thedrifter
01-14-08, 09:00 PM
January 14. 2008 6:11PM
NCIS: No evidence of attack on Marine involved in Afghan shooting
By ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. No physical evidence was found to support claims that a Marine special operations unit was attacked by small arms fire following a suicide car bombing last year in Afghanistan, a Naval investigator testified Monday.
But Marine Chief Warrant Officer Robert O'Dwyer said authorities didn't arrive on scene until two months later and had only an hour to look at the site of the bombing. He said there wasn't enough manpower to provide security to allow investigators to look at other alleged attack sites.
"From a law enforcement standpoint, that's ludicrous," said O'Dwyer, an investigator with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
O'Dwyer's testimony opened the second week of a Court of Inquiry, a rarely used administrative fact-finding proceeding investigating the actions of two officers involved in the shootings: Fox company commander Maj. Fred C. Galvin, 38, of the Kansas City area, and Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, of Philadelphia, a platoon leader.
Citing witness accounts, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded last year that the Marines fired indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of roadway.
But lawyers for the officers have said the unit of about 30 Marines was ambushed just after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed minivan near the second Humvee in their six-vehicle convoy. During the first week of testimony, nearly a dozen Marines told the court they heard small arms fire after the explosion and that the convoy's gunners didn't fire until they were fired on.
The last two witnesses of the day were government experts in firearms and metals who seemed to contradict each other about the origins of bullet fragments found in the turret of the second Humvee. Earlier witnesses said that vehicle's gunner did much of the firing during the encounter.
Stacey Kerwien of the Army's criminal investigation lab and a researcher on ammunition, said the fragments she examined likely were U.S. in origin. But she agreed with defense lawyers that an enemy rifle could have fired U.S. bullets.
Army firearms expert Jerry Miller testified that fragments he examined could have come from U.S. or Soviet manufacturers.
A Marine riding in the convoy testified last week that the convoy was shot in two locations and Marines fired back over a span of about 1 1/2 miles long. Navy investigators said the firing occurred over about six miles, O'Dwyer said.
O'Dwyer said witnesses interviewed by NCIS agents said "all the firing came from the gun trucks," but he added that the death toll was unclear. One investigation determined two civilians died and 23 were wounded, while an Army probe concluded as many as 19 died and 50 were wounded.
None of the Afghan police and civilians, and members of an Army military police unit that arrived on the scene less than an hour after the bombing, confirmed the Marine unit's story that there was a coordinated ambush after the bombing, O'Dwyer said.
The unit was on its first deployment following the 2006 creation of the Marine Special Operations Command. After the shooting, eight Marines were sent back to Camp Lejeune, and the rest of the company was taken out of Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, the commander of the Marine Special Operations Command, later said he disagreed with that decision and that the unit responded appropriately. Marine Corps commandant Gen. James T. Conway also criticized an apology issued by an Army brigade commander, calling it premature because an investigation remained under way.
The Marine Corps last used the administrative Court of Inquiry process in 1956, to investigate allegations a drill sergeant marched a group of recruits into a South Carolina creek, where six died.
---
On the Net:
Marine Special Operations Command: http://www.marsoc.usmc.mil
Ellie
NCIS: No evidence of attack on Marine involved in Afghan shooting
By ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. No physical evidence was found to support claims that a Marine special operations unit was attacked by small arms fire following a suicide car bombing last year in Afghanistan, a Naval investigator testified Monday.
But Marine Chief Warrant Officer Robert O'Dwyer said authorities didn't arrive on scene until two months later and had only an hour to look at the site of the bombing. He said there wasn't enough manpower to provide security to allow investigators to look at other alleged attack sites.
"From a law enforcement standpoint, that's ludicrous," said O'Dwyer, an investigator with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
O'Dwyer's testimony opened the second week of a Court of Inquiry, a rarely used administrative fact-finding proceeding investigating the actions of two officers involved in the shootings: Fox company commander Maj. Fred C. Galvin, 38, of the Kansas City area, and Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, of Philadelphia, a platoon leader.
Citing witness accounts, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded last year that the Marines fired indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of roadway.
But lawyers for the officers have said the unit of about 30 Marines was ambushed just after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed minivan near the second Humvee in their six-vehicle convoy. During the first week of testimony, nearly a dozen Marines told the court they heard small arms fire after the explosion and that the convoy's gunners didn't fire until they were fired on.
The last two witnesses of the day were government experts in firearms and metals who seemed to contradict each other about the origins of bullet fragments found in the turret of the second Humvee. Earlier witnesses said that vehicle's gunner did much of the firing during the encounter.
Stacey Kerwien of the Army's criminal investigation lab and a researcher on ammunition, said the fragments she examined likely were U.S. in origin. But she agreed with defense lawyers that an enemy rifle could have fired U.S. bullets.
Army firearms expert Jerry Miller testified that fragments he examined could have come from U.S. or Soviet manufacturers.
A Marine riding in the convoy testified last week that the convoy was shot in two locations and Marines fired back over a span of about 1 1/2 miles long. Navy investigators said the firing occurred over about six miles, O'Dwyer said.
O'Dwyer said witnesses interviewed by NCIS agents said "all the firing came from the gun trucks," but he added that the death toll was unclear. One investigation determined two civilians died and 23 were wounded, while an Army probe concluded as many as 19 died and 50 were wounded.
None of the Afghan police and civilians, and members of an Army military police unit that arrived on the scene less than an hour after the bombing, confirmed the Marine unit's story that there was a coordinated ambush after the bombing, O'Dwyer said.
The unit was on its first deployment following the 2006 creation of the Marine Special Operations Command. After the shooting, eight Marines were sent back to Camp Lejeune, and the rest of the company was taken out of Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, the commander of the Marine Special Operations Command, later said he disagreed with that decision and that the unit responded appropriately. Marine Corps commandant Gen. James T. Conway also criticized an apology issued by an Army brigade commander, calling it premature because an investigation remained under way.
The Marine Corps last used the administrative Court of Inquiry process in 1956, to investigate allegations a drill sergeant marched a group of recruits into a South Carolina creek, where six died.
---
On the Net:
Marine Special Operations Command: http://www.marsoc.usmc.mil
Ellie