“But overall, based on the facts and circumstances available during the months-long investigation into Alshamrani’s actions,’no one person or organization knew or could have known Alshamrani would attack active duty service members and civilians at Naval Aviation Schools Command,” the service determined.'”
Of course not. No one could possibly have known. When he said, “I want his head!” about one of his instructors, everyone who heard him knew that it would have been “Islamophobic” to start to wonder if maybe Alshamrani was inclined to jihad. And his superiors didn’t know he had a gun because they were likely tiptoing around him, knowing that there is a heavy price to pay for too much scrutiny of a Muslim officer. In short, Alshamrani’s attack was indeed likely caused in part by a “toxic” command climate, but not because of the instructor’s “unprofessional behavior and harassment.” The “toxic” command climate was the one in which officials are so afraid of charges of “Islamophobia” that they fear to perform due diligence regarding Muslims such as Alshamrani. But this report didn’t address that, and it will not be corrected.
Also: when that instructor (who will, unjustly, be hung out to dry for this) was supposedly engaging in “unprofessional behavior and harassment,” Alshamrani was not his only target. “Three students reported that ‘[the instructor] made homophobic comments regarding their hairstyles and personal grooming,’ according to the report. Multiple complaints were filed against the contractor.” But those three students and the others who made the complaints didn’t shoot up the base. Only Alshamrani did. Now, why is that?
“Navy Investigation of Pensacola Shooting Points to ‘Toxic’ Command Climate as Factor,” by Oriana Pawlyk, Military.com, November 20, 2020:
A U.S. Navy investigation has determined that the Saudi pilot who killed three people when he opened fire on Florida’s Naval Air Station Pensacola last year was self-radicalized.
However, it also found that Navy leaders could have picked up on a pattern of negative behaviors exacerbated by the “toxic” command climate at the base.
In a 260-page investigation released Friday, investigators concluded that, while 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, a 21-year-old Royal Saudi Air Force member, was motivated by anti-American and “jihadist” sentiment, the aviation training climate “likely increased” his chances of successfully carrying out the Dec. 6, 2019 attack that killed three sailors and injured eight others.
The three who died were Ensign Joshua Watson and Naval Aircrewmen (Mechanical) 3rd Class Mohammed Haitham and Cameron S. Walters.
“The self-radicalization of 2nd Lt. Alshamrani was the primary cause of this fatal attack,” according to the incident summary of the report, which was signed off by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday in July. “However, his actions and behaviors, along with the organizational environment inherent in the aviation pipeline, likely increased his probability of committing an insider attack. Military leaders, government employees, contracted employees, peers and civilians knew of isolated events and indicators, but all remained unaware of a complete picture of 2nd Lt. Alshamrani’s potential threat indicators.”…
Prior to flight school in Pensacola, Alshamrani began his pre-flight training in August 2017 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas. While he was there, officials with the Defense Language Institute English Language Center placed him on “academic probation for ‘lack of growth,’” between December 2017 and May 2018, the report states.
In May 2018, he moved to NAS Pensacola, where he began basic aviation fundamentals training. In April 2019, trouble began between him and one of his instructors.
A key factor was the unprofessional behavior and harassment from a contracted instructor — and a group of instructors who stood idly by — at the base within Training Wing Six, or TW-6, the host training wing at the Florida base, the report says. The individual’s name and formal title were redacted in the report, but the instructor is later described as a contractor under the Delaware Resource Group (DRG), an aerospace defense contracting company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Three students reported that “[the instructor] made homophobic comments regarding their hairstyles and personal grooming,” according to the report.
Multiple complaints were filed against the contractor. Alshamrani was among them, after the instructor referred to him as “Pornstache,” the report states. Another student also submitted a inspector general complaint about the comment on Alshamrani’s behalf.
For months, “unprofessional behavior toward [students] persisted and went uncorrected,” investigators said.
“One student reported that [the instructor] referred to him as ‘the a–hole’ in front of other [students] and colleagues,” the report adds. “Multiple [students] reported overhearing [the instructor] tell Saudi students they ‘stink,’ including one occasion where [the instructor] publicly humiliated a student and sent him home to shower. [The instructor] told Saudi students, ‘As long as you don’t respect women in your country, I won’t respect you either.'”
When the complaint reached leaders within the Chief of Naval Air Training, TW-6 and managers from DRG were tasked with resolving the “incident” with Alshamrani, and concluded the instructor should meet with him to apologize. When Alshamrani was unsatisfied with the apology, the ground training officer in charge asked him what it would take to correct the misstep.
“Alshamrani replied, ‘I want his hea … I want something to happen to him!'” according to the officer recounting their conversation. “Although 2nd Lt Alshamrani didn’t finish his sentence, witnesses believed he intended to say, “I want his head!'” the report states.
Instead, the ground training officer pressed Alshamrani to “consider the issue over,” according to the investigation. The Navy was made aware of the conversation following the attack on the base.
Prior Complaints
There were previous complaints that the Navy was aware of, not just against the instructor but the command climate overall: Norwegian and German student pilots training in the U.S. submitted complaints, some dating back to at least 2015, according to the investigation.
Leaders within the command were aware of the complaints, but failed to proactively intervene and correct the International Military Training Office staff, investigators said.
Members of TW-6, as well as the International Military Training Office, known as IMTO, under Naval Aviation Schools Command, contributed to the adverse climate, subjecting international students to “sometimes abusive comments as well as humiliating public reprimands … [such as] meaningless tasks for their own amusement,” the report found.
The incidents ranged from targeted micromanagement — taking students away from their aviation training to do meaningless chores such as cleaning — to derogatory comments made in front of other leaders and peers.
“There was a toxic microclimate within the IMTO due to the unprofessional behavior of [person/persons],” the investigation said.
Furthermore, it found, the Navy was inefficient in gathering feedback from students — only staff climate feedback was required — as well as incapable of streamlining complaints, given the multiple methods in which students could file claims or reports.
“No mechanism exists to solicit or capture anonymous student feedback on administrative support staff or command climate in general,” the report found.
As a result, complaints were not expedited for resolution and sometimes went unresolved….
Alshmrani also “did not register his personal weapon with installation security as required,” it adds. His chain of command was unaware he had a gun — a 9mm Glock model 45 pistol.
Officials also said there was a lack of attention from Alshamrani’s Royal Saudi Air Force country liaison officer, who could have intervened sooner to offer proactive solutions….
In January, United States Attorney General William Barr, who called the attack “an act of terrorism,” pinpointed one unauthorized trip to New York City, where Alshamrani visited the 9/11 memorial site over Thanksgiving weekend.
Weeks earlier, on the 18th anniversary of those attacks, a Twitter account authorities believe to belong to Alshamrani posted, “The countdown has begun.”
“2nd Lt Alshamrani may have utilized a Twitter alias of @M7md_Shamrani,” the Navy report states.
The Navy deferred to the Justice Department on his social media presence and whether he posted radical messages. The DOJ said Alshamrani maintained a social media presence “with jihadist, anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli rhetoric,” but the U.S. government overall was unable to effectively monitor his social media….
But overall, based on the facts and circumstances available during the months-long investigation into Alshamrani’s actions,”no one person or organization knew or could have known Alshamrani would attack active duty service members and civilians at Naval Aviation Schools Command,” the service determined.
mgoldberg says
It’s amazing… even the navy goes into denial trying to pin it on some homophobic comments by his trainers?!?
Uh huh. You know… how many people go on a slaughtering spree, when their ‘feelings’ are offended or insulted, or demeaned. Except for muslims, we call that sociopaths criminality- but if they muslim, why we just look for that special case where offended feelings given special excuses to the psychopaths created by Islam. Instead of simply saying that even well educated and disciplined solders from muslim nations can be capable of murderous rages, and therefore should be suspect before being brought for training here, they look for ways to blame loutish behavior so they can bring some more in to show how decent we are.
If it was any other religion doing this they be out on their ears… as simply too unreliable, and bent on criminal behavior. Here the special privilege given to muslims means we have to rationalize why going psycho murderous nuts is simply do to our loutish behaviors.
somehistory says
+ It’s never the fault of the psychopath…in the mind of the psychopath. Agreeing with the psychopath is entirely stupid.
gravenimage says
Spot on, mgoldberg.
somehistory says
There were reports of what he said he planned to do…before he ever arrived for training.
It would not have mattered how he was treated because his goal was to murder as many as possible.
What guy or gal in the military has ever had it easy during “training”?
It appears that the contracted instructor knows a thing or two about islam. He and others who don’t know a thing, should not have to deal with moslims…who are all taught to believe they have the ‘right’ to murder others, and the treatment given in a military setting….where all are supposed to be adults and have self-control (handling weapons is a dangerous job, after all)… is not going to be a piece of cake for any of them. moslims just don’t believe they should be criticized.
And, he most likely did smell bad. In his photo, he looks dirty. islam does not teach “cleanliness.”
revereridesagain says
Blame everyone but the “soldier of Allah”…
“Three students reported that “[the instructor] made homophobic comments regarding their hairstyles and personal grooming,” according to the report.” Thanks. I needed a laugh. Nothing like a slight to someone’s hairstyle to send him haring off to be inspired by his countrymen’s — sorry, I mean countrymales’, there are no Muslim “men” — slaughter of 3,000 people. (And do Saudi’s really smell? Why? What’s the story with all that washing before all those prayers? Or do they possibly need a change in bathroom hygiene?)
I’m sure all this was such a comfort to the families of the murdered.
mgoldberg says
sorry for the spelling, grammatical errors
Hoi Polloi says
To whom has his family apologized? And he deserved an apology for ‘As long as you don’t respect women in your country, I won’t respect you either.’ ??? No, absolutely not.
Michael Copeland says
”no one person or organization knew or could have known Alshamrani would attack….”
Mr. Spencer has been drawing attention to Islam’s instruction to muslims to kill kaffirs for many years.
The military are negligent in failing to acquaint themselves with Islam’s teachings. They are not hard to find.
“KIll Them”, a Print Your Own pocket leaflet:
https://gatesofvienna.net/2020/11/kill-them-muslims-explain/
Give it to people who do not know. After that they have no excuse.
gravenimage says
Navy investigation of Pensacola jihadi says he was ‘self-radicalized’ and blames Navy for being mean to him
……………….
Disgusting handwringing from the Navy. The only thing they *should* be blaming themselves for is ignoring signs of Jihad, and for bringing in someone from the hideous Shari’ah state of Saudi Arabia to begin with.
James Lincoln says
gravenimage,
From a retired US Navy O-6, 26 years:
100% correct – I never sign *anything* like this while on active duty.
Totally disgusting whitewashed politically correct “investigative” report.
Makes me sick…
spiro says
I wasn’t an officer but the Navy from 1961 thru 1967 my time frame wasn’t like this.
Sorry to see my Navy turn into a social experiment and not a military I served in
We gotten soft and to
Easy with the hurt feelings
mgoldberg says
The solutions are there. It doesn’t mean we have to declare the sovereign states as eternal enemies or anything like that. For example, when Pres Trump did the honorable, intelligent thing, by bringing the US embassy to Jerusalem, Israel, the world had trembled that it would cause bad ‘feelings’ and ‘hurt feelings’ and ‘rage’ etc etc, so people promised it for decades and did nothing, for fear of…. Then he simply did it, knowing that this is all ghostmanship bowing down to projected fears. He was a reasonable man and he knew that by appealing to to the reason of nations, that it would allow for other forms of relations between implacable states, having been reasonable and not driven by those ‘fears’. I’m being a bit obtuse, but here is a similar situation. The navy, armed forces don’t have to worry about ‘offending’ muslim states or creating ‘tensions’ that are irredeemable, although mullahs, leftists and others with whine, howl and make a bit of noise that that’s what was done. But all they have to do is say, look, ‘you nations of the muslim persuasion, you have issues with non muslim or even muslims causing offense, and then- rages and murderous rampages occur, ,which are unsuitable in our western lands, our US land, and we appreciate the relationships and friendships (blah blah blah) but it’s too dangerous as we don’t but call any and all of our citizens, non citizens visitors, criminals and psychopaths if they murder others out of ‘hurt feeling’s, so…. we’ll help you find your stability but no thanks, we can’t endanger everyone else as it happens all too often, and we’ll just have to send some trainers to your nations, rather than bring your people here.
A few howls of discontent but all anyone has to do is smile and trot out the statistics, here and everywhere else, and watch how it actually goes.
gravenimage says
Good post.
Honest Ali says
If Pornstache is so delicate and mentally unstable that he can’t handle light hazing without murdering people… then he is completely unfit for duty at any post, much less at the controls of a warbird…. and completely unsafe to be allowed to roam freely in any society, except behind prison walls.
gravenimage says
*So true*,
Walter Sieruk says
That murderous Muslim terrorist by blaming the Navy for driving him to jihad violence only serves as an example of the wisdom of the saying that “Evil is always looking for an excuse.”
mortimer says
2nd Lt. Alshamrani claims that he was not responsible for murdering the dirty kufaar, because he felt irritated.
Message: don’t irritate a Muslim or he will feel he has the right to kill you.
We have been told to walk on eggshells around Muslims.
tgusa says
Not much of a recruiting theme unless your target group are not Americans.
I have no idea why Americans that join the military or any Americans would have an animosity towards islam and islamic doctrine. Its a mystery. The powers that be can say this or that regarding what islam represents but they wont get people to believe what they are shoveling. Hence the, we have to ban the truth while at the same time saying, not representative islam.
Major Tom says
The problem with Islam is that there is a problem with Islam…….
Karalina Sante says
Boo effin hoo. If you can’t deal with a few insults or harsh language what you gonna do in combat when bullets are flying and other people are seriously trying to kill you? Break down and cry? Curl up in a ball and suck your thumb? Pee your pants? If muslims are that sensitive about their evil pedophile death cult, then they should stay in their own crap holes…. erm countries.
Joe says
The “loan wolf” doesn’t work. There were others who were arrested, and I seem to remember a party ahead of the shooting, where those who attended were somewhat aware of the impending terror. Yet, I didn’t see any of that addressed in this report.
Owen Morgan says
“Three students reported that ‘[the instructor] made homophobic comments regarding their hairstyles and personal grooming,’ according to the report.”
Don’t these clowns know that instructors have made fun of recruits’ hair since Sumerian times? “Is your ‘air ‘urtin’? It should be, coz I’m staaandin’ on it,” was one of the clichés eighty years ago, when my father was training for the Royal Marines. I’m pretty sure that that joke was very far from new, even back then.
Now, though, you join the military and immediately seek a safe space. Is there something wrong with this picture?
OLD GY says
What a CRY BABY .
rob says
Who knew that Muslims were snowflakes?