Mark H. Dooley

Monday, September 26 2005 @ 09:20 AM EDT

Record Online -- COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) -- Vermont National Guard Lt. Mark H. Dooley, was riding in an armored Humvee as part of a patrol sent out to investigate suspicious activity when he was killed by a bomb, guard officials said.
   Even though he was in the vehicle and wearing all his protective gear, he was killed instantly by the improvised explosive device in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, said guard commander Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville.
   Two other American service members were killed in the same attack, which took place at about 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday. Rainville did not say where the other soldiers were from.
   "He was very well respected by his peers and his commanders," said Rainville. "He will be deeply missed."
   Dooley, 27, of Wilmington was a member of the town's police department for three months before his unit, the 3rd Battalion of the 172 Mountain Infantry Regiment, was called to active duty last January. He arrived in Iraq in July.

 The Army listed his home of record as Wallkill, N.Y. where his parents, Peter and Marion Dooley, live.
   Dooley's death brings to 17 the number of American military service members with ties to Vermont who have died in Iraq since the war began. An 18th Vermonter died of natural causes in Kuwait while training to go to Iraq.
   And Dooley was the second member of his unit, the 400-member Task Force Saber which arrived in Iraq in July, killed in Iraq. Sgt. 1st Class Chris Chapin, 39, of Proctor was killed by a sniper Aug. 23, also in Ramadi.
   Task Force Saber is a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat team of the 28th Division led by the Pennsylvania National Guard. Since the brigade arrived in Iraq in July 11 soldiers have been killed, Vermont Guard officials said.
   The U.S. military said Tuesday that four U.S. soldiers died Monday in two roadside bombings near Ramadi and a fifth died in a blast north of Baghdad, pushing the toll of American forces killed in Iraq past 1,900.
   Ramadi is a volatile city 70 miles west of Baghdad. It has been the scene of intense but sporadic fighting since the insurgency gained strength and began its offensive against U.S. forces in the summer of 2003.
   Rainville and chief of staff Col. Jonathan Farnham said insurgents fighting U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq were developing more powerful weapons.
   "The uparmored humvees have protected a lot of soldiers," Rainville said. The death of Dooley and the others "indicates the strength of the explosive used."
   She said the Iraqi insurgents were adapting their tactics and increasing the lethality of their weapons to counter U.S. advantages, Rainville said.
   "We cannot underestimate the enemy," Rainville said. "As they try tactics and methods they see what works and what doesn't work."
   She said the U.S. military was doing the same thing.
   "There is not a perfect protection for a soldier or an airman," Rainville said. "Given time (the insurgents) will find a weakness."
   Rainville and Farnham, Dooley's commander in Vermont, appeared grim-faced at the Tuesday afternoon news conference.
   "We all have a job to do," Rainville said. "This is a piece of that job that we take very seriously."
   They both said Dooley had a bright future in the National Guard.
   Dooley joined the Wilmington Police Department last November and worked there until his deployment. In 2002 and 2003 he worked for the Windham County sheriff's office.
   Wilmington, a ski town, is located in southern Vermont west of Brattleboro.
   Dooley is survived by his parents and a brother.
   Gov. James Douglas said Tuesday in a statement that he had contacted Dooley's family and "expressed our most sincere condolences."
   Congressman Bernard Sanders also expressed his sadness.
   "My thoughts are with his family at this difficult time and I join all Vermonters in offering my deepest condolences for their loss," Sanders said.
   As of Tuesday, 1,904 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,483 died from hostile action, according to the military. The figures include five military civilians.

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