Probe: Friendly-Fire Killed 2 Soldiers

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq in February were killed by friendly fire, according to a military investigation that blamed poor training and planning.

Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., were killed at an Army outpost in Ramadi, in western Iraq, on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers initially were told the men were killed by enemy fire.

In response to a Freedom of Information request by The Associated Press, the military released its subsequent investigation into the deaths. The soldiers' families were told in March that the soldiers may have been killed by their comrades.

The investigation found that the two were killed by tank fire from a second Army outpost after insurgents engaged both outposts from numerous locations. The tank gunner and commander thought they were taking on the enemy position, the investigation concluded.

The deaths were not a result of negligence, the investigators said. Instead, "a series of decisions and actions by both the tank crews and their command, taken collectively, fell short of the high expectations we have of our soldiers and their leaders."

It was not immediately clear whether the tank crews and their command were reprimanded by the Army.

The report said their decisions and actions "directly created the conditions which caused this accident, including deficiencies in training, manning, mission preparation, target validation procedures, and tactical level friendly force marking that, if addressed and corrected, can limit fratricide such as this in the future."

The author of the report, whose name was omitted, said all parties acted prudently and genuinely and attempted to fire only at Army targets.

"Although I find that corrective action is required for tank team and crews to learn from the errors made in this incident, I do not find the errors of the (tank commander) or others to be actionable or criminal," the investigator wrote.

The report's recommendations were completely blacked out in the copy sent to the AP.

An Army spokeswoman said Wednesday she could not say whether anyone was reprimanded. "The fact that these soldiers died as a result of fratricide in no way diminishes their sacrifice," Maj. Anne Edgecomb said. "These two young men served their country honorably and courageously. As with all soldiers who have paid the ultimate price, their deaths were tragic."

Most names also were blacked out in the report, other than those of the two men who died. The investigators point out that some of their findings were disputed by those involved, but say their perceptions could have been fuzzy because they were not interviewed immediately about the incident.

According to Army officials in April, unit commanders in Iraq did not at first suspect the two men were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit concluded that may have been the case.

The Army came under heavy criticism over its handling of the death of former football player Pat Tillman, who was killed in April 2004 by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Though dozens of soldiers knew quickly that Tillman had been killed by his fellow troops, the Army said initially that he was killed by enemy gunfire when he led his team to help another group of ambushed soldiers. It was five weeks before his family was told the truth; the Army has blamed the delay on procedural mistakes.

As a result of those problems, the Army made changes in its notification process and ordered that unit commanders must investigate every hostile death, in part to ensure that families receive accurate information about how their loved one died.

A Marine Corps commander who confirmed initial reports that Zeimer and McPeek's deaths may have been from friendly fire said in a memo that the two men died because of "the inevitable fog of war."

"A well-organized and numerous enemy engaged coalition forces from multiple directions in a crowded neighborhood on a dark, smoke and dust obscured battlefield," the commander wrote. "The soldiers involved in this incident were combat experienced and familiar with the area and friendly positions. Nevertheless, they became disoriented relative to their own position and the targets they were engaging."

McPeek was a member of the 16th Engineer Battalion based in Germany. Zeimer was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga.

In an April interview, Zeimer's father, Tom Epperson, said his son had wanted to go into the military since he was young, and enlisted just before he graduated from high school in 2006. Zeimer was deployed from Fort Stewart in January and was at his post for about two hours before he was killed, his father said.

Epperson declined comment on the report Wednesday, but said he found out that his son had died from friendly fire in November.