Posted: 6/4/03

ëShock and aweífrom a dad

Berk Brown

Staff Writer

As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Bob Dettmer played a key role in the Coalition Forcesí ìshock and aweî portion of the attack.

On Thursday, May 29, Dettmer provided a little shock and awe immediately following his daughterís vocal solo at the Forest Lake Senior High Pop Music Program.

Unbeknownst to his daughter Krystal, a senior, Dettmer was able to get a leave from his duties to return home for her graduation. His flight into the Twin Cities arrived just hours before the concert and he was able to get to the high school just minutes before Krystalís solo. With the help of his wife Colleen and several individuals at the high school, he was able to sneak in the back entrance to the fieldhouse and hear her sing without being noticed.

At the end of her solo, high school activities director Joel Olson said a few words before spinning Krystal around to her father ñÝin full military attire ñÝwalking up behind her carrying a bouquet of flowers.

Krystal let loose a scream and a few tears before running to embrace her father whom she hadnít seen since December. It had been a while between hugs for the pair.

Krystalís high school graduation just simply wasnít something Bob said he was willing to miss. Not when heís been activated from his reserve unit for nearly two years now.

ìMy thoughts have been with her and Colleen quite a bit lately,î Dettmer said. ìKrystal means a lot to us as parents and we were willing to take the extra steps needed to get this leave.

ìI could have called her and told her how much I wished I could be there, but your actions speak louder than words. And I could tell by the look in her eyes what it meant to her that I was able to come back.î

Role in war

Prior to his return to Forest Lake, Dettmerís actions were a vital part in the successful liberation of Iraq. Working in intelligence, the information Dettmer and the rest of his unit was able to gather generally went directly into the cockpits of the bombers taking out several key targets.

Stationed in Kuwait about 30 miles from the Iraq border, Dettmer worked from 6:30 p.m. until 10 a.m. seven days a week during the height of the war,

Though he was unable to speak about the intimate details of his work, Dettmer said it was common for he and his unit to gather information about location of targets, both stationary and mobile, distribute the information and then provide a visual confirmation of the target with the help of satellite images, before those targets were bombed or destroyed.

His intelligence unit ranked just one level below Central Command.

With the major fighting finished within a few weeks, Dettmer was later assigned into a different area of intelligence gathering as efforts began to bring a new form of government to Iraq.

Before leaving Kuwait, Dettmer was gathering political information. Tracking, identifying and researching the different political parties, leaders and finding out who was funding them and their feelings toward the coalition forces.

A different life

Itís a completely different life and job than the one Dettmer left behind in November of 2001. As a long-time physical education teacher at the high school and the head coach of the wrestling team, the reservist was called to active duty shortly after the attacks of September 11.

Even then, Dettmer said he was prepared to make whatever sacrifice needed of him to serve his country.

Now, he says his feeling havenít changed.

ìDo I like being away from my family and my job? No,î Dettmer said. ìBut, when I signed-up (as a reservist), I always knew this could happen. Iím definitely looking forward to getting back for good and getting back to my family and way of life in Forest Lake.

ìThis war is going to be an on-going process from now on. And I think thatís the way it has to be if we want to protect our sovereignty.î

Dettmer said he feels like Operation Iraqi Freedom was a great success and is thrilled that the loss of life in the conflict was kept to a significant low, especially compared to wars of the past.

And while opponents of the war may point to the fact that Saddam Hussein has not been captured and there has not been a significant amount of weapons of mass destruction found, Dettmer says those things will come in time.

He said the main goal was to first get rid of the Hussein regime and that was accomplished. He fears the United States and its allies spent too much time waiting for approval before the attack and that allowed Hussein to escape and gave Iraq extra time to hide or sell its weapons of mass destruction.

Dettmer said his instinct is that Hussein fled the country and is possibly in Syria or even Russia.

ìIím sure heís hiding some place,î Dettmer said. ìThatís my gut feeling.î

And as for the weapons of mass destruction.

ìI think there were a lot of things buried,î Dettmer said. ìAnd it will probably take a long time to find that stuff.

ìHe used them before and weíve given him enough time to hide them while the United Nations dragged their feet. He had plenty of time to hide them and heís had 12 years to figure out how to hide them.î

Dettmer said he has seen reports along the way that the Iraqi government may have used more than 600 POWs from Kuwait to test chemical weapons on.

And the mass graves being uncovered are further proof the Hussein regime needed to be ended. His only fear is the weapons may have gotten into the wrong hands again.

But for now, Dettmer is back in good hands with his family, in time to watch Krystal graduate tonight.

And he was in good hands while in Kuwait, Dettmer said, thanks to all the care packages and letters he received from his church, athletes, people in the community and students from local schools, not to mention the strength he got from his family and those he called the ìprayer warriors.î

ìTheyíve kept all of us in their prayers,î Dettmer said. ìAnd it made a big difference.î

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