.Task Force Violent

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.
 
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.
 
DA SWO said:
...We need to stop publishing names until charges are filed as you are guilty the second an allegation is leveled.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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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.
 
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.
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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.”
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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...
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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.

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

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