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Douglas County School Board Candidate experiences Iraq War

by: Michael Robinson
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Article Contributed on: 10/18/2009 6:50:37 AM

Meghann and Jeff Silverthorn met and married while attending the University of Colorado. Jeff had always been fiercely patriotic and even today wears a POW/MIA bracelet with the name of an Air Force Captain shot down in Vietnam in 1969. Both Husband and Wife are the type of smart kids that the smart companies seek out and employ. Jeff got noticed and recruited by SAIC. Founded by J. Robert Beyster, Ph.D., and a small group of scientists in 1969, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a FORTUNE 500® company, and its subsidiaries now have approximately 45,000 employees with offices in more than 150 cities worldwide. Jeff didn't know what to expect but he was ready to dive in.

In 2006, the SAIC company made the decision to solve the problem of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Iraq. The company president, Ken Dahlberg addressed his employess and stated "Our company needs to step up and do this. This travesty that is killing and maiming our military has to be stopped." The company then funded an all-out effort to take a systems appeoach to defeatng IEDs.

One of the methods used is for SAIC to oufit a small propeller driven plane with forward looking laser and infra-red sensors. The plane would fly fairly slowly down the middle of a road in Iraq and have the ability to see IEDs buried in the road. This worked splendidly.

The bad guys change tactics to avoid detection and this is where Jeff Silverthorn comes in.

Yesterday, October 17, 2009, Jeff Silverthorn began a six week orientation on this IED detection in actual use. After the course is over, he goes to Iraq and flies in the SAIC outfitted plane up and down the roads of Iraq. What he changes and what he learns will help untold numbers of our men and women in unifom from being killed or injured. He will be over there for four months. This is hazardous duty.

The modern military uses civilian contractors to fill roles traditionally handled by our men in uniform. Contractors "cook meals, do laundry, repair infrastructure, translate documents, analyze intelligence, guard prisoners, protect military convoys, deliver water in the heavily fortified Green Zone and stand sentry at buildings - often highly dangerous duties almost identical to those performed by many U.S. troops. Private Defense Contractors in Iraq have suffered at least 1,315 deaths between March 2003 and January 2009. An additional 10,569 have been wounded or injured.

It can be tough duty being a Defense Contractor. War is hell on the home front too.

Meghann is a candidate for the Douglas County School board. She is endorsed by the Douglas County Republicans and shunned by the AFL-CIO and its AFT local branch. As such she has been insulted, branded and dissed by the union and its cronies. All this while preparing for her husband to go off and help defend this country.

It is just another little facet of this year's School Board Election.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock Law Firm.

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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments

Michael Robinson wrote on 10/19/2009 @ 1:45:11 PM

In a publicly held corporation, annual shareholders meetings are held where the shareholders vote for and select the corporate officers. If the corporation has entered into a union contract, it is still the shareholder, not the union boss, that selects the corporate officers. A school district such as the Douglas County School District is akin to a publicly held corporation. The shareholders in this case are the voting taxpayers of Douglas County. Only 38% of Douglas County taxpayers have children in our local public schools. If the school district has entered into a union contract, it is still the voting taxpayer, not the union boss, that selects the school board members. This is democracy in action. Hopefully all of the voting taxpayers will cast their ballot. Let the best person win.

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Paula Busey wrote on 10/18/2009 @ 12:26:46 PM

As a high school librarian and a Douglas County Teachers Federation member, I can assure Mr. Robinson that our only concern is to enlarge educational opportunities for our children. Did you know that a large portion of our union dues goes to providing teacher development? Our union helps us stay at the forefront of utilizing proven methods for advancing student learning, which can be seen in our ratings as the best in Colorado. Our union dues also provide us with ongoing training to assist the at-risk children who come to us so that we can prepare them for a bright and safe future. We care about our children profoundly, and dedicate our lives to improve their opportunities. Our board members MUST put our children's welfare above political interests. An outstanding school district contributes to high property values, and every citizen in our county has benefited from the work of DCSD teachers. Please support candidates that support teachers!