The probe will address a host of questions surrounding the crash, including the decision to send a Chinook helicopter packed with Navy and Air Force special operations forces to a firefight to assist troops on the ground.
The helicopter apparently was shot down by an insurgent armed with a rocket-propelled grenade. It was the single deadliest loss in the decade-long war.
25-year-old Petty Officer Michael Strange from Mayfair was one of the 30 U.S. troops killed in the crash.
Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, has appointed Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt to spearhead the investigation. Colt is deputy commander of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.
