Two riverine boats carrying ten sailors from CRS-3 were apprehended by the Iranian military after they entered Iranian waters. Riverine boats provide maritime security in harbor areas as well as conducting escort support for U.S. Naval vessels. The officer in charge of the two boats that were captured, however, didn’t fare so well.
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The Navy says following an investigation into the event, they determined that Rasch was guilty of failed training, ineffective leadership, complacency and an overall failure to maintain standards in the unit. He remains in the Navy but has been reassigned.
US Navy captain Gary Leigh, commander of Riverine Group 1, chose to fire Mr Rasch after reviewing the initial investigation. The crew was detained for 15 hours for questioning. The incident, while brief, raised tensions between the USA and Iran because of images Iran published of the soldiers kneeling with their hands on their heads.
The episode was a major embarrassment for the U.S. Navy, and the service has taken its time to investigate what took place. Greg Meyer, who was serving as commander of the squadron when the incident happened.
Two days after the incident, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said that “the original cause” behind it was “a navigation error”, not a mechanical one. At that point, they did not realize that they had breached Iranian territorial waters, because the tiny islands had not appeared on their Global Positioning System device. While in custody, one of the sailors apologized on videotape for the snafu, which led Iran to award medals to its sailors who seized the Americans.
Retired Marine General Jim Mattis, who led U.S. Central Command (which includes Iran) from 2010 to 2013, told TIME last month that he doesn’t know which nation came out on top. Officials have suggested that the crew may have been taking an unauthorized shortcut through Iranian waters to meet up with a U.S. Coast Guard vessel for refueling. Soon afterwards, it lost communications with the boats.
Members of Iranian Basij paramilitary reenact the capture of U.S sailors in a rally commemorating the 37th anniversary of Islamic Revolution.
“After determining that their entry into Iran’s territorial waters was not intentional and their apology, the detained American sailors were released in worldwide waters”, a statement posted online by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in January.
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Secretary of State John Kerry used his relationship with the Iranian foreign minister to secure the sailors’ release. “That was our fault, and we apologize for our mistake”, he said.
