Pace: Afghan allegations ‘nick on Marine pride’ - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Pace: Afghan allegations ‘nick on Marine pride’

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — If allegations that members of a Marine special operations company killed up to a dozen Afghan civilians turn out to be true, it will be a “nick on Marine pride,” the military’s top general said Tuesday.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in an interview with defense reporters, was asked about the allegations, which led to the expulsion of the entire 120-man company from Afghanistan and the firing of the company’s commander and senior enlisted Marine.

“This certainly, for Marines, if it at the end of the day turns out to be factual, will be a nick on Marine pride, for sure, and would be something that the rest of the Marines involved with special operations will do what Marines always do, which is to work harder to be more useful to the nation in a way that restores Marine credibility in the special operations community.”

Army Maj. Gen. Frank Kearney, head of U.S. Special Operations Command-Central Command, pulled the company out of Afghanistan days after the March 4 attack. After an initial investigation, ordered by Kearney, the general referred the matter to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for possible criminal charges against the Marines.

In a subsequent telephone interview with The Washington Post, Kearney said that statements from the spec-ops company at the heart of the ongoing investigation appeared to conflict with statements made by Afghan witnesses. He said there was no evidence to support the Marines’ contention that they took small-arms fire after a suicide bomber crashed into their convoy.

Leaders with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command relieved the company commander and senior enlisted Marine on April 3. The men, whose names are not being released, returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where MarSOC is based.

MarSOC officials have not commented on Kearney’s statements to the Post.

Pace said that the allegations made against the company — the first spec-ops unit of its kind to deploy since MarSOC was created last year — won’t threaten the existence of MarSOC.

“The future of MarSOC in special operations is exactly what it was before this incident, which is the Marines will continue to find ways to be included and supported and contributors to the special operations community,” he said.

Asked if this will affect future MarSOC deployments, Pace said, “I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not sure what was on tap. It certainly curtailed that deployment and brought those Marines off the battlefield. Whether or not it impacts the future or not, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the Marines.”

The East Coast-based company remains deployed with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and, according to a SOCCent official, has been training for its next mission. A second spec-ops company deployed with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit based in California earlier this month.