Answering the call

Part I of "Answering the call" discussed how Parcell's early career in the Marine Corps was interwoven with his law enforcement career with the Missoula County Sheriff's Office.

After two years in Hawaii, Parcell was again deactivated and in 2003 he moved his family back to Condon while he resumed his civilian law enforcement career as Deputy Sheriff in the Seeley Lake and Swan Valleys. However, in just under a year he was once again activated, this time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Because of his law enforcement background, Parcell was sent to Ramadi to assume the position of Director of the Iraqi Police Force, one of the divisions of the Iraqi Security Force. Parcell's duties included recruiting, training, equipping and mentoring the Iraqi Police.

Though Operation Iraqi Freedom resulted in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, Parcell said, "[The U.S. coalition] thought we would go in and cut the head of the snake off, put a new head on and go away. What happened was, the whole snake went away."

Parcell explained that all the authority figures, fearing for their lives, disappeared into the general populace. Without a police presence, the result was total anarchy. Buildings were looted of everything in them, even wiring was stripped out of the walls and in many instances the brick walls were carted away.

Parcell's duties took him all over Al Anbar, several other provinces and even Baghdad, where he recruited, set up police academies and assisted and supported the newly-formed police force. "It was disheartening at times," Parcell said. "When we would leave, the bad guys could come in and intimidate whole police stations. They would surround them and either kill or force the people out and blow up the station. Then we would have to build it anew or find a new building and start again. And we did that over and over again. You just had to keep pushing and pushing."

Parcell also found it necessary to make many adjustments to accommodate the religious and cultural needs of his Iraqi force. He was not too surprised at the food restrictions and preferences, but the need for specially constructed outhouses came as somewhat of a shock. The squatting position Iraqi's assume when defecating was not possible in an American-made outhouse. The issue turned into a huge mess, both figuratively and literally, until Parcell discovered that bringing in "port-a-johns" from Turkey solved the problem.

More difficult to work around were ways of thinking. Parcell said the Muslim concept of "inshallah" ("if Allah is willing") is a principal that governs Muslim actions. For instance, if Parcell wanted his Iraqi policemen to practice at the target range to increase their weapon accuracy, their attitude was "inshallah" – if it is Allah's will that I kill what I am aiming at, then it will happen; if not, then practicing doesn't matter.

Another example Parcell gave illustrated the contrast between American and Iraqi police practices. According to Parcell, if a man was suspected of stealing, the Iraqi police would bring him into the station and say "Quran." The suspect would then place his hand on the Muslim holy book. The policeman would say, "Did you steal this?" The suspect would say, "I swear on the Quran, I didn't steal it" and the police would let him go.

Parcell said, "We really had to use finesse to work with that type of a custom and those kinds of ideas."

During his tour in Iraq, Parcell participated in the Second Battle of Fallujah. As Parcell explained it, in April of 2004 – primarily for political reasons – the Marine Corps was ordered to withdraw from the Iraqi city before gaining complete control. That was the First Battle of Fallujah, called Operation Vigilant Resolve. Local Iraqi forces took over and were supposed to keep insurgents out of the city.

The Iraqi forces were unable to carry out that task, however, and instead insurgent strength doubled. The insurgents erected fortified defenses and set up booby traps in anticipation of an attack. In November 2004, the Iraqi Interim Government authorized a joint American, Iraqi and British offensive, led by the U.S. Marine Corps, to retake Fallujah.

According to Wikipedia, the Second Battle of Fallujah "proved to be the bloodiest of the war and the bloodiest battle involving America troops since the Vietnam War."

Parcell explained his part in the battle: "...while under fire, I inspected existing destroyed police stations, and other sites, chose temporary quarters and battle positions for the Iraqi Police Commandos who were being used to first bring law and order back into the city and I was responsible for establishing a sustainable law enforcement presence during, and in the wake of, combat."

Parcell summed up his time in Iraq by saying, "There were a lot of good people. A lot of good Iraqi's, all kinds of good Marines, even met some good Army folks."

In 2005, after 30 years in the Marine Corps, Parcell retired with the rank of Colonel. He then once again resumed his law enforcement career. Strengthened by his military experiences, Parcell has served the Missoula, and in particular the Seeley-Swan communities, as patrolman, Seeley-Swan Search and Rescue coordinator, coroner, detective, rescue/recovery diver, school resource officer, snowmobile patrolman, law dog handler, smokejumper liaison officer and boat/personal watercraft patrolman.

Parcell said he sees his military and civilian careers as intricately connected, "Duty, honor, integrity, dedication, courage, trust, truth, commitment, compassion.....these are not just words or fleeting ideas, they are part of a way of life."