via The Washington Post.
The commandant of the Marine Corps on Monday took the extraordinary step of firing two generals for not adequately protecting a giant base in southern Afghanistan that Taliban fighters stormed last year, resulting in the deaths of two Marines and the destruction of a half a dozen U.S. fighter jets.
It is the first time since the Vietnam War that a general, let alone two, has been sacked for negligence after a successful enemy attack. But the assault also was unprecedented: Fifteen insurgents entered a NATO airfield and destroyed almost an entire squadron of Marine AV-8B Harrier jets, the largest single loss of allied materiel in the almost 12-year Afghan war.
The commandant, Gen. James F. Amos, said the two generals did not deploy enough troops to guard the base and take other measures to prepare for a ground attack by the Taliban. The two, Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, the top Marine commander in southern Afghanistan at the time, and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant, the senior Marine aviation officer in the area, “failed to exercise the level of judgment expected of commanders of their rank,” Amos said.
“It was unrealistic to think that a determined enemy would not be able to penetrate the perimeter fence,” Amos said.
The incident brings into stark relief the unique challenges of waging war in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops over the past two years has forced commanders to triage, sometimes leading them to thin out defenses. The U.S. military also has been forced to rely on other nations’ troops, who often are not as well trained or equipped, to safeguard American personnel and supplies.
The attack occurred at Camp Bastion, a British-run NATO air base in Helmand province that adjoins Camp Leatherneck, a vast U.S. facility that serves as the NATO headquarters for southwestern Afghanistan. Because Leatherneck does not have a runway, the Marines use Bastion as their principal air hub in the country. Several hundred Marines live and work on the British side, and dozens of U.S. helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are parked there.
The British are responsible for guarding Bastion, which is ringed by a chain-link fence, triple coils of razor wire and watchtowers from which sentries can scan the horizon for any potential attackers. British commanders had assigned the task of manning the towers to troops from Tonga, which has sent 55 soldiers to Afghanistan.
On the night of the attack, the Tongans left unmanned the nearest watchtower to the point of the Taliban breach, according to an investigation by the U.S. Central Command.
Other aspects of the U.S.-British security plan were “sub-optimal,” the investigation found, with no single officer in charge of security for both Bastion and Leatherneck. The security arrangement created command-and-control relationships “contrary to the war-fighting principles of simplicity,” Amos wrote in a memo accepting the investigation.
Troop reductions also affected security measures. When Gurganus took command in 2011, about 17,000 U.S. troops were in his area of operations. By the time of the attack, in September 2012, the American contingent had dropped to 7,400 because of troop-withdrawal requirements imposed by President Obama.
No sympathy on this.
Marines at this base were making videos. Asking movie stars out on dates. SNCO's weren't simply away doing paperwork. They appeared in the videos with LCpls.
This was a no brainer.
This is what needed to happen looooong ago.
NOTE: Below is one of the many videos that were produced on Camp Leatherneck. This is the activities that were encouraged instead of fortifying the base and doing patrols. Check out the Marines in the video.
I counted at least 2 Marines with rockers and I even think I saw one of our TBS boys acting an ass (he needs to be recycled...). Popularity and laxity with your Marines isn't doing them a favor. Its lining them up to get killed.
Note 1: I won't even get into the rash of stupidity surrounding Marines asking celebrities out on dates. Instead of squashing the insanity, HQMC encouraged it.
Now the Wing Commander that happens to be Commandant wants to get tough. Too late cowboy. You set all this in motion. Time to reap the whirlwind.
++paf+fc-20++(3).jpg)
++paf+fc-20++(4).jpg)
+self-propelled+air+defense+system+(SPAD)+Self-propelled+anti-aircraft+weapon+spag+ciws+pla+army+plaaf+pakistan+export+(2).jpg)
+self-propelled+air+defense+system+(SPAD)+Self-propelled+anti-aircraft+weapon+spag+ciws+pla+army+plaaf+pakistan+export+(1).gif)
