This may have been legendary Marine Corps General Mattis' one mistake in battle
Wikimedia CommonsMembers of ODA 574 and Hamid Karzai, the future President of Afghanistan
Retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, is known for being an eminently quotable and beloved military commander. However, an incident in Afghanistan in 2001 is being touted as a potential smudge on Mattis' record.
At the start of the war in Afghanistan, US clandestine operatives had to operate in exceedingly complex and dangerous environments behind the scenes. Consisting of 11 members, Special Forces A-Team ODA 574 was one of these clandestine groups.
Having deployed with a mission to escort the future Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, this elite team, specializing in free-fall operations, neared Kandahar, the country's second-largest city. Karzai, who was at the time an exile, had been raising a Pashtun militia to overtake the Taliban while ODA 574 provided protection by calling in precision airstrikes.
Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway/US Air ForceSix GBU-38 JDAMs are dropped by aircraft onto an insurgent torture house and prison in Northern Zambraniyah, Iraq, March 10, 2008.
One day, disaster struck when a 2,000 pound joint direct attack munition (JDAM) accidentally struck the team. Amidst the chaos, ODA 574 Captain Jason Amerine sent a mass casualty evacuation request which was acknowledged by the nearest base, Camp Rhino - a 45 minute flight by helicopter.
Besides the Marines located at Camp Rhino, the closest support that 574 had was in Uzbekistan and Pakistan, some three hours away. A Special Forces liaison informed General Mattis, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, of the situation.
Author Eric Blehm describes the tense scene in his New York Times bestseller, "The Only Thing Worth Dying For":
Later, members of the Special Forces team discussed the situation amongst themselves:
AP Photo/Matt DunhamGeneral Mattis
Twenty minutes after being denied by Mattis and hearing that there was at least one confirmed American KIA, the soldiers decided that the situation was dire and the Marine general needed to be persuaded for the second time:
Eventually, US military teams in Uzbekistan and Pakistan launched rescue efforts in broad daylight. When the dust finally settled, three members of 574 were killed, along with several of Karzai's forces.
Blehm explained to Business Insider that after several attempts, Mattis agreed to be interviewed about the incident, however, by the time he did, the book had already been published.
"As far as ... those guys were concerned, it didn't matter. Americans were wounded, dead, or dying and Mattis was the closest with the ability to respond - and they refused," Blehm said.
Wikimedia CommonsThe remnants of Black Hawk "Super 61", which was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 1993.
Just like the developing situation in Afghanistan, an answer of exactly who was at fault here would be, at best, complicated. As a career Marine educated in the art of war, Mattis would have undoubtedly recounted the harrowing events that unfolded during the 'Black Hawk Down' Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, where several members of a rescue team were killed.
Conversely, leaving any servicemember unattended for would not only be against policy, but would tarnish the reputation of the US military. This is even confirmed by the resounding mottos of the military, such as the 9th Cavalry Regiment's, "We can, We will". Perhaps more importantly, however, is that a delay in rescue operations may lower the chance of survival for injured servicemembers.
As most veterans know, a general rule of thumb in the military is to expect the unexpected, and to develop a contingency plan for the worst. However, when time is of the essence and lives are on the line, there may be instances where years of military training cannot prepare oneself, or indoctrinated protocols may have to be compromised.
In any case, the only thing permanent is that that the fateful day will probably be analyzed by military tacticians for years to come, and that the lives of Master Sergeant Jefferson Davis, Sergeant First Class Daniel Petithory, and Staff Sergeant Brian Prosser were abruptly cut short.
An earlier version of this post was written by David Choi.