WASHINGTON -- Multiple failures led up to the deadly Niger attack in October, but top military leaders said Thursday that none directly caused the overwhelming enemy ambush that killed four American service members and sent others fighting and running for their lives.
"The direct cause of the enemy attack in Tongo Tongo is that the enemy achieved tactical surprise there and our forces were outnumbered approximately 3-to-1," Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr. told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. Cloutier led the investigation, which interviewed 143 witnesses, including one survivor of the attack who accompanied an investigative team back to the battlefield.
He described a brutal, chaotic firefight, as 46 U.S. and Nigerien forces battled more than 100 enemy fighters. During the chaos, he said, there were repeated acts of bravery as the outnumbered and outgunned soldiers made split-second decisions under heavy fire, struggling to protect and rescue one another during the more than hourlong assault.
The Pentagon released an eight-page summary report Thursday, withholding thousands of pages of witness statements, maps and other documents and a longer report of about 180 pages. The U.S. military often releases those materials at the conclusion of a military investigation, but said it is still working to declassify additional information.
The Pentagon also released a 10-minute video re-creation of the battle, but withheld a longer unclassified re-creation shown to family members and members of Congress this month.
Killed in the attack were: Army Sgt. LaDavid Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Fla.; Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga. Four Nigerien troops also were killed, and two American soldiers and eight Nigerien forces were wounded.
The Americans who were killed "gave their last full measure of devotion to our country and died with honor while actively engaging the enemy," the report said. None was captured alive by the enemy, and all died immediately or quickly from their wounds, it said.
After months of silence during the investigation, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, head of U.S. Africa Command, laid out the findings and took responsibility for what happened.
He said the report singles out three individuals whose actions could be faulted. He did not name them. U.S. Special Operations Command will make any discipline decisions, as well as recommendations on awards for valor, Waldhauser said, adding he believes there will be awards for numerous acts of extraordinary bravery by the troops.
Navy Capt. Jason Salata, spokesman for Special Operations Command, said a full review of the report has begun and "we are totally committed to resolving every issue addressed" in it.
The investigation has already triggered changes in the way military activities are carried out in Niger and elsewhere in Africa, including giving teams the option to use heavily armored vehicles and beefed-up firepower.
"We are now far more prudent on our missions," said Waldhauser, who sat alongside Cloutier, Africa Command's chief of staff who led the investigation.
A report summary released Thursday includes recommendations to improve mission planning and approval procedures, re-evaluate equipment and weapons requirements, and review training that U.S. commandos conduct with partner forces.
Defense Secretary James Mattis directed Waldhauser to take immediate steps to address shortfalls, and has given senior leaders four months to complete a review and lay out a plan for additional changes.
NO TIME TO TRAIN
[THE ISLAMIC STATE: Timeline of group’s rise, fall; details on campaign to fight it]
The summary lays out a confusing chain of events that unfolded Oct. 3-4, ending in the ambush, and points to "individual, organizational, and institutional failures and deficiencies that contributed to the tragic events." But it concludes that "no single failure or deficiency was the sole reason" for what happened.
It said the U.S. forces didn't have time to train together before they deployed and did not do preparatory battle drills with their Nigerien partners. And the report said lax communication and poor attention to details led to a "general lack of situational awareness and command oversight at every echelon."
Robert Karem, the assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, who also spoke, said there are about 800 U.S. troops in Niger, and that none is supposed to be engaged in direct combat. Most are involved in the construction of an air base there.
According to the report, the Army Special Forces team left Camp Ouallam on Oct. 3 to go after Doundou Chefou, a leader of the Islamic State group who was suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an American aid worker. But the team leader and his immediate supervisor submitted a different mission to their higher command, saying they were simply going out to meet tribal leaders.
Waldhauser called the mischaracterization of the mission unacceptable, but Cloutier rejected suggestions the team leaders lied. It's not clear if those two are among the three service members he said could face discipline.
"It wasn't a deliberate intent to deceive," Cloutier said. "It was lack of attention to detail."
When the Ouallam team got to the location the insurgent wasn't there.
Senior commanders, unaware of the team's earlier actions, then ordered the troops to serve as backup for a second team's raid, also targeting Chefou. That mission was aborted when weather grounded the second team. The Ouallam team members were then ordered to another location to collect intelligence also linked to Chefou, which they did without problems. On their way back to their home base they stopped at the village of Tongo Tongo to get water.
Soon after leaving Tongo Tongo, about 120 miles north of Niamey, Niger's capital, they were ambushed by Islamic State-linked militants carrying small arms and machine guns.
Believing they were facing a small enemy force, a handful of soldiers attempted to launch a counterattack on foot, but soon discovered a larger-than-expected group of militants on motorcycles and machine guns mounted on trucks. Assessing the severity of the situation, and seeing that some of the Nigerien troops had already fled, the Americans began to load their vehicles.
A small group of soldiers -- Black, Wright and Jeremiah Johnson -- prepared to move out, but Black, trying to shield himself as he walked along the protected side of his vehicle, was quickly shot and fell, the investigation found. Wright and Johnson stopped the vehicle to assess Black's wounds, but were quickly forced to withdraw as the attack continued. Shortly afterward Johnson was shot, then Wright. All three died quickly around noon, as they were overrun.
Unaware of what had befallen their comrades, other U.S. and Nigerien soldiers drove about 770 yards south, establishing a defensive position they hoped would allow them to fend off the advancing militant force.
Survivors told investigators that they saw one of the Americans on the scene, LaDavid Johnson, preparing to get into a vehicle and drive away. The sergeant fought back using an M240 machine gun and a sniper rifle, but ultimately was forced out of his truck by enemy gunfire and tried to escape on foot.
The report concludes that although the enemy fighters can move freely around the village area, "there is not enough evidence to conclude that the villagers of Tongo Tongo willingly [without duress] aid and support them. Additionally, there is insufficient evidence to determine if villagers aided the enemy or participated in the attack."
Cloutier said it appears insurgents attempted to take away the bodies of three of the American troops -- Black, Wright and Jeremiah Johnson -- but fled when French fighter jets buzzed the area. Two of the bodies were found in the bed of an enemy truck, and another was beside it.
The other American fatality, LaDavid Johnson, and two Nigerien soldiers got separated from the others during the battle and were gunned down. Johnson's body wasn't found until two days later. All were stripped of weapons and equipment.
Families of the fallen have expressed frustration with the situation and the briefings they got.
"The whole thing was a screwed-up mess," said Arnold Wright, father of Dustin Wright, one of those killed in the attack. Wright said he's concerned the Army may be pinning blame on lower-ranking soldiers and not accepting responsibility high enough up the chain of command.
And Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., said she had hoped to hear more about why it took so long to find LaDavid Johnson.
"Nearly eight months after Sgt. Johnson and his fellow soldiers were killed, the Johnson family and I still have as many questions as we did when we first learned of this tragic loss of life," she said. "We will not rest until our questions have been satisfactorily answered."
Wilson became embroiled in a political squabble with President Donald Trump after he told Johnson's pregnant widow in a phone call that her husband "knew what he signed up for." Wilson was riding with Johnson's family to meet the body and heard the call.
Information for this article was contributed by Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press; and by Dan Lamothe and Missy Ryan of The Washington Post.
A Section on 05/11/2018