Lt. Col Mathew Dooley US Army. |
By Harold Hutchison From the May 2013 issue of SOF
A CAREER IS HALTED
Lieutenant
Colonel Matthew Dooley was a rising star, according to his officer evaluation
reports (OERs) going back to 2008. Yet instead, his career now lies in limbo.
How that happened raises very disturbing questions about the state of
professional military education.
The threat to LTC Dooley’s brilliant career began with a 19 October, 2011, letter to John Brennan, signed by dozens of Islamic groups, demanding action on six fronts. The letter was copied to other high-ranking officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, FBI Director Robert Muller, and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.
The threat to LTC Dooley’s brilliant career began with a 19 October, 2011, letter to John Brennan, signed by dozens of Islamic groups, demanding action on six fronts. The letter was copied to other high-ranking officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, FBI Director Robert Muller, and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.
“The
use of bigoted trainers and materials like those above is not only highly
offensive, disparaging the faith of millions of Americans, but leads to biased
policing that targets individuals and communities based on religion, not
evidence of wrongdoing. Inaccurate and bigoted training materials also foster
fear and suspicion of American Muslims amongst law enforcement and the general
public, increasing discrimination, bullying, harassment and anti-Muslim
violence,” their letter claimed.
Three of the groups signing that letter had been named as unindicted coconspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case, which resulted in convictions on 24 November, 2008.
Three of the groups signing that letter had been named as unindicted coconspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case, which resulted in convictions on 24 November, 2008.
Less than a year after that
letter was sent, LTC Dooley’s career would be in limbo after he was relieved
from his post as an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College, having been
denounced by none other than General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. It was shocking, considering how quickly his star had been
rising.
One of the presentation slides from Col Mathew Dooley's course and it proves the truth that there is no such thing as Moderate Muslim. |
PRAISED BY SENIORS
Mathew Dooley's Course offended Muslim Brotherhood! |
However,
that would soon change, as the result of an elective that LTC Dooley was
teaching. The elective was called “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic
Radicalism,” and it would run afoul of the new standards of political
correctness created by the letter from the Islamic groups. Dooley taught the
course. It quickly became a course that was widely discussed.
“Having heard student and faculty
discussion regarding the Perspectives on Islam elective, I sat in on five of
eight lessons and found the elective to be well done and thought provoking. The
guest speakers were dynamic and challenging, leading to impressive student
participation. The operational design presented by LTC Dooley was well thought
out and obviously intended to foster discussion,” LTC Moening wrote.
Lt. Colonel Mathew Dooley's "Counter-Jihad Operation Design Model" demands to nuke Mecca and Medina. |
A SUPERB INSTRUCTOR’S FALL FROM GRACE
These
guest speakers had previously been vetted long before LTC Dooley even attended
the Joint Forces Staff College, never mind when he began teaching. One guest
speaker targeted in the letter from the Islamist groups was Stephen Coughlin.
Richard Thompson, the President
and Chief Counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, which is representing LTC
Dooley, said, “Best information I have is that Coughlin was vetted at least by
2009.” Coughlin gave at least one presentation to students of LTC Dooley’s
elective course. The 133-slide presentation, dated 14 March, 2011, was titled
“Imposing Islamic Law – or – These Are Not the Droids You Are Looking For,” and
included reproductions of web sites, including one article discussing a
cleric’s call for the death of then-Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
Dooley received top evaluations
from his superiors at the JFSC. “Exceptionally superb performance from a
professional, innovative and enthusiastic officer. LTC Matt Dooley has rapidly
integrated into the faculty at the Joint Forces Staff College and achieved
significant contributions during his first teaching effort at the Joint and
Combined Warfighting School.
"From the moment Matt joined the faculty, he worked
to positively impact the course,” Captain Vincent Bowhers, USN, wrote on
Dooley’s OER dated 15 May, 2011. “Matt then went on to independently research,
vet, and create a flexible Libyan intervention Crisis Action Plan exercise as
an addition to the existing JFSC Tunisian conflict scenario. A by-name-request
for his second class, LTC Dooley has established a reputation as a faculty
enabler; an experienced professional in his skill sets, solid in his doctrinal
understanding, and an asset to any Seminar teach team.”
Student evaluations were also
very favorable; LTC Dooley’s averages were no lower than 4.42 among student
evaluations in the year prior to his relief. Comments described him as “ultra-professional”
and “very strong in all respects.”
WIRED.COM BUSTS THE SANCTUM OF NDU
General Martin Dempsey (Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff). |
The National Defense University
has a policy of “non-attribution” concerning the courses, according to its
handbook. Paragraph 5 of its policy titled “Academic Freedom/Non-Attribution”
states, “So that guests and university community members may speak candidly,
the university offers its assurance that presentations will be held in strict
confidence. Our policy on non-attribution provides that, without the expressed
permission of the speaker, nothing will be attributed directly or indirectly in
the presence of anyone who was not authorized to attend the lecture.”
DESTROYING A CAREER
9-11-2001 Attack on New York City. |
LTC Dooley soon found himself the
recipient of a memo from Lieutenant General George J. Flynn, stating that he
was being relieved. “I have made this decision because of my lack of confidence
in your judgment as an instructor and based upon my review of the course
material you created and provided to students in your elective seminar titled,
‘Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism.’” This was despite the fact that
the materials had been prepared and used long before the letter of complaint
had been sent.
One student comment written after
his relief stated, “Very disappointed however in the way the Islam course
controversy was handled at the JCS level – public judgments made prior to
collection of the facts and completed investigation. Dooley is an outstanding
officer and deserved better from leadership.” A second comment echoed the view:
“He is probably too smart. We all feel awful that he was removed from the
class. We understand the political sensitivity of the subject, however feel
that removing Matt from the classroom went too far. He is an outstanding
instructor, very, interested and enthusiastic.”
FIGHTING BACK
Tragic Jumpers of Twin Towers (9-11-2001). |
For Thompson, Dempsey’s actions
appear to be creating a serious threat to America’s security. “In December
2005, Marine General Peter Pace, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
gave a lecture at the National Defense University. He warned his audience—if we
are to defeat Muslim extremists, it is important to ‘understand the nature of
the enemy,’” he wrote in a statement provided.
General Pace went on to reiterate a common observation about World War II. It could have been prevented, and millions of lives saved, if only Western leaders had taken more seriously what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, and said in his speeches. General Pace admonished, ‘Read what our enemies have said.’”
General Pace went on to reiterate a common observation about World War II. It could have been prevented, and millions of lives saved, if only Western leaders had taken more seriously what Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, and said in his speeches. General Pace admonished, ‘Read what our enemies have said.’”
“General Dempsey’s public
punishment of LTC Dooley for teaching a course offensive to Islam and his order
to scrub all military training material offensive to Islam, effectively
sabotaged our ability to know the enemy and therefore was detrimental to our
national security,” Thompson added. The Thomas More Law Center filed a
complaint to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on 29 January,
2013, asking that it revoke the accreditation of NDU over the treatment of LTC
Dooley.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
That was how a jumper (An American) ended on the ground. |
“I find it disturbing that Matt’s
character and flawless reputation have been called into question, and that our
academic freedom and non-attribution policies seem to have been disregarded in
this case. If the best among us can so readily be cast aside, with disregard
for the protections of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs own Academic Freedom
policies at NDU, I am left with great concern for the rest of the military and
civilian faculty to perform their duties without fear,” LTC Moening wrote.
Entities like NDU and JFSC are
necessary to ensure that higher leadership can address future threats; this
controversial firing has placed its ability to train the next generation of
leaders in jeopardy. NDU has had to walk a delicate balance of academic freedom
and the discipline needed in the military. That is perhaps the real loss to the
military, above and beyond that of the future good that LTC Matthew Dooley
would do as he rose to higher levels of command in his military career. This
incident clearly requires some significant Congressional oversight to repair
the damage, if it is possible to do so.
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Carnage at the finish line of Boston Marathon (15 Apr 2013). |