Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
November 22, 2006
Pg. 20
Military orders that its leaders not ride together
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
BAGHDAD — Lt. Col. Paul Finken was within a couple of weeks of returning home, having wrapped up a tough one-year tour as an adviser to an Iraqi brigade.
Lt. Col. Eric Kruger, Finken's replacement, had arrived in Iraq about a week earlier.
On Nov. 2, a roadside bomb killed both officers as Finken showed Kruger around the brigade's area of operations in Baghdad before heading home. The bomb also killed Staff Sgt. Joseph Gage.
In Iraq, where Americans die almost every day, the circumstances of the deaths stood out.
The incident highlighted the risks of two top Army officers from the same unit riding together. One week before the blast that killed Finken and Kruger, commanders in Baghdad issued a policy prohibiting high-ranking officers riding in the same vehicle. The policy is designed to reduce the chance of losing essential personnel in a single attack, according to Maj. Sean Ryan, a military spokesman.
It's unclear whether the two officers were aware of the new policy, Ryan said.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a spokesman for Multinational Force-Baghdad, said the Army was investigating why the officers were traveling together. “But we're not going to second-guess the actions of soldiers on the ground,” Withington said.
The loss of high-ranking officers in Iraq is rare. Since the war started, three Army colonels have been killed. The latest colonel to die was Thomas Felts who was killed in Baghdad by a roadside bomb Nov. 14. The blast also killed Spc. Justin Garcia, 26. Including Finken and Kruger, 15 Army lieutenant colonels have died.
Roadside bombs are the leading cause of death for U.S. troops in Iraq, exposing soldiers of all ranks to similar risks. “This is a war with no rear areas, and hence no safe areas,” said Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army colonel and executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Finken, 40, in an interview this summer with USA TODAY, described the challenges of building an Iraqi army in which soldiers must put the interests of their country above tribal and sectarian motivations. Those interests sometimes conflict when troops are recruited locally and end up fighting in their hometowns.
“It truly is a Catch-22,” Finken said. “The good thing is they know the area. But in some sense, it does cause a problem. You're now putting tribal loyalties at odds with some military operations.”
A 1989 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Finken was from Earling, Iowa.
“He loved being a soldier, and respected the soldiers he worked with,” a statement released by his family says. “He always set the example and would never ask his soldiers to do anything he wouldn't do himself.” He was married and had three children.
A colleague praised Kruger as a model soldier.
“The one phrase that describes him was quiet professional,” said Maj. Keith Brace who reported to Kruger. “He was very professional, a great soldier, very smart. Everything he did was well thought out.”
Kruger, 40, of Garland, Texas, was married and had four children. He graduated from Southern Methodist University. His family also issued a statement: “We are comforted to know that Eric loved every minute of his job, and that he died doing something he fiercely believed in — working to make the world a better place.”
November 22, 2006
Pg. 20
Military orders that its leaders not ride together
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today
BAGHDAD — Lt. Col. Paul Finken was within a couple of weeks of returning home, having wrapped up a tough one-year tour as an adviser to an Iraqi brigade.
Lt. Col. Eric Kruger, Finken's replacement, had arrived in Iraq about a week earlier.
On Nov. 2, a roadside bomb killed both officers as Finken showed Kruger around the brigade's area of operations in Baghdad before heading home. The bomb also killed Staff Sgt. Joseph Gage.
In Iraq, where Americans die almost every day, the circumstances of the deaths stood out.
The incident highlighted the risks of two top Army officers from the same unit riding together. One week before the blast that killed Finken and Kruger, commanders in Baghdad issued a policy prohibiting high-ranking officers riding in the same vehicle. The policy is designed to reduce the chance of losing essential personnel in a single attack, according to Maj. Sean Ryan, a military spokesman.
It's unclear whether the two officers were aware of the new policy, Ryan said.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a spokesman for Multinational Force-Baghdad, said the Army was investigating why the officers were traveling together. “But we're not going to second-guess the actions of soldiers on the ground,” Withington said.
The loss of high-ranking officers in Iraq is rare. Since the war started, three Army colonels have been killed. The latest colonel to die was Thomas Felts who was killed in Baghdad by a roadside bomb Nov. 14. The blast also killed Spc. Justin Garcia, 26. Including Finken and Kruger, 15 Army lieutenant colonels have died.
Roadside bombs are the leading cause of death for U.S. troops in Iraq, exposing soldiers of all ranks to similar risks. “This is a war with no rear areas, and hence no safe areas,” said Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army colonel and executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Finken, 40, in an interview this summer with USA TODAY, described the challenges of building an Iraqi army in which soldiers must put the interests of their country above tribal and sectarian motivations. Those interests sometimes conflict when troops are recruited locally and end up fighting in their hometowns.
“It truly is a Catch-22,” Finken said. “The good thing is they know the area. But in some sense, it does cause a problem. You're now putting tribal loyalties at odds with some military operations.”
A 1989 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Finken was from Earling, Iowa.
“He loved being a soldier, and respected the soldiers he worked with,” a statement released by his family says. “He always set the example and would never ask his soldiers to do anything he wouldn't do himself.” He was married and had three children.
A colleague praised Kruger as a model soldier.
“The one phrase that describes him was quiet professional,” said Maj. Keith Brace who reported to Kruger. “He was very professional, a great soldier, very smart. Everything he did was well thought out.”
Kruger, 40, of Garland, Texas, was married and had four children. He graduated from Southern Methodist University. His family also issued a statement: “We are comforted to know that Eric loved every minute of his job, and that he died doing something he fiercely believed in — working to make the world a better place.”