WASHINGTON -- A Pentagon investigation found yesterday that four senior Army officers -- including a three-star general now in charge of the military's most elite man-hunting units -- committed "critical errors" in judgment in handling the "friendly fire" death of Corporal Pat Tillman, a former pro fessional football star.

A separate Army probe found no criminal wrongdoing in Tillman's death on April 22, 2004, in a barrage of fire from fellow Rangers on a craggy mountainside near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

The report by the Pentagon inspector general recommended that four Army generals, as well as five lower-ranking officers, face "corrective action" for serious violations, including making false and misleading statements about what they knew about the Tillman fratricide, as well as inaccuracies in recommending Tillman for a Silver Star, the Army's third-highest combat award.

The high-level mistakes prevented Tillman's parents and wife from learning for at least five weeks that he was killed not while charging up a hill against the enemy fighters, but in a confused gun battle with elements of his Ranger platoon.

"We as an Army failed in our duty to the Tillman family," acting Army Secretary Peter Geren told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday. He announced an immediate review of the actions of all nine officers, to be led by General William S. Wallace, commander of the Army's training command, with a preliminary report due in 30 days. Possible disciplinary actions range from no action and written reprimands up to courts-martial, said Colonel Daniel McCallum of the Army's Judge Advocate General Office. Wallace will have "the full range of disciplinary options" available to sanction the officers, Geren said.

Some of the most serious failures were committed by Lieutenant General Philip R. Kensinger Jr., now retired, who at the time served as commander of the US Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C. Kensinger "provided misleading testimony" to Army and Pentagon investigators "when he denied that he knew friendly fire was suspected before the memorial service" for Tillman, according to the inspector general's report.

Brigadier General James C. Nixon, then a colonel in command of the 75th Ranger Regiment, failed to take steps to initiate investigations of suspected friendly fire, the report found. Brigadier General Gary M. Jones, then chief of staff of special operations command and now retired, conducted a faulty follow-up investigation in which he failed to interview all Rangers present, or to scrutinize the mishandling of evidence, it said.

Soldiers burned Tillman's uniform and body armor the day after his death. Nixon, along with Lieutenant General Stanley A. McChrystal, who was the joint task force commander, were responsible for submitting a Silver Star recommendation for Tillman that included "inaccurate information and a misleading citation that implied CPL Tillman died by enemy fire," the report found. McChrystal is now a forward commander for the Joint Special Operations Command, which includes Army Delta Force operatives and played a key role in killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq in June .

Despite finding several errors, the inspector general's report did not find evidence of a coverup. "There was a series of mistakes made. We never decided that there was any attempt to cover up" because the friendly-fire investigation was started quickly, said Thomas F. Gimble, acting Pentagon inspector general.

Tillman's family members have said the military's investigations into Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan were a sham, and that the military and the government created a heroic tale about how their son died to foster a patriotic response across the country.

They have said they are certain they will never get the full story.

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.