The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has released a report detailing some of what went wrong during a mission that killed a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier from South Florida.
Miami's Sergeant La David Johnson, Sergeant 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sergeant Bryan Black and Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright died during an ambush in Niger back in October.
DOD investigators say several things went wrong during the mission:
- The 11-member Special Forces team did not train as a unit before being deployed
- There were "individual, organizational and institutional" mistakes
- The lieutenant colonel ordered the team to carry out the mission even though the weather kept them from flying in the area
- The team wasn't properly equipped to carry out the mission without backup
The report also says that Johnson and the other soldiers who died were not captured alive.