...On patrol in enemy-controlled territory, a group of these Marines had become "enveloped" in a complex ambush by 30-40 enemy combatants. Soon, the enemy was firing from an array of positions -- rocket-propelled grenades, machines guns, AK-47s -- some as close as 34 yards away from the Marines, a distance not much longer than a basketball court. The company commander requested supporting fire.
Fifty minutes passed before the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Travis Homiak, complied with the request. Were there civilians in the area? No. Further discussion turned on whether to use small, precision munitions, such as a Hellfire laser-guided missile with a 10-pound shaped charge -- Galvin's strong recommendation -- or to use something much larger, which Homiak thought would drive enemy forces away.
With Marines well within "danger-close" proximity to enemy forces, Galvin, a former Marine instructor in fire support for raids and reconnaissance, was concerned that the probability of injury or even fratricide from a large bomb was too high.
Even so, the battalion commander chose to drop a whopping, 500-pound-bomb on the enemy position near the Marines. Probably the only reason I am not now describing a scene of carnage is, unbeknownst to either Galvin or Homiak, there was a canal that shielded the Marines from the worst effects of the colossal explosion.
Meanwhile, the enemy had fled to another position to continue fighting. Another request for fire support came in. Galvin again recommended precision munitions, given the proximity of Marines to the enemy, and Homiak again went for the biggest available bomb -- this time 200-pounders.
Finally, although the firefight would continue for a total of four hours, Homiak denied any further fire support. Thankfully, all the Marines came home.
I have to interrupt the narrative here to flag Homiak as a counterinsurgency (COIN) enthusiast, a true believer in fighting to win Afghan hearts and minds through what, in a Department of Defense news report, Homiak discusses as "the concept of restraint" and "being nice to people."
But maybe not so nice to Marines. In conversation with Galvin the following day, Homiak justified what a layman might see, first, as a reckless use of munitions too close to Marines under fire, and, second, as a reckless denial of munitions to Marines under fire.
According to the documents filed with the Pentagon IG, which include the corroborating results of a polygraph test Galvin took, Homiak told Galvin he "was willing to sacrifice the lives of these Marines for the greater good."
Homiak even repeated this appalling statement, a point additionally supported by Galvin's polygraph results. Homiak went on to say that if Galvin "had 'a crisis of conscience' with supporting or executing LTC Homiak's philosophy ... LTC Homiak had to know."Willing to sacrifice Marines for the greater good?
Did I mention that Galvin, unable to accept Homiak's COIN-baked philosophy, requested to be relieved of duty? That Homiak subsequently gave Galvin two adverse fitness reports?
That Galvin has seemingly exhausted all avenues in his quest for an investigation into this incident? Galvin triumphed over the board of inquiry examination into his fitness to remain a Marine, but a thorough, deliberate investigation, certainly by Congress, into this incident and into the COIN mind-set it exemplifies, is urgently required.
Because the bombshell is still ticking.
The choice of munitions seems to have little to do with counterinsurgency doctrine and it does appear to have been imprudent under the circumstances. The statement that the commander was willing to sacrifice Marines "for the greater good" is also appalling under the circumstances. This is a matter that should get more scrutiny.
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