Have two more fallen from the U.S. Military purge tree? This comes just days after the second-in-command of the US nuclear arsenal was suspended, pending investigation for ‘gambling’. Although this is a major breach and lives were unfortunately lost, consider the following:
Did the leadership at Fort Hood or the Navy base in D.C. get canned for those breaches?
What about the other insider attacks lately on soldiers from the foreign soldiers the U.S. armed forces trains?
What about the previous attacks on U.S. Military bases from the outside by terrorist groups throughout the last decade?
Maybe it is the case, maybe it’s not.
WASHINGTON — In a rare move, the top Marine on Monday forced two generals into retirement after concluding they should be held to account for failing to secure a base in Afghanistan against a Taliban attack that killed two Marines.
Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said in announcing his decision that Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant “did not take adequate force protection measures” at Camp Bastion, a sprawling British-run airfield in southwestern Afghanistan that was the Taliban target.
The Sept. 14, 2012, attack by 15 Taliban fighters caught the Marines by surprise and resulted in the deaths of Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible, 40, and Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell, 27. The Taliban also destroyed six Marine Harrier fighter jets valued at $200 million and badly damaged others. It was one of the most stunning and damaging attacks of the war. Fourteen of the 15 attackers were killed; one was captured.
Gurganus, who was the top American commander in that region of Afghanistan at the time, did not order a formal investigation after the attack. In June, Amos asked U.S. Central Command to investigate, and he said he decided to take action against the two generals after reviewing the results of that investigation.
“While I am mindful of the degree of difficulty the Marines in Afghanistan faced in accomplishing a demanding combat mission with a rapidly declining force, my duty requires me to remain true to the timeless axioms relating to command responsibility and accountability,” Amos said.
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Sturdevant was in charge of Marine aviation in that region of Afghanistan. Amos said Sturdevant “did not adequately assess the force protection situation” at Bastion.
Amos asked the two generals to retire and they agreed.
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A few weeks after the Taliban attack, Gurganus told a news conference that “there’s no mystery” to how the Taliban managed to get onto the supposedly secure base and launch their deadly attack using rocket-propelled grenades.
Gurganus said they used simple wire cutters to penetrate the perimeter fence, which was not equipped with alarms. “We have sophisticated surveillance equipment, but it can’t see everywhere, all the time,” he said. “This was a well-planned attack. I make no excuses for it. This was well planned and it was well executed.”
Full article: Generals forced to retire for Afghan breach (NY Post)
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