Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
3:53 | The interpreters in Iraq were from several different countries. Most of the Iraqi officers that advisor Roger Glenn worked with spoke some English so that was helpful. Anyone who worked with the Americans had to lay low in their off time for fear of becoming a target.
Keywords : Roger Glenn Iraq interpreter Iraqi Afghanistan
Roger Glenn was getting disillusioned with college until a newfound patriotism inspired him to sign up for ROTC. When he went to basic camp at Fort Knox, he stayed in the same barracks his father had occupied before the Korean War.
Roger Glenn had a 31 year career that started with the North Carolina National Guard. He switched from field artillery to the Military Police Corps because of more opportunity. The attacks on 9/11 was a game changer for all in the service, but it would present real challenges to reservists and their families.
Roger Glenn had just returned from the Hurricane Katrina relief effort where he was involved in MP operations. The reservist was then mobilized to fill an open spot on an Iraqi Army advisory team. After some indoctrination and orientation his team was attached to an Iraqi Transportation unit.
He had trained for a Cold War scenario that got hot. But in Iraq, Roger Glenn was in a counterinsurgency situation. He was an advisor to an Iraqi transportation unit which meant running security on their convoys. They tried never to stay overnight anywhere but one night a balky vehicle caused it to happen.
Roger Glenn was in Iraq a full year. He had to return home for a bit when his mother-in-law died in an accident and help his wife get through it. That's when the guilt feelings started. Deployment is so rough on the family.
The Iraqi transportation unit he was advising was in good shape so Roger Glenn had a couple of follow-on assignments. The first was working with the Marines up near the Syrian border. A lot of sand and IED's. Then he was in Baghdad where the dense urban environment presented different problems.
After his tour in Iraq, Roger Glenn headed up the MP battalion stationed at Guantanamo Bay. Guarding the detainees there was a tricky business. They were incredibly hostile and politics could not be kept out of the situation.
Roger Glenn pays tribute to the leaders and peers he encountered in his Army career that had a profound impact on him.
In both Iraq and Afghanistan, rapid success was not followed by sustained success. Roger Glenn laments the lack of foresight and vision that caused this. You don't go into a country without understanding the people and the dynamics of the place.
