The commanding officer of the Marine Corp Forces Cyberspace Operations Group was fired Friday for “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command.”
Col. Douglas Lemott Jr., 49, was at least the third colonel in a command position fired in recent weeks ― the second whose conduct may be related to drunk driving.
“Maj. Gen. Matthew G. Glavy, relieved Col. Douglas Lemott Jr., Commanding Officer, Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group (MCCOG), May 3 due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command,” according to Capt. Amanda Anderson, public affairs officer for Marine Forces Cyber.
Col. Wendy Goyette will assume command of Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group, Anderson wrote. She previously served as its commander from June 2016–June 2018.
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Marine Corps staff did not provide any further information regarding Lemott’s firing.
Fauquier County Sheriff’s Department in Virginia and court records online state that Lemott was stopped at 3:45 a.m. on Blantyer and Airlie Road in Center, Virginia, on April 28. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated, first offense, which is a misdemeanor. He was released on bail and has a June 21 court date set in his case.
Prior to taking over as commanding officer for Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group in 2018, Lemott served as the military assistant to the Department of Defense chief information officer from 2016 to 2018.
Lemott, a Naval Academy graduate, class of 1995, completed The Basic School in 1996 and was assigned to Marine Wing Communications Squadron 28 as a radio platoon commander. He served as assistant operations officer for 7th Communications Battalion and commanding officer of A Company and support company in 1999, according to the AFCEA Quantico-Potomac chapter website.
He served as communications officer for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit from 2007 to 2009, as commanding officer of Support Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina, operational planner from November 2010 to April 2011 in Iraq, and as a military faculty adviser at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College from 2014 to 2016.
Through his career he attended the Naval Postgraduate School, National War College and earned certification from the Harvard Kennedy School in cybersecurity, according to his LinkedIn page.
His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with two Gold Stars), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with Gold Star), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
He was also a finalist for the Alfred M. Gray Trophy for Outstanding Command and Control Systems Leadership.
On April 25 the Marine Corps Installations Command head fired Col. John B. Atkinson, then-commander of Headquarters and Service Battalion at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, for a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command."
Atkinson, 49, was arrested on April 12 in Prince William County, Virginia, on drunk driving charges, arrest records show. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 24.
He had refused a blood alcohol test during the stop, which can result in a driver’s license suspension. In January he was fined for driving without a license.
That firing happened just days after the firing of Lt. Col. James R. Compton, then-commander of the Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242 in Iwakuni, Japan.
Compton was commander of the squadron in December 2018 when an F/A-18 Hornet in his unit collided with a KC-130J transport plane, killing the entire plane crew and the Hornet pilot.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
