Fort Hood Suspect Was Lousy Student

Superiors passed him despite fears he didn't meet standards
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 16, 2010 2:06 PM CDT
Fort Hood Suspect Was Lousy Student
The 2007 file photo provided by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences shows Nidal Malik Hasan when he entered the program for his Disaster and Military Psychiatry Fellowship.   (AP Photo/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, File)

Nidal Malik Hasan’s superiors had major concerns about him during his psychiatric training, but decided to pass him anyway, say restricted emails obtained by the Washington Times. In one, Hasan’s residency director, Maj. Scott Moran, tells a superior that he’s “a chronically somewhat unprofessional officer with a somewhat poor work ethic.” But the superior begged Moran not to put Hasan on probation, because it would “require me to convene a relook board.”

Moran later told another superior that Hasan didn’t have enough clinic hours to graduate, but the superior waved off the requirement. And when Hasan presented his final thesis, one supervisor wrote, “I am confused as to how this is acceptable as a scholarly activity. … This seems to be a history/religious class” on Islam, rather than a psychiatric scholarly activity. The Army is considering disciplining Hasan’s medical superiors for ignoring concerns over his conduct. (More Nidal Malik Hasan stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X