Fort Hood: Avoiding Placement Mistakes

The gunman at Fort Hood was Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The Army had put him through college and then medical school, where he trained to be a psychiatrist. Before being moved to Fort Hood, he had worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for several years. (Read other posts on the shooting at Ft. Hood.)

In both places, he treated returning soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. The terrifying war stories he regularly heard seemed to change his view on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He openly argued against U.S. involvement. He complained of being harassed for his devout Muslim faith. He was suspected of posting an incendiary statement on the Internet extolling the virtue of suicide bombers.

He wanted to be released from the Army, something denied because he still owed the Army for putting him through school. The Army also had a shortage of psychiatrists.

The Army was on the verge of deploying Major Hasan to Afghanistan, his worst fear. Although there may have been more to his insane or intentional violence at Fort Hood, his impending deployment played a big role.

Hindsight is always 20-20, but it’s difficult to imagine why someone like Major Hasan would have been a candidate for serving in Afghanistan. There were other ways he could serve his remaining time. Plus, some of his recent activity provided grounds for investigating him as being unstable or worse.

Even when an employee has done good work, he shouldn’t be placed or promoted into another position when there are clear signs he’s not ready. All employers make bad employment decisions, but when an employee repeatedly indicates he’s not right for a new job or maybe even the job he’s presently in, employers need to listen. You don’t send a Pepsi fan out in the field to sell Coke. When a job involves extreme safety and security issues, even greater caution should be exercised to make sure a placement is right.