Poor Communication, Execution Led to ‘Friendly Fire’ Incident

The “friendly fire” deaths of six soldiers in June – five American and one Afghan – could have been avoided had joint terminal air controllers and aircrews done their jobs properly, according to a report released by U.S. Central Command Aug. 5. The incident began as U.S. and Afghan troops undertook an operation to prevent insurgent disruption of election activities near Gaza Valley in Zabul province. As the operation was ending, the six soldiers moved to high ground and directed fire upon enemy positions. An aircrew saw their muzzle flashes and asked ground controllers for evidence of infrared strobes that would indicate they were comrades rather than enemies. “Negative,” the ground controllers replied, not realizing that the aircraft’s target pod did was incapable of detecting friendly marking devices. An aircrew dropped bombs on the site. Army Staff Sgt. Jason McDonald, Staff Sgt. Scott Studenmund, Spec. Justin Helton, Cpl. Justin Clouse, Pvt. Aaron Toppen, and Afghan army Sgt. Gulbuddin Ghulam Sakhi were killed. “The key members executing the close air support mission collectively failed to effectively execute the fundamentals, which resulted in poor situational awareness and improper target investigation,” the report, which was published on CENTCOM’s Freedom of Information Web site, stated. “While this complex combat situation presented a challenging set of circumstances, had the team understood their system’s capabilities, executed standard tactics, techniques and procedures and communicated effectively, this tragic incident was avoidable.” Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, the investigating officer, signed the report.