Wanat commanders reprimands overturned
Jerry920 sends us a link from ABC News which report that the letters of reprimand for three officers involved in the battle at Wanat, Afghanistan have been overturned;
Letters of reprimand are seen as career-enders in the military because recipients are passed up for promotion.
Campbell originally had determined that the officers should receive the punishments for what he saw as dereliction of duty in failing to prepare adequate defenses at a base that that had been established only days prior to the attack.
But he reversed himself after the officers had an opportunity to appeal the decision and they presented their case.
Uncle Jimbo and I have tipped glasses with some of the Wanat heroes and I always defer to him for expert analysis of the battle and the ensuing discussion afterwards.
Blivethead Virginia senator Jim Webb released this statement in regards to the decision, according to the Army Times;
I find it deeply troubling that the Army has exonerated these officers and in the process rejected the findings of the independent review. This development raises concerns regarding the principle of command accountability in the Army.
There’s that disconnect again. Since Webb wasn’t present for the investigation, I have to wonder how he arrived at that conclusion.
Category: Military issues
A never-been civilian wants to judge the military command accountability?
My disdain runs deep.
Asking Webb what he thinks of this situation is almost as silly as asking Donald Trump if Obama should have fired General McChrystal.
I read Jimbo’s piece earlier today, excellent as always. I’m glad the General has the werewithall to reverse himself and restore these officers honor. Webb can go suck it!
Apparently SEN Webb noticed that the death of Rep Murtha left an opening for the Democrats’ ‘attack dog. Too bad VA will never dump him.
Webb is a friggin stupid chucklehead. He makes a lot of statements without getting his facts together first. He is just like his buddy James Jones, living in the past. What can you expect from a guy that tells the President to fuck off when he asks him about how his son is doing. Webb wants to be SecDef so bad he can taste it. He did not win by a huge margin in 2006 and is taking a lot of flak for his position on challenging the latest Agent Orange presumptive conditions approved by Shinseki. There is a huge Vietnam veteran population here in Virginia and they are getting their shit together to oppose him for reelection in 2012. It is truly amazing how people that are not there can bloviate about things they no nothing about. You can bet your ass that if it was a Marine unit he would have nothing but praise for their tactics. What a joke.
Giving men Silver Stars and Letters of Reprimand for the same action in war is dumb and shouldn’t happen for obvious reasons of crticism. (James Webb didn’t get that part, did he?) Army’s just fixed that.
Did Webb have any comments about the weapons that failed to fire when needed?