Remembering A Hero Through Outcomes
by U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gregory Carroll
May 31, 2023

A new formal agreement between the Deputy Commandant for Information (DC I) at Headquarters Marine Corps and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) established the Lt. Col. Kevin M. Shea USMC Chair for Information at NPS April 20, 2023 with efforts already underway to fill the position.

The establishment of the chair was formerly announced by Gen. David H. Berger, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps, during the 4th Annual Information Awards Dinner.

The newly established chair honoring Lt. Col. Shea will strengthen communication between Headquarters Marine Corps and NPS. The new agreement is aimed at outcomes furthering DC I priorities in the information environment by aligning the research conducted by warrior-scholars assigned to NPS to larger Marine Corps initiatives.

“The Marine Corps and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California there will be, starting next year, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and in professorships each of those chairs have a name and that one will have the Shea name. That’s an amazing tribute that will go on forever,” stated Berger.

More Than A Name

Lt. Col. Kevin M. Shea was a communications officer deployed with Regional Combat Team 1 (RCT-1) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II when he was killed by rocket fire in Al Anbar province Iraq near Fallujah, September 14, 2004.

“When he was a communications officer with Regional Combat Team-1 his focus was to make sure we communicate, and he did that. He did a great job at it,” stated retired Lt. Gen. John A. Toolan, former commanding officer of RCT-1. Of the numerous commands Toolan held, April 5, 2003, Toolan was assigned by then Maj. Gen. James Mattis as the commander of RCT-1. “Kevin was someone who deeply loved his Marines and would do anything for them,” said Toolan.

Toolan went on to joke as commander of RCT-1 his staff was needy and Shea meet the demands of his high caliber staff which consisted of Marines such as now Gen. Eric M. Smith, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Maj. Gen. Austin E. Renforth, commanding general, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, and Lt. Gen. David G. Bellon, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve and U.S. Marine Corps Forces South. Toolan stated, “Kevin was surrounded by all these people, and they put high demands on him, and he delivered every time.”

Lt. Col. Shea graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy before joining the Marines. While at the academy, he lettered in football, played in the 1987 Freedom Bowl and was a member of the 1989 rugby team which won the collegiate national championship. He later taught and coached rugby at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA). He was promoted to the rank of major in 1999 and earned a master of science degree in electrical engineering at NPS.

Gen. Berger went on to talk about Lt. Col. Shea’s connection to NPS. “He graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School. I think it’s going to be fantastic when we get out there and see whoever the professor is that occupies the Shea chair, pretty amazing and I think the great part about it is it’s not just in Monterey but that person is going to tie in to your office (in reference to Lt. Gen. Matthew G. Glavy, Deputy Commandant for Information) and experimentation and that’s the lynch pin, just going to be fantastic,” remarked Berger.

In the memorandum of agreement for the newly established chair it highlights how the new position will assist DC I to integrate ongoing and planned efforts across Headquarters Marines Corps, the Marine Corps’ supporting establishment, the Naval Education Enterprise, the Naval Research and Development Establishment and the Fleet Marine Forces.

In correspondence with Col Jason Perry, Senior Marine Representative at NPS, efforts are already underway to hire a candidate for the position. The application deadline for the position closed May 5, applications have been received and the interview process in underway.

Continued Service

As Gen. Berger concluded his remarks about the newly established chair he mentioned Lt. Col. Shea’s daughter, Capt. Brenna L. Shea, was not able to make the ceremony due to training. Brenna is an MV-22B Pilot, currently assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 162 (REIN) preparing to deploy with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

A story published May 4, 2023 by the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit stated, “U.S. Marines and Sailors of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU), embarked aboard the three ships of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BAT ARG), successfully completed ARG/MEU exercise (AMX). During AMX, the 26th MEU successfully achieved C5ISR capabilities, capacities, and battlestaff competencies across MEU Mission Essential Tasks (METs), to include the ability to integrate with elements of Naval Special Warfare and NATO partners, from distributed locations within the littorals of eastern North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, April 13 to May 3, 2023.”

Gen Berger ended his comments by saying Brenna is a lot like her dad speaking as if Brenna, “Given the opportunity, a choice to train, fly my Osprey and train to get ready to go on a deployment with a MEU or spend a night at the table with the Commandant, I think I’ll go fly.”

Brenna, oldest of two, was 10 at the time her father was killed in action with her younger brother Michael who was seven. When asked why she decided to serve she stated, “Definitely my father and growing up a lot of the Marines he served with like General Toolan [Lt. Gen. Toolan] and General Nicholson [Lt. Gen. Nicholson], all these Marines like General Renforth [Maj. Gen. Renforth] who had served with my dad.”

Brenna went on to talk about the Marine Corps family that never stopped providing support stating, “While I was growing up, they would spend a lot of time checking in on me and making sure I was doing well. I really loved the camaraderie and the brotherhood of the Marine Corps so when it was time for me to go to school, I looked at going to the Naval Academy because my dad taught there for a few years. I was really drawn to being a part of this.”

Once arriving on campus at the USNA, it reinforced her desire to be a Marine. She said, “I ended up going to school at Navy and while I was there, I met a lot of amazing Marines. I continued to fall in love with the Marine Corps. I then got lucky enough to get a commission in the Marine Corps after doing Leatherneck in 2016. Then I joined and never looked back.”

Brenna met her husband at Leatherneck. Small world, she married a communications officer who graduated from the Air Force academy and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Her husband, Capt Nolan Sheahan is currently assigned to 1st Marine Raider Support Battalion, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.

Having just returned from training and completing AMX, Brenna expressed excitement as she prepares for her upcoming deployment stating, “For me this will be my first deployment and especially with the emerging events in Sudan, [being a part of the 26 MEU] is really starting to feel like the big leagues now for me. I would hear all these stories about deployments from my dad’s buddies. It’s just kind of surreal, like now it’s my turn.”

Outcomes

In reference to the newly established Lt. Col. Kevin M. Shea USMC Chair for Information at NPS Brenna stated, “It’s really humbling and makes me really proud that years later people are still seeking to remember and honor my father. It makes me happy that now it will be in a way that promotes Marines and their own careers in education.”

Approximately 250 Marine warrior-scholars are enrolled in 24 different curricula from categories including Engineering and Applied Sciences, International and Defense Studies, Operational and Information Sciences and Defense Management.

Truly making an impact across the Marine Corps, more than 300 NPS Marine graduates, ranging in rank from staff sergeant to lieutenant colonel currently serve at 78 different organizations and across 30 separate bases and stations.

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