Staples Assistant Principal Rich Franzis Speaks of his Military Service in Iraq

When Army Lt. Col. Rich Franzis arrived in Iraq in June 2007, he stepped off a plane only to notice  severely wounded soldiers boarding another plane on the same tarmac that was to take them back to the United States for medical care.

"It was a pretty sobering experience," Franzis told Coleytown Middle School students Wednesday at a special assembly to honor Veterans Day.

Franzis, who was recently promoted to colonel, spoke candidly of his experiences in Iraq as an intelligence commander, as a father of three children he left at home and as a comrade to fellow soldiers.

He is one of four assistant principals at Staples High School and still serves in the United States Army Reserve.

In the early 1980s, Franzis, a teacher, had been laid off three years in a row. While searching for work and a way to serve a greater purpose, Franzis said he decided to join military service. He served active duty in the Army and then became a "part-time soldier" as a reservist.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that part-time service became a full-time job.

"As the war progressed, the need for reservists was greater and greater," he said. "I was making calls on a daily basis sending soldiers who work for me to Iraq and Afghanistan. It started getting to me. ... That it was my turn."

In 2006, he interviewed for and was granted a job as a commanding intelligence officer for the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command whose mission was to resupply every unit in Iraq during the surge operations.

"Every stalk of lettuce, every piece of razor wire, every unit of blood was delivered by us to troops in the field," he said.

But he was also responsible for notifying Brigadier General Greg Couch of what dangers were in the field, specifically related to roadside bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs.

"The most dangerous place to be in Iraq is on the roads," Franzis said. "I had to brief the general on what his troops could expect on a daily basis. If there's ever a time in your life when you want to do your homework, this was it because people's lives hung in the balance."

Franzis told students of the training involved in preparing for how to react when your Humvee flips over after it's hit by an IED and "you are on fire, missing a limb, upside down and sometimes under water." They would practice rolling slowly in the body of  a Humvee, he said.

The soldiers would conduct their missions at night to avoid the need of stopping in traffic, Franzis said. To prepare for roadside bombs and IEDs, Franzis said many soldiers would tie tourniquets on each limb so they wouldn't have to worry about that when their Humvee flipped.

Whenever a soldier was killed and taken by coffin back to the United States, Franzis said all soldiers would stop whatever they were doing to go to a "ramp ceremony" where they saluted the soldier as he or she is taken on the plane. There were 100 of those ceremonies in the first month Franzis lived in Iraq.

In addition to the dangers soldiers faced and the bravery they showed, Franzis spoke of the soldiers' sense of humor, such as putting up a tree and Christmas lights outside their trailers or a Santa Claus on top of the hospital that anyone flying in could see or posting signs that said "Today's Temperature: Stupid" on days the heat exceeded 110 degrees.

He spoke of the four best friends he made and still keeps in touch with weekly.

"It forms a bond like you can never ever believe," Franzis said.

Going to war gave Franzis a greater perspective on life, he said.

When a student asked if he would return to Iraq if asked to, Franzis, without hesitation, said "absolutely."

In closing, he asked the students to be conscious of what military men and women and their families do for America.

"Today at some point, just think about those families," he said.

At the completion of his deployment, Franzis was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terror Medal for meritorious service during the year he spent in Iraq. 

In September of this year, he was promoted to Colonel and continues to command Detachment 1, United States Central Command Army Reserve Element, a Reserve Intelligence unit at Fort Devens, Mass. The unit currently has mobilized Reservists remotely supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.