WASHINGTON — The Army may withdraw promotions and other favorable personnel actions from several 82nd Airborne Division members who were disciplined earlier this year for their role in abuses against ethnic Albanians during peacekeeping duty in Kosovo.
The actions that could be withdrawn include unspecified "favorable assignments" and selection for promotion or advanced schooling. The names of those involved were withheld, but Army officials speaking privately said they include Lt. Col. Michael D. Ellerbe, commander of the 82nd Airborne's 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
The Army on Friday released a five-page memo from Gen. John W. Hendrix, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, who reviewed the results of an internal investigation of the misconduct in Kosovo last winter.
Hendrix concluded that the crimes and abuses committed by some members of the 3rd Battalion's A Company "were the direct result of failures in leadership and a lack of personal discipline." He cited no names, but he referred by job title to Capt. Kevin Lambert, who commanded A Company.
"Junior leaders — both commissioned and non-commissioned — beginning with the A Company commander, participated in misconduct themselves and condoned the misconduct of their soldiers," Hendrix wrote in the memo to the Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki. The memo was dated Nov. 6.
"In their actions, these leaders clearly failed to set the proper moral and ethical tone for their unit, although their training had provided them the tools to act in accordance with Army values and the Law of Armed Conflict," Hendrix wrote. The Law of Armed Conflict, an international convention, protects civilians against "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment."
Some members of A Company's 1st Platoon were found by investigators to have slapped, threatened and verbally abused ethnic Albanian civilians while on patrols in Kosovo last winter. The investigative report, released in September, said some soldiers "experienced difficulties tempering their combat mentality." It also said their overly aggressive tendencies were manifest in their unit's slogan: "Shoot 'em in the face."
Hendrix said the vast majority of peacekeepers performed their duties faithfully and honorably.
The investigation was ordered after Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi, a member of A Company's 1st Platoon, was accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl last January in Vitina, Kosovo. Ronghi was convicted and sentenced in August to life in prison.
In addition to Ronghi's conviction, nine members of the 3rd Battalion were given administrative punishments as a result of the investigation. The Army chose not to court martial any except Ronghi.
In his memo to Shinseki, Hendrix said those disciplinary actions were appropriate.
"However, subsequently several of those responsible received favorable assignments or selections for schooling or promotion," he wrote. "I recommend that all of these favorable personnel actions be reviewed."
Hendrix asked that the Army Suitability Evaluation Board review the original investigative report. Officials said his action meant the board would decide whether to include the information in the nine soldiers' personnel files. If it is included, their selection for promotions or favorable assignments likely would be withdrawn.
Hendrix said the 3rd Battalion suffered from a lack of comprehensive training on the Kosovo mission before it left Fort Bragg, N.C. It did not conduct what is called a mission rehearsal exercise, in which the soldiers and their leaders work out the details of how their mission will be performed before they arrive on the scene.
That now will be a requirement for all Army units assigned to peacekeeping in Kosovo or elsewhere.