Photo By Spc. Cal Turner | 2nd Lt. Jeremy Reyes, an intelligence officer with the 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div, joined...... read more read more
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By Cpl. Robert Yde
2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
FORWARD OPERATING BASE PROSPERITY, Iraq – "If you would have told me 15 years ago I would be in Iraq as an Army lieutenant at age 35, I would have probably told you, 'you were crazy,'" 2nd Lt. Jeremy Reyes said. "We can't always predict the paths that we'll take."
For Reyes, the long and unlikely path that led him to his current role as an intelligence officer for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division took him from a small Pennsylvania town, through several years in Washington D.C. and finally to Baghdad, where he worked six-months as a civilian employee with the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Reyes grew up in Williamsport, Pa., a town best known as the home of the Little League World Series, before attending Penn State University where he earned his bachelors degree in history with minors in German, Spanish and Middle Eastern studies.
He said that while in college he was unsure of where his life might go, but during that time he developed an increasing interest in politics that eventually led him to Washington D.C.
"There was no real set plan when I was in college as to how things would pan out," Reyes explained. "I got more political in college in terms of my interest and that's just where things led."
One of his first experiences in the political arena was working the polls for President George H.W. Bush during his 1992 bid for re-election, and while the outcome of this election did not go the way he had hoped, Reyes said it furthered his interest in the world of politics. He eventually moved to Washington D.C. in 1996 to further pursue his interest.
After arriving in Washington, Reyes landed an entry-level research analyst job at the Republican National Committee. Reyes said he spent his days examining news articles and identifying what different political figures were saying about various topics.
"I did little profiles on things these politicians said, and they were catalogued for later use," he explained.
Reyes also did an internship in Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's office, which eventually led to a full-time position. He said he started there just taking phone calls and answering mail, but over time moved up ranks.
"My last position there was one of his legislative assistants," Reyes said.
As a legislative assistant, he was assigned an umbrella of topics to include banking, energy, environmental and transportation issues that he was responsible for keeping his boss up to date on.
"I would break down issues and present him with the facts he needed to make his decisions and then carry out the leg work of the decisions he made," Reyes explained of his duties.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly for him until the fateful day of Sept. 11, when his life was directly affected by the terrorist attacks of that morning.
Like most other mornings, Reyes was on his way to work at Capitol Hill. However, unlike most days when he drove to work, on this day he was forced to take the Washington Metro into city because his car was in the shop.
"I boarded the train about the same time the planes hit the World Trade Center, but I didn't know anything about it," Reyes said.
After leaving from Alexandria, Va., Reyes said he decided to switch trains at Pentagon Station to continue his journey over the Potomac River.
He got off the train at Pentagon Station still unaware of the attacks in New York, and while waiting on the platform for his connecting train, a lady approached him unsure of what train she was supposed to get on. Reyes said he was trying to help her when he heard someone shout out that there was a bomb in the station.
"It will always stick in my mind," Reyes said of that moment. "A Soldier, in what I now know to be a Class B uniform, screamed out to everyone that there was a bomb and that we should get out of the station."
He said everyone quickly cleared out of the station, running up the escalator to the surface where they were enveloped in thick smoke and shocked by the scene before them.
"The airplane hit the other side of the Pentagon, but the smoke was thick and black," he said. "It was pouring out and was thick enough that you could smell it and get the taste in your mouth. That whole experience is certainly something that you don't ever forget."
As the acts of that tragic morning eventually led to the beginning of the War on Terrorism, Reyes said having witnessed the destruction first-hand fueled his determination to do something to help the war effort.
"I supported what the president was doing and looked for different ways to support the troops and support what we were doing," Reyes said. "The thing that I faced was that I wasn't a Soldier yet, and didn't know what I could do as a civilian to help the war effort."
He found an answer in 2004 when a friend told him that the Coalition Provisional Authority was looking for civilians to work in Iraq with visiting members of Congress.
"Since I was already working for a member of the Senate, it worked well to just come over here and do some of that," Reyes explained.
Reyes arrived to Baghdad in April of that year and said because he spent much of his time working in an office, his day-to-day life had many similarities to that of his life in Washington.
"I worked in the protocol office and escorted members of Congress when they came over to visit the troops," Reyes said. "We did their scheduling and worked with the folks who did the security arrangements."
Reyes also spent time working as an analyst on security and stability issues in the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office.
"What that entailed was putting together bottom-line, up-front type briefings for what's happening with security issues in the country," he explained.
During his time in Iraq, Reyes said he began to think he could make a further contribution to the war effort if he were in uniform.
By the time he returned to Washington in October, Reyes knew he was going to join the Army and visited a recruiting station to explore his options.
"He had a pretty easy job on the recruiting side, he didn't have to sell me," Reyes explained of his recruiter. "They don't get many recruits who walk in during wartime and say 'yeah, I know what I'm in for. I've been there before and am going to sign up to go back.'"
At the time, Reyes said the Army had not changed their age-limit policies, and he had to request an age waiver. Reyes signed up for the officer candidate school program with a preference for going into military intelligence.
After signing a contract for three years of active service, Reyes said he took some "free time" for himself.
"I knew it was likely to be a pretty rapid return to country," Reyes said. "So I took some time off to travel the country and do whatever I wanted to do. I also did some PT (physical training) at that time so I would be in good shape for basic training."
While Reyes was excited about the prospects of his new future, he said some of his friends and family had reservations about his decision.
"Half my friends did think I was crazy," Reyes said. "I had plenty of good job options back home and this was not he most lucrative option, to come in and be a second lieutenant."
In June 2005, Reyes left his civilian life behind and reported to basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., which he described simply as "quite a shock."
"I was very civilianized and had a long history of acting independently," Reyes said. "I went from being able to make significant decisions in my workplace to having to ask to go to the bathroom."
To add to the shock, Reyes, who turned 34 the first day of basic training, found that he was twice as old as some of the other Soldiers he would be training with.
He said that while he was older than all of his peers and most of his drill sergeants, the life experiences he had going into basic training helped.
"Your age and experience, they make training different for you; for some people easier, for some people harder," Reyes said. "But it was definitely different than doing it at 18."
After completing basic training, Reyes remained at Fort Benning where he attended OCS.
He said the biggest difference from basic training was the experience that the other officer candidates brought with them compared to the young Soldiers he had just been through basic training with.
"You had people who had been in the Army for a long time. There were some who had been in 16, 17, 18 years," Reyes explained. "Three members of my squad were E-7's, so you had a whole lot of experience there."
During OCS training, Reyes said there were times when the contrast between his old life and his new life caused him to reflect upon the dramatic changes that his life was undergoing.
"My day back in Washington, in an air conditioned office with a view of the capital, writing up things on e-mail and Microsoft Word documents, versus doing STX (situational exercises) lanes and sleeping out in the dirt was a very big compare and contrast picture," he said.
While he said the training was tough and at times questioned why he was there, he never though about quitting.
"The training was necessary to do what I wanted to do, which was to come back here and do my part on the uniform side," Reyes said.
After graduating from OCS Dec. 8, 2005, Reyes was sent to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., where he underwent military intelligence training, before finally moving to his permanent duty station at Fort Hood, Texas in July 2006.
Reyes said his initial impression of the unit was positive and that helped him get quickly integrated into the "Black Jack" Brigade, which was set to deploy to Iraq just a few months later.
"I liked my unit; I liked my co-workers, and I was in an MI role," said Reyes. "I felt good about deploying with the unit I got assigned to."
In early November 2006, Reyes made his return to Baghdad, this time as a Soldier.
In the short time that he has been back in Iraq, Reyes said that he has noticed some drastic differences between his previous role as a civilian, government employee and his new role as a Soldier.
"There's a side of military service that you just can't understand from the outside," Reyes said. "The pressures: what it means for family life and then also being here and seeing what happens on a daily basis. I think it will be helpful to have that perspective."
Reyes describes his new job as helping to target terrorists and "identifying who these people are and seeing that we are able to stop them from doing some of the destructive things they're doing in this country."
Having been in Iraq before in such a different role provides Reyes with a unique perspective and he credits some of his past experiences with helping him find success in his new role as an intelligence officer.
"My knowledge from the past, both some of the academic knowledge from school and the knowledge from having been here before, has been helpful to me in being more effective in the jobs I do here," Reyes said.
At this point, Reyes said he hasn't made any decisions on whether he will return to civilian life or continue with his Army career once his term is finished. However, he said that if he leaves the Army he will probably return to Washington and continue to work for the government.
"There are a lot of good things happening back in Washington D.C. on the civilian side where people are working to keep us safe in conjunction with our military," Reyes explained. "I think this experience will lend itself well to making a contribution there."
Having such a strong love for politics, he has also not ruled out the possibility of running for elected office in the future, but said he has not made any decisions about that right now.
Whatever path opens up to him next, Reyes said that he is proud of the destination his current one has led to.
"I don't have any regrets," Reyes said. "I'm proud to come back here and help my country."
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 01.17.2007 11:03 |
| Story ID: | 8829 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 271 |
| Downloads: | 119 |
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