Richard Huck Richard Huck is a retired United States Marine Corps officer . Huck served as Commanding General of the 2nd Marine Division from 2004 until June 16 , 2006 . Huck is currently serving as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Plans , Policies and Operations , Headquarters Marine Corps . Career . Role in the Haditha massacre . U . S . Marine Corps Commandant Michael Hagee visited Iraq following " Time " magazine ' s report of an atrocity in Haditha . " Time " reported that a squad of U . S . Marines from the 2nd Regiment , 2nd Marine Division had reacted to a colleague ' s death from a hidden land mine by killing 24 unarmed civilians . The unit involved was more specifically 3rd Battalion , 1st Marines , normally assigned to the 1st Marine Division , however , at the time of the incident they had been temporarily attached to 2nd Marine Regiment , 2nd Marine Division to strengthen the ongoing Marine operations in theater . In being assigned as such , they fell under the command of Huck . U . S . Army Lieutenant General Peter W . Chiarelli , the second - in - command in Iraq , directed an inquiry into failures of leadership in the Marine command structure . The " Los Angeles Times " reported , on July 9 , 2006 , that Huck retired from the Marine Corps on June 19 , 2006 . DoD spokesmen said that Huck ' s retirement had nothing to do with Hagee ' s visit to Iraq , that Huck ' s retirement had been previously scheduled , and that its announcement following Hagee ' s visit or the conclusion of Chiarelli ' s inquiry was just a coincidence . As of June 2006 , Huck is serving as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Plans , Policies and Operations , Headquarters Marine Corps . Role in the Ilario Pantano shooting incident . Lieutenant Ilario Pantano was a platoon commander in 2nd Battalion , 2nd Marine Regiment , 1st Marine Division . In April 2004 the Marines launched their first assault on the city of Fallujah . The assault was planned and conducted by military commanders after insurgent activity had been growing in that city for months . The climax of the enemy activity just prior to the assault was the ambush , burning and desecration of four American " private military contractor s " from Blackwater Security , by an angry mob fueled by insurgents . It was during this period of heightened enemy activity that Pantano and his Marines were dispatched to a housing compound to search for a bomb workshop . After arriving at the compound , a weapons cache and a vehicle with bomb compartments were found at the reported location along with two military age males . It was these two unarmed Iraqi detainees that Pantano shot under unclear circumstances . The shooting was found to be justified at the time and the incident was closed . Five months later , Pantano ' s chain of command was notified of an accusation by a Marine that had been demoted by Pantano and the matter was forwarded to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service ( NCIS ) for further invesitgation . Pantano acknowledge that he shot the captured Iraqis with four dozen bullets , because he wanted " to send a message " after the detainees had refused repeated commands to stop moving toward him . After the shooting , Pantano scrawled a warning which he placed on the vehicle near the bodies . He removed the sign shortly thereafter . At the conclusion of the NCIS investigation , Pantano was found not guilty of the charges of premeditated murder . The initial investigation began while Pantano ' s unit was under the command of the 1st Marine Division - a temporary command relationship relating to troop rotation cycles . However , by the NCIS investigation ' s conclusion , 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines had reverted to the 2d Marine Division - its permanent home . Of significance , by the time the NCIS investigation was concluded , the second assault and seizure of Fallujah had already occurred in November 2004 . This now presented an opportunity to return to the scene of the incident , gather any additional evidence and locate additional Iraqi witnesses ; as well as exhume the corpses for forensic examination . This was an opportunity NCIS had not been able to execute freely as the area had been under insurgent control during their inquiry . Huck then appointed major Mark Winn , as the command investigating officer , to conduct an additional investigation as per the Manual of the Judge Advocate General , otherwise known as a " JAGMAN " . As per the manual , Winn ' s findings would include recommendations whether Pantano ' s case should be referred to a court martial based on the NCIS investigation and any additional factual evidence encountered during this inquiry . Winn recommended that the murder charges be dropped , because he did not find the prosecution ' s key witness credible . But he also recommended that Pantano be held responsible for the sign he left on the vehicle . After reviewing the evidence gathered by all the investigations , Major General Huck dropped the murder charge and did not accept the recommendation to administratively discipline Pantano .