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By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - A Pentagon watchdog on Monday found fault with four generals and five other officers for mistakes following the death of U.S. Army Ranger and former professional football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

Army investigators found that Tillman, widely lauded as a hero for giving up the National Football League to join the Army, was killed by fellow U.S. soldiers who believed they were engaging enemy fighters on April 22, 2004.

The Army initially told Tillman's family he died from enemy fire and did not alter that account until a month later, even though officers quickly knew that he was likely killed by U.S. troops, the Pentagon's acting inspector general said.

Only after a nationally televised memorial service and the posthumous award of a Silver Star, one of the U.S. military's top awards for gallantry, did Army officials notify his family that he had died from U.S. fire, the watchdog said.

"We as an Army failed in our duty to the Tillman family," Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren told reporters. "We failed to live up to Army values."

The inspector general, Thomas Gimble, also found three previous investigations into the death were deficient and that information presented in support of the Silver Star was incorrect and should not have been provided to top officials.

Geren said the Silver Star would stand but the accompanying citation would be changed to reflect the true circumstances of Tillman's death.

Tillman is the best-known of any American service member killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He walked away from a $3.6 million football contract to join the military along with his brother, a fellow Ranger, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"TOO MUCH TIME"

Geren said he had asked Gen. William Wallace, head of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, to look into the actions of the officers criticized in the report. Wallace has a "full range of investigative and disciplinary options," he said.

"I have asked for an interim progress report from General Wallace within 30 days," Geren said. "Far too much time has passed in getting things right in this case."

The Army's Criminal Investigation Command also presented its own investigation into the death on Monday, concluding that the U.S. soldiers who killed Tillman and an Afghan soldier made an honest mistake and no criminal offense had been committed.

Among those singled out for criticism by the inspector general are Army Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger, a former head of the Army's Special Operations command, who has now retired.

The report found Kensinger knew before Tillman's memorial service that the former Arizona Cardinals player had died from U.S. fire but did not tell the Tillman family.

He also misled investigators when he denied knowing about the cause of death before the memorial service, it said.

The report also faulted Lt. Gen Stanley McChrystal, the head of U.S. Joint Special Operations Command, saying he failed to inform authorities that the information provided in support of Tillman's Silver Star was inaccurate.

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