Pentagon Taps Former Officials To Head Fort Hood Inquiry

November 20, 2009 9:41 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Defense Sec. Robert Gates on Thursday ordered a military-wide review related to the shooting at Fort Hood this month that left 13 people dead and 43 others wounded. The inquiry adds to a number of investigations into the tragedy; a government-wide review and a criminal probe are underway, while Congress began its hearing on the matter this week.

Former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Adm. Vernon Clark, former chief of naval operations, will head an 45-day review, which will be the first stage of a department-wide inquiry that will take from four to six months.

The aim of the initial review is to find gaps in procedures for identifying service members who could pose as threats, and to evaluate medical assessment programs and the handling of information about service members who may post a threat. Third, the review will look into domestic security programs, and whether the Department has the facilities to respond effectively to mass casualty events.

"There is nothing any of us can say to ease the pain for the wounded, the families of the fallen, and the members of the Fort Hood community touched by this incident, pain I saw vividly and firsthand," Gates said in a press briefing. "All that is left for us to do is everything in our power to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future."

The shooting at Fort Hood occurred on Nov. 5 at a "readiness center" where troops routinely gather for medical and dental consultations before their deployment. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and practicing Muslim who is still in a hospital recovering from gunshot wounds, is believed to have used a handgun and a semiautomatic against fellow soldiers.

The tragedy at the nation's largest military base occurred just days before Veterans Day, and amid public debate about whether more troops should be sent to fight in the Afghan war, now on its eighth year.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of first degree murder. His motives are still unknown, but officials are exploring his ties with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric and the former imam of the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia, a mosque attended by two 9/11 hijackers.

Al-Awlaki, an American citizen who currently resides in Yemen, has praised Hasan for "doing the right thing" and attacking "an army that is fighting his own people."

The FBI has said there are no indications that Hasan had any accomplices or was part of a larger terror plot.  Hasan came to the agency's attention in December 2008 when a terrorism task force reviewed communication between Hasan, then a doctor at Walter Reed Medical Center, and a person intelligence officials were investigating. The communications were consistent with the responsibilities of Hasan as a psychiatrist, according to the FBI.

Some observers have raised the possibility that Hasan may have suffered from secondary post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that afflicts those who are exposed to stress because they provide care for troops or veterans with PTSD. The ill-treatment of Muslim service members and his scheduled deployment to Afghanistan have also been cited as possible reasons for Hasan's actions.

Gates said his review will include an assessment of how the Defense Department is addressing stress among healthcare providers.

"You go to the hospitals, and you talk to the nurses and the doctors and those who care for these grievously wounded young men and women.... their level of commitment -- I can't imagine the burden on them of doing that all day, every day," he said."So I think one of the things, for their own benefit, if nothing else, is for us to take a look at how are we helping them deal with stress, given the circumstances that they face."

The Secretary also cautioned against treating certain members of the service with suspicion. "In a nation as diverse as the United States, the last thing we need to do is start pointing fingers at each other, particularly when there's no basis in fact for it," he said.

The United States has more than 3,500 active-duty troops who are Muslims, half of whom serve in the Army.

Qaseem Ali Uqdah, executive director of the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, has welcomed the review, and said the alleged actions of Hasan were about "an individual [who] committed a criminal act."

Gates ordered the inquiry the same day Congress began its probe on the shooting. The Senate Homeland Security Committee, in its first hearing, listened to testimony from retired Gen. John Keane, former Army vice chief of staff, Frances Fragos Townsend, who served as a homeland security and counterterrorism assistant to former President George W. Bush, and Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser with the RAND Corporation.

The White House has also ordered military and intelligence agencies to review all information they have about Hasan. President Barack Obama issued a memorandum a day after the shooting, ordering the FBI, Defense Sec. Robert Gates and other officials to inventory all data on Hasan. The results of the review, which is separate from the criminal investigation, will be submitted on Nov. 30.