Marines disciplined in Haditha case

[thedrifter]

Marines disciplined in Haditha case

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer

A major general and two senior officers have been disciplined for their roles in investigating the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, former commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, has received a letter of censure from the secretary of the Navy for the "actions he took and failed to take" in response to the killings.

The statement from the Marine Corps does not elaborate.

Col. Stephen W. Davis and Col. Robert G. Sokoloski also received letters of censure.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

3 senior officers sanctioned on Hadithah
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 5, 2007 16:23:36 EDT

A two-star general and two colonels have been administratively sanctioned over their response to the Hadithah incident in November 2005, in which 24 Iraqi civilians were allegedly killed by members of an infantry battalion, according to a Corps statement released Wednesday.

Navy Secretary Donald Winter sent letters of censure to Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, former commanding general of 2nd Marine Division; Col. Stephen Davis, former commander of Regimental Combat Team 2; and Col. Robert Sokoloski, former chief of staff for 2nd Marine Division.

The letters of censure will be filed in the three officers’ military records, the release said.

The determinations were made by Lt. Gen. Jim Mattis, commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command, who decided that the actions of the three officers did not constitute violations under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the release said.

“[Mattis] did not find any evidence that these senior officers intended to cover up the incident,” the statement said. “He did determine that their actions, or inactions, demonstrated lack of due diligence on the part of the senior commanders and staff.”

The statement included a quote from Commandant Gen. James Conway, saying accountability and responsibility provide the foundation for Marines’ actions.

“While these three officers have served their country and Corps exceedingly well for decades, their actions, inactions and decisions in the aftermath of the Haditha incident did not meet the high standards we expect of Marine senior officer leadership.

“These administrative sanctions will affect officers who have dedicated their lives to our Corps and country, but they are necessary actions in light of what happened on November 19, 2005, and in the weeks and months following.”

The statement also said that Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson, former commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), “has been fully exonerated of any culpability related to the events of Nov. 19.”

On that day, members of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, allegedly shot 24 civilians after their convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb, killing one of the Marines.

Four squad members were charged with murder in connection with the shootings, and four other officers have been charged with other violations relating to the command’s actions after the incident.

Officials have dropped charges against two of the four squad members; an investigating officer has recommended dropping charges against a third. The fourth, a squad leader, is continuing with his Article 32 hearing at Camp Pendleton, Calif., this week.

Winter’s decision didn’t come as a surprise to one officer who worked closely with the 2nd Marine Division in Iraq during that time.

“They operated on the principle of intimidation and bullying,” said this now-retired officer, who spoke on background. “They were very closed fist with their information. They were extremely reluctant to share information. It certainly indicated that they were very insecure in what they were doing.

“The division staff basically thought they didn’t have to answer to anybody,” he said, noting that Sokoloski — a lawyer by training — invoked the Fifth Amendment in refusing to cooperate with the Hadithah investigations.

He described a “major split” created by the division staff with the higher II MEF command. “I’m glad Steve Johnson has been totally cleared with this thing,” he added. “It certainly stopped at the division [level].”

The letters of censure are administrative actions and are not considered punitive. “You can hang that up on the wall next to your MCI certificate,” the former officer said of the letter of censure.

The administrative action, he noted, is in contrast to some of the actions taken against 3/1’s officers, including former the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who’s facing charges that he failed to seriously investigate the civilians’ deaths. “If they’re piling on charges of the battalion commander, and they’re only issuing letters of censure to the commanders, you kind of wonder,” he said.

Huck is now the assistant deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations. His planned retirement last year was suspended until the Hadithah investigation is completed.

Sokoloski has been serving as the II Marine Expeditionary Force staff judge advocate, the senior legal adviser to the current MEF commander, Lt. Gen. Keith Stalder.

Davis has been serving as the MEF operations officer, or G-3.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Three Marines censured for roles in Haditha deaths
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, September 6, 2007



ARLINGTON, Va. — Three senior Marines are receiving administrative punishments for their roles in the reporting and the investigation of the deaths of 24 Iraqi citizens in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005, Marine officials announced Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, former commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division; Col. Stephen Davis, former commanding officer of the 2nd Marines’ Regimental Combat Team 2; and Col. Robert Sokoloski, former chief of staff of the 2nd Marines (Forward), all received letters of censure from Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter for their roles in the incident.

The letters were issued after Marine Lt. Gen. James Mattis, appointed to oversee the case, did not find any evidence that the officers intended to cover up the incident, the release said.

Instead, after considering witness statements and physical evidence, Mattis determined that the actions or inaction of the three officers “demonstrated a lack of due diligence on the part of senior commanders and staff,” the release said.

Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Johnson, former commanding general of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), meanwhile, has been “fully exonerated of any culpability” related to the Haditha killings, the release said.

The Iraqis killed in Haditha, in Anbar province, included at least 15 noncombatant civilians, according to reports from the ongoing court proceedings against Marines charged in their deaths.

Some of the witnesses have alleged that their deaths were in retribution for an earlier attack against a Marine convoy with an improvised explosive device that killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas.

The letters will become part of the officers’ official military records, according to a senior Marine official who spoke to reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday about the censure.

Such letters are at the far end of a range of noncriminal punishments issued to military members that range from verbal counseling by a superior, at the least significant, to “nonpunitive letters of counseling,” which aren’t part of official records, to this: a secretarial letter of censure.

Only service secretaries can sign such letters, and are the most severe punishment that can be issued to a military officer, short of criminal punishment, the officer said.

“It’s very unusual” for such letters to be issued, the officer said.

The officer would not confirm definitely that the letters would actually end the careers of the three officers — “career-ending is a difficult word to define,” he said — but suggested this might be the case, “given the competitive nature of promotions.”

Moreover, the officer said, the letters might potentially affect each of the officers at retirement by triggering a grade determination review that could lead to a reduction in rank, and thus a reduction in retirement pension.

However, the contents of the letters themselves are not releasable, the officer said. The missives are “private communications between the secretary and the officer,” and protected under the Privacy Act from public release.

Huck is currently serving at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia as deputy assistant commandant for plans, policy and operations.

Davis and Sokoloski are both at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where they are serving with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Sokoloski is staff judge advocate for the MEF, and Davis is 2nd MEF’s chief of staff.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Three U.S. Marines sanctioned over Haditha

Published: Sept. 6, 2007 at 11:35 AM
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marine Corps said three officers who were found to haven't committed any crimes related to civilian deaths Haditha, Iraq, have been sanctioned.

The Marines announced the three officers were sanctioned in connection with the killings of 24 civilians in the city but military investigators determined they hadn't committed any crimes, CNN reported Thursday.

The secretary of the Navy sent official letters of censure to Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, former commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division; Col. Stephen Davis, former commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division; and Col. Robert Sokoloski, former chief of staff of 2nd Marine Division.

"While these three officers have served their country and Corps exceedingly well for decades, their actions, inactions and decisions in the aftermath of the Haditha incident did not meet the high standards we expect of Marine senior officer leadership," Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in a statement.

A Marine Corps statement said Huck was censured "for the actions he took and failed to take in response to the circumstances" surrounding the Haditha incident, while Davis was sanctioned for failing to act appropriately when informed of the deaths and Sokoloski was censured "for his unsatisfactory performance of duty."

Ellie