Sisters teacher headed back to Iraq

Sisters Christian Academy middle school math and science teacher Nick Kidwell has spent the last six weeks bonding with his new students.

Last Thursday Kidwell stepped away from his flock and turned his attention once again to serving his country. Kidwell is being deployed to Iraq.

"It's difficult, especially considering it's right in the middle of the school year," said Kidwell, a new teacher at the Christian school. "The really frustrating thing is that this was supposed to happen before the school year started, but it got pushed forward a couple of times. Now that it's happening in the school year and completely interrupting my interaction with the students, it's really disconcerting to me."

Kidwell, who until this most recent deployment has been on reserve status, is a First Lieutenant in the Washington State National Guard. He is being called to Iraq as a prosecution witness in a court-martial.

"Apparently, somebody thinks I might know something about a person who is accused of something," Kidwell said, noting that he is not at liberty to talk about the specifics of the case. "They think I might know, so I've been called to testify. I'm flying over for an unspecified amount of time. It could be eight days. It could be 30 days. I'm going to fly over, do what I need to do and fly right back."

The current mission is not Kidwell's first in Iraq. He spent all of 2006 in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. The only positive about this present deployment is that its maximum length will be a duration of 30 days.

Although Kidwell cannot talk about the work he did during his first mission in Iraq, he is clear about one thing.

"Every American person and most Iraqis are in harms way right now," he said, noting that during his present deployment he will never step outside of the wire, the perimeter of the military base.

In preparation for the trial Kidwell's deposition was taken telephonically.

"For the testimony they want everybody there," he said. The accused is a person with whom Kidwell had regular contact. "That's part of the reason why they think I might know something. I don't agree with them, but the lawyers seem to think that my testimony is important."

This may be the last act of Kidwell's military service.

"Actually, I'm in the process of resigning my commission," he said. "It's a long, hard decision to make, but I've decided its time to move on from the military. I initiated my resignation right before all of this started happening."

When Kidwell was called to testify in the current court-martial, his resignation process was placed on hold. "They've got me over a barrel. They say: 'Well you've got to go do this thing. We're not letting you out until it's over.'"

Kidwell told The Nugget that even had he resigned his commission prior to the court-martial, he would have been called to testify. "Given the situation I probably would have chosen to go anyway," he said.

The situation is so sensitive that Kidwell doubts he will be able to talk about it even after the trial is over.

"A lot of the stuff that I was involved with was classified," he said.

To pass his time while in Iraq, Kidwell is taking a stack of books about science and the implications of Christianity on science.

"I've got a stack of books that I'm going to be reading and taking notes on. My principal (Peggy Miller) has asked me to give her a synopsis of a lot of these books when I get back. I've basically got homework to do."