View Full Version : USMC Colonel relieved of Command
Must have been serious to warrant being relieved in the middle of a campaign.
The Daily Telegraph:
A senior officer in the US marines who led his troops through a fierce fight with the Republican Guard was suddenly relieved of his command yesterday. Col Joe Dowdy was removed as head of the 1st Regimental Combat Team, a brigade-sized component of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, with immediate effect.
A US military official at Central Command in Qatar said: "Command is the most coveted position, and it requires the absolute confidence of a higher commander. If that confidence is lost then that person must go. It's not a humiliating thing and it's not unheard of, but you generally don't go on to command again."
The reasons for the dismissal would "emerge later".
Col Dowdy was described as popular with his men and placed great emphasis on minimising casualties.
He gave a media interview this week describing his unit's involvement in fierce fighting with the Baghdad Division of the Republican Guard as it crossed the Tigris near Kut. His comments were relatively innocuous and the cause of his dismissal is unclear.
A replacement for Col Dowdy, who was flown back to Kuwait yesterday, has been appointed to command the 5,000-strong 1st RCT.
Steven Schweitzer, a US military spokesman, confirmed the sacking in bald terms yesterday, saying: "He [the colonel] was responsible for the regiment until three hours ago."
This sounds very much to me like a man who thought more of his men than of his command.
This conflict has asked a relatively small force to do an awful lot, someone was bound to see the light at some stage.
SASless
5th Apr 2003, 20:15
I would suggest you hold your sniping until the facts are out. The USMC demands the very highest standards for its commanders and any such relief of a commander is not done without great consideration of all evidence.
LA Times - "Marine Commander Relieved of Duties."
WITH THE MARINES IN CENTRAL IRAQ -- A Marine regimental commander was replaced Friday after being accused of showing too much caution in his drive on Baghdad. The move by Maj. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division, was highly unusual, coming just two weeks into the war and while the Marines were in the midst of a charge that sent them into unexpectedly fierce fighting. Col. Joe W. Dowdy, who had been commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, was informed Friday that he would be reassigned to another position; he was immediately replaced by Col. John Toolan, the 1st Marine Division's operations officer. Toolan hurried to the front and immediately took charge of a speeded-up drive to Baghdad. By this morning, the troops had begun to enter the capital.
The switch was made with no formal announcement, but word was sent down the chain of command, causing some grumbling among enlisted Marines who questioned the timing. Dowdy had been a popular commander, in part because he had taken pains to protect his troops, sometimes at the expense of speed. "I'm afraid this could mean more casualties," said one enlisted man, who asked that his name not be used.
The change was made one day after a fierce battle at the town of Al Kut, where Marines initially underestimated the resolve of Iraqi troops, which included parts of the Republican Guard's Baghdad Division. The fight lasted much of the day, after which the Marines took the unusual step of driving all night with their headlights on -- usually a breach of security -- to make better time. Marine officials said the decision to use headlights had come after Mattis emphasized the need for greater speed at a meeting of officers earlier in the day. He announced Dowdy's reassignment the next morning.
Toolan is considered a hard-charging commander who had been intimately involved in the division's battle plan and is close to Mattis. Toolan said his philosophy is to "close and engage," and he immediately ordered more troops and more air power to the front. Early today, the division was speeding north on Highway 6, taking the unusual measure of using both sides of the divided highway.
The Marines have been moving toward Baghdad on a parallel but more easterly route than the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which reached the outskirts of Baghdad late Wednesday, well ahead of the Marines. The Marines have been slowed by fighting at several cities along the way, including Umm al Qasr, Nasiriyah and Al Kut.
Unwell_Raptor
6th Apr 2003, 01:25
"Pour encourager les autres" perhaps?
MSNBC:
...Dowdy took command last summer of the 1st Marine Regiment, which is based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.....Before this assignment, he was the assistant chief of staff and chief planner for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is the umbrella unit for the Marines fighting in Iraq...... His service biography indicates that the current war in Iraq is the first time he has seen combat. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, in which much of the combat Marine force served, he was the commander of the Marine Corps security unit in Keflavik, Iceland.
“Good man,” retired Marine Gen. Richard Neal said of Dowdy, who he said was a student of his years ago at the Amphibious Warfare School at Quantico.
“Jim Mattis was one of my battalion commanders during the first Gulf War,” said retired Marine Gen. Carlton Fulford. “I have great confidence in his judgment. I know of Joe Dowdy by reputation, but not personally. He has a fine reputation.”
...Mattis, the commander of the 1st Marine Division, has the reputation of being an extremely aggressive commander, which is regarded as a plus in the Corps. The key to the situation, some officers suggested, is likely Mattis’s views on how forcefully a unit should act in combat. “Jim Mattis is a very aggressive commander — we wouldn’t want it any other way,” said retired Marine Lt. Gen. Jack Klimp.
In any case, said Fulford, removing a commander in combat is an extraordinary move that isn’t taken lightly. He recalled that during the 1991 Gulf War, when he commanded the 7th Marines, and when Mattis commanded one of his battalions, he decided to remove another of his battalion commanders.
"t was one of the most difficult decisions I ever made as a commander,” he recalled. But, he added: “In the final analysis, I believed the commander was not prepared to lead his men into combat, and that was the most important issue."