Driven to serve

Alicia Robinson

After 12 hot months on a heavy equipment truck in the deserts of

Iraq, Greg Dubose can’t wait to get back into the driver’s seat.

For the last year, he transported bulldozers and other engineering

equipment to help rebuild Iraq. But he hauls much more precious cargo

in his job as a bus driver for the Newport Mesa Unified School

District.

Dubose returned last month from active duty with the California

National Guard, and school district employees and students welcomed

him back Monday with a celebration at the district education center.

“I didn’t want him to go,” said Teresa Acker, a dispatcher for the

district’s transportation department. “We’re so glad he’s back. He’s

a very special man to us.”

Dubose has driven a bus for the district for seven years. Because

the school year ends Friday, he’ll resume driving a bus for Davis

Elementary School in September.

“One of the things that I really was looking forward to was

getting back into the school bus,” he said. “I just like being there,

kind of watching over [the students] as I take them to school and

take them home.”

Dubose pulled a four-year hitch in the Navy in the late 1970s, and

he was in the process of joining the California National Guard when

terrorists struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. He said it

solidified his desire to serve his country again.

In May 2003, he was deployed to Iraq with the 1498th Transport Company from Riverside. The company met with punishing desert

temperatures of up to 120 degrees, but that wasn’t the worst of its

worries.

The troops passed through combat hot spots, such as Fallujah and

Baghdad, and the company lost four trucks to rocket-propelled

grenades and land mines.

“The first couple of months there, it was really tense, because we

didn’t know what to expect,” Dubose said. “We were always on edge,

always alert.”

Fortunately, all 240 or so of the company’s soldiers made it home.

Colleagues here said they’re relieved to have Dubose back.

It’s a relief that Dubose returned safely, but as a soldier, he

was part of a crucial mission, said Joyce Statler, administrative

assistant in the staff development department.

“I think it’s extremely important that we’re there and that we

continue to support our troops,” she said. “It’s their efforts that

keep all of us safe.”

Jeffrey West, one of Dubose’s fellow bus drivers, said he was

surprised Dubose was gone so long. West recently served six months on

active duty in Iraq with the Air Force Reserve, and he also has

served in the Army and Navy.

While it might not always seem like Iraqis are glad to have U.S.

forces in their country, West said, those who serve there see how

important their work is to the citizens of Iraq.

“On the news, you see all the negative stuff, and it seems like

everybody’s against us, but when you’re over there, you get a

different perspective,” he said.

While Dubose is eager to return to driving the bus, he has set his

sights on closer involvement with children in the future. One reason

he enlisted in the National Guard was to get money for school, so he

can get his teaching credential.

He said he’d like to teach fourth- or fifth-grade students

someday.

“I would just love to be able to help guide and shape children as

they grow up,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.