Military commanders investigated for mishandling Army’s ‘lost’ Medal of Honor nomination

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/25/203232/military-commanders-investigated.html



Army Capt. William Swenson, of Seattle, Washington, calls for air support on his radio as his force was ambushed in the village of Ganjgal in Afghanistan.

Military commanders investigated for mishandling Army’s ‘lost’ Medal of Honor nomination
Posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2013
by Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A Pentagon investigation into how a Medal of Honor nomination was “lost” – possibly because of an improper effort to kill the award – is focused on its mishandling by members of the chain of command that included retired Army Gen. David Petraeus and other senior U.S. commanders.

The investigation is being conducted by the Directorate for Investigations of Senior Officials, a division of the Defense Department Office of Inspector General that handles cases involving top military and civilian defense officials.

“Specifically, officials within the Directorate for Investigations of Senior Officials are conducting an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the lost recommendation,” the inspector general’s office wrote in a Sept. 3 letter to Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who pressed for the probe.

The review is the latest turn in the convoluted history of the Medal of Honor nomination of former Army Capt. William Swenson, who was recommended for the nation’s highest military decoration for valor for his actions on Sept. 8, 2009, in one of the most extraordinary battles of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The Seattle native is scheduled to receive the medal from President Barack Obama on Oct. 15, nearly four years after he was first nominated and more than a year after his papers reached the White House.