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Barcinas gets reprieve from Iraq training
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Posted on Sep 12 2004
Dandan Elementary School principal Jonas Barcinas remains on island as his supposed training deployment for Iraq has been deemed to be a mistake, according to the Board of Education.
“He’s still on island because it’s not his [Barcinas] battalion that’s being called. It’s a mistake. That’s what I learned,” said BOE chair Roman T. Benavente in an interview.
The chair said, though, that Barcinas may be deployed later.
Barcinas was not immediately available for comments.
Earlier, Barcinas disclosed that, to his surprise, the Army Reserve in Hawaii notified him last month to tell him of his deployment.
He had said that as an IRR or Individual Ready Reserve, he did not really expect that he would be part of the military campaign. Besides, he said most of the CNMI reservists have since left the island for the training.
“They are considered ‘active’ reserve. I’m not. That’s why I was surprised when they called me suddenly,” said Barcinas in an interview in late August.
He said that he felt so overwhelmed that he had to call Hawaii to verify if it had the right person on the list. “I’m told that it’s really me. So it’s fine. I have no objection,” he had said.
He said he was originally asked to depart for Hawaii last Aug. 29, but this was delayed for another week following his request for extension.
He said he needed some more time to put some things in order. He said he had to attend to school and personal obligations before leaving.
Barcinas had said that based on the plan, he would be joining other CNMI reservists in Hawaii and Louisiana for a six-month training prior to the one-year deployment in Iraq in Feb. next year. (Liberty Dones)
