University of Richmond Student Postpones Senior Year to Serve as Paid Consultant to Coalition in Baghdad
November 7, 2003
Scott Erwin's senior year at the University of Richmond was shaping up nicely. A campus leader and Oldham Scholar at Richmond, he had even begun applications for Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright scholarships for graduate study.
But then he got an offer he couldn't refuse, a paid position with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to work in the Ministry of Finance. The only catch was he would have to start immediately.
Erwin, with majors in political science, public economic analysis and classical civilization, spent the previous two summers working as an intern first for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and then for Vice President Richard Cheney. He got the offer to go to Baghdad from one of the contacts he made while interning in D.C.
Erwin was one of only 11 chosen as extra staff to prepare the International Donors Conference in Madrid, which took place Oct. 23-24. The majority have master's degrees, he said. One is a decorated soldier who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan, and another is a career civil servant who once was head of detail for the Saudi ambassador.
"In one week I went from chatting on the quad, eating in the Heilman Dining Center and attending Omicron Delta Kappa meetings to being briefed in the Pentagon, flying in a C-130 military plane from Kuwait City to Baghdad and living in one of Saddam's many palaces.
Before moving to an 8x6 foot trailer, he slept in a giant hallway with 30-foot ceilings in the palace with 120 others, including military men sleeping with AK-47's cradled in their arms "like fluffy pillows," he said.
He worked 18-hour days on the conference, and after it was held, he worked on the oil for food program. In November, he agreed to head the CPA-Ministry of Interior's financial unit.
"For all intents and purposes," he said, in an e-mail update, "I will be the CPA official charged with assisting Iraqis in the management of finances for all civilian security forces, which include police, customs, border patrols, fire and other units. As President Bush has identified Iraqi security as the top priority over the next six months, it seems to be an exciting and critical position."
After that assignment is completed in March, he plans to help with civic education projects throughout Iraq in preparation for free elections next year. That will take him through August when he will begin wrapping up his degree work at Richmond and reapplying for the Rhodes scholarship. He also plans to write a book based on the daily journal he has been keeping of his experiences in Baghdad.
Although he dismisses the danger, he has been in some precarious situations. He was writing a memo when the first of four mortar rounds fired at the United States Command in Baghdad hit the palace on Nov. 4. "Everyone in the office calmly got up, cracked a few jokes and then headed for the center of the building. After the all-clear horns were blasted, I attended a 9 o'clock meeting as scheduled."
On another occasion, he said, "I was not at the Al Rasheed hotel when the surface-to-air missiles hit the structure, but a number of my coworkers were in the very rooms where much of the damage was done."
"In all honesty," however, he said he believes that "most of Baghdad and Iraq, for that matter, is fairly safe and orderly."
Every time he leaves the Green Zone, the area of Baghdad heavily guarded by coalition forces, he said he receives a military escort, "which does an excellent job of protection."
Erwin said the Gurkas, a tribe indigenous to Nepal, guard the palace. "They are wee in stature but are known to be fiercely loyal. If they happen to unsheathe their swords, they are required by ancient lore to draw blood before returning their blades to their resting position."
Erwin is optimistic about the CPA's efforts: "Life in most of the country is returning to prosperity unseen in ages."
"It is a shame that a number of the success stories never reach the States, but when facing this daunting situation so intimately, you really treasure the good news."
"I think that I might be one of the youngest civilians out here as well. I am constantly asked my vocational and educational background and am left saying 'still in college and have been a perpetual intern.'"
"I truly do see merit in what we are doing but am frustrated at times by the hurdles that stand in our way. Most importantly, I am proud and honored to be playing a small role in the birth of a free and democratic Iraq."