A Bugs Life In iraq
 
 
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2004/07/16/news/valley_life/feature1.txt
 
 
Fighting bugs, half a world away

By CASEY RESSLER

Valley Life editor

Protecting U.S. soldiers in Iraq is a top priority, and sometimes the enemy isn't obvious. That's why Rocco Moschetti is headed to Iraq.

Moschetti left for Iraq this week, where he will spend a year trying to protect U.S. soldiers from disease-carrying bugs and other pests.

"The biggest thing over there is malaria and a disease called leishmaniasis, which is carried by the Iraqi sand flies," Moschetti said from Texas Monday morning, where he was awaiting a flight to Iraq. "I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing once I get over there. I know they hire a lot of home-country nationals -- local people who do a lot of work. I'm going to be in a supervisory role."

Mosquitoes carry malaria in the Middle East, and the two diseases will be Moschetti's primary concerns.

"I'll be doing vector control, which is basically fighting anything that carries disease," Moschetti said. "Leishmaniasis is a nasty, nasty disease (see related story). Once you have it, there's no cure for it."

Moschetti has made a name for himself in Alaska as one of the top pest management experts. His experiences here will help him in Iraq he said.

"I've talked to a couple of people, and they said supplies and equipment are really limited," Moschetti said. "That's perfect for me because I've learned a lot of tips and tricks that are very environmentally conscious -- without using a lot chemicals."

Moschetti said he got the idea to apply after he was online at Pest Web Internet site. There was a forum and a link to the job application. He immediately was interested, applied and heard back three days later that he got the job. For the husband and father of three young daughters, the decision to go to Iraq was an economic one.

"I haven't talked to anybody who said they were going for any other reason other than money," Moschetti said. "It pays real well. There's a certain risk, but you have to deal with it. You could get killed, but you could get killed driving your truck in Alaska.

"My wife has driven the same car forever, it had over 300,000 miles on it and it died right before I left," Moschetti said. "Maybe I can get us out of debt, buy her a car, stuff like that.

"But there really are other reasons I decided to do it. I thought I had to do it because I can do some good in the world," Moschetti said. "This will be the most important thing I've ever been a part of. If I can go protect our troops and do good for the people, I have to do it."
Leaving his three daughters, ages 9, 7 and 4, and his wife was tough.

"There were a lot of tears shed by my family," he said. "It's kind of hard to talk about that right now."

His wife said she is "thankful for e-mail, that's for sure."

For security reasons, Moschetti isn't allowed to disclose the exact location of where he's headed. He said it is "northwest of Baghdad," and said the area isn't as unsafe as other locations in Iraq.
"It's not a very likely target for anything. It's really safe compared to other areas you see on the news," Moschetti said.

On Monday morning, Moschetti was in Texas after a round of preliminary tests prior to his departure to the Middle East. He was hoping to be on the way to Iraq by the middle part of the week, but things were changing on a constant basis.

Several flights he was scheduled for were canceled at the last minute, and he said he wasn't sure when he would ultimately be getting on the plane to the Middle East following all the changes.

"The processing procedure was very intense. I had all my shots and evaluations and signed my contract last week," Moschetti said. "Now I'm just sitting here in a holding pattern basically."
Moschetti owns Integrated Pest Management of Alaska, and he had to close the doors on the business before he left for Iraq.

Tentatively, the plan is to reopen the business when Moschetti returns from Iraq.
 
 
Editors Note: Roco has been contacted to see if he wants to become a contributor to this site.