thedrifter
06-22-07, 06:53 AM
Congress looks at military death notifications
By Scott Lindlaw - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jun 21, 2007 21:24:30 EDT
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal lawmakers have begun scrutinizing the military’s mechanisms for notifying families of service members killed in combat, spurred by high-profile missteps including the case of Pat Tillman, the onetime NFL star killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, a panel of the House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony in Washington from Army and Air Force generals, a retired Marine Corps general and a high-ranking Navy officer.
Members of the Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee want to know how service branches have improved policies and procedures for notifying the next of kin of wounded and killed service members in light of previous missteps.
“Obviously, we want [notifications] done in the most timely fashion possible so the family can have the most up-to-date information possible,” said New York Rep. John McHugh, the top Republican on the subcommittee.
Last year, The Associated Press reported that Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey had initiated a review of hundreds of casualty reports from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The review found the families of seven soldiers who died were given incorrect or misleading information about the deaths.
Tillman was the most famous military volunteer in the war on terrorism, and his death became an infamous symbol of military deception. The Army Ranger from San Jose was killed by friendly fire in eastern Afghanistan in April 2004, but his family was not told the truth for five weeks. Instead, they and the nation were told he had died in an enemy ambush.
Two months after Tillman died, Lt. Andre Tyson and Spc. Patrick McCaffrey, two California National Guardsmen, were killed by the Iraqi civil-defense soldiers they were training.
The Army initially told the families the two men were killed in a conventional ambush. It was two years before their survivors learned they were murdered.
Tillman was one impetus for the hearing, but the panel has heard of casualty-notification problems in several other cases, Armed Services Committee spokeswoman Loren Dealy said Thursday. The subcommittee wants to know whether the service branches have learned from their mistakes and implemented changes, Dealy said.
The subcommittee’s next step will depend on its findings at the hearing, she said.
No family members of slain soldiers are scheduled to testify, because the hearing is meant solely to examine the military’s notification processes, Dealy said.
Kevin Arata, a spokesman for the Army’s Human Resources Command, said the Army took several steps last year to improve its notification process.
Now, all hostile-fire deaths in combat theaters must be investigated by the soldier’s unit, Arata said. The Army’s Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Center must be notified of all suspected friendly fire cases, and both the Criminal Investigation Command and unit commanders in the field must report their hostile-death probes to that center, he said.
“The Army is always looking for ways to improve processes on how we serve soldiers and families,” Arata said.
Ellie
By Scott Lindlaw - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jun 21, 2007 21:24:30 EDT
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal lawmakers have begun scrutinizing the military’s mechanisms for notifying families of service members killed in combat, spurred by high-profile missteps including the case of Pat Tillman, the onetime NFL star killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, a panel of the House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony in Washington from Army and Air Force generals, a retired Marine Corps general and a high-ranking Navy officer.
Members of the Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee want to know how service branches have improved policies and procedures for notifying the next of kin of wounded and killed service members in light of previous missteps.
“Obviously, we want [notifications] done in the most timely fashion possible so the family can have the most up-to-date information possible,” said New York Rep. John McHugh, the top Republican on the subcommittee.
Last year, The Associated Press reported that Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey had initiated a review of hundreds of casualty reports from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The review found the families of seven soldiers who died were given incorrect or misleading information about the deaths.
Tillman was the most famous military volunteer in the war on terrorism, and his death became an infamous symbol of military deception. The Army Ranger from San Jose was killed by friendly fire in eastern Afghanistan in April 2004, but his family was not told the truth for five weeks. Instead, they and the nation were told he had died in an enemy ambush.
Two months after Tillman died, Lt. Andre Tyson and Spc. Patrick McCaffrey, two California National Guardsmen, were killed by the Iraqi civil-defense soldiers they were training.
The Army initially told the families the two men were killed in a conventional ambush. It was two years before their survivors learned they were murdered.
Tillman was one impetus for the hearing, but the panel has heard of casualty-notification problems in several other cases, Armed Services Committee spokeswoman Loren Dealy said Thursday. The subcommittee wants to know whether the service branches have learned from their mistakes and implemented changes, Dealy said.
The subcommittee’s next step will depend on its findings at the hearing, she said.
No family members of slain soldiers are scheduled to testify, because the hearing is meant solely to examine the military’s notification processes, Dealy said.
Kevin Arata, a spokesman for the Army’s Human Resources Command, said the Army took several steps last year to improve its notification process.
Now, all hostile-fire deaths in combat theaters must be investigated by the soldier’s unit, Arata said. The Army’s Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Center must be notified of all suspected friendly fire cases, and both the Criminal Investigation Command and unit commanders in the field must report their hostile-death probes to that center, he said.
“The Army is always looking for ways to improve processes on how we serve soldiers and families,” Arata said.
Ellie