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Sun 6 Apr, 2003 10:13 am
Yesterday I got the end of a CNN story about a Marine General being relieved of his command. a commentator said this was unprecedented and could not imagine a reason for such a drastic action. Since then I have seen no follow-up on CNN, BBC or the NYTimes. Would anyone care to comment?
nelsonn
Since no reason was given there is little to comment upon. Anything said would be purely speculative and without substance or merit.
I found something about a colonel James Dowdy being removed from a command postion:
Google search results
No one seems to have info as to why exactly.
It is just speculation as someone else said, but sounds like this guy might have folded under the pressure of making combat decisions. His commander (
Mattis in the excerpt below), may have relieved him for not being "prepared".
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.
"It 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."
http://www.msnbc.com/news/895732.asp?0cv=CB10&cp1=1
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