Recriminations Fly Over Removal of Army Commander (2nd SFAB) by Wesley Morgan – Politico
A senior Green Beret officer has been removed from command of a high-profile combat adviser unit just before its scheduled deployment to Afghanistan, the Army has confirmed — and some veterans of recent counterterrorism missions are crying foul.
The move is the latest development in more than a year of investigations and recriminations over a deadly ambush in Niger that left four special operations soldiers dead, according to current and former military officers familiar with the matter. In an ironic twist, the officer’s removal risks replicating in the adviser unit some of the problems that contributed to the Niger tragedy, the sources said — those for which he is being punished.
Lt. Col. David Painter had been cleared of wrongdoing in two investigations into the October 2017 battle near the Nigerien village of Tongo Tongo and had been selected to lead a battalion in one of the Army’s new security force assistance brigades when it deploys to Afghanistan later this month.
But then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis expressed dissatisfaction with the conclusions in November, leading top Army and special operations leaders to reprimand Painter last month and remove him from command of the Afghanistan-bound adviser unit…