                  ensure that we maintain the rule of law. In this case,                                                  the investigative process did exactly what it was                                                  intended to do: We investigated thoroughly and                                                  determined that the MSOC F Marines reacted appropriately                                                  to the March 4 ambush.

http://www.marsoc.usmc.mil/questions-responses.html


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## tigerstr (May 24, 2008)

Is it just my impression that 2-3 young Officers got burned maybe for nothing? Will they pay the bill (by admin action) for mistakes made in the first time employment of a MSOC?

Remains to be seen, but I am afraid that now that the "high profile" aspect of this deployment (the incident) has been proven false, nobody in the media will care about what happened to the career and personal dignity and life of a major and 1-2 captains.

Is something going to happen to the Army brass that were so quick to fill "ashamed" and apologize about the so-called incident?


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## Gypsy (May 24, 2008)

> Our concern from the start has been to preserve the *presumption of innocence of our Marines* while at the same time ensuring the investigative process was carried out fairly and thoroughly.



Hear that, Murtha?


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## Gypsy (May 24, 2008)

tigerstr said:


> Remains to be seen, but I am afraid that now that the "high profile" aspect of this deployment (the incident) has been proven false, nobody in the media will care about what happened to the career and personal dignity and life of a major and 1-2 captains.



Yeah, they'll put this story on page 10 of section 12...


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## DA SWO (May 24, 2008)

The leaders made some mistakes that were serious enough to warrent a minor administrative reprimand.


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## Rabid Badger (May 24, 2008)

SOWT said:


> The leaders made some mistakes that were serious enough to warrant a minor administrative reprimand.



hate to say it but probably cost the MARSOC effort a lot of support money in the process as well.....:uhh:


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## GET_SOME (May 26, 2008)

Gypsy said:


> Yeah, they'll put this story on page 10 of section 12...



Exactly, when I first saw the story it was on the front page, now when i found the most recent news I just happened to be digging through the back pages.


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