Carmack’s death fueled by circumstance

Carmack’s death fueled by circumstance
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, June 3, 2008

An alignment of odd and ordinary circumstances within the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment unwittingly aided Pvt. Jeremiah Carmack in his final mission, with disastrous results.

Following the battalion’s 15-month tour to Iraq, many soldiers, including several key leaders, were leaving for new assignments, according to an Army report. There were manpower shortages and information wasn’t flowing as smoothly as normal. There also were problems in the armory, mainly due to its personnel’s incomplete training.

And so Carmack’s litany of troubles came crashing together "at the apex of a perfect storm," said Lt. Col. Steven Miska, who took over as battalion commander in late January. Carmack was shot dead by German police March 13 after he smuggled an M-4 off a Schweinfurt post and took his ex-girlfriend hostage. The woman was unhurt.

"In the span of about a month, we had three different command teams," Miska said. Each command team — rear detachment, regular and incoming — "had a whole lot on their plate." It was a time of "high personnel turbulence."

The report the Army released Friday chronicled a series of procedural errors in the unit’s arms room as well as mistakes in the handling of critical information concerning Carmack, who had recently attempted suicide.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55274



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