US sailors ill-prepared for Iran encounter in Gulf

Report: US sailors ill-prepared for Iran encounter in Gulf

By ROBERT BURNS -- AP National Security Writer
30 Jun 16

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Weak leadership, poor judgment, a lack of "warfighting toughness" and a litany of errors led to the embarrassing capture and detention by Iran of 10 U.S. sailors in the Persian Gulf in January, according to a Navy investigation released Thursday.

Six officers and three enlisted sailors have been disciplined or face disciplinary action.

The trouble began even before the sailors left port in Kuwait aboard two 50-foot boats on a short-notice, 300-mile journey to Bahrain. They were delayed, unprepared, poorly supervised and ill-suited for the mission, the report said.

At least one sailor had been up all night with boat repairs. Their higher headquarters failed to arrange air or surface monitoring of the boats' transit. Such monitoring "would likely have prevented" the sailors' capture by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, according to the report.

The Navy's top officer, Adm. John Richardson, was presenting the investigation's results at a Pentagon news conference.

The lengthy investigation concluded that while the boat crews erred in entering Iranian waters, the Iranians violated international law by impeding the boats' "innocent passage," and violated U.S. sovereign immunity by boarding and seizing the boats.

In addition to the range of problems that plagued the crew and the sailors' chain of command, the incident has raised questions about the Navy's preparedness in a waterway known to pose risks amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

(Excerpt)

Read more:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-06-30-09-58-45



Obama has quietly replaced the upper echelon of commanders in every branch of our Military. His aim has been the decimation of our troops by every means necessary. Our service personnel are taught sensitivity and not the means to use the Geneva Convention rules of name rank an serial number. Nothing else. Obama wants them to be weak, embarrassed and run away. His aim has been to diminish our power and stature in the world. According to Obama, what could go wrong? Homosexuals, Bisexuals, Transsexuals, Metrosexuals. Men parading as women. Women parading as men. All are preferred classes in today’s joke of a military. Weak leadership, poor judgment and a lack of “warfighting toughness”. Just where Obama wants our military...

 

It's Obama's fault if a soldier fails to pass a PT test too.

 

It's going to be funny watching the SAME guys who told us after 2010 (even after 2009)..."Stop blaming Bush for everything!!!!"......


still blaming President Obama for them losing their car keys in 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050.

 

More hyper-partisan Bull(*)(*)(*)(*) from you. That isn't Obama's intentions, but don't let facts get in the way of your idiotic rants.

 

How do you know what his intentions are? Did he confide in you? We can see what he's done to the military these last 8 years. The guy is clueless...

 

Seriously you are asking that? Spare me your hyper-partisan nonsense as well. Oh wait, let's not go with logic and reason and instead say Obama is a super-secret agent hell bent on destroying the U.S.

And people wonder why others look at Conservatives as idiots.

 

If some fails to pass a PFT, it is their own fault. But if Obama has them change the PFT to make it easier to pass, and it results in someone who if physically unfit to preform their duties, it is his fault.

 

It may not have been his intentions, but it is the result of his actions. Just like it was the result of Carter's actions during his administration.

 

Obama is an inept armature that has failed at everything that he has attempted. In this case you have a military that is so intent on rooting out anything that is not politically correct, liberal's version of course, that it can no longer effectively do it's job. This incident in Iranian waters is just one symptom of that epidemic.

But what do liberals care if their drive to make the US military more political correct cost a few members their lives. They're just means towards a greater good. Right?

 

So what did Obama change in regards to the two boats stopped by the Iranians that makes it his fault?

 

I vividly recall during the Bush Presidency that there was a large movement on the left that passionately believed and promoted the idea that Bush brought down the twin towers so that he could make more money for his oil buddies. The people that thought that were TRULY idiots. It would have been silly and bombastic to take the fact that some on the left thought this, and therefore conclude "and people wonder why others look at Liberals as idiots".

Your conclusion is equally as silly and bombastic.

 

It is called changing priorities and criteria. Gays serving openly, transgenders integration into the military, women in combat roles, lack of funding for training, touchy-feely training, punish Christians for mentioning God, atheist Chaplains all take their tolls on Commands. Instead of training for missions, commands are forced to concentrate on these changes. Here is the result:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/politics/iran-navy-capture-investigation-report/

These sailors were not properly trained or briefed. The equipment was not properly maintained and was inadequate for the mission. As a result, when things went south the command structure broke down. SOP was not followed, and lawful orders were refused.

This situation is a lot like Operation Eagle Claw during Carter's Administration.

When I was stationed in Okinawa, General Grey became the 29th CMC. During his four years in that position, the Marine Corps Uniform Board made numerous changes. Most of them were relatively minor. Such as how far up the arm to fold the sleeves of the Cammies. First it was above the bicep. Then it was just above the elbow. They even flirted briefly with rolling them the way the Army does. They added green skivvy shirt to be the Cammies (as opposed to the white skivvy shirt worn with the Charlies). They added a rank insignia to be pinned to the front center of the Cammie Cover. Every few weeks a new change to the uniforms were made. Finally General Grey had enough. He told the board that if they made one more change that he would fire them all. I guess the board thought he was bluffing, because a week later they ordered the Marines to remove the rank insignias from their Cammie Covers. General Grey kept his word, and reassigned every member of the board. What General Grey understood, and the Obama Administration doesn't, is that too many changes can have a negative effect on the service members ability to do their jobs.

In the situation of this report, those that failed on this mission will be punished, and rightfully so. But everyone in their Chain of Command, from the Commander in Chief on down, bears responsibility for this incident.

 

You fail PT and the solution is repeat it and pass. Fail and out you go.

 

You'll be lucky if you can afford a pony after Obama get through. He's only got about 205 days ya know.

 

Navy says American sailors blabbed to Iranian captors​

By Bob Fredericks
June 30, 2016

The US sailors who were detained by the Iranian navy last winter provided their name, rank and serial numbers - and pretty much everything else their captors demanded, the US Navy said in a blistering report Thursday.

The 10 crew members, captured at gunpoint in the Persian Gulf on Jan. 12 by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, improperly revealed passwords for laptops and cellphones and even sensitive technical details about their two ships, including their top speed, capabilities and missions, the report said.

"It's clear some, if not all, crew members provided at least some information to interrogators beyond name, rank, service number and date of birth,” the report said.

[Snip]

The Navy report blamed the incident on a combination of poor planning, clueless leaders who did not properly consider how risky their actions were, a lack of crew oversight and low morale.

[Snip]

The American captains did not order their gunners to put on protective gear or to man the weapons on the boats. Under the standard rules of engagement, US military personnel are obligated to defend their units.


(Excerpt)


Read more:
http://nypost.com/2016/06/30/navy-says-american-sailors-blabbed-to-iranian-captors/

What we need are more gays in the military ... more sensitivity training ... more diversity training ... less sexist job titles ... more understanding for people who self-declare a new gender identity ... less discrimination when it comes to choosing bathrooms and showers ... complete avoidance of all things that go bang-bang and boom-boom ... a more environmentally friendly green fleet ... and most important of all, more love, understanding and kindness toward our Muslim friends!
Why is anyone surprised that the manly spirit of our military has been degraded by the purge of all of the actual men from the military? How do they expect the transgender freaks to perform? (Sarc)

Anyone remember the following?

"I am an American fighting man. I will never surrender of my own free will".
"If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available"...

"I am bound to give only my name, rank and service number"...

"I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability".



Extracted from the Code of Conduct. ​

 

And you exactly what evidence that those things caused this incident?

- - - Updated - - -

No. That is not what happens. You can actually fail a couple of PT tests before they start any kind of proceedings for discharge.

But that isn't the point. If you blame Obama for this incident, it makes sense you would blame him every time a soldier fails a PT test or misses a target on a rifle range.

 

Not in the group that I was in. Perhaps in basic training but nowhere else. You can get Maggies draws occasionally but not consistently in basic, but that will have you sent to the cooks unit for permanent duty.

 

I watched 13 hours in Benghazi, all of it, and was struck by the mixture of amazing individual talent by a small group of men, placed in a pod of complete incompetence. We have grown so accustom to American Fighters being able to do the impossible, that it was painful to watch them be routed, defeated and slaughtered when they on the tip of the spear with absolutely no support.

What makes our fighters great, is the talent and strength on the part of our fighters on the tip of the spear and then overlapping layers of support all the way to our circling satellites. Separate them from that support and you have shorn Samson of his hair.

And then this Iran incident, you have improperly supported less than elites and they are quickly rendered helpless. The difference in our fighting forces under Obama and under Bush could hardly be more stark.

 

Do you seriously think we never suffered defeats under Bush? Have you ever heard of Takur Ghar?

 

I'm a little bit of a quandary. I cannot see where I have supported elites. I agree with you that the 13 Hours endured by those abandoned and left to die in Benghazi by this administration should never have happened, while in the meantime dating from January 21, 2009 to the present day, this administration has chipped away at the base of our military structure. This has been happening both from the top and bottom at the same time. Excellent General Officers RIF'd or forcibly retired, while changes have been made from basic training to the front lines of our men fighting in Afghanistan and now again in Iraq. You need to allow a soldier his right and access to a religion of his/her choice and you cannot modify training of troops to accommodate those less capable. Elite outfits require Loyalty, intelligence, drive and top conditioning. The old adage still applies. "You Train Like You Fight and you Fight Like You Train". Obviously the men in those two boats captured by the Iranians, were not trained to fight because, ultimately the orders from higher up's along the chain of command have been weakened. Who is ultimately responsible for the weakening of our military?

 

We should put out the word that any foreign country that captures members of our military in international waters will have their governmental headquarters destroyed. If it happens then we should list the captured servicemen as killed in action and unleash a nuclear missile from a submerged submarine. Target: One foreign government building.

 

They weren't in international waters.

 

Obama as CnC and the sailors weren't properly trained, then yes it's Obama's fault. Obama is CnC and it's his responsibility that everyone who serves under his command is properly trained, armed and equipped to fight on the battlefield.

The full report of this incident was released early this morning and I read the 86 page report. We have today a PC Navy of snowflake sailors.

 

Because Obama micromanages the training schedules of every unit in the military?

 

That's exactly the point. It's not Obama's job to supervise every unit. That would be absurd. It's his job to get reports of everything, and make sure the proper people are getting the job done. Obama's lack of military knowledge over the past 8 years proves he was never fit to be the Commander in Chief. In fact, he goes on firing rampages of Generals and nothing changes. The blind Obama sheep get so defensive over this, and try and pick apart the situation. The fact is, he's a horrible commander in chief.