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thedrifter
10-26-07, 07:27 AM
Getting the job done
Local man serving in Iraq proud of country's mission

October 26, 2007
By LOUISE BRASS Staff writer

Lt. Col. Tim Tocwish, a founding member of the Illinois Aviation Museum in Bolingbrook, believes in flying for a good cause.

The airline pilot with ATA airlines is also a U.S. Marine, and this fall he is stationed in Iraq.

On Sept. 11 Tocwish flew out of Miramar, Calif., on an ATA flight to Kuwait, and said he will eventually return to work for ATA after he completes his tour of duty with the Marines.

"We've been very busy over the last month getting to Iraq and then getting acclimatized. It's warm and dusty as you would expect, but in another two weeks it will cool down considerably and then the rains will come," Tocwish said.

"I live and work on al Asad Airbase. If you remember a few weeks ago, President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq, this is where he stopped. There is much work to do here, but things are slowly getting better here in the al Anbar Province," he said, in an e-mail message to The Bolingbrook Sun.

Tocwish, who also fought in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s, is the operations officer for the Support Squadron, which he will take command of in 2008.

"Our primary mission is to maintain the base, which is over 22 square miles in area, larger than O'Hare and LAX combined. The Yugoslavians built the base in the '80s for Saddam Hussein, but like most Eastern Bloc construction, it wasn't done to the highest of standards," he said.

The troubled nation still suffers from violence by suicide bombers and insurgents.

"We have several missions to execute at al Asad Airbase and throughout al Anbar Province. Most of our mission consists of running the airfield as well as infrastructure repair and patrols looking for improvised explosive devices," Tocwish said.

"So we have a varied scope of work we execute on a daily basis. I have over 560 Marines, 200 of which are engineers, (and) several hundred others with specialties in airfield operations," he said.

Tocwish's thoughts are also often with his family: wife, Alicia, and children, Arisa, 14, and Thomas, 9. Alicia is PTO president at St. Patrick Catholic School in Joliet and serves on the school board. She also keeps busy with a twice-monthly Bible study group, which gives her support, she said.

Tim is always on her mind, so her latest way for showing support for her husband and the troops in harm's way is to plan to send 473 Thanksgiving and Christmas cards to the Marine Wing Support Squadron Unit 473.

Sometimes it's hard to be without him, she said. But now that he is a lieutenant colonel he has more access to the Internet and telephones, and that helps, she said.

The couple met when Tim was on leave from Operation Desert Storm in Hawaii.

It's easier to take care of business "over there," knowing his wife is taking care of the home front, Tocwish said.

"She does so much for the Marines," he said.

"My Marines are excited to be here and believe the work they are doing is important. What I am most proud to see is that our country still can find 19- (and) 20-year-olds to come out here in the harshest of conditions, while most of their counterparts are at home playing X-Box or more interested in which celebrity is in jail for a DUI, and do work that is essential to America's security," Tocwish said.

"Their work allows us to go to malls, parks, work and prosper without the fear and anxiety most of the rest of the world experiences. I think this generation of Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen have and will carry our country's burdens without hesitation far into the future, which bodes well for all of us," he said.

However, there are challenges to face first. He and his fellow Marines have come under attack by indirect fire and improvised explosive devices.

But that doesn't seem to faze Tocwish's crew.

"So far and I haven't heard a single complaint or any grumbling. They're focused and are here to do the job. None finer," he said.

Contact Louise Brass at lbrass@scn1.com or 815-439-7557.

Ellie