Council Chairman Shipping Out To Iraq

By John Voket

On that fateful September 11 morning when American Airlines Flight 77 smashed into the Pentagon, Newtown Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers was just a few miles away, serving in his capacity as an appellate court judge in the Marine Corps Reserve. It was not long before he learned that a young female Navy officer that he had served beside for some time was aboard that aircraft, and perished along with her young daughter.

It was about that time when Mr Rodgers and nearly all the other reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) officers with whom he worked tendered letters of intent to volunteer in any capacity they could to help serve the nation in one of its darkest hours. The call taking the Newtown official up on his offer finally came just a few days ago, and Wednesday evening, Mr Rodgers announced to fellow council members that they would be without him until next spring.

In an interview following his announcement, Mr Rodgers said he always expected that if the corps was to honor his request, the call would come when he least expected it.

“In fact, my wife and I had just returned from a trip in the wee hours of a Saturday morning, and the message was there waiting for me on the answering machine,” he recalled.

The reservist, who also manages a busy legal practice along with his wife Moira, will be heading to Washington, D.C./ next Wednesday, Flag Day, for training and is expected to ship out to his eventual destination somewhere in western Iraq around Labor Day. Mr Rodgers said he expected to serve as part of a civil affairs contingent for a seven-month stretch, working with the community members, tribal factions, and political leaders negotiating damage settlements as well as providing support in diplomatic and infrastructure matters.

While he will undoubtedly call on his legal skills during his mission, Mr Rodgers said his JAG commission will be deactivated for the duration of his assignment.

“The JAG is not a part of a separate corps like it is in other branches of the service,” Mr Rodgers explained. “All Marine reservists are combat and infantry trained. As a colonel, I’ll lose my judge advocate position and get plugged into what we call an MOS — military occupational specialty.”

Mr Rodgers said he was motivated initially by the tragic events of 9/11, and chose to keep his application to volunteer active to help protect some of his younger counterparts from facing the assignment.

“Among my circle of military personnel, the senior officers, I’m better positioned than most of the others,” he said. “Most of them have kids in elementary and high school, and our daughter [Amelia] is in her first year of law school, so I wanted to be able to go in place of the guys whose kids are younger.”

The council chairman said it was an assignment he volunteered to do, but is not eager to do.

“But it’s got to be done,” he said. “I’m apprehensive, but looking forward to getting through it. I know about a half-dozen other judge advocates who are already over there, so I know somewhat what I’m in for.”

Mr Rodgers said he expects to be in a relatively primitive area of western Iraq, on a base with “no running water and sporadic electricity service.” Although he has been told of “sporadic mortar fire,” that interrupts the daily routine, he is most concerned about the proliferation of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, which are prevalent in the region.

“I think we’ll be at the greatest risk as we move from place to place,” he said.

In his absence, Mr Rodgers passed the leadership and gavel to council vice chair Timothy Holian, who expressed much greater concern for the well-being of his friend than of any political challenges he might face in Mr Rodgers’ absence.

“My greatest concern is for a friend who might be placed in harm’s way,” he confided resolutely after the announcement.

The local reservist was also concerned for the well-being of his law practice while he is away.

“I’m not looking forward to starting my business from scratch when I return,” Mr Rodgers said. His wife will be handling day-to-day administrative matters and some consultations during his duty, and a number of other attorneys have offered to take over active civilian cases he is administering.

“I believe I’m going with the utmost support of my wife and daughter, the council, and the community of Newtown,” he said. “One of the most appealing aspects of my background when being considered for this assignment was, ironically, my local government experience, not my legal expertise.”

He expects to become much more computer savvy during his time away, Mr Rodgers said, and promised to file email reports “from the front” as often as possible with friends and contacts at The Newtown Bee.

“I think the council will be fine with 11 members,” he said to the panel Wednesday following his announcement. “I don’t feel it necessary to resign my position because I’ll only be away a relatively short period of time.”

Mr Rodgers fully expects to be back in the saddle locally by the start of the next budget season in early 2007. And given the history of what he affectionately refers to as “Mother Marine Corps,” there is still a slight chance that the assignment will be modified or retracted altogether.

But short of that, the final chore Mr Rodgers hopes to accomplish here before he departs will be to help seat the community’s next Charter Revision Commission. Pending the availability of a quorum, the council will likely gather next Monday in a special meeting to handle that bit of administrative business before bidding their elected leader a temporary adieu.