Wikipedia

Michael Patrick Mulroy

American civil servant

Michael "Mick" Patrick Mulroy is the former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. He worked in this position from October 2017 until December 2019. He was responsible for representing the United States Department of Defense defense policy and policy in the interagency on the Middle East.[1][2][3][4] He is also a retired CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer and a United States Marine.[5]

Michael Patrick Mulroy
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
for the Middle East
In office
20 October 2017 – 1 December 2019
Preceded byAndrew Exum
Personal details
Nationality
  • American
EducationAugusta University
Samford University
ProfessionNational security
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Branch/service United States Marine Corps
Central Intelligence Agency
Department of Defense
RankOfficer and Enlisted
Paramilitary Operations Officer
Senior Executive Service
Unit4th Marine Division
Special Activities Center
Secretary of Defense
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan
Iraq War
War on Terrorism

He co-founded the Lobo Institute, where he started working on a documentary about a child soldier called My Star in the Sky.[6][7][8] He also began working in the nonprofit Grassroots Reconciliation Group, became a Special Advisor to the United Nations,[9] a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute,[10] and a ABC News National Security Analyst.[11][12][13]

DASD service

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The DASD for the Middle East is responsible for the policy of the US Department of Defense and represents the Department of Defense in interagency organizations in many countries.[3][4]

Mulroy was chosen for this position by the former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was looking for a "nonpartisan and apolitical individual" with lots of experience in conflict zones to fill senior policy roles. [14][15][16] Mulroy was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for his efforts. In particular, for creating a plan on Yemen, developing a policy on Iran and for helping the White Helmets in Syria.[16][17]

National Defense Strategy

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In January 2018, a National Defense Strategy was published, focusing on China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and the fight against terrorism.[18] Mulroy was responsible for the implementation of the NDS in that region, including the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Yemen.[19][20]

Irregular Warfare Annex

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In October 2019, Mulroy presented the Irregular Warfare Annex. He said that it was part of the 2018 NDS. According to him, irregular warfare includes counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, sabotage and subversion, stabilization (warfare) and information operations, among other areas.[21]

CIA service

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Mulroy is a retired PMOO from the Special Activities Center of the CIA.[22] CIA awards include the Intelligence Star, the Intelligence Commendation Medal, the Career Intelligence Medal and the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal, among others.[23] He is also a recipient of the State Department's Superior Honor Award.[23] Mulroy is also a godfather to four Gold Star daughters.[24]

Military service

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Mulroy is a retired U.S. Marine and served as a commissioned officer and an enlisted Marine on active duty and in the reserves. He served as an Armored Crewman (United States military occupation code (MOS) 1811) of a M1 Abrams tank, a Judge Advocate (MOS 4412) and an Infantry Officer (MOS 0302).[3] His military awards include the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, among others.[25][26]

Other service

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Mulroy is part of the Atlantic Council's Counterterrorism Study Group (CTSG), made up of experts in counterterrorism policy and operations. The group studies new counterterrorism trends and recommends ways to improve current strategies.[27]

Afghanistan

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Mulroy opposed the decision to pull all U.S. military forces out of Afghanistan. He believed the U.S. should have kept a residual force that could have maintained what the coalition fought for over two decades.[28]

Mulroy was a member of the volunteer group called TF Dunkirk. A group established to help former Afghan soldiers that worked with the US to leave Afghanistan and resettle in the U.S.[29][30]

Ukraine

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Mulroy believes that "we need to support the opposing side to the invasion and occupation in every possible way" and advocated the provision of military assistance to the Ukrainians.[31][32] Mulroy advocated isolating Russia both economically and diplomatically. Mulroy also advocated bringing all those responsible for war crimes to an international tribunal or criminal court.[33][34][35]

Gaza

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Mulroy was part of a group called Fogbow that helped create a sea route to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza in March 2024.[36][37]

Advocacy for child soldiers

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Yale University Screening

My Star in the Sky

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Mulroy along with Eric Oehlerich made a documentary My Star in the Sky.[13] It tells the story of survival, friendship and love between two child soldiers.[13][38] This documentary has been screened at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs,[39] the Atlantic Council,[40] the Enough Project,[41] Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy[38] and the Truman National Security Project.[42][43][13]

The Grassroots Reconciliation Group

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Mulroy is on the Board of Directors for the Grassroots Reconciliation Group (GRG).[44] GRG was initiated as part of a USAID-funded program called the Northern Uganda Peace Initiative (NUPI) to reconcile and rehabilitate former child soldiers of Joseph Kony's LRA. After USAID's contract with NUPI ended, co-founders Sasha Lezhnev and Kasper Agger continued helping these communities as a self-funded effort. Since 2007, GRG has worked with 38 groups and reached 2,200 people directly, and impacted more than 5000 indirectly.[45]

Comments on the subject

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In an ABC News article, Mulroy said the US should do more to stop countries, even allies, from using child soldiers. He thinks the Biden administration should use the Global Magnitsky Act to punish corrupt officials and companies backing armed groups that recruit kids. Mulroy stresses the importance of targeting both officials and companies supporting militias, not just their leaders who may not have foreign assets.

Philosophy

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Mulroy is a proponent of Stoic philosophy. In an essay in Modern Stoicism entitled, “A Case for the Philosopher King,” he pushed for a return of virtue ethics in school and teaching examples of those to look up to Marcus Aurelius, Harriet Tubman, Christina Noble, James Stockdale, John Lewis, Malala Yousafzai among others. He did this after citing the precipitous decline in the confidence Americans have in one another.[46][47]

In an article for ABC News, “Where philosophy intersects with war training: stoic soldiers,” he and Donald Robertson advocated for using stoicism as a philosophy in the military due to its focus on wisdom, justice, temperance, and courage.[48][49] He advocated for the U.S. military to incorporate stoicism into its basic training at a conference hosted by the U.S. Army National Guard in January 2021 and in a conference hosted by Modern Stoicism as one of the keynote speakers, along with retired National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Georgetown University Professor Nancy Sherman.[50][51]

Mulroy is also a member of the board of advisors for Plato's Academy in Athens, Greece.[52]

Other volunteer efforts

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Mulroy serves on the board of advisors and/or directors of several non-profit organizations. These charities include Sound Off, Team America Relief, and FamilUSA.[53][54][55]

References

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  1. ↑ "Senior Executive Service Announcements". defense.gov. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Mulroy Assigned Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East". SIGNAL Magazine. January 12, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Michael (Mick) P. Mulroy > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography View". www.defense.gov. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council Hosts Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East". usuaebusiness.org. April 19, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  5. ↑ News, S. O. F. (October 18, 2017). "Special Operations News Update 20171018". sof.news. Retrieved May 5, 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ↑ "Screening of "My Star in the Sky" and Q&A with filmmakers". yale.edu. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  7. ↑ Sherman, Jake; Palmer, Anna. "POLITICO Playbook: Moderate Dems take a leap on impeachment". POLITICO.
  8. ↑ "Lobo Institute – Lobo Institute teaches, advises, and consults on current global conflicts". Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Lawfare Podcast: Yemen's Ongoing Tragedy". Lawfare. August 26, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Experts". Middle East Institute.
  11. ↑ Margolin, Josh; Ramos, Stephanie; Hutchinson, Bill (December 8, 2019). "FBI probing whether Pensacola naval base suspect watched mass-shooting videos before attack, sources say". ABC News.
  12. ↑ "Board of Directors - Grassrootsgroup.org | Grassroots Reconciliation Group". grassrootsgroup.org. 11 March 2021.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Seligman, Lara (November 8, 2019). "The Child Soldier Crisis: 'Kids Are Cheap'". foreignpolicy.com.
  14. ↑ Seligman, Lara (5 September 2019). "Hollowed-Out Pentagon Begins to Staff Up". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  15. ↑ "Turkish attack on Syria could have been stopped: US official". Kurdistan24.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Williams, Katie (November 4, 2019). "The US Might Have Warded Off Turkey's Syria Invasion, Says DOD's Outgoing Mideast Policy Chief". Defense One.
  17. ↑ "Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service to Michael Patrick Mulroy – Lobo Institute". Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  18. ↑ Karlin, Mara (January 21, 2018). "How to read the 2018 National Defense Strategy". brookings.edu. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Jackson hosts third annual Special Operations Conference". yale.edu. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Mattis Says U.S., Allies Must Deal With Range of Iranian Malign Activi". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  21. ↑ "NSRD Hosts Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Michael Mulroy". www.rand.org.
  22. ↑ Robberson, Tod (October 27, 2002). "CIA commandos remain covert". Dallas Morning News.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Michael (Mick) P. Mulroy > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography". www.defense.gov.
  24. ↑ "Trump's Reported 'Loser' Remarks Give Biden an Opening". www.defenseone.com. 4 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "An End To Child Soldiers: Mick Mulroy's Life Mission". SOFLETE.
  26. ↑ "Philippine Marines, US Marines, Japanese Soldiers share stories during KAMANDAG 3". DVIDS.
  27. ↑ "Counterterrorism Study Group".
  28. ↑ "Monday Briefing: A new round of Iranian-Saudi talks". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  29. ↑ Jonathan Baran; Alex Horton; Elizabeth Dwoskin (26 August 2021). "An army of veterans and volunteers organizes online to evacuate Afghans, from thousands of miles away". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  30. ↑ James Gordon Meek (27 August 2021). "US special operations vets carry out daring mission to save Afghan allies". American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  31. ↑ Jakes, Lara; Schmitt, Eric; Wong, Edward (24 February 2022). "Beyond the Battlefield: What Might Happen Next in the Ukraine Crisis". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  32. ↑ Finnegan, Conor (8 March 2022). "Ukraine pleads for Western warplanes. Will the US help deliver?". ABC News. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  33. ↑ "White House: Russia intends to destroy Ukrainian forces in the east". The Go Network. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  34. ↑ Hagos, Sara; Detsch, Jack (16 March 2022). "Bogged-Down Russian Troops Resort to Deadly Cluster Munitions". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  35. ↑ "Russia to investigate claims of alleged mass graves". The Go Network. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  36. ↑ Debusmann Jr, Bernd (13 March 2024). "How the US military plans to construct a pier and get food into Gaza". BBC News. Washington, D.C., USA. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  37. ↑ Lieber, Dov; A. Youssef, Nancy; Salama, Vivian (10 March 2024). "Bid to Pause Israel-Hamas War Falters Before Ramadan Starts". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "Sept 24: LRA film screening in Georgetown - Grassrootsgroup.org | Grassroots Reconciliation Group". grassrootsgroup.org. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  39. ↑ "Screening of "My Star in the Sky" and Q&A with filmmakers". The MacMillan Center. January 17, 2019.
  40. ↑ "My Star in the Sky: A Movie Screening and Reception". www.atlanticcouncil.org. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  41. ↑ "My Star in the Sky: A Movie Screening and Reception". enoughproject.org. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  42. ↑ "Film Screening of "My Star in the Sky" at Truman National Security Project – Lobo Institute". Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  43. ↑ "Film and Panel Discussion on Lord's Resistance Army, "My Star in the Sky"". Eventbrite.
  44. ↑ "Board of Directors". grassrootsgroup.org. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  45. ↑ "History". grassrootsgroup.org. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  46. ↑ Sadler, Gregory (2020-09-26). "A Case for a Philosopher-King by Michael Patrick Mulroy". Modern Stoicism. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  47. ↑ Mick Mulroy, Philosopher Kings, Ethics, and Wisdom - Modern Stoicism Podcast, retrieved 2021-05-26
  48. ↑ "Where philosophy intersects with war training: stoic soldiers - World News - ABC News Radio". abcnewsradioonline.com.[permanent dead link]
  49. ↑ Piercey, Adam (2020-12-11). "Podcast #16: Mick Mulroy, and Where Philosophy and Soldiering Intersect". Modern Stoicism.[permanent dead link]
  50. ↑ Mick Mulroy – Stoicism for the Military, retrieved 2021-05-26
  51. ↑ "Stoicon-x Military Conference: Courage, Honor, and Stoicism". Eventbrite.
  52. ↑ "Plato's Academy Centre". platosacademy.org. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  53. ↑ "Sound Off - Supporting Veterans on their Terms". Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  54. ↑ Mcelhiney, Brian (6 January 2022). "Episode 11: Interview with former CIA officer Mick Mulroy". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  55. ↑ "FamilUSA". Retrieved 17 May 2022.

Other websites

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