Richard O'Meara - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Richard O'Meara is a retired Brigadier General

Brigadier general (United States)

A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

.

O'Meara is a combat veteran of the War in Vietnam. Following his Vietnam service, he earned a law degree and joined the Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army

Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army

The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers and who provide legal services to the Army at all levels of command. The Judge Advocate General's Legal Service includes judge advocates, warrant officers, paralegal noncommissioned...

. He retired from the United States Army Reserves in 2002, after 36 years of service. Following his retirement, he took up teaching posts at the Division of Global Affairs, Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

-Newark, Kean University

Kean University

Kean University is a coeducational, public research university located in Union and Hillside, New Jersey, United States. Kean University serves its students in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions with a dedication to intellectual and cultural growth and is best known for its...

and Monmouth University

Monmouth University

Monmouth University is a private university located in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States.Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956, and later Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter....

, where he teaches courses in Security Studies

Security Studies

This article refers to the discipline within the field of International Relations. For the study of security management see security management studiesSecurity Studies is an academic sub-field of the wider discipline of International Relations...

, Human Rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

, International Law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

, and History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

. In July 2006, General O'Meara spoke about genocide and torture at the New Jersey Governor's School of Public Issues and the Future of New Jersey.

Richard O'Meara is a retired Brigadier General in the United States Army and a combat veteran of the War in Vietnam. Following his Vietnam service he earned a law degree and joined the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. For two decades, while serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, O’Meara acted as senior partner in the litigation firm, O’Meara & Hight. He retired from the United States Army in 2002, after 35 years of service. Following his retirement he earned graduate degrees in History and International Relations and took up teaching posts at Rutgers University-Newark and Richard Stockton College where he has taught courses in Security Studies, Human Rights, Terrorism, Genocide, War Crimes, International Law and Criminal Justice. He holds a Research Fellowship at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, United States Naval Academy and continues to serve as Adjunct Faculty with the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies where he has taught rule of law, governance, and peacekeeping subjects in such diverse locations as El Salvador, Peru, Cambodia, Rwanda, Philippines, Chad, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ukraine, Moldova, and Iraq. He is a qualified Emergency Medical Technician and served at the World Trade Center Site in the months after 9/11.

Maritime Piracy in the 21st Century: A Short Course for U.S. Policy Makers (Winter 2007, Journal of Global Change and Governance)

Open letter to President Bush of September 7, 2004

On September 7, 2004 O'Meara and seven other retired officers wrote an open letter to President Bush expressing their concern over the number of allegations of abuse of prisoners in U.S. military custody. In it they wrote:

"We urge you to commit – immediately and publicly – to support the creation of a comprehensive, independent commission to investigate and report on the truth about all of these allegations, and to chart a course for how practices that violate the law should be addressed."

Open letter to President Bush of September 7, 2004

See also