“CALLED TO SERVE”
BY MEDINA COUNTY AUDITOR, MICHAEL E. KOVAK
In 2003, Auditor Michael E. Kovack served as the Maintenance and Repair Officer for a 100 plus member MIUWU 214 out of Buffalo, NY. Kovack was promoted to Executive Officer in 2004. In Iraq, from 2005 to 2006, he served as “Effects Coordinator” for the entire Civil Affairs group in Iraq. He was the conduit of communication from Civil Affairs to the three star corps commanding general and staff. Auditor Michael E. Kovack was re-elected last November to his 5th term as Medina County Auditor. He resides in Medina with his wife and three children.
I’d lie in bed after a 16 hour work day and hear the mortar fire hit our compound. We pretty much knew there was no point in moving. You couldn’t hear the things coming, and if you were going to be hit, you were going to be hit. I’d just roll over and try to get some sleep after an exhausting and frustrating day in Iraq.
I wasn’t even supposed to be in uniform. As an officer for the Navy from 1985 to 1989, I had already done three tours in the Persian Gulf onboard destroyers and minesweepers. I was a reserve officer from 1989-1993. After being elected Medina County’s auditor, I went on “Inactive Ready Reserve” status or IRR. I never really expected to wear a uniform again.
Then 9-11 hit.
I received a note from the Department of the Navy in November of 2001 welcoming me back. You can imagine what a shock that was. Again a member of the Naval Reserve, one of my first assignments was assisting with security in New York City in May, 2002. I was honored to be on hand for the ceremony at the World Trade Center marking the end of the recovery efforts there. Being there and experiencing that raw emotion simply took my breath away.
In September 2002, I was transferred to Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit (MIUWU) 201 out of Toledo, OH. Everything moved quickly after that.
By January of 2003, I had been mobilized to active duty and my orders arrived.
My family was nervous, like everyone else’s. You get your orders and it doesn’t tell you where you’re going, but everyone knows. Except in this case, we really didn’t. Slated to go to Turkey for Port Security, our unit was turned around when Turkey’s government denied the U.S. the use of its territory. We spent the opening months of the war doing port security in Sicily, the supply gateway to Iraq. My family was relieved that I hadn’t been assigned to combat again.
The early war effort went well and many units were being shipped home early. My unit was able to come home around May of 2003. I knew we were going to be mobilized again, but I didn’t expect to go until 2007. I was promoted to Naval Commander, and continued work with my unit, Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit 214, based in Buffalo, NY.
Then in 2005, I received a phone call. It was a very odd thing. A Lieutenant Commander from Washington, D.C. called me at work and began discussing my background. Did I have local government and business experience? Did I have any familiarity with the Middle East? I did, and so I was tagged to become one of the first fifty Naval Reserve Officers to be activated to work in the Army - Civil Affairs Division.
Mobilized in November, 2005, I reported for duty to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for Army combat training. It was actually kind of humorous. They had Army enlisted guys training up fifty very senior Navy Officers. They did a terrific job. Especially given what they had to work with!
After two weeks in South Carolina, our entire group was bused up to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home to the Army’s Special Forces, of which we were about to become a part. Since we were told our whole deployment was being fast-tracked, we expected intensive training and a quick flight out to Iraq. But it was not to be.
Unfortunately, since we were the first group of Navy personnel the Army had to train in Civil Affairs, they weren’t prepared for us. Everyone was scrambling with new parameters. Five months later, after enduring substandard housing, sporadic training and what many thought were double standards favoring Army personnel, we boarded a plane for Iraq. We finally decided that they had a plan all along – to make us eager to leave our training and get to Iraq!
But as we settled into our new billets across Iraq, the eagerness quickly dissolved. We lost two of our team members within the first two weeks. It was a routine task to interact with local Iraqis, as are most civil affairs missions, but the humvee hit an IED (improvised explosive device). It was a reminder that Civil Affairs personnel were taking the highest percentage of casualties in the conflict. We became even more strongly focused on our mission and the sheer importance and danger of our task.
In the Civil Affairs division, we were given a huge and overwhelming task: spur the Iraqi economy. And so we went back and forth trying to make this happen. We dealt with agriculture, micro-financing, business start-ups, loans, infrastructure, adult literacy, job creation, and anything else we could do. We knew a strong economy was vital to peace, but we were dealing with no infrastructure, third-world conditions, language barriers and organizations that were nebulous at best. We coordinated neighborhood councils and programs. We worked on projects such as “Operation Coming Together,” and a program we called “Clear, Build and Hold.”
The pace was frantic, and I often worked 14-16 hour days, sometimes longer. We were given one day off a month, and even then work often intruded. Days off really didn’t make much difference anyway. It wasn’t like you could stroll into downtown Baghdad to shop.
The temperatures in Iraq were the hottest I’d experienced. We touched 130 degrees on several days. The temperatures were exacerbated by the fact that we were wearing over 40 pounds of body armor and riding in airless metal boxes with the sun beating down on everything. They eventually ordered that all the incoming humvee’s should have air conditioning, but air conditioning didn’t really make a difference in that heat.
The work was intense, and the military experience was often painful. Additionally, there was a tremendous amount of psychological challenge. I’ve often heard the military described as hours upon hours of monotony punctuated by short periods of sheer intensity or fear, which is true. What one doesn’t think about is that often the long periods of boredom require much greater discipline to deal with than the intense periods of action. If you’re not capable of effectively handling the long periods of monotony, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to effectively handle the periods of intense action.
During all of this, I was still serving as the Medina County Auditor, even though I was also serving on the other side of the world. Given the pace, I was glad we had worked out every detail at the office before I left. My Chief Deputy became the de facto auditor. We had reviewed a long list of things before I left and, in military parlance I said, “I had it. You got it!” Joan Heller, my Chief Deputy, made hiring and firing decisions while I was gone and did, indeed, run the office.
She managed to keep me updated via e-mail, but I was normally so immersed in operations that I often wouldn’t be able to write for days. I had peace of mind, though, because I knew I had a tremendous staff and that things at the auditor’s office wouldn’t suffer at all, even if I couldn’t communicate with them.
I’ve been back for several months now. It was an extremely difficult tour.
This most recent experience was very different than anything I’d ever done with the military. The emotions are still very raw and near the surface. The U.S. servicemen who were recently abducted in Karbala were all civilian affairs personnel I had trained with. Much of my unit still remains in Iraq.
The best part about the military for me has always been the people working right next to me. Our personalities and philosophies vary widely. However, due to the intensity of the experiences we share, there’s always an incredible bond that holds strong. I’m still in contact with folks I served with 20 years ago and I know that I will stay in contact with this group for the rest of my life.
I worry about the personnel there now since the U.S. has essentially changed its strategy. When I was there, personnel were housed in fortified bases. Now, they are dispersing troops into the outposts and neighborhoods with the Iraqi police. It’s much more effective, but it is also much more dangerous for the personnel involved.
I worry about the families, too. Once the service member deploys, the military does an excellent job caring for its own. The families are less fortunate, especially the families of reservists. Because the reservists have left active duty and joined the civilian work force, they are scattered all over the country. Spouses and children are not located around a supportive military base, and they may not even know another family who is facing similar experiences. Family briefings are held on military bases but it is often financially or logistically impossible for reserve families to attend.
I would encourage local leaders to seek out families of deployed service men and women. Families of reservists have fewer support systems in place. Give the families a phone call and offer support. Set up a system for finding the families of active duty members in your area. Set up communications on a regular basis. Our families need the support of their communities.
The soldiers coming back, too, need the support of their communities. The Veteran’s Administration (VA) is backlogged and maybe overwhelmed. It is important to be aware of the people around you who may need to be offered services outside of the VA.
The best thing we can do to honor our Veterans, of this war or of any war, is to take care of them. It’s not over for them when they come home. We need to make sure that we are providing the attention that they need.
Yes, I do expect to be in the Middle East again. It will be a shorter time, and probably not in Iraq itself. But, I will be ready. The Auditor’s office will be ready. And like the hundreds of thousands of service men and women before us, here and overseas, we will serve.
Please take care of the servants.
