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Why was U.S. Marine Colonel Joe Dowdy Relieved of Command?

Aired April 05, 2003 - 09:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Central Command says a U.S. Marine colonel, Joe Dowdy, was relieved of his command Friday in Iraq. What might have happened, and what does it mean for U.S. troops?
We are joined now from Denver by retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner.

Good morning to you, Colonel Turner.

COL. MIKE TURNER (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Morning, Heidi. How are you?

COLLINS: I'm just fine, thanks.

Tell me, this is highly unusual, isn't it? How often does this sort of thing happen, especially during wartime?

TURNER: I don't think I've ever heard of a situation in the last 30 years where this has happened. It's -- it was a shock when I saw it online last night when I was researching some of the issues for today. And I can't even begin to understand what would be the egregious slight or error, or error in judgment, or willful act that would cause a decorated Marine regimental commander to be relieved in the midst of a combat environment. So I -- it's anybody's guess. It's very, very unusual.

COLLINS: Right. As you say, we do know that Colonel Dowdy is quite highly decorated. We know some of the battles that he's been involved in, in pushing across the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad.

How serious is this, and what sort of a hit is it on the people who report to him?

TURNER: Well, any time something like this happens -- of course, we don't know the circumstances at all. But any time something like this happens, particularly in a unit that's undergoing the battlefield stress that that unit was undergoing, it's a shock, it's something you really have to adjust to, because it really sets you back and causes some lack of -- loss of cohesion within the unit.

But this is a professional force. The next in the chain of command will step right up, I am sure, and they will continue right on. It's just a -- really, that was really a shocker. It really surprised me.

COLLINS: Now, obviously we don't want to speculate too much here, but there has been talk of some criticism from the battlefield for Secretary Rumsfeld and the battle plan. That may have had something to do with this.

TURNER: Anything is possible. Certainly, there has been some controversy, and that will continue after the war. Obviously, this has been a stunning victory, and there will be a lot of doctrine and theory and those kinds of discussions after the war.

It's obviously totally and wholly inappropriate to have those kinds of discussions by active forces actively engaged in combat. And if that was the case, that would be pretty much a show-stopper. But again, we really don't know what it was, so it's really -- we shouldn't speculate on exactly what caused it.

COLLINS: Right, right. And that being said, I do want to make it clear, though, that it is illegal, I mean, flat-out illegal for an officer to make those sort of comments during combat, right?

TURNER: That's correct. It's -- there are very clear constraints on active duty military forces and how they address, and how they refer to the civilian chain of command. That's true all the time, not just in combat. That's a line that -- if you are wearing a uniform, you don't cross that line.

COLLINS: All right, very good. Colonel Mike Turner, we do appreciate your comments this morning. I believe we'll be checking back with you a little bit later.

TURNER: My pleasure. Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired April 5, 2003 - 09:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Central Command says a U.S. Marine colonel, Joe Dowdy, was relieved of his command Friday in Iraq. What might have happened, and what does it mean for U.S. troops?
We are joined now from Denver by retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner.

Good morning to you, Colonel Turner.

COL. MIKE TURNER (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Morning, Heidi. How are you?

COLLINS: I'm just fine, thanks.

Tell me, this is highly unusual, isn't it? How often does this sort of thing happen, especially during wartime?

TURNER: I don't think I've ever heard of a situation in the last 30 years where this has happened. It's -- it was a shock when I saw it online last night when I was researching some of the issues for today. And I can't even begin to understand what would be the egregious slight or error, or error in judgment, or willful act that would cause a decorated Marine regimental commander to be relieved in the midst of a combat environment. So I -- it's anybody's guess. It's very, very unusual.

COLLINS: Right. As you say, we do know that Colonel Dowdy is quite highly decorated. We know some of the battles that he's been involved in, in pushing across the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad.

How serious is this, and what sort of a hit is it on the people who report to him?

TURNER: Well, any time something like this happens -- of course, we don't know the circumstances at all. But any time something like this happens, particularly in a unit that's undergoing the battlefield stress that that unit was undergoing, it's a shock, it's something you really have to adjust to, because it really sets you back and causes some lack of -- loss of cohesion within the unit.

But this is a professional force. The next in the chain of command will step right up, I am sure, and they will continue right on. It's just a -- really, that was really a shocker. It really surprised me.

COLLINS: Now, obviously we don't want to speculate too much here, but there has been talk of some criticism from the battlefield for Secretary Rumsfeld and the battle plan. That may have had something to do with this.

TURNER: Anything is possible. Certainly, there has been some controversy, and that will continue after the war. Obviously, this has been a stunning victory, and there will be a lot of doctrine and theory and those kinds of discussions after the war.

It's obviously totally and wholly inappropriate to have those kinds of discussions by active forces actively engaged in combat. And if that was the case, that would be pretty much a show-stopper. But again, we really don't know what it was, so it's really -- we shouldn't speculate on exactly what caused it.

COLLINS: Right, right. And that being said, I do want to make it clear, though, that it is illegal, I mean, flat-out illegal for an officer to make those sort of comments during combat, right?

TURNER: That's correct. It's -- there are very clear constraints on active duty military forces and how they address, and how they refer to the civilian chain of command. That's true all the time, not just in combat. That's a line that -- if you are wearing a uniform, you don't cross that line.

COLLINS: All right, very good. Colonel Mike Turner, we do appreciate your comments this morning. I believe we'll be checking back with you a little bit later.

TURNER: My pleasure. Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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