Schofield soldier may face court-martial in shooting
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
FORWARD OPERATING BASE McHENRY, Iraq — A Schofield Barracks infantryman faces possible court-martial for shooting and killing an Iraqi man while he was being apprehended in a search for terrorists southwest of Kirkuk, a U.S. military commander said.
"There is an investigation ongoing for actions that appear to be certainly outside of our intent, and probably outside of the orders he was given," said Lt. Col. Scott Leith, who commands the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment.
Little information was released about the soldier or Friday's shooting pending the review, but Leith said, "I believe it was excessive force."
"It's outside of the guidance we've given all of our soldiers, apparently," he said.
Leith said 1-27 soldiers were conducting a morning search for known terrorists in the region of Al Huwijah, a city of more than 85,000 mostly Sunni Arabs about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk.
The area is an extension of the so-called "Sunni Triangle" north and west of Baghdad where many attacks on U.S. forces have occurred. During such searches, soldiers cordon off sections of homes or businesses and search key buildings within the zone.
The middle-age Iraqi man was running and was "resisting apprehension," but Leith did not specify how.
After the shooting, the soldier, identified only as being "young," was removed from all duties and moved to Kirkuk Air Base.
"Pending the investigation, he's not serving with this unit," Leith, 40, said.
Leith conducted a commander's inquiry and the investigation, which could take several weeks, has been shifted to the 4th Infantry Division, whose headquarters are in Tikrit, the higher command for the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light).
Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Division, said the investigation will determine if the soldier acted in accordance with the Army's rules of engagement.
"Incidents like this are taken very seriously," she said. "We absolutely do not condone the use of excessive force. We have published rules of engagement that soldiers are trained on."
Any charges would be based on the outcome of the investigation, Leith said.
The incident comes as the 1-27 Wolfhounds have made significant progress in gaining the cooperation of local Iraqis but also have had to deal with the Feb. 18 shooting of a woman and her two daughters. The woman's 14-year-old daughter was killed.
That incident began at about 11:30 a.m. as soldiers from 1-27 and the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry of the 4th Division traveled in a convoy near Al Huwijah, officials said.
A 152 mm bomb detonated on the roadside, a Humvee was damaged, and two soldiers suffered superficial wounds. They were treated on site and returned to duty, Aberle said.
The three civilians — who Leith said were not identifiable as females from a distance — immediately ran away, leading to suspicion they had planted the bomb. The group ran from an area to which detonation wires from the bomb led, Aberle said.
The soldiers fired on the group when they saw what was believed to be a rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG, in the field," said 2nd Brigade Adjutant Maj. Scott Halstead.
No weapon was found, Halstead said.
"Our soldiers did the right thing," he added. No disciplinary action is expected.
Leith said the soldiers had difficulty coping with the shootings.
"In fact, the whole unit did," he said. Mental health specialists were brought in to counsel soldiers.
Leith visited the injured woman in the hospital, and plans on visiting her again. He also said that he will visit the family of the man killed Friday.
"I've had some contact. ... He was not married, and not from the region," Leith said.
The Wolfhounds have interacted with thousands of civilians, most often with positive results. But they also have experienced direct fire several times.
The battalion is responsible for an 87-mile, east-to-west swath of territory that has seen the most violence in the northern Iraqi region the 2nd Brigade operates in.
"Obviously, what we're doing is putting young soldiers in life-or-death situations," Leith said. "We train them very well, give them guidelines they must operate within, and try to anticipate every situation they might be in.
"But these are young Americans with a rifle in their hands that was designed to kill people, so those decisions are made in a snap, in an instant, and most of the time those are good. Sometimes they are not good decisions."
More than 20 high-echelon Baath Party officials and many more mid-ranking members from the region met with Leith on Friday to tell him they want to end their opposition to coalition forces.
Civic leaders also were scheduled to meet with Leith to pledge their support for ending the insurgency.
"(We've taken) 10 steps forward, and two steps back," Leith said.
