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DEFEND OUR MARINES ________________________________________
Voluntary Sworn Statement Haditha Dam, March 24, 2006 |
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__________________________ Voluntary Sworn Statement of LCpl Justin Sharratt
Place: Haditha Dam, Iraq I, LCpl Justin Sharratt make the following free and voluntary statement to SA Nayda MANNLE and SA Mark PLATT whom I know to be a Representative of the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I make this statement of my own free will and without any threats made to me or promises extended. I fully understand that this statement is given concerning my knowledge of my Marine Corps experience and training regarding the Rules of Engagement, Positive Identification, and Tactics Techniques & Procedures, and the incident that occurred on 19Nov05. The purpose of this statement is to ascertain my training and knowledge of the Rules of Engagement (ROE), Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC), House Clearing and Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT). The following questions were asked of me, and my responses are provided: Q. When did you enter the Marine Corps? A. July 28, 2003. Q. What is your MOS? A. 0311-Infantry. Q. When did you attend the School of Infantry (SOI)? A. November 11, 2003. Q. Did you attend SOI-East or West? A. West. Q. What training did you receive boot camp and SOI on ROE and LOAC? A. The basic requirements for ROW and LOAC were received at boot camp. None on ROE or LOAC at SOI. Q. What training did you received during boot camp and SOI on MOUT operations and building clearing operations? A. None at boot camp but SOI I received the basic fundamentals. Q. When did you deploy to Iraq on this current tour? A. September 5, 2005. Q. If this is not your first tour in Iraq, when have you been in Iraq before? A. July 2004. Q. Have you been in a combat situation before 19Nov05 where you used your weapon? If yes, give details. A. Yes. During November 2004, I participated in Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq. The push took about four days and we were in combat scenarios from minutes to hours, where we were engaged in fire fights. I shot my weapon and if I had to estimate, I would say approximately over 2,000 rounds of ammunition. During these combat engagements, we were taking SAF, getting hit by IEDs, mines, RPGs, mortars, etc. Overall, the four day push was a constant firefight. After the four day push, there were instances I used my weapon during clearing buildings and homes. I shot combatants during four day push and at times after the four day push when engaged by combatants. Q. When did you become a member of the 1st Squad, 3D Platoon, Kilo Company, 3DBN 1st Marines and what is your job? A. May 2005. I am an automatic Rifleman. Q. Prior to being with 3/1, where were you stationed and what was your job? A. I have been in 3/1 my whole USMC career except for boot camp and SOI. Q. What military schools/courses have [you] attended prior to your pre-deployment training? When and where? A. I have taken the 0331-Machine Gunner Course, I do not recall the date. I have been through Decontamination course, I do not recall the date. All other training was received on my initiative from engineers, assault men, Recon Marines, Scout Snipers, etc. Q. Did any [of] these schools/courses have training on ROE, LOAC, or house clearing? If so, explain. A. No. Q. Did any [of] these schools/courses have training on MOUT and house clearing? If so, explain. A. No. Q. What training did you receive during home station unit training on ROE and LOAC? Who provided the training? A. We have had training on ROE where the whole Company would go to an auditorium and officers and/or higher ranking personnel would get up front and give us a course on ROE, Laws of Armed Conflict, Area of Operations brief for Iraq, etc. We received this type of training monthly and what sometimes seemed liked weekly. Q. What did you received during home station unit on MOUT and house clearing? Who provided the training? A. MOUT and clearing – we would go out to the field and “MOUT towns”. Here, we received periods of instruction on clearing buildings and tactics. We went to March Air Force Base twice and conducted training exercises on house clearing. I have been to George Air Force Base once for the same training. I have also gone to the Twenty-Nine Palms Combined Arms Exercise. I cannot recall exactly the names of the Marines that taught me at the trainings I just listed but I was trained by only military personnel. Q. What training did you receive during pre-deployment training on ROE and LOAC? Who provided the training? A. As I stated before, we had classes that were taught by higher ranking USMC personnel and these classes were held on a monthly, sometimes weekly, basis. These classes were given via Power Point presentation which included examples to go by. Q. What training did you receive during pre-deployment training on MOUT and house clearing? Who provided the training? A. Again, we went to the field as noted above to MOUT towns and even just by sitting at Camp Horno we conducted practice clearing in our barracks with our squad. Such practices were led by our squad leaders and team leaders. Q. What additional training did you receive on ROE and LOAC after you were deployed to Iraq? A. We received training on regular basis during every or every other R&R period which occurred every 16 days. We received this verbally by our USMC personnel. Q. What additional training did you receive on MOUT and house clearing after you were deployed to Iraq? A. We considered every patrol we went out and house we didn’t receive fire from as training. So you could say we would get training pretty every day while in country. We would also have prior to and after (de-briefs) for every patrol. During such briefs, we reviewed what we did out there but didn’t go over MOUT and house clearing but every once in a while during these briefs we go over ROEs and Escalation of Force rules. Q. What additional training did you receive to help you determine Positive Identification of enemy combatants and non-combatants in Iraq? A. I received a lot of PID training out here in Iraq. We came out here to Haditha on R&R and received classes on PID, ROE, etc. We had 16 days of work and 3 days that we received R&R and during such rotations we would receive classes on PID, ROE, and Escalation of Force either every R&R or every other R&R period. Our platoon commander or platoon sergeant provided the training in a verbal format but Power Points were used. Q. Were you given an ROE card during any of this training? A. Yes. I received a ROE card before I came to Iraq and they had them available if we ever needed a new one. I know this because I had to replace mine a couple times when the wash would ruin my card. Q. Prior to 19Nov05, had anyone in your platoon been hurt or killed as a result of direct combat with the enemy? A. Yes. There was one time when three Marines in my platoon were injured but they survived. I know of other times Marines were hurt in my company and battalion but I just do not know the numbers. The only time I directly saw any of the Marines hurt was the incident I noted where 3 Marines were hurt. I was part of the QRF and assisted in getting them medically evacuated. Q. Did the ROE and LOAC training you received during pre-deployment training prepare you to PID and engage with enemy combatants in an urbanized terrain environment like you experienced in Iraq? A. No. I say “no” because there is no way they can possibly prepare us for every scenario we face here in Iraq. If they even could prepare us, I do not believe they could do so by putting it all in a little piece of paper that fits in your pocket. Q. Did the MOUT training and house/room clearing training you received prepare you to enter and clear buildings and houses that you encountered in Iraq? Explain. A. Yes. Basically, all the training I/we received were the fundamentals we needed to know to conduct most tasks. Now having gone through two deployments, I feel I have gained experience by going through over 1,000 houses. This has made me feel like I know the job. Q. Did any of the MOUT training and house clearing training cover the subject of encountering enemy combatants firing from structures of areas when there may be non-combatants in the structures or areas? Explain. A. No, we never have. In MOUT training, they set us for “tunnel vision” where we encountered enemy combatants and dealt with just them. Otherwise, we dealt with civilians/non-combatants and only non-combatants but we never dealt with scenarios where they mixed both combatants and non-combatants. Q. Did any of the LOAC and ROE training cover the subject of encountering enemy combatants firing from structures or areas where non-combatants are present or may be present? Explain. A. No, I do not think so. It is very vague on the ROEs. They teach us the definition of what enemy combatants and non-combatants are and they teach us to engage if you feel you are threatened or your Marines are threatened. In those same standards, you could see a little kid too far away with a toy gun and unknowing he is a kid you feel in danger so you shoot because you feel you are in danger and then later you learn he is a little kid with just a toy gun. So I ask, does this leave you in the right or wrong? Q. Is there anything you would like to add concerning training on ROE and LOAC? A. No. Q. Is there you would like to add concerning training on MOUT and house clearing? A. No.
This statement, consisting of this page and 4 other page(s) was typed for me by Nayda MANNLE as we discussed its contents. I have read and understand the above statement. I have been given the opportunity to make any changes or corrections I desire to make and have placed my initials over the changes or corrections. This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
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