IG: 3-star acted properly in spec ops incidents

[unhappycamper]

IG: 3-star acted properly in spec ops incidents
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 17, 2008 7:04:25 EDT

Acting Defense Department Inspector General Gordon Heddell has found that U.S. Special Operations Command deputy commander Army Lt. Gen. Francis Kearney did not abuse his authority or exert improper command influence in two incidents that occurred while Kearney commanded U.S. Central Command’s special operations component.

However, the congressman who requested the IG investigation declared after reading the report that he was “not satisfied” and would askthe Pentagon for more answers.

In one of the incidents the IG investigated, Kearney had ordered murder charges brought against Special Forces soldiers Capt. Dave Staffel and Master Sgt. Troy Anderson of Operational Detachment Alpha 374, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group. The charges stemmed from an Oct. 13, 2006 incident in which Anderson, on Staffel’s orders, shot an Afghan man previously identified as an enemy combatant.

After two military investigations reached conflicting findings, Kearney ordered premeditated murder charges be preferred against the two SF soldiers. Those charges resulted in an Article 32 hearing at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Sept. 19 and 20, 2007, after which Maj. Gen. Thomas Csrnko, then head of U.S. Army Special Forces Command, dismissed all charges against the pair.

Following Csrnko’s decision, Kearney released a statement saying that the Article 32 investigation had accomplished his intent.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_kearney_ig_091608/%2e