Jeffrey Chessani
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Jeffrey R. Chessani (born December 26, 1963) is a retired
Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, and was the commanding officer
3rd Battalion, 1st Marines 3rd Battalion 1st Marines (3/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed the "Thundering Third", the battalion consists of approximately 1,220 ...
during the November 2005 urban combat in Haditha,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. In that event, known as the
Haditha killings The Haditha massacre (also called the Haditha killings or the Haditha incident) was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in Haditha, a cit ...
, marines in his battalion were accused of having killed 20 civilians while pursuing insurgents. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service was called in to investigate the killings after ''
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'' published a report on the killings. Thirteen months passed between the killings, and the initiation of the NCIS inquiry. Chessani was removed along with
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
s
Luke McConnell Lucas Michael McConnell (born February 17, 1975) is an officer in the United States Marine Corps. In accordance with standard administrative procedure, he was removed from command of the Camp Pendleton-based Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines ...
and 10-years-veteran James Kimber (born 1973), However, all criminal charges against Chessani were dismissed. A Board of Inquiry found that there was no misconduct even though the lower standard of proving guilt, preponderance of the evidence, was applied instead of reasonable doubt. The Thomas More Law Center along with national radio host Michael Savage defended Chessani against the charge that he failed to investigate the killings.
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Frank Wuterich Frank D. Wuterich (born February 28, 1980) is a former United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant who pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty as a result of his actions during the Haditha killings where multiple innocent civilians were murd ...
was the senior marine on patrol and is under investigation for other charges. To date, after numerous trials, no marines have been found guilty of committing any crimes. Chessani, 45, was raised in the small town of
Rangely, Colorado Rangely is a Statutory Town in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,365 at the 2010 census. Description The town is home to one of two campuses of the Colorado Northwestern Community College. A post office called ...
, where he graduated from high school in 1982. He went on to receive a B.A. from the
University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...
in 1988. During his military career he participated in the 1989
Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
(Invasion of Panama), the 1991
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
(Operation Desert Storm), and most recently the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
(Operation Iraqi Freedom). On June 17, 2008 Military Judge
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Steven Folsom dismissed all charges against Chessani on the grounds that
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James Mattis James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 26th US secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. During his 44 years in the Marine Corps, he commanded forces in the Persian ...
, who approved the filing of the charges against him, had been improperly influenced by an investigator probing the incident. The ruling was without prejudice, which allowed the prosecution to refile. In 2008 an appeal filed on behalf of the Marine Corps, claiming that the judge abused his power when he dismissed dereliction of duty charges against Chessani in killings. On March 17, 2009, a military appeals court upheld the dismissal of the war crimes charges against Chessani. Chessani’s commanding general, Major General Huck, reported up the chain of command, "I support our account and do not see the necessity for further investigation." Huck was allowed to retire without loss of rank, and without going to a Board of Inquiry. On Friday, August 28, 2009, the new general in charge of Chessani’s case, LtGen George Flynn, Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA, decided that criminal charges were not warranted. Instead, he ordered Chessani to face a Navy administrative procedure, called a Board of Inquiry, which found no misconduct and recommended that he be allowed to retire without loss of rank. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said, "The government’s persecution of this loyal Marine officer continues because he refused to throw his men under the bus to appease some anti-war politicians and press, and the Iraqi government. Any punishment of LtCol Chessani handed down by a Board of Inquiry would be a miscarriage of justice because he did nothing wrong, and our lawyers will mount the same vigorous defense in this administrative proceeding as they did in the criminal." The dismissed allegations against Chessani were for failing to properly report and investigate the November 19, 2005 incident. The evidence shows instead that he had immediately reported the deaths of the 15 civilian Iraqis to his superiors, and not one of his superiors — including top generals— considered it unusual or ordered a further investigation. Instead, they commended him for a job well done. In fact, Chessani’s immediate superior told him that no investigation was needed because it was a bona fide combat action— which was consistent with the orders in effect at the time, there were: no investigation of civilian deaths related to combat action. That order was changed in April, 2006, well after the Haditha incident. Chessani retired from the Corps on July 16, 2010.


See also

*
Haditha killings The Haditha massacre (also called the Haditha killings or the Haditha incident) was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in Haditha, a cit ...
* Command responsibility


Notes


External links


Thomas More Law Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chessani, Jeffrey 1963 births Living people United States Marine Corps personnel of the Gulf War United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War People from Rangely, Colorado University of Northern Colorado alumni United States Marine Corps officers