Jeffrey Chessani

Jeffrey Chessani
Born	Rangely, Colorado
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1989–2010
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	3rd Battalion 1st Marines
Commands held	3rd Battalion 1st Marines
Battles/wars	Operation Just Cause Operation Desert Storm Operation Iraqi Freedom

Jeffrey R. Chessani is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and was the commanding officer 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the November 2005 urban combat in Haditha, Iraq. In that event, known as the Haditha killings, Marines in his battalion were accused of having killed 15 civilians while pursuing insurgents.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service was called in to investigate the killings after Time magazine published a report on the killings. Thirteen months passed between the killings, and the initiation of the NCIS inquiry.

Chessnai was removed along with Captains Luke McConnell and James Kimber, However, all criminal charges against Chessani have been dismissed. A Board of Inquiry found, despite the easier standard of proving guilt, preponderance of the evidence, that there was no misconduct.

The Thomas More Law Center along with national radio host Michael Savage defended Chessani against the charge that he failed to investigate the killings. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was the senior Marine on patrol and is under investigation for other charges. To date, after numerous trials, no Marines have been found guilty of committing any crimes.

Chessani, 45, was raised in the small town of Rangely, Colorado, where he graduated from high school in 1982. He went on to receive a B.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in 1988. During his military career he participated in the 1989 Operation Just Cause (Invasion of Panama), the 1991 Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), and most recently the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom).

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