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U.S. Navy Officers In Crosshairs Over Iran Debacle
The Navy has completed its investigation into how sailors were detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in January, and it appears unlikely that any U.S. service member will face court-martial.

Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a Navy spokesman, confirmed the status of the investigation, and said it is now "being referred to appropriate commands for adjudication." That could range from criminal charges and a court-martial trial to administrative punishment.

However, a Navy official told The Washington Post Thursday that the service's top officer, Adm. John Richardson, plans to announce June 30 what actions the service has taken against the officers and enlisted sailors involved after they are completed, making criminal trials unlikely.

"I haven't heard anything criminal," the person said. Another Navy official said most punishments "are likely to be administrative," but declined to say that no criminal charges are possible.

Foreign Policy magazine reported Wednesday that the Navy is considering whether to punish nine personnel, including six officers, for a mission in which two riverine command boats strayed into Iranian territorial waters. Ten sailors and the two boats were temporarily detained, an embarrassment that Iran used in numerous propaganda videos it released through state media in following months.

One of those under the most scrutiny is Capt. Kyle Moses, Foreign Policy reported. He is the commander of Task Force 56, a unit whose sailors have a wide variety of missions in the Middle East, including explosive ordnance disposal, diving, construction riverine operations and military intelligence collection. Fox News reported Thursday that he will be relieved of his command, a move that can end a career.

The boats and sailors were captured Jan. 12 in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island, where the Revolutionary Guards have a naval base. The sailors were taken into custody overnight, and released the following day after Secretary of State John Kerry intervened.
That's a rather bowdlerized version of events. Recall how the Iranian personnel humiliated our people, seized the boats, and slow-walked any reasonable solution.
Already, one officer, Cmdr. Eric Rasch, was removed from his job in May due to a "loss of confidence in his ability to command," according to the Navy. He was the No. 2 officer in the squadron at the time of the capture, and elevated to become its commander afterward.

The incident occurred as the sailors were traveling north from Kuwait to Bahrain. A defense official said then that the boats departed Kuwait about 9:23 a.m. local time, and were approached by the Iranians about 2:10 p.m. A search was launched afterward until the Iranians informed the Americans about 6:15 p.m. that the sailors were in their custody.
From Foreign Policy:
The sailors had set out from Kuwait after noon local time on what was supposed to be a routine mission to Bahrain. But they had no experience navigating across the Persian Gulf in their small riverine command boats, which are only about 50 feet long, and were not accustomed to traveling such a long distance. Before they departed, the crew also had to cannibalize a third boat to make last-minute repairs.

After having sailed into Iranian waters without realizing it, one of the American boats — the one that had to be fixed the day before — broke down. As the sailors tried to fix the bolt on the engine mount, two Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrols arrived, with their weapons pointed at the U.S. sailors. Soon a third ship showed up, followed by a fourth ship that was larger and more heavily armed. The Americans decided they would surrender to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops rather than try to shoot their way out.

The Iranians filmed 10 U.S. sailors kneeling with their hands on their heads, while the skipper of the boats, Lt. David Nartker, apologized for their navigation error, and then promptly released the videos.
Posted by: Steve White 2016-06-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=460295