Command Failures Led to Niger Ambush, Explosive Report Shows
Military.com 19 Feb 2018 By Richard Sisk
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday that the Pentagon investigation of the Niger ambush in which four U.S. troops were killed is close to being wrapped up, but that was before The New York Times published a detailed and damning report based partly on a video of the firefight.
On his plane back to the U.S. following a week-long trip to Europe, Mattis told reporters traveling with him that Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the AfriCom commander, has an unspecified timeline for completing his review of the draft of the Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/02/19/command-failures-led-niger-ambush-explosive-report-shows.html
@rangerrebew The media keeps referring to these men as "Special Forces". They weren't Special Forces qualified and they weren't even Combat Arms troops. They were SUPPORT troops that were sent to Africa to help restore civilization,not fight. Expecting them to just abandon the mission they had been trained to do and sent to do in order to make an assault on a guerilla base is almost the equivalent of sending someone off to fly a helicopter because they had ridden in helicopters.
No real surprise it was a USMC General that did this. They are generally as full of shit as any human you are ever likely to talk to because they started out from day one being taught,and believing,that "every Marine is a warrior!" Seems like most now believe that "every Marine is the equivalent of a SF qualified NCO." I know I have talked with and laughed at a few 1 enlistment Marines that thought that,myself.
Conventional officers and senior NCO's in both the US Army and the USMC seem have a serious superiority attitude that makes them think they can just ignore reality. They tend to think"These backward natives that can't read and write and who have never been to any of the advanced infantry career courses I have are nothing. A squad of my men can easily defeat a company of them!"
All the while never even considering that those "backwards natives" are operating from their home base,know the terrain,sometimes have the total support of the local population,are well-armed,and oftentimes have been fighting organized armies in that same area for decades.
These idiots make these damn-fool assumptions while sitting comfortably in some secure compound miles away from where they are getting soldiers killed or maimed for life while trying to follow the orders given to them.
Another distinction between US SF troops and US conventional troops. Some fool miles away that has no earthly idea what is going on might THINK he is giving orders to a deployed SF team,but the reality is he is just making suggestions. The team leader is the one who will decide if they do it,and HOW they do it. The "HOW can it be done?" is the prime consideration. IF it can be done with only minor alterations to the plan and there is some reason to believe the team won't be wiped out,they will do it. If it doesn't,they won't.
These guys weren't on a SF team. In reality,they were convention soldiers doing a conventional non-combat job,and nobody had a right to even suggest to them they pull off a raid on an enemy headquarters. They just weren't trained to do that sort of thing,and had no experience doing that sort of thing. The fact that boneheaded General doesn't understand that doesn't make him any less liable. He SHOULD have known better and he has no excuse.
Regardless of who it was,if there is any sense of justice whatsoever left in the US military,that will be the last command they ever give while wearing a uniform.
