Word: commandant
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Reagan's declaration was meant to absolve officers in the operational chain of command who had been criticized for failing to take adequate precautions before a truck bomb killed 241 U.S. servicemen last Oct. 23. The President also used his constitutional power as Commander in Chief of the armed forces to head off courts-martial for the officers. Said...
Long report charged that the entire chain of command had failed to react to the fact that "in the eyes of the factional militias, [the Marines] had become pro-Israel, pro-Phalange and anti-Muslim-and therefore prime targets for terrorist attack." Incredibly, according to the report, Marine Colonel Timothy Geraghty, commander of U.S. forces ashore in Lebanon, did not believe that his troops had authority to shoot at a civilian vehicle, even if it seemed bent on crashing into the Marine compound. This passivity is all the more astonishing given the fact that a truck bomb had destroyed much...
...commission chastised superior officers in the chain of command who had visited the Beirut airport facilities but then made no suggestion that security there be improved, even though the battalion headquarters provided "a lucrative target for attack." Higher officers, the report said, felt "it would somehow be improper to tell him [the on-site commander] how best to protect his force." Cited by title, but not by name, for failing to supervise security adequately or to clarify the rules of engagement, were Vice Admiral Edward Martin, commander of the Sixth Fleet; Admiral William Small, commander of U.S. naval forces...
...speed that was "nothing short of heroic." It also had a consoling comment for Geraghty, saying that he had made a "virtually superhuman effort" to meet "monumental demands" after the blast even though "his situation was not enhanced by the large number of important visitors who arrived at his command in the days that followed." The visitors included Congressmen, White House representatives and military brass...
Murray said that the general in command knew the West German facilities, and that it would be inappropriate during a time of crisis to use unfamiliar facilities...