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| From the yearbook: Usher
Committee 8; Social Committee 8; Football 3,5,6,7; Track 8; Baseball 4; Wrestling
5,6,7,8; Intramurals 3,4,5,6,7,8; Senior Prom committee 8; Assembly Committee
8 | | |
War
Iowan has burning desire to help By TOM ALEX
REGISTER STAFF
WRITER
January 29, 2005
Political fires could burn for years in Iraq.
In the meantime, a Des Moines man will help make sure the real flames are extinguished. Richard
Phillips, 60, retired as a Des Moines fire lieutenant in 1999. For the next year,
he'll share his 31 years of experience with 8,000 firefighters in Iraq, whose
training and equipment under President Saddam Hussein, he said, was "archaic." "I'm
not sure what I'm going to do when I get back, but after this gig, anything else
is going to seem like a piece of cake," Phillips said from Iraq. "There
is a lot to do." Phillips is fire chief for the Iraq Reconstruction
Management Office, which will spend $167 million to train Iraqi firefighters and
build or renovate 207 fire stations throughout the country. "I like
the challenge," he said. "But it would be nice if I didn't have to wear
a flak jacket." Phillips returned to college after retiring. He graduated
from Iowa State University in 2003 with a liberal studies degree and a minor in
political science. He retired that same year from the Army National Guard as a
first sergeant. The Vietnam veteran had compiled 29 years of military service. "I
had planned to get a position as a fire chief or assistant city manager somewhere,"
Phillips said. "However, I learned no matter what your experience, if you
don't have a master's degree, nobody will look at you. Since I wanted to do something
for the war effort, I applied for this position." Des Moines Fire Lt.
Mike Hiltbrunner said, "We have several firefighters serving in Iraq, but
in the military, not on the fire side." The U.S. government will pay
Phillips $60,623 for the one-year commitment. He gets a 25 percent bonus for working
in a danger zone and another 25 percent for overseas duty. He said the work is
10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Phillips also will oversee construction
of a national civil defense academy, to be built this year. "What started
out as a narrow job description expanded quite a bit," he said. "The
elections are obviously on the front burner for everyone right now." When
he travels into Iraqi "red zones," he will have considerable protection.
Despite the security, he said, he understands the risks. "The job is
indeed challenging. However, I believe in what we are trying to accomplish in
this country," he said. His wife, Jean, knew that Phillips would look
for some kind of work after his 31 years with the city, "but I thought he
was thinking about another job around here - Norwalk or Urbandale," she said. "He
was the perfect candidate" for the Iraq job, she added. Phillips said
his wife's support made the decision easier. "I know it's been hard
on her," he said. "There were a few tears when I took the job." The
duties might be daunting to the typical 60-year-old, but Phillips said that in
the war zone, you're only as old as you're treated. "That's one of
the interesting things about Iraq: They listen to you over here if you have gray
hair," Phillips said. "In Des Moines, they'd just as soon get you out
of the system at my age, but over here, they listen to older people. "My
age actually works in my favor."
| ***** | | |
| "We are all proud of his willingness to serve his country
once again. Our thoughts and prayers will be with Dick and his wife, Jeannie,
as they are apart for a year." | | | | Jim
Mayse; 01/31/05 | | | | |
|
