Re. the Col. Dowdy incident, I believe that the real culprit was/is Gen. Kelly. Documented history of trying to insert himself into the -3 (operations) lane in order to try and polish his own apple. The most charitable characterization Gen. Kelly is integrity challenged to simultaneously raise himself while attacking competent subordinates. There are at least a couple of AARs that support this line of thinking. More than a little scuttlebutt about actually charging Gen. Kelly for his conduct in this (and a few other) matter. Ultimately another black eye for the USMC and admitting mistakes (to include how Gen. Kelly made it past 1stLt.) was decided against.
Gen. Mattis has been honest about the relief of Col. Dowdy, that it was a mistake. Col. Dowdy would not be the 1st nor last FMF type officer who has fallen to professional
staff pukes who do one tour in the FMF as junior officers then spend their career outside the FMF (school, Army of the Potomac, etc.) then come for a short tour as a LtCol. or Col. then back to staff work.
On the WSJ article about on other relief that is a falsehood. The CO of the Motor T Regiment was relieved within the 1st 24 hours and never even crossed the Iraq/Kuwait border. The relief was for stress, she was assigned as a MEF staff augmentee, then given a Bronze star for the actions of the Regiment that her XO led throughout, he did not receive an award for his leadership…
On the waiver we (USA) have a thing called the Constitution. In it allows the President to appoint people with very few conditions. Congress passing a law is not amending the Constitution. If Congress wants the law to stand then they will pass a waiver.
S/F, FOG