Postcard from Iraq

By Susan Malovany

Omuso George is a National College of Education (NCE) alumnus whose "classroom" doesn't contain chalk and a blackboard, but is instead a recruiting unit for U.S. Army soldiers to protect our nation's interests.

Lieutenant Colonel George—who has worked at the Pentagon and finished a year–long tour of duty in Iraq this year—currently is the commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, N.Y.

George received his M.Ed. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Curriculum and Instruction in 2001 from NLU's former Heidelberg, Germany, campus, where he was stationed at that time, and has been in the Army for 18 years. "I strongly considered becoming a teacher," says George. "In fact, that is why I pursued the M.Ed. with NLU."

NLU's program the perfect fit

He continues on to explain why he chose NLU and NCE. "NLU was highly recommended by several Department of Defense Dependent Schools' teachers that I knew in the area," he notes. "Also, since my undergraduate degree was not in education, NLU's program was the right fit, because they specifically accepted those who did not have an undergraduate degree in education. Even though my Army career has not ended yet, I wanted to become more familiar with the education field in case I decide to become a teacher when I leave Army service."

As commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in New York City, George is responsible for overseeing the Army's Active and Reserve force recruiting efforts for all of New York City, Long Island and parts of Westchester County just north of New York City. And his current responsibilities do involve teaching. "Although I'm not a teacher right now, the Army is all about teaching and training," he emphasizes. "It is fundamental to how we operate. We teach and train soldiers and the civilian members of our team. And I think it adds some credibility in my job when I routinely deal with educators and administrators in the school districts in New York in making them aware of the many opportunities that the Army has to offer."

George was in Iraq from March 2008 to March 2009 and worked as the deputy director for resource management for the Army Corps of Engineers, headquartered in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. "In that capacity, I helped advise the Commanding General on financial matters related to the Corps' reconstruction efforts, and I worked as part of a joint team of members from all services and Department of the Army civilians overseeing all aspects of financial management for the Corps' reconstruction efforts in Iraq," he explains. "We managed a financial database with over $38 billion in appropriated current and prior fiscal year funds (FY 03—FY 09) from multiple federal agencies (Department of Defense, Department of State, Dept. of Justice) that supported reconstruction efforts in Iraq."

George feels a sense of accomplishment during his year in Iraq. "I feel that I helped contribute to the overall mission of helping to rebuild the country of Iraq in my own small way, through the financial management of the reconstruction efforts," he notes. "There are thousands of dedicated service members and civilians working to rebuild Iraq. I also did my part to account properly for taxpayers' dollars."

Postcards program

The Gulf Region Division has a program called "Postcards from Iraq," and George completed one before he departed, reflecting on his time in Baghdad. "The "Postcards from Iraq" program was set up by our public affairs officer to afford personnel the opportunity to talk briefly about their experiences while deployed in Iraq and to let folks back at home know a little about what they were doing," George explains. "Many people often completed these as they were leaving Iraq and returning home."

George says that the best thing about his time in Iraq was working with so many different people from diverse backgrounds to accomplish the mission as a dedicated team. "I remember conducting an informal survey in my office of the languages spoken by some of our personnel, and there were about 10 different languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Vietnamese, French, German, Spanish, Tagalog (Filipino), and, of course, English," he says."What a diverse group of people all working together to make things happen. Of course, they all spoke English and were American citizens—except for our Iraqi employee that worked with us—but it speaks to the richness of the diversity of the American experience, and serves as an example of how people from many different backgrounds can come together to work as a team. That is what makes the Army experience so great."

The worst thing about serving in Iraq was being separated from George's family back at home, he says—he has a wife and 16–year–old daughter—and, of course, the danger from mortar and rocket attacks. "The attacks were daily when I arrived in March 2008, but subsided significantly in the Green Zone in the following months, which was a real relief," George explains.

Now that George is back in the U.S. and working in his new position as commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in New York City, he's had some time to reflect on his career with the Army and the educational path he's taken. "I'm very pleased with the experience that I had at NLU and I would definitely recommend it to others," he emphasizes. 'I think NLU is a great school and offered me a unique opportunity to step into the educational arena."

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