Army to Punish 9 Officers for Fort Hood Shootings

March 10, 2011 — -- The Army has begun administrative punishments against nine officers for what it calls "administrative and leadership failures relating to the career of Maj. Nidal Hasan," the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings that killed 13.

Army Secretary John McHugh has initiated "adverse administrative action" against the officers, according to an Army statement released Thursday on the results of an accountability review to determine if Hasan's superior officers were negligent.

"Although no single event directly led to the tragedy at Fort Hood, certain officers clearly failed to meet the high standards expected of their profession," the Army statement said.

The officers were not identified by name or rank, and it seemed there would not be a uniform punishment.

"The severity of each action varies depending on case-specific facts and circumstances," the statement said.

As part of its broader investigation into the circumstances that led to the November 2009 Fort Hood shooting, the Army conducted an accountability review of the actions of the officers that supervised Hasan. Unlike the broader investigation's conclusions, which were made public this year, the results of the accountability review have not been made public -- until now.

A report by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released last month concluded that there were warning signs about Hasan's radicalization and antagonism to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that raised concerns among his colleagues.

Entitled, "Ticking Time Bomb: Fort Hood Massacre Could Have Been Prevented," the report cited examples of Hasan's behavior that should have been picked up by his supervisors.

Instead, the report found that Hasan continued to receive positive evaluation reports from his supervisors that led to his continued promotion and eventual assignment to Fort Hood, where he was slated to deploy to Afghanistan.

McHugh has directed senior Army leaders to review evaluations systems policies and procedures "to determine whether the evaluation system could be improved to yield more accurate and useful evaluations," today's statement said.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He could face the death penalty if his case is recommended to a court martial.