Tag: Iraq

Confident in building relationships with the prisoners he was tasked to interrogate, Eric Maddox, current Executive MBA (Class 45) student and decorated veteran, credits innovation in interrogation techniques for the capture of Saddam Hussein. In 2003, while assigned to a Special Operations Task Force in Iraq, Maddox conducted over 300 interrogations and collected the intelligence which directly led to the capture of Saddam Hussein. Maddox shared his experience in Iraq at Olin’s Century Club speaker series on Jan. 28, 2016.

Capturing Saddam is the inside story of Maddox’s role as an interrogator in the intelligence gathering operations that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein.

The first current student to speak at Century Club, Maddox talked about being sent to the Middle East after being trained as a Chinese Mandarin linguist. Assigned as an interrogator, Maddox quickly realized he needed to change his tactics to gather intelligence. The biggest change was becoming an excellent listener, a tool every good negotiator should have according to Maddox.

Maddox told the audience in Emerson Auditorium, that innovation can be applied to any field when you have a passion and confidence in  your mission. The challenge is finding out where to change the process, or “find the pain,” the obstacle that is keeping others from changing with you.

Maddox found the obstacle to changing interrogation techniques and gathering intelligence in the Army. He utilized that information and shared it with his team. These tactics not only led to the capture of Saddam Hussein, the “Ace of Spades,” but also changed interrogation tactics used the US military.

Maddox is now integrating knowledge gained from Olin’s EMBA program into his work as a consultant to corporations, organizations, and individuals on interrogation and debriefing techniques.

Learn more about the EMBA program here.

Learn more about Eric Maddox here.

Washington University’s ROTC has dedicated a memorial in the North Campus Complex in honor of Stuart Wolfer, BSBA’93, who was killed by a mortar attack in Iraq.

Lee Wolfer of Eagle, Idaho, the widow of Maj. Stuart Wolfer, spoke April 18 during the dedication ceremony of Wolfer Hall at North Campus. Pictured above. Photo by Jerry Naunheim.

Stuart Wolfer, BSBA’93, was an Army reservist killed during a mortar attack in Iraq in 2008. The ROTC celebrated Wolfer’s life and commitment to his country with the unveiling and dedication of Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Hall.

The Hall is located in the North Campus Complex where the ROTC holds classes and training.

While a student at WUSTL, Wolfer was active in student government, ROTC and Hillel, and he remained engaged as an alumnus. Some 100 ROTC cadets approached Lt. Col. Jim Craig asking if they could honor Wolfer’s life of service. Many attended the memorial event, including ROTC cadets, Olin Business School classmates and members of Hillel and of the Olin Veterans Association.

For more on Stuart Wolfer’s life, see earlier blog post.

Stuart Wolfer, BSBA’93, served as a major in the Army Reserves after graduating from Washington University. He was deployed to Iraq in January 2008 and killed by a mortar attack in April of the same year. On April 18, Wolfer will be honored by the university’s ROTC program with the dedication of a memorial in the North Campus complex, room 1120, at 5 p.m.

Stuart Adam Wolfer, 1971-2008

Stuart grew up with his sister Beverly in Dix Hills, Long Island, NY, where they attended Solomon Schechter Day School in Jericho. His Bar-Mitzvah was at the Dix Hills Jewish Center on Memorial Day, May 28, 1984. Later that year, Stuart moved with his family to Coral Springs, FL, where he attended Ramblewood Middle School and graduated in 1989 with honors from Taravella High School.

While at Taravella he was a member of the National Honor Society, Debate Club, a participant in Leadership Broward, JR Varsity Football, Lacrosse, and was active in BBYO (B’nai Brith Youth Organization). Stuart was confirmed at Temple Beth Orr.

Stuart’s summers involved Outward Bound, Volunteers for Israel, American Jewish Social Services that cost him his spot on the football team of his senior year, and B’nai Brith Youth Organization (BBYO) Leadership programs

Stuart attended Washington University in St. Louis. During Thanksgiving of his freshman year Stuart told his parents that he had been auditing Army ROTC classes and now wanted to officially enroll in the program. Stuart was involved in Student Government and Hillel House.

Upon graduation in 1993 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Stuart was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant from the Army ROTC program. Due to cutbacks in the Military, Stuart was placed in the Army Reserves.

Leaving St. Louis, Stuart moved to Des Moines, IA, and held various sales positions as well as starting his own vending machine business, Lilly Vending.

In 1996, Stuart moved to Los Angeles, CA, to accept another sales position. While in Los Angeles he attended night law school at Loyola University and graduated in 2002 with his JD.

Stuart and Lee Anne were married August 18, 2001, and have three daughters—Lillian 6, Melissa 4, and Isadora 2, where they live on their 80-acre farm in Emmett, ID. After law school graduation, he moved to Idaho and was a regional representative for Thomas-Reuters Legal Division in Idaho and Montana.

Since college graduation, Stuart served in the Army Reserves and in August 2004 was called to active duty as a logistics officer at Ft. Buerhring, Kuwait, where he served until October 2005 when he was promoted to Major. In December 2007, he was reactivated to the Multi National Security Transition Command-Iraq-Logistics/Operations (MNSTC-I/J3) and arrived in the Green Zone in January 2008.

While serving in the Green Zone, Stuart was an active member of B’nai Baghdad (a Jewish lay led minyan); a liaison to the Iraqi Jewish Community; a participant in the Green Zone Council–Iraqi Boy/Girl Scout Troop, and a member of the cricket team amongst the multi-nationals of the Green Zone. On April 6, 2008, while working out in the Fitness Center Stuart was killed along with another officer and 17 other soldiers were wounded from an incoming mortar attack.