US COMMANDER RELIEVED OF DUTY

sky news ^ | 04/04/2003 | sky news

[MIKEinGA]

A US commander who was leading a push by marines through southern Iraq towards Baghdad has been relieved of his post.

No reason has been given for the decision to relieve Colonel Joe Dowdy, commander of the Marines First Regimental Combat Team, Public Affairs Officer Steven Schweitzer said.

"He was responsible for the regiment until three hours ago," Schweitzer said.

More follows...

Last Updated: 15:46 UK, Friday April 04, 2003

[fightinJAG]

Please re-read my posts.

I said IF there was no sufficient operational necessity for deviating from SOP, then the commander might be found negligent or derelict of duty.

Of course, if the fighting dictated that the Marines had to cross without taking time to string a safety line, or they had to cross there (no other position available) and a safety line could not be strung because of the banks, or similiar circumstance, then they had to cross and the risk was justified.

All I am saying is there has to be an operational reason for NOT taking the usual steps to keep troops safe. Wouldn't you agree?

And, yes, I was JAG. And, yes, I have been involved with these types of situations from the point of view of relieving or disciplining the leaders involved.

We had several guys die in an air-drop once (training). Why? Because the officer in charge did not think through the safety ramifications of the terrain. Those deaths were completely preventable.

In another unit, we had a soldier drown when he jumped out of a helicopter with all his gear and equipment on (also training). No one realized, or took the time to find out, or looked at what the rotor wash was revealing, that the "ground" actually was a marsh, not land. The soldier sunk immediately to the bottom. He was not even found for days. That death was preventable.

The farther you get away from training and the closer you get to combat, the bigger the risks you must take. BUT you still have to do everything that can be done, in the context of the operation, to keep your troops safe. That just makes sense.

This is not the Viet Nam-era military. When I went through Jungle Warfare School, one of the biggest emphases was on how to do a river crossing and get everybody and equipment over safely.

I'm hoping very much that the river crossing in which those two Marines were killed was conductly as safely as possible within operational constraints. Otherwise, JAG will be involved again.

[rstevens]

I believe it may be more in the form of political correctness. I have a hunch this may be the inside source of a Colonel Hunt who is a frequent military contributor of FNC. A few days ago he read an Email from his battle field source, that indicated 10K RG forces were killed and was quite descriptive. Possibly this Colonel was that retired Colonel's source.

[Happy2BMe]

All I am saying is keep away from the tendency to pre-judge.

We will know soon enough.

WHATEVER the REASON - it is a TRAGEDY!

Can we at least agree on THAT?

[floriduh voter]

I am referring to the car bomb near the dam that just occurred, not the bus the other day. Of course, they lost their lives in the line of duty but to repeat someone else's post, we are good samaritans. The fedayaheen know this. Three more dead in the line of duty, I agree wholeheartedly.

[FairOpinion]

"He was described as a popular commander who kept casualties down in leading his troops to within 80 miles from Baghdad."

-----

I hope the reason wasn't that he put the lives of his troops ahead of lives of "innocent Iraqis", as in collateral damage.

I think we should TRY, emphasis on "try" to spare innocent lives, AS LONG AS that doesn't endanger the lives of our troops, but if it puts our troops in more than reasonable danger, then we better have the wellbeing of our troops as priority 1.

[Tailback]

"Colonel Dowty just had a heart attack, our new commander is ..."

No kidding? I had an XO in Turkey that supposedly had "a heart attack" and got medevaced to Germany. I never thought anything of it but hearing you say that makes sense. I'm pretty sure the Col. didn't like him much.

[Happy2BMe]

"And, yes, I was JAG. And, yes, I have been involved with these types of situations from the point of view of relieving or disciplining the leaders involved."

Well, I most certainly recognize, respect and acknowledge your fullfilling a distinguished service to your country.

Kudos.

Never shall I forget the experience I had with one particular JAG.

JAGs have a "way" of interacting with other JAGs found to be in violation of thier code of conduct (which always seemed to be "one cut above"

This particular JAG was convicted of selling cocaine, fraternizing with the enlisted corp, and had the cunningness to recruit an enlisted's wife into his sphere of influence.

The last time I saw him, he was on his way to plush accomodations at Leavenworth Kansas just after having "fallen down" some stairs (accidentally).

He had a problem understanding respect for authority.

[Ga Rob]

Were you in a combat zone, under fire?

[PhiKapMom]

I heard that interview and was surprised he was talking that much!

[theFIRMbss]

>Relieving a regimental commander during an assault is huge.

In the film, didn't
Patton sack a commander
for not advancing?

[ladtx]

Were you in a combat zone, under fire?

In Vietnam in an Assault Helicopter Company.

[Redcloak]

See? It's a QUAGMIRE!

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

I will go out on a limb and guess he was relieved because HE somehow leaked the pause and lack of supplies story of last week that media REUTERS reported bigger than what it was and Geraldo got detailic about (other Fox embeds would only confirm it was not new to them)This announcement I saw three news teams report left our troops like a sitting duck.

A relieve of duty days (nearly a week) later shows proper chain of command and investigations were done.

[Chad Fairbanks]

If I ever start a business, "Assault Helicopter Company" would be a damn good name for it ;0)

[Young Rhino]

he's now reporting from Kuwait City on Fox News. Bet his ego can't take this for very long.

In a sequel to Al Capone's lost vaults, Geraldo will do in-depth coverage of Saddam's secret tunnels, bunkers, efc.

[Ga Rob]

I can see that. I just find it strange that they would do it in this situation. Troops on the move, under fire constantly,so on and so forth. He must have really screwed up.

[invenire]

"retired Colonel's source."

My first guess also.

[Leatherneck_MT]

Relieving a Regimental Commander under any circumstances is huge, during combat it's almost unthinkable. In my entire Career I only saw 2 officers relieved of duty. One was for missing a movement, the other for gross incompetance.

Semper Fi

[XJarhead]

In the film, didn't Patton sack a commander for not advancing?

He relieved a battalion commander, of which there were over 500 in the army as a whole. And, it was at an early stage in the war where you had to think about the best man for subsequent ops, etc. This relief is huge. There are only 9 infantry regimental commanders in the active duty Marine Corps, and not all are in Iraq. Like I said, this is really big.

[Magnolia]

Geraldo will do in-depth coverage of Saddam's secret tunnels, bunkers, efc

HA! We laugh now, but what do you want to bet it's gonna happen......!