In the Shadow of the Swords by D.W. Wilber

Author:D.W. Wilber [Wilber, D.W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Iraq War (2003-2011), Political Science, Law Enforcement, Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, United States, Middle East, Iraq
ISBN: 9781612009223
Google: zy8NEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2020-10-05T01:01:04+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Personalities

There were lots of interesting personalities who made up the academy instructor staff, and some of them had no business being there at all. Carly apparently possessed no real prior law-enforcement experience, and had only been a school teacher back in the States. The one thing she apparently did have was a friendship with someone senior at the contracting company that provided instructors for the program. It appears her lack of experience as a police officer was overlooked and she was hired based on her experience as a teacher, and being a friend of somebody in a position of power. It was all about who she knew, not what she knew. Since the actual classroom curriculum and training material was already prepared, all she really had to do was follow the course material. She would be teamed up with another instructor anyway, who presumably had actual police experience, so I guess they figured that would take care of any deficiencies she had on the law-enforcement side. I’m sure that the military and the Iraqis never knew that she was not an experienced police officer, or she would not have been allowed to participate, and she would have missed out on all the big money. But I have to say that watching her walk around with a 9mm pistol strapped to her hip was a little disconcerting, to say the least. Her behavior also called into question her being part of the program. She reminded me of a young girl in high school, immature and subject to playing little games—certainly not what is needed in the middle of a war zone.

Katherine was an older women who apparently had served in a corrections position back in America. Though not really a police officer, at the time they were accepting corrections officers to teach at the police academy. In the early stages of the war and the reconstruction efforts, they had difficulty getting experienced police officers to come over to Iraq, so they made exceptions. Katherine apparently was one of those exceptions. She and Carly were buddies, and even though Katherine was older, she also played the little games right along with Carly. Arnie I have already talked about, so suffice it to say that he fit in really well with Carly and Katherine’s little clique. Then there was LaDonna, who had been home on leave when I arrived. Apparently she had been originally selected to fill the ‘HR’ position that I would eventually take over, but she had really made no effort to get it up and running before departing for her visit to the States. That’s why the academy director and assistant director decided to look elsewhere, which led to me eventually being selected. That decision ruffled some feathers in the Carly, Katherine, Arnie, and LaDonna clique, as they all viewed me as a usurper.

Then there was ‘Surfer Boy’. The senior firearms instructor was called Surfer Boy due to his full wavy hair and well-cultivated tan. He looked like he was right off of Venice Beach in California.

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