WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that he has forwarded recommendations to the Army for disciplinary action against supervisors of the accused Fort. Hood shooter.
An official familiar with the investigation said Thursday that five to eight Army officers are expected to face discipline for failing to take action against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan over a series of behavioral and professional problems in the years leading up to the Nov. 5 rampage at the Army base in Texas.
Gates declined to discuss specifics of the case against Hasan, citing the criminal investigation. But he said he was ordering the Defense Department to begin to implement a series of reforms recommended by a review team that examined the events leading to the shooting.
The Department of Defense, Gates said, had not done enough to adapt to “evolving domestic internal security threat.”
“The report raises serious questions about the degree to which the entire Department of Defense is prepared for similar incidents in the future,” Gates said. “It reveals shortcomings in the way the department is prepared against threats posed by external influences operating on members of our military community.”
Gates said he did not believe such homegrown radicals were a significant threat. “But,” he said, “clearly one is too many.”
The review, led by retired Adm. Vernon Clark, a former chief of naval operations, and Togo West, a former secretary of the Army, found that personnel evaluations often fail to record problems with behavioral issues.
“At times there is a reluctance to address those issues,” Gates said.
The military, Gates said, needs to do a better job of evaluating personnel. And commanders, he said, need to be able to evaluate their personnel and pick up on behavior that needs closer examination.
Officials said Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, repeatedly failed to meet basic standards sets for officers for physical fitness, appearance and work ethic, but superiors allowed his medical career to advance.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
