By DEBORAH A. MILES
PEF member Michael Drzonsc was not at his job in Albany June 2008 to March 2009
as a senior investigator for the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Instead, he
was working as the director for the National Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad,
Iraq.
A Navy Reserve commander, Drzonsc earned a Bronze Star Medal for providing
humanitarian aid and guidance to Iraqi civilians. He was called back to active
duty, just prior to his retirement, to lead the assistance center operated by
the Army’s 304th Civil Affairs Brigade.
“I was very honored and surprised to receive the medal,” Drzonsc said. “I always
assumed it was given when you saved someone’s life under direct fire.”
Drzonsc, a 29-year reservist, actually saved a lot of lives by giving hope and
direction back to the local people. He provided the guidance needed from his
staff to win the hearts and minds of more than 7,000 Iraqi citizens who visited
the assistance center during his Operation Iraqi Freedom command.
He led a diversified team of 26 Iraqi nationals, five bi-lingual/bi-cultural
advisors and three coalition force members. Despite severe reductions in funding
and manpower, the team helped the locals with training, employment placement,
locator assistance of detainees for families, claims and compensation for
damages caused by U.S. forces, and medical assistance for Iraqi children.
Drzonsc’s efforts were a key factor in the Baghdad Eye Bank
which will greatly enhance the Iraqi health care system. It will
provide free cornea transplants to hundreds of Iraqi citizens with
projected care worth millions of dollars over the next 10 years.
“I dealt with the public quite a bit on a daily basis,” Drzonsc said. “They were
all looking for help. They wanted us to be there. They were afraid of going back
to the old system. There is still a lot of corruption in their government
system. It’s gradually being weeded out, but it’s hard to get the corruption out
quickly.”
Support means everything
“One of the biggest things I recall is the huge amount of support from my
family, friends and the American people. During the Vietnam era, the military
received a lot of disrespect. It’s180 degrees out from the way it is now. The
American people are putting aside their views on why we are there or whether we
should be there or not. You have sailors, soldiers and airmen that can’t make
the choice.
They are being supported and that’s a great thing to see,” Drzonsc said.
The commander said he was impressed with DMV Commissioner David Swarts who
called to wish him well before his deployment, the care packages from his
co-workers, and the invaluable assistance from DMV Director of Personnel Tina
Zandri and her staff.
“I’m also grateful for the benefits for military personnel negotiated by PEF in
the PS&T Agreement,” he said.
Life near the red zone
The Bronze Star Medal is accompanied by a narrative. It stated Drzonsc displayed
the leadership to maintain a high level of morale and safety at the assistance
center while exposed to constant terrorist threats to his Iraqi staff from
suicide bombers’ attacks. More than 50 known terrorists were captured attempting
to gain access to the Ocean Cliff’s complex which housed Drzonsc’s center.
“We drove in GMC vehicles with armor plating for protection against road-side
bombs and small-arms fire,” Drzonsc said. “Our office was located next to the
Iraqi Parliament, and at the very end of the green zone — a protective area with
access to Iraqi people working for the U.S. government.
“My complex was actually a converted parking garage, and all our offices were
trailers placed inside the garage. It was fairly well fortified with concrete.
We were a thousand yards from the red zone, or unprotected area. We had
security. It was like an intelligence group that would do biometrics and other
forms of background checks on these people before they would issue an access
badge. Often terrorists would try to get in using different identifications.
During the process, they would be caught.
Some captures were peaceful, others resisted.
“After a while you got used to it. It happened on almost a daily basis.”
Drzonsc said his complex also housed the Combined Press Information Center
(CPIC). VIPs such as General David Petraeus and former U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice would hold press conferences at the CPIC.
“Security was a major thing,” Drzonsc said.
But for this Navy commander, the best security is being back home with his
family and friends, and back on the job at DMV.
