FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Graduate Assistant Settles Back into Routine After Life in War Zone
Iraq war veteran Armando Espinoza helps keep intramural sports running smoothly in his position as a graduate assistant.
Until about six months ago, Armando Espinoza spent his days processing detainees in Iraq. Today, he helps coordinate more than 40 sports activities for the thousands of University of Arkansas students who play intramural sports each year.
During his military tour in Iraq, Espinoza grew used to the sound of explosives and gunfire and attempted to time his phone calls home to his parents when they would be less likely to hear the frightening noises in the background. Today, good-natured shouts during flag football scrimmages or Xbox tournaments are likely to be the loudest noises he hears.
In Iraq, he took fingerprints and retinal scans, made sure prisoners' names were spelled correctly and helped out with escort and sentry duty. Now, he helps makes sure scorekeepers, referees and groundskeepers get paid.
Espinoza is one of several students in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas who have served their country on active military duty or are currently deployed.
Espinoza, who grew up in Dallas, joined the Marine Corps in 1999 on the delayed entry program while still in high school. He knew being deployed was a possibility and when the call came sending him overseas, he did not think the experience would change him.
"I'm a strong-willed person with strong beliefs," Espinoza said. "I didn't think it would change me as a person, but now I know it did a little. After being in Fallujah, the major thing is I know life is short and can be taken away from you at any time.
"I know there are people out there with a lot more problems than me. I think I feel less stress in my job as a G.A. now."
Espinoza started a graduate assistantship in the Intramural/Recreational Sports program in July 2005. In March 2006, he learned he would be activated to augment a military police unit in Iraq.
Craig Edmonston and Bill Mock assured Espinoza he would have a position when he returned. Edmonston directs the Intramural/Recreational Sports program, which is operated under the auspices of the Department of Health Science, Kinesiology, Recreation and Dance in the College of Education and Health Professions, and Mock is associate director of intramural sports and sports clubs.
"One of the major concerns that Armando expressed to me was how things would be upon his return," Edmonston said. "He wanted to complete his degree and be able to continue his work experiences in campus recreation. That was very important to him and his family.
"It was our understanding that the laws that govern returning service members may not apply to graduate assistants," Edmonston continued, "but making sure that Armando had a position upon his return was the right thing to do. In addition, Armando has a bright future in the campus recreation field, and he has earned the opportunity to remain in the field as a professional."
Mock described Espinoza as very loyal and hard-working.
"He is the type of young man that you just don't find every day," Mock said. "I can't remember a day that he came to work without a smile on his face."
Espinoza plans to graduate next May and wants to work in campus recreation. His military commitment ends on Dec. 3 of this year, but he knows there's always the possibility the military could issue a "stop-loss order," in which commitments are extended when troops are needed.
His first training for the deployment began in August 2006 in the California desert, where the troops learned techniques of urban terrain warfare, procedures to follow when escorting prisoners, how to speak some basic Arabic and cultural information they needed to avoid causing unnecessary offense. They also participated in simulations of riots.
From California, Espinoza's group flew the following month to Kuwait City for their first in-theater briefing. During the night, Espinoza flew to an American air base in Iraq and from there by helicopter to a detention center near the Syrian border. His work documenting detainees included gathering some intelligence in case the detainee was encountered by U.S. troops elsewhere later.
In January, the detention facility was shut down and the troops moved into the city of Fallujah.
In Fallujah, the American troops had to rely in some part on Iraqi police officers and the Iraqi army for security, which made Espinoza uneasy at first. Both the American troops and Iraqis were under pressure to keep control in a city that was rebellious by nature but now is relatively stable and prosperous, he said.
"Our mission was to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, to treat them with respect and dignity," Espinoza said.
Always interested in foreign affairs and international politics, he remembers watching CNN as an 8- or 9-year-old while the Gulf War unfolded.
"I love this country and I'm willing to put my life on the line," Espinoza said. "Americans as a whole don't know how good we have it. We know but we don't really know."
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Contact:
Heidi Stambuck, director of communications
College of Education and Health Professions
(479) 575-3138, stambuck@uark.edu