ROBERT E. DOLAN, CAPT, USN
Robert Dolan '81
Lucky Bag
From the 1981 Lucky Bag:
Robert E. Dolan
Florham Park, New Jersey
Doles arrived at USNA from the teeming metropolis of Floram Park, N.J. fully prepared for the R.M.E. by the blissful year he spent at the EM Club and The Bavarian in Newport. After surviving plebe year unscathed by both academics and upperclass, Doles immediately assumed his duties as an upperclass, i.e. Company Urban Cowboy, Company Duty Ocean Engineer, Duty Naz Translator, and Mash Front Row Club charter member. Doles excelled academically despite the constant interruptions to his study time. Cables Labs and Dynamics problems were always laid aside while the search for a fresh tin of dirt or 30 cents for a Dew was carried out. Ah yes, the cheesy combustibles. The overly Bob Dolan: passionate hater of WUB "A", ardent lover of fermented hops and malt, closet geek, avid reader of the first two hundred pages of some of the greatest books ever written, connoisseur of fine music (especially the "No Nukes" album), future Navy Diver, and never a "mid."
Robert E. Dolan
Florham Park, New Jersey
Doles arrived at USNA from the teeming metropolis of Floram Park, N.J. fully prepared for the R.M.E. by the blissful year he spent at the EM Club and The Bavarian in Newport. After surviving plebe year unscathed by both academics and upperclass, Doles immediately assumed his duties as an upperclass, i.e. Company Urban Cowboy, Company Duty Ocean Engineer, Duty Naz Translator, and Mash Front Row Club charter member. Doles excelled academically despite the constant interruptions to his study time. Cables Labs and Dynamics problems were always laid aside while the search for a fresh tin of dirt or 30 cents for a Dew was carried out. Ah yes, the cheesy combustibles. The overly Bob Dolan: passionate hater of WUB "A", ardent lover of fermented hops and malt, closet geek, avid reader of the first two hundred pages of some of the greatest books ever written, connoisseur of fine music (especially the "No Nukes" album), future Navy Diver, and never a "mid."
Loss
From the Naval Academy Alumni Association's 9/11 page:
Captain Dolan was born in Florham Park, NJ, and, after high school, sought an appointment to the Naval Academy. Captain Dolan graduated with the Class of 1981 and was initially stationed on INCHON. Rising through the ranks, Captain Dolan had been on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was the commander of JOHN HANCOCK by age 40. Friends and family described him as intelligent, loyal and worldly. Captain Dolan had recently been appointed as the head of Strategy and Concepts for the Chief of Naval Operations. His office on the first floor of D Ring was among those struck by Flight 77.
Memorial
From The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
Bob Dolan began his military career at the U.S. Naval Academy and, at the age of 40, was commander of the U.S.S. John Hancock, with its motto: “First for Freedom.”
During his 20-year Navy career, he served in Bahrain, the Arabian Gulf, the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean, at various naval stations and on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the mid-1990s before obtaining a Master’s degree from the National War College. He received several decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal.
His loyalty extended beyond his career.
He was the kind of friend who didn’t lose touch with childhood pals from his hometown of Florham Park, New Jersey. He was a devoted husband to his wife of 181/2 years, Lisa. And he made time to coach weekly Little League games for his son, Beau, and chaperon school dances for his daughter, Rebecca.
“He was intelligent and kind and giving and smart and fun and interesting and worldly,” said Mark Wallinger, who met Dolan in kindergarten at Holy Family School. Living for “duty, honor and country” did not make Dolan a one-dimensional man, Wallinger said. He could quote Shakespeare and Monty Python in the same sentence.
In 2000, Dolan, 43, moved his family to Alexandria and went to work at the Pentagon as strategy and concepts branch head under the Chief of Naval Operations. He moved into a renovated office on the first floor of the D-Ring, the area struck by a hijacked American Airlines jetliner on September 11, 2001. “Bob Dolan was the best and the brightest this country had to offer to the altar of freedom,” Lisa Dolan wrote in a letter to friends and the media.
“We pray that his rest is peaceful,” she said. “Although ours cannot be, we rest easier in the memories of an American hero and many more like him, so very much touched by the hand of God.”
From the Daily Record on September 15, 2001:
The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., is saturated with tradition.
For Robert Edward Dolan, one of the best customs was the commissioning-week practice of blind dating because in the spring of 1979, he met Lisa Tempestilli, whose brother was a graduating senior.
"My brother fixed me up with a couple of other gentlemen that week, but I just took a fancy to Bob," Lisa Dolan said Friday "We dated for almost four years and we've pretty much been inseparable ever since." They were married for 22 ½ years.
Florham Park native Bob Dolan, whose decorated military career includes leading the USS John Hancock destroyer before it was decommissioned last fall, was among about 190 dead or missing after one of four hijacked airplanes slammed ; into the Pentagon Tuesday morning.
The plane, which ripped through Dolan's office, caused catastrophic damage to the headquarters of the nation's military forces when it exploded on impact, triggering a blaze that burned through the day and night.
Dolan, 43, had moved into the office from another part of the complex just three weeks ago, said longtime friend Mark Wallinger. Others from Dolan's office were rescued; on Friday, the Pentagon had him listed as missing.
He had earned the Meritorious Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy- Commendation Medal (four times), and the Navy Achievement Medal.
Two other friends who attended Hanover Park High School with Dolan were beside themselves on-Friday and assumed the worst.
"He thought, for the first time since he's been in the Navy, that he was safe sitting at a desk," said Tom Young of East Hanover. "We're just devastated. It's just unreal."
Dolan graduated from the Naval Academy in 1981, having earned a bachelor's degree in ocean engineering. After basic surface warfare training and diving officer school, Dolan served as a weapons officer on the USS Inchon from 1982 to 1984.
Subsequent tours included training at the Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal and an assignment to Explosive Ordnance Mobile Unit Two at Fort Story in Virginia.
In 1987, as a lieutenant, Dolan was assigned to Mine Warfare Command in Charleston, S.C. While there, he was deployed to clear mines in the Arabian Gulf.
When he finished Surface Warfare Department Head School in 1990, Dolan began work as the weapons department head on the USS Joseph Hewes. From 1991 to 1993, he was a combat systems officer on the USS Richmond J. Turner, on which he traveled to the Adriatic Sea in support of Operation Deny Flight over the former Yugoslavia.
In May 1994, Dolan became executive officer on the USS Thomas S. Gates, the air warfare commander for the George Washington Battle Group during its time in the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf that year.
From October 1995 to his appointment on the Hancock, he worked for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, first as ballistic missile defense policy planner and later as executive assistant to the deputy director for strategy and policy.
He later attended the National War College and graduated in 1998 with a master's degree in national security strategy.
Dolan took over the USS John Hancock in fall 1998 and moved back to the Pentagon in June 2000 when the destroyer was decommissioned.
"We were looking ahead, and he had hoped to command another ship one day," said his wife, reached by cell phone in Alexandria, Va., Friday. "He loved the Navy and was very dedicated to it."
The couple bought a home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in April, where they wanted to live after he retired, Lisa Dolan said.
If her worst fears about her husband materialize, she intends to follow the plan the two shared: Remain in Virginia for a few more years so their 15-year-old daughter, Rebecca, can finish high school with her friends. The couple also has a 9-year-old son, Beau.
East Hanover resident Bob Citarelli saw Bob Dolan last month when Dolan held his annual three-day retreat in Pennsylvania for about a dozen friends. Some came from as far away as Connecticut, Illinois and Ohio.
"He was family," Citarelli said.
Though Robert is listed on Find A Grave as buried in the Naval Academy Cemetery, he was actually buried at sea. He is also listed at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial and the National September 11 Memorial.
Remembrances
From Naval Academy Alumni Association's 9/11 page:
Bob lived his life for “duty, honor and country.” A career naval officer, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1981. He commanded USS John Hancock, with the motto: “First for Freedom.” By living his life of sacrifice and commitment to freedom, family and service, Bob truly was “First for Freedom.” He was a man who knew honor as a badge and wore it proudly. He was a man who viewed service as a privilege, and performed it to the best of his ability. Bob was a “gentle-man,” a patriot, a loyal warrior, a faithful husband and a devoted father, son and friend. Lisa Dolan
A lengthier letter Lisa wrote to his hometown paper can be found here.
Photographs
Memorial Hall Error
Robert is not listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. All active duty service members killed or wounded in the September 11 attacks were awarded the Purple Heart Medal pursuant to section 1129a of Title 10, U.S.C., which was passed into law in 2014.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
