U.S. Sailors to Face Discipline for Iran Incident: Officials
by Courtney Kube and Jim Miklaszewski Jun 23 2016, 5:25 am ET
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/u-s-sailors-face-discipline-iran-incident-officials-n597476?cid=sm_fb A Navy investigation into how sailors ended up in Iranian custody has been completed and will recommend disciplinary action, senior military officials told NBC News.
Ten U.S. sailors spent a night in Iranian custody in January after their two boats drifted into Tehran's territorial waters. The sailors were videotaped during their detention and footage of one sailor appeared to show him apologizing to his Iranian captors.
Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a U.S. Navy spokesperson, confirmed that the 5-month investigation is complete and was "being referred to the appropriate commands for adjudication."
Related: U.S. Sailors Detained by Iran Are 'Safely Returned'
Two senior military officials told NBC New the investigation shows that several things went wrong and several sailors made decisions that ultimately led to the embarrassing event.
"It was a calamity of errors," one U.S. military official said.
U.S. officials initially blamed a navigational error for the incident.
The investigation recommends that the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command and U.S. forces Central Command in Bahrain consider several sailors — some assigned on the boats involved and others in their chain of command — for potential disciplinary measures, the senior military officials told NBC News.
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