Pentagon closes review of deadly Niger ambush, upholds blame of junior officers

The Pentagon announced late Wednesday that it had officially ended its investigation into the deadly Oct. 4, 2017, ambush in Niger, holding up earlier findings that pinned junior officers as largely responsible.

In a statement from acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, released at midnight on Thursday, he said he was “satisfied that all findings, awards, and accountability actions were thorough and appropriate” when investigating the operation that killed four Army soldiers.

{mosads}“The investigation identified systemic areas for improvement and the Department of Defense has taken corrective action — specifically in the areas of training, risk management, operational procedures, field discipline and leadership,” Shanahan said.

He added that throughout the process the Pentagon has focused the families of the four soldiers.

“We knew we had to be thorough to ensure the right decisions were made for our service members and provide the opportunity for closure to the families.”

Army Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright and Sgt. La David T. Johnson were killed in the ambush by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria-loyal forces. The four were part of a 12-member Army special forces unit accompanying 30 Nigerien troops on a mission to capture or kill an ISIS leader in the area.

The operation initially started out as a reconnaissance mission but was changed twice after the group left the base, becoming significantly more dangerous.

At the tail end of the mission, the under-equipped group was quickly overrun by more than 100 ISIS fighters as they were leaving the village of Tongo Tongo.

Four Nigerien soldiers also were killed, and two U.S. troops and eight Nigerien troops were wounded.

Shanahan in April appointed Army Gen. Robert Brown to reexamine the events and issues that led to the attack after lawmakers and family members of those killed demanded that more senior commanders be held accountable.

Eight Army Green Berets and an Air Force major general were reprimanded after the initial investigation, completed last year, and in February a Special Forces lieutenant colonel was fired from his position as battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade.

Higher ranked officers in the chain of command were not punished, which Shanahan agreed with.

But lawmakers and family members questioned whether the junior officers were unfairly blamed over the higher-ranked commanders.

The monthlong review conducted by Brown — which was laid out in 176-page unclassified report released on Wednesday — found that the actions taken after the initial review were adequate.

The report found a number of “individual, organizational, and institutional failures and deficiencies that contributed to the tragic events” but “no single failure or deficiency” to point to for the deaths.

The Defense Department also announced on Wednesday that the Army approved nine awards for valor, Silver or Bronze stars, including four awarded posthumously to the soldiers killed.

Following the report’s release, family members of those killed blasted the Pentagon for not taking further disciplinary action beyond letters of reprimand issued after the first investigation was concluded, according to ABC News.

The families on Wednesday had been given redacted copies of the original investigation, a report that was not released publicly when it was completed last year due to still pending decisions on who should be held accountable for mistakes that lead to the attack.

Debra Gannon, the mother of Jeremiah Johnson, told ABC that she was “angry as hell.”

Arnold Wright, the father of Dustin Wright, told the outlet that he doesn’t “think any of the families feel satisfied” with how the investigation and punishments have been handled.

“The bottom line is, they could have told us the truth within three or four months. I think the reason it stretched out to 20 months was because they were trying to figure out a way not to tell the truth,” Wright added.

Cowanda Johnson, La David Johnson’s aunt, told ABC that she and Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, became frustrated and walked out of a tense meeting between Army officials and the four families.

“They could have spent a couple of dollars and mailed [the report] to us and we would’ve gotten the same thing out of it,” Gannon said of the meeting.

Updated at 12:45 p.m.