| Thomas J. Fiscus, 14th Judge Advocate General United States Air Force |
| Questions, Comments and Speaking |
To submit a question or comment about my website or its content or to arrange for a speaking
engagement or appearance please contact me by clicking on this link tjf@thomasjfiscus.net or paste
the e-mail address into your e-mail editor.
engagement or appearance please contact me by clicking on this link tjf@thomasjfiscus.net or paste
the e-mail address into your e-mail editor.
I will try to answer all questions posed, so long as they are not abusive, obscene, ask me to unduly invade another's
privacy, or would require me to divulge information I believe to be classified. By submitting a question or comment, the
author grants consent for me, in my sole discretion, to post the question or comment on this site together with my
response. By submitting a question or comment the author also authorizes me to minimally edit the submission for
clarity and length.
privacy, or would require me to divulge information I believe to be classified. By submitting a question or comment, the
author grants consent for me, in my sole discretion, to post the question or comment on this site together with my
response. By submitting a question or comment the author also authorizes me to minimally edit the submission for
clarity and length.
| Questions or Comments Submitted and My Answer |
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From: Amy Rosen [mailto:arosen@newvisions.org]
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 10:15 AM
Subject: Tom Fiscus' Website
Hi all,
Forgive me, I am not one to forward websites to long lists of people, but in this case there are so many people I know that NEED to look at
this material that I thought I'd do it in one shot. I had the privilege of meeting then General Tom Fiscus when he was the Judge Advocate
of the United States Air Force. (the chief lawyer for the Air Force). He was contemplating future retirement and his next professional step,
and was in my cohort in the Broad Fellowship. In this capacity we spent a dozen long weekends together looking at school reform
activities nationwide. We had many opportunities to have long after session discussions about his career, the military and Iraq. It was
2004 and Abu Grhiab and Guantanamo torture tactics were well under way.
While always discreet and professional, it was clear that Tom was struggling with the policy directives of the White House and
appropriately using his role as lead counsel at the White House to raise these issues. It was also clear that this life long soldier believed
in the "system" and thought that this was part of his job. In between trips to Iraq to consult with his lawyers on ground and his day to day
life in Washington, he would make time to join our sessions were the focus was entirely on kids and how to improve academic outcomes
for those at risk. Midway through our year long program it became painfully obvious (front page NYTimes and Wash Post articles) that
what Tom believed was necessary to do his job well, had landed him in a devastating personal scandal that would ultimately destroy his
military career, his financial security and almost his family. The rest is history and this website tells the story and provides the
documentation, but in a nutshell, the questions he raised internally, and his unwillingness to represent the Air Force's support for
unconstitutional practices made it necessary for him to be "discredited" .
A "whistleblower" reported that he had sent inappropriate emails to a female subordinate and the rest is history. In addition to being
forced into early retirement, demoted to a Colonel, having all kinds of horrifying and inaccurate stories about his personal life reported
publicly, he also had to withdraw from the Broad Fellowship to focus on defending himself through this process. Needless to say, while
making a valiant effort to defend himself legally, the damage had been done and today Tom and his family continue to struggle with how
to recover from the loss of everything professional that he knew and believed in.
Please look at this site, make your own judgments and those of you connected to the media, Presidential campaigns or other public
venues, take the time to pass on this information to the appropriate folks, investigate the validity and feel free to contact Tom directly and
use this episode to make sure that this disgraceful episode in our country's history is not repeated and that the current practices of torture
are ended.
Thanks
Amy
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 10:15 AM
Subject: Tom Fiscus' Website
Hi all,
Forgive me, I am not one to forward websites to long lists of people, but in this case there are so many people I know that NEED to look at
this material that I thought I'd do it in one shot. I had the privilege of meeting then General Tom Fiscus when he was the Judge Advocate
of the United States Air Force. (the chief lawyer for the Air Force). He was contemplating future retirement and his next professional step,
and was in my cohort in the Broad Fellowship. In this capacity we spent a dozen long weekends together looking at school reform
activities nationwide. We had many opportunities to have long after session discussions about his career, the military and Iraq. It was
2004 and Abu Grhiab and Guantanamo torture tactics were well under way.
While always discreet and professional, it was clear that Tom was struggling with the policy directives of the White House and
appropriately using his role as lead counsel at the White House to raise these issues. It was also clear that this life long soldier believed
in the "system" and thought that this was part of his job. In between trips to Iraq to consult with his lawyers on ground and his day to day
life in Washington, he would make time to join our sessions were the focus was entirely on kids and how to improve academic outcomes
for those at risk. Midway through our year long program it became painfully obvious (front page NYTimes and Wash Post articles) that
what Tom believed was necessary to do his job well, had landed him in a devastating personal scandal that would ultimately destroy his
military career, his financial security and almost his family. The rest is history and this website tells the story and provides the
documentation, but in a nutshell, the questions he raised internally, and his unwillingness to represent the Air Force's support for
unconstitutional practices made it necessary for him to be "discredited" .
A "whistleblower" reported that he had sent inappropriate emails to a female subordinate and the rest is history. In addition to being
forced into early retirement, demoted to a Colonel, having all kinds of horrifying and inaccurate stories about his personal life reported
publicly, he also had to withdraw from the Broad Fellowship to focus on defending himself through this process. Needless to say, while
making a valiant effort to defend himself legally, the damage had been done and today Tom and his family continue to struggle with how
to recover from the loss of everything professional that he knew and believed in.
Please look at this site, make your own judgments and those of you connected to the media, Presidential campaigns or other public
venues, take the time to pass on this information to the appropriate folks, investigate the validity and feel free to contact Tom directly and
use this episode to make sure that this disgraceful episode in our country's history is not repeated and that the current practices of torture
are ended.
Thanks
Amy
My Comment: Amy Rosen is one of the brilliant cohort of achievers dedicated to improving public education in our country. My dream
after leaving active duty was to serve as a K-12 urban school district superintendent because I believe public school education is a
crucial aspect of our national security. As she says above, we trained together for urban school district superintendency with 20 other
outstanding leaders in education, industry and the military in the 2004 Broad Foundation Urban Superintendent's Academy class.
after leaving active duty was to serve as a K-12 urban school district superintendent because I believe public school education is a
crucial aspect of our national security. As she says above, we trained together for urban school district superintendency with 20 other
outstanding leaders in education, industry and the military in the 2004 Broad Foundation Urban Superintendent's Academy class.
Tributes for everything that you did in the service of your country – in your 32 years of service in the Air Force and especially in the time
leading up to the untimely and outrageous forced end of your military career. Clearly your actions in terms of refusing to varnish the truth
and insisting on the integrity of the JAGS were courageous, a reflection on your character and an attempt to keep our country from going
further down the road of condoning torture and other actions against what our country and its military has always stood for. The way in
which these actions were wrongfully punished reflects the worst of an era that history will deem as a time when our country almost lost its
moral character and integrity. I am privileged to call you a friend and to have worked with you on the Department of Defense Task Force on
Domestic Violence in the Military, where your influence and wisdom was incredibly important. And I am incredibly glad to finally understand
what happened to you.
Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN
Anna D. Wolf Chair & Professor
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
leading up to the untimely and outrageous forced end of your military career. Clearly your actions in terms of refusing to varnish the truth
and insisting on the integrity of the JAGS were courageous, a reflection on your character and an attempt to keep our country from going
further down the road of condoning torture and other actions against what our country and its military has always stood for. The way in
which these actions were wrongfully punished reflects the worst of an era that history will deem as a time when our country almost lost its
moral character and integrity. I am privileged to call you a friend and to have worked with you on the Department of Defense Task Force on
Domestic Violence in the Military, where your influence and wisdom was incredibly important. And I am incredibly glad to finally understand
what happened to you.
Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN
Anna D. Wolf Chair & Professor
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
My Comment: Dr Jackie Campbell and I served together for three years from 2000 to 2003 on the Congressionally mandated Defense
Task Force on Domestic Violence. Dr. Campbell, whose achievements in the field of domestic and sexual violence and related fields are
legend, spent many hours educating me on the issues and improving my understanding of the causes, dynamics and effects of domestic
violence. The twenty-four members (twelve civilian members from outside the military and twelve DOD members) prepared over 250
major recommendations to the DOD for action to deal with the blight of domestic violence in the military. Four years after the completion
of our final report, far too many of those recommendations remain to be implemented. I consider my service on the Task Force, and the
understanding I came to have of the need for confidential reporting of domestic violence, as one of my proudest career achievements.
Task Force on Domestic Violence. Dr. Campbell, whose achievements in the field of domestic and sexual violence and related fields are
legend, spent many hours educating me on the issues and improving my understanding of the causes, dynamics and effects of domestic
violence. The twenty-four members (twelve civilian members from outside the military and twelve DOD members) prepared over 250
major recommendations to the DOD for action to deal with the blight of domestic violence in the military. Four years after the completion
of our final report, far too many of those recommendations remain to be implemented. I consider my service on the Task Force, and the
understanding I came to have of the need for confidential reporting of domestic violence, as one of my proudest career achievements.