Last week's post got the The Basic School's commandant all wrong

By John M. Dowd


Best Defense guest
respondent

The picture you painted
of Colonel Desgrosseilliers in your blog is distorted, misleading, and terribly
unfair. You ought to pull it down.

It is clear you did not talk to Colonel Degrosseilliers, even though you have
been a recent guest at TBS before you published incomplete, stolen information
taken entirely out of context from a command climate survey the colonel asked
for, participated in, and responded to the way any outstanding commander of
Marines would do. 

Thus, your readership has been badly misled and the reputations of our finest
Marine officers have been defamed by your deficient publication of their
leadership. What you fail to understand and failed to convey to your readers is
that great commanders instigate surveys to find out what the climate is in
their command. Then they act on what they learn and improve the quality of
their command. That is what happened at TBS.

I have attached a paper written last summer about the climate at TBS you may
find interesting, which paints a different picture.

Further, this month's Marine Corps
Gazette has an editorial by John Keenan and article Col. Desgrosseilliers
wrote with Lt. Col. Hoffman about the changes at TBS.

In either event, your portrayal is inaccurate and unfair based upon my personal
experience dealing directly with Col. Desgrosseilliers over the past year with
a very difficult issue involving one of his officers, Capt. James V. Clement,
wrongly accused in the V32 cases. The colonel stood by his captain, lent his
combat expertise to the preparation of the defense, and testified as an expert
witness at the board hearing -- all in the face of superior authority wanting
to hang the captain. Through his actions, the colonel was completely and utterly
faithful to this fine young captain, even when his entire career and future was
on the line. He did not blink because he selflessly did the right thing for a
fellow Marine.

His brilliant example during the past year taught those young officers at TBS
more about leadership than all the lectures they received for a year. I hope
you will demonstrate the same kind of class, and publish this note, or better
yet pull down the blog.

John M. Dowd , a
former Marine officer, is a lawyer specializing in white-collar defense.