BAGHDAD, Iraq –
Name: Capt. Karen M. Jordan
Home Unit: 1st Fighter Wing Legal Office
What do you do? I am in a JAG position as a Central Criminal Courts of Iraq liaison officer working within detainee operations of Task Force 134 to bring cases to hearings in the Iraqi court system. I schedule and put together cases in front of an Iraqi judge involving the testimony of our detainees at Camps Bucca and Cropper, coalition forces witnesses, and local national witnesses to the crimes.
What's a day in the life like ... while in Baghdad? The typical day is scheduled to be 12 hours but rarely is that short. On Sundays through Thursdays I take my CF witnesses to a courthouse in the morning and sit in on hearings in which they testify in front of an Iraqi judge about harmful acts committed by the detainees against Iraqis and CF. I prepare the summary of the case for the review and present the physical evidence that is available. We usually return around noon each day. The afternoons are spent in meetings with the witnesses for the next day's cases, and handling any appeal or amnesty issues that arise from older cases. Evenings involve coordination with our linguists to get the summary and evidence translated and ready for the following day's case. Fridays and Saturdays are training days and the days in which follow-up on older cases is performed, responding to memoranda from judges and updating databases for our TF 134.
What will you remember about your deployment 20 years from now? I will remember my attempts at learning Arabic language and culture through my linguists and interaction at the courthouse as well as the opportunity to work with people from other branches, active duty and activated guard and reservists.
What's the most useful item you packed? Hand sanitizer and shower shoes
When did you realize you "weren't in Kansas anymore;" aka your "Dorothy" moment? When the dust storms delayed me in Kuwait and I spent a few nights on a bench at the LSA.
What has been the highlight of your tour? Learning about the laws of a different judicial system and learning the culture of different branches of service as well as learning from servicemembers from different nations has been really neat. I have been exposed to Iraqi, British, French, Danish, Dutch, Italian and Peruvian servicemembers' customs.
What's the best part of the deployment? I get free food every day and my laundry is taken care of without effort while I focus on getting a mission accomplished that is wide-reaching and interesting.
The worst part? The monotony of each day's long hours and the food at the dining facility is not always kind to me.
What do you do during down time? I do not have much down time but I work out and read, as well as socialize with my friends at MWR activities and foreign embassy gatherings.
What is the first thing you will do when you return? I will go to the spa for a pedicure and hair cut.
What is the first thing you will eat when you return? I want sushi with a glass of red wine.
What insight/experience will you take away from your time over there? Every branch of service has its own style of management and it is important to understand that when dealing with superiors and subordinates. The Iraqi culture is different and it is important to not try to make people assume an identity or value system foreign to their own.
What do you miss the most? I miss being able to drive around freely and watch live sports and news at a decent hour.
How is your job that you are doing now different from the job back stateside? The job I am doing now falls under a different set of evidentiary rules that is a lot simpler yet the planning aspect of getting the right people to the right location is far more complicated. TrTacking down information and doing research is more complicated over here, where everything is paper-based.
Have you tried the local cuisine? I enjoy the local cuisine. The fresh vegetables, bread and hummus are wonderful.
What do you think about what you hear on the news from what is going on stateside?
I do not really think much about things back home. The election was monumental to hear about due to the historical nature of it but I do not feel its effects or that of the economy here. I find out about most things back home during weekly calls with my parents and reading CNN online when I have the chance.
Do you have plans for any extra money that you might be making from this deployment? I plan to pay off my car and put money towards the interest on my student loans.
If so, what will you buy?
I also bought my mother a nice silk/wool blend rug for the dining room.