More at the Army Times link:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/1...ander-112711w/

A snippet:

Report blames lapses on Stryker commander
532-page report finds colonel ignored doctrine, proper procedure in leading undisciplined BCT
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 27, 2011 9:06:28 EST

The frustration and confusion that permeated the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, was so pervasive that the brigade almost wasn’t certified to deploy, and senior commanders in Afghanistan lost confidence in the brigade commander’s ability to lead, according to an Army investigation.

The 4,000-member brigade, commanded by Col. Harry Tunnell, was rife with lapses of discipline, misdirection and mixed signals about its mission in one of the most important regions of Afghanistan.

Much of the blame is put on Tunnell, whose lack of emphasis on administrative matters such as command inspections and urinalysis “may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur,” the investigation found.

The environment created the setting for a series of deadly events:

• Five soldiers from one platoon in 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, were accused of killing innocent Afghan civilians “for sport.” Four of the soldiers have been convicted for their involvement in the deaths.

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, the accused ringleader, was convicted Nov. 10 of 15 counts, including three counts of premeditated murder, and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. The court-martial of the fifth soldier is scheduled for January.

• One soldier died from a vehicle rollover in part because he was not following regulations requiring seatbelt use.

• Seven soldiers and an interpreter were killed when a platoon ignored procedure and failed to dismount from their Stryker before driving over a “suspicious chokepoint” — when the platoon directly in front of them did so to minimize the risk of being hit by a roadside bomb. A massive bomb hidden in that chokepoint was “detonated by a patient triggerman,” an officer from the unit told investigators.

• About 15 soldiers from the same platoon are accused of regularly smoking hashish in their housing units and even in one of the unit’s Strykers.

As a result, at least eight soldiers — five officers and three senior noncommissioned officers — have been recommended for letters of admonition, memoranda of reprimand or letters of concern.

The inside story of the brigade came in a scathing 532-page report obtained by Army Times. Brig. Gen. Stephen Twitty, the investigating officer appointed to determine the command climate within the brigade and whether it had any causal relation to the alleged criminal activity, describes a brigade that was rife with turmoil from the start.