By Juliana A. Torres
For the News-Gazette

On his very first mission driving across the Iraqi countryside, an improvised explosive device, or IED, went off near the convoy Julius Melendez's unit was escorting.

The troops, transporting equipment at night, saw a sudden flash as a projectile from the homemade bomb shot across the road behind them.

“Thank God it missed us,” Melendez, an Osceola County School Board member before his Army National Guard unit was deployed overseas in March, said. “Not all bombs created by the enemy are large. Some are made to disrupt our travel patterns and frustrate coalition forces.”

IEDs, placed along the road, are usually remote-denoted. Melendez said he was thankful for the poor timing of the device that went off during his first mission with his new battalion.

“The very first one. The very first shift,” he said. “'It was like, 'Hel-lo!'”

Until recently, Melendez, a sergeant in the 124th Infantry, was assigned to help provide security at a Kuwaiti naval base as supplies came in and out. Now, he works on the other side of that mission with a different battalion, bringing in equipment from Iraq as part of the U.S. troop drawdown.

Melendez said it was exciting to be part of military efforts, which most Americans are just reading about, in a very tangible way. The trucks leave the Kuwaiti base empty and come back full of equipment and supplies departing troops won't need anymore.

“We are the drawdown. We're the one's escorting them,” Melendez said. “My job is to make sure that those vehicles come back, that they're not stolen along the way or blown up or anything like that.”

The unit travels at night to avoid traffic and hostile attention, going from its home base in Kuwait usually to a base north of Baghdad. Melendez said the extra driving has given him a better scope of the country than his previous overseas deployment, which was in Iraq.

The new assignment also allows Melendez, a combat medic, to occasionally act as driver when his unit is shorthanded. That can be a challenge when other drivers along the way don't stay to the right side of the road.

“We're talking a major six-lane highway with a median (and) you got traffic northbound, southbound, coming every way,” Melendez said. “It was a little scary.”

Still, the traffic includes many private trucks among the military vehicles, and that signifies progress in Iraq.

“From an economic, political mindset, trucks mean that there's movement,” Melendez said. “Somebody's selling something; somebody's importing something, somebody's exporting something. So, believe it or not, I actually feel, long-term, there's possibility for Iraq.”

He said he was encouraged by other progress the country has made. The Iraqi police, who are the ones patrolling the streets now, responded when Melendez's unit was attacked with the explosive device. American troops make it a point to pass on information whenever they encounter local law enforcement, Melendez said.

“They did their own investigation and we continued on. From that perspective, there is some progress,” he said.

During the three-hour delay the IED caused, Melendez said he was talking to an Iraqi officer, who was “super-excited” to find out Melendez spoke some Arabic. The conversation strayed beyond procedural duty — to Google, among other things — before Melendez moved on with his unit.

“I didn't sense hostility. You can tell when you're having a conversation with somebody and they really don't like you. But I don't sense that with the average Iraqi,” he said. “Obviously, I'm not your traditional Anglo-American. But since I spoke a little Arabic, they just felt comfortable.”

The fighting in Iraq has shifted from attacks against Americans to attacks that reflect a jockeying for power among internal forces, Melendez said. Though some remnants of Al-Qaeda remain, Melendez said he didn't think the general population supported the terrorist group.

“I really do think the Iraqis want to be happy. It's just – it's tough," he said, explaining that a lack of infrastructure, roads and utilities makes progress difficult.

Melendez said a lot of little things about his job overseas are frustrating, from blowing sand and a monotonous schedule of meals to having to use the restroom outside the building where he sleeps. He said he knew it would be difficult to be away from his wife, but didn't anticipate how hard it would be to accept the decisions of his superiors without question.

“I'm used to being a policy creator. I'm used to saying, 'OK, this is how we're going to do things.' And here, I'm on the bottom of the totem pole,” he said.

Whenever he questions an order or wants to suggest an improvement, he's reminded of his position in the hierarchy. It's an everyday frustration, he said.

“It's not like I sit back, do my job and that's it. Some people are happy that way. They clean the vehicle and they're done, but I'm thinking, 'OK, what about this? What about that?'” he said. “I think too much, sometimes.”

Melendez was elected to the School Board in 2008. His wife, Marjorie Guillen-Melendez, took over his position after it became apparent that he would not be able to perform his duties while serving overseas. Melendez said he has heard good things about his wife's contribution to the board from the district superintendent and other board members.

“She's not a grandstander. She's not one of those to make her point to everybody, but she listens; she pays attention to the agenda,” he said.

Melendez added that his wife sometimes isn't as active during the School Board meetings because she's already asked her questions and addressed her concerns with staff prior to the meeting.

“She's very organized like that, because she doesn't have a lot of time to spare. I admire her,” he said. “She's right now doing two jobs. And she's pregnant, dealing with me gone at the same time. It's like, can she handle anything else?”

Despite the challenges that Melendez faces overseas, he said he doesn't regret answering the call to duty.

“This is a commitment. As a School Board member, I could have easily gone to the governor and petitioned him to say, 'Let me get out of this deployment. Let me make it a hardship, especially since my wife is pregnant.' But the reality is, I committed to the military and this is part of my job,” he said.

In the end, Melendez said he hoped his actions would set an example in the community.

“I hope that people at home can see that there are people that care about the country before themselves,” he said.

Melendez was granted time off to fly home in September. He said he hopes to make it in time for the arrival of his son, “little Lucus Melendez,” who's due that month.

In the meantime, he said he is appreciative – not only for care packages he received from Narcoossee Community School – but also that he can participate so directly in his country's efforts in Iraq and Kuwait.

“I see the purpose of it. So it's not like I feel it's a waste of time. I feel like I'm really contributing,” he said.

Melendez's unit isn't scheduled to return home until January, at which point he said he plans on returning to the School Board.

“I can't wait to get home,” he said.