It could have been the radioman in one of the patrols that failed to report in or erroneously reported his position, it could have been someone farther in the rear who failed to coordinate their movements or it could have been that and some combination of other mistakes. That part of it really isn't the bigger issue. The more important issue is the army's reaction.
I guess I have a different take on it. IMO, any platoon leader has an obligation to know where his platoon is at all times. When I was in the service, even though peace time, if I didn't know where my people were, I'd reach out and "touch them". That was my job as the platoon leader's track commander, to assist him in keeping tabs on where all of our units were. And it his job to relay to the troop (company) commander so he could update his situation board.
I always monitored both the platoon and troop "push" on the radio so that we wouldn't run into each other and accidentally run over one of their LP/OPs.
So if there was a cover up, it probably occurred at company level, because those leaders knew they had screwed up and were trying to pull a CYA.
The battalion, or divisional staff would only know what was being reported up to them, IMO.
But you might have a point because someone was coherent enought to launch a 15-6 investigation as a friendly fire incident, so it could have been a cover-up at higher levels.
But that's pretty stupid, IMO. And were I a divisional ommander, I don't think I would be willing to put out a BS story and award a Silver Star on my own initiative unless I thought I actually had the facts..
But hey... we all know the military is political and CYA is common practice in order to protect careers. It's nothing new.
But I still think that Tillman's award should be based upon his reaction ACCORDING to the situation he thought he was facing, and not be jeopardized merely because it was a friendly fire incident.
Hawk |
