A Marine general officer found to have bullied his staff and devalued women reportedly received such a light punishment that one critic says it proves the government doesn't hold senior leaders accountable for bad behavior.
Brig. Gen. Norm Cooling, assistant deputy commandant for Marine Corps Plans, Policies and Operations at the Pentagon, told the Washington Post this week that he received official counseling after the Defense Department inspector general's office found he'd berated his staff and devalued women. A Washington Post columnist argued the slap on the wrist could hardly be considered a punishment.
"Cooling's case demonstrates why federal employees -- including, apparently, those in the military -- have reason to doubt the government's seriousness in holding senior leaders accountable," Joe Davidson wrote. "... Could this discipline, if you can call it that, have been any lighter?"
Cooling did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Military.com. Capt. Karoline Foote, a Marine spokeswoman at the Pentagon, deferred questions to Cooling, saying only that since the actions taken were administrative in nature, "the service will not be able to provide additional information on that question."
As the columnist points out, Cooling is now serving in a job of greater responsibility than the one he held previously. He's currently the most senior general officer in his current command, which is typically led by a three-star.
While Cooling's administrative reprimand is less severe than punishments others received for mistreating subordinates, it's not without precedent.
Brig. Gen. Rick Uribe is still serving as deputy commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force following administrative action after he treated his aide like a servant during an Iraq deployment. Now-retired Maj. Gen. Michael Regner remained in the Marine Corps for about four years after he was found in 2012 to have allowed subordinates to fetch his laundry, polish his shoes and drive him places as head of Marine Corps Forces Korea. And Air Force Brig. Gen. Brenda Cartier, the service's first female air commando, got a letter of counseling after she was found to have failed to treat her subordinates with dignity and respect.
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It's not immediately clear who carried out Cooling's counseling, he would've fallen under the director of Marine Corps staff or the commandant at the time. Cooling was serving as now-retired Commandant Gen. Robert Neller's legislative assistant when he was removed from the position in February 2018 amid complaints that he'd made disparaging remarks about women.
The Pentagon's inspector general substantiated several instances of Cooling's misconduct, which investigators wrote violated Defense Department and Navy regulations on harassment prevention and abuse of authority.
That included telling a male subordinate he would castrate him if he found out he'd withheld budget information from him; saying opening combat jobs to women hurt men serving in those roles; and saying he'd rather his daughter work in a brothel than be a female Marine pilot.
Cooling told Military.com in June that had he "been less demanding or willing to compromise standards," the allegations "would have never emerged."
"I inadvertently offended some through random remarks that were taken in a different context other than I intended," Cooling said.
-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
