A US Army investigation into the death of a Wisconsin National Guard soldier in Iraq says training was not an issue.
Specialist Stephen Castner of Cedarburg was killed by a roadside bomb just days after he arrived in Iraq from training at Camp Shelby Mississippi. Castner's father, based on letters he received from his son in Mississippi, questioned the training and equipment issued to Stephen's until before heading out to Iraq. He asked Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner to look into it. The Army's report says training was not responsible for Stephen Castner's death.
A section of the report released by the family says a communications breakdown delayed a medical chopper from evacuating Castner for nearly an hour.
The Wisconsin National Guard's Lt. Colonel Tim Donovan says he can't comment on an Army report directly but that section of the report is a sobering reminder of what combat can be like for Wisconsin troops.
Donovan says other guard families in the state should know their troops are well trained, well equipped and well led when they're turned over to the US Army for deployment.
Donovan says the Guard's sympathy continues to go out to the Castner family.