Teachers in uniform do their duty in trenches of a different sort

One minute you're in the trenches, teaching math, English or science. The next you're "activated" and assigned to duty in Iraq or elsewhere. When you're a teacher in the reserves, your duty to your students won't keep you from getting called to active duty.

Col. Kevin Hughes left Creekside High School in Murrieta shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Assigned to the headquarters for the Middle East, he works in the operations section for the First Force Service Support Group (FFSSG) Commanding General's staff.

This year he's been traveling back and forth between Kuwait and Iraq, "keeping the general updated on his areas of responsibility," which range from mortuary affairs and legal matters to finances and food services.

"Have I ever been in combat? That depends on your definition," he said in an e-mail interview. "The very first Iraqi missile fired at us flew about 150-200 feet directly over my head and landed at the front gate of the Marine Corps base 30 miles behind us."

Fragments of Iraqi missiles downed by Patriots have landed in his camp or nearby. "I've lost count of how many times or how much time we've spent in Scud bunkers while under attack." One night they didn't get any sleep at all, they had to run to the bunkers so often. "Security here is very tight, and we're always armed."

"Working in mortuary affairs is very sobering," he added. "These are the real heroes of the war - the ones who give their lives. I've seen the results of war up close and personal."

One of the most amazing things he's seen in Iraq is the enthusiastic reception given to Marines. "You can feel the spirit of freedom spreading across Iraq. All humans deserve to live in a free society," he says. "But there are bad guys all over and you don't know who's good and who's bad. A friend of mine was in a crowd of cheering Iraqis when he was shot three times. He's lucky and will fully recover."

Although the Murrieta Teachers Association member seldom hears from the students he left behind, he has run across some former students, who are now in the Marines. He keeps in touch with fellow faculty members, as well as his family, which includes five daughters and a stepson.

Although he loves serving in the reserves, he says the worst thing is missing special family events - especially his youngest daughter's high school graduation in June.

On Col. Hughes' staff is another teacher, Lt. Col. Anthony Poletti, who has been on duty since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks and also served during Desert Storm. The biology teacher from Santiago High School in Corona said via e-mail that he's in a logistics support area about 80 miles from Baghdad and has not been involved in combat to date.

A member of the Corona-Norco Teachers Association, he regularly e-mails his students, who were "hurt and mad" when he was called out of the classroom. "I have sent to Corona High School and Santiago High School U.S. flags that have flown over Kuwait as well as Iraqi money," he says. "I hope to be home in time for the fall semester of 2003."

Major Lance Daniels didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to most of his students at Chico Junior High School, where he's taught math since 1995. He was called up on a Friday and left for Camp Pendleton the following Monday. Some of his students were in tears upon learning of his abrupt departure.

"They were shocked, surprised, scared and upset," says Daniels, a commanding officer in Combat Service and Support Company 147. He oversees 230 Marines who load supplies and equipment on boats "as big as football fields" as well as various aircraft.

Daniels, a member of the Chico Unified Teachers Association, is married but does not have children. "I do have hundreds of kids at my school," he says, adding that he is known for being tough in the classroom, perhaps due to his experience in the Marines.

"Kids in junior high can be difficult to manage," he says. "But I have had no problems to speak of. I don't think a teacher can ever be too hard or too tough, because you are preparing kids for life. And life is tough."

He's been told he could be sent to Iraq at any moment, but says he's ready to go any time.

Lt. Col. Rod Mann is also at Camp Pendleton, but considers himself lucky to be only 15 miles from home. Mann taught science and physical education at Vista High School. The Vista Teachers Association member, who is 47, has been told he will be on active duty for at least a year.

"There is still a chance I could go forward [to Iraq], especially during the reconstruction period there," says Mann, an operations officer for FFSSG who is married and the father of a 19-year-old college student.

Being a high school teacher has helped him in the Marines, Mann says. "I know how to deal with younger people. I have a lot more patience with them than other people might, since I am around them all the time - which is funny, 'cause kids at school say I have very little patience. But people in their late teens are pretty much like high-schoolers, and I can relate to the young soldiers."

His students, whom he still sees on occasion, ask him lots of questions about what he does. "They want to know how many people I've killed and whether I yell at people, which is not really my style or part of my job," says the Vista Teachers Association member who's responsible for helping move equipment and supplies to Iraq. "Anything they see on TV regarding boot camp is what they assume the military is like. They assume people are always yelling or doing pushups and all that glorified stuff."

All four of the teachers-turned-soldiers find it ironic that soldiering, known for low wages, compensates them much better than teaching.

"It was a shock to me that I make twice as much here as I do teaching," says Major Daniels. "Even some of the enlisted Marines make good money. To me, this says that teachers are underpaid, because I should be making twice as much as a teacher than I make as a Marine officer."