This year's leader-in-residence for the Jepson School of Leadership Studies is a U.S. Army general who was reprimanded for her role in misleading the public about the death of Pat Tillman, a former all-pro defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals turned Army Ranger, who was killed by his own platoon in Afghanistan in 2004.
Sandra Peart, dean of the leadership school, said she had consulted with colleagues at Jepson and the university to choose Maj. Gen. Gina Farrisee. Farrisee was chosen, Peart said, because she had fit this year's leadership forum: "Game Changers: How Women Lead and Change the World."
Peart said the forum included topics such as leaders in sports, women in politics, civil rights leaders and women who worked to mitigate the exploitation of women.
"A female leader in the military -- a highly decorated major general -- complements the theme," Peart said.
Peart also said she had known about Farrisee's involvement in the Tillman case.
Farrisee graduated from Richmond in 1978 with a degree in sociology, and later received her master's in national research strategy from the National Defense University. In a military career that spans more than three decades, she is currently commander of the U.S. Army and Human Resources Command at Ft. Knox, Ky., and is the first female to hold this position.
Type "Maj. Gen. Gina Farrisee" into the Google search bar, and you will learn that she played a part in the Tillman case.
Tillman began his college football career as a linebacker for Arizona State University in 1994 and was later chosen as the 226th pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
During his career, Tillman rejected a $9 million contract from the St. Louis Rams out of loyalty to the Cardinals -- and in the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11, he turned down a $3.6 million contract from the Cardinals to enlist in the U.S. Army.
Tillman told NFL Films, a broadcast company that promotes the National Football League, soon after the attacks: "I play football. It just seems so unimportant compared to everything that has taken place."
Tillman participated in the initial invasion of Operation Iraqi Freedom in September 2003 and then redeployed to Afghanistan, where he was killed by members of his own platoon in a night operation on April 22, 2004.
In Jon Krakauer's book "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman," Krakauer vividly describes what happened when members of Tillman's own platoon killed him during an operation in a remote ravine in Afghanistan.
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According to Krakauer's book, Tillman's platoon was taking enemy fire as it moved through a mountainous area. Tillman repositioned to get behind the shooters and waved to his troops that all was clear. It was then that a platoon member shot Tillman.
An investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command also determined that Tillman was killed by friendly fire.
As a result of an Army investigation, the issue surrounding Tillman's death is that senior Army commanders, including Farrisee, claimed Tillman had been killed by enemy troops, despite knowing his own men had shot him.
According to the online ESPN article "Pat Tillman's father: Memo proves coverup," Tillman's parents speculate that officials lied in order to save the Army's reputation and present their son as a hero in light of his death.
According to other books and articles written about the case, Tillman's family was outraged at the handling of his death. They were not informed that he was killed by friendly fire until five weeks after his memorial service.
Destruction of Tillman's uniform and the disappearance of his personal journal, which might have mentioned his opposition to President Bush and the Iraq war, led the family to suspicions about the details of Tillman's death.
In an interview with Meredith Vieira on "The Today Show" in 2008, Tillman's mother, Mary, said it had definitely entered her mind that her son's death could have been intentional, but that she'd like to believe it was simply an act of "gross negligence."
Her book "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman" is a chronicle of the family's efforts to discover the true circumstances of Tillman's death.
In Krakauer's book, Farrisee is mentioned as being in charge of processing Tillman's Silver Star recommendation -- a combat military decoration given to those who have demonstrated great valor in the face of the enemy.
During its processing, according to Krakauer, Dr. Craig Mallak, the military pathologist who performed Tillman's autopsy, contacted Farrisee to say his findings did not match up with those of enemy fire. Several pathology reports claimed his bullet wounds seemed to have come from a short distance -- not from enemy troops that would have been farther away.
In Krakauer's book, Farrisee denies knowing there was an issue with processing Tillman's Silver Star.
According to the Army Times report "3-star censured for actions in Tillman case," Gen. William Wallace, commanding general of the Training and Doctrine Command, also found that Farrisee failed to follow up on Mallak's report that there were inconsistencies in the preliminary reports on Tillman's death.
"If we thought that anything in that award narrative at the time was untrue, we probably would have held up the award," Farrisee said in Krakauer's book.
In the Department of Defense review, Wallace took action against seven officers, including four generals. Farrisee was one of the generals found to have made a series of mistakes in reporting the facts of Tillman's death.
It was about five weeks after Tillman's funeral before an investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command determined that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire.
Peart said: "I have read accounts of Army investigations into the Pat Tillman tragedy, some of which mention Maj. Gen. Farrisee. Leaders like her are often put in very challenging positions. I would hope our students can learn from talking to a person who has had to face and make challenging decisions."
Unlike the position label suggests, Peart said the leader-in-residence was typically only on campus for a day and a half to visit classes and give a talk.
"She delighted those who spoke with her," Peart said. "She was professional and challenging."
In a Collegian interview via email, Farrisee spoke through a military spokeswoman and said Richmond representatives had not questioned her about being tied to the Tillman case, and that her involvement did not make her hesitate to accept the leader-in-residence position.
When asked what she would say to those who might have an issue with her Jepson position, Farrisee said, "I would like to think my very successful career of over 33 years of dedicated service to this nation speaks for itself, but everyone has a right to their own opinion."
Several attempts to acquire comment from Edward Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, proved unsuccessful.
In the Army Times article, Army Secretary Pete Geren said the handling of Tillman's death undermined the Army's credibility and was a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership..."
Contact staff writer at Markie Martin at markie.markie@richmond.edu
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