Centcom Commander Orders Investigation into Chopper Crash That Killed 38

Posted Aug 9, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Aug 9, 2011 at 04:32 PM

The worst military disaster in the history of the Afghanistan war directly affects Tampa beyond the scope of human loss.

Most of those aboard the CH-47 Chinook helicopter shot down by the Taliban were special operations forces whose operations are ultimately overseen by U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base. There were five crew members, 22 Navy SEALs and three Air Force special operators, seven Afghan National Army commandos and a civilian translator.

U.S. Central Command, also headquartered at MacDill, oversees U.S. all military operations in the entire region. And so it is that Centcom Commander Gen. James N. Mattis has ordered an investigation into the crash.

Mattis, a Marine Corps general, appointed U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt, Deputy Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, to conduct the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash of a CH-47 helicopter in Wardak Province, Afghanistan on 6 August, according to a Centcom press release.

Today, the bodies of 30 International Security Assistance Force service members, one civilian interpreter, and seven Afghan commandos were taken to Dover Air Force Base for a dignified transfer. They were killed when a coalition CH-47 Chinook crashed in Afghanistan early Saturday. All of the ISAF service members on board were from the U.S.