Named provincial governor of Iraq's Wassit province, Lt. Col. David Couvillon of Baton Rouge is using a personal approach and a genuine fondness for the locals to forge ties with the people he is trying to help. As the Marine humvees cruised through the city grids at midday, children braved the scalding heat to run alongside, shouting, "Hello, mister!"
"Asalam aleykam," responded the commander riding shotgun. The Iraqis seemed a bit nonplussed by the greeting, although the traditional "Peace be with you" expression is employed by many Marines. "That's because of my accent," Lt. Col. David Couvillon said. "I speak Arabic like a Cajun."
| Used to know a fellow who spoke Vietnamese with a North Carolina accent. It was pretty horrible... |
In truth, the 47-year-old reservist isn't fluent in Arabic. But the Brusly native has picked up a phrase or two after a summer in the Iraqi desert with the mercury holding strong at the 130-degree mark. What's more, a passing familiarity with the tongue is required of anybody in Couvillon's rarely held but powerful post: provisional military governor. Couvillon arrived in Kuwait in April a bit uncertain about his duties beyond those of heading the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment. It was only after landing that he learned he would essentially be a real-life Lord Jim in Wassit province, an area about the size of New Jersey running southeast of Baghdad and to the border with Iran. That means he's responsible for not only some 1,000 leathernecks, many of them from Louisiana, but the daily needs of more than 1 million Iraqis. He is one of five U.S. military governors in southern Iraq. "When they told me I was governor, I was like, 'What does that mean?' and they said, 'Anything that happens, it's up to you,'" he said. |