Class of 2002

LT. CHRISTIAN HEISS: "It's not all guns and helicopters."

After serving two-and-a-half years on the submarine USS Annapolis, Navy Lt. Heiss was transferred last April to the submarine school in Groton, Connecticut. But instead of becoming a tactics instructor as planned, Heiss found himself preparing for deployment to Iraq. He now works with the Army's Civilian Police Assistance Training in Baghdad, charged with coordinating a police academy expansion project. "There are 18 police training centers in Iraq, and we hope to have 27 by the beginning or mid-2009. My hope is that all the projects are at least under contract by the time my deployment ends in April," says Heiss, who plans to marry Amoroso '( in September and then enter graduate school. The expansion plan is a joint Iraqi and coalition effort, but several factors make Heiss' position challenging. He works with Iraq's Ministry of the Interior but must negotiate with the Ministry of Defense, which owns most of the country's desirable land and isn't eager to relinquish it. Recent Iraqi constitutional amendments designed to ensure a fair bidding and building process often delay projects. No matter. "The people I talk to care about the Iraqis having a police force that will operate correctly now that the Iraqi Army is no longer the central security agency," says the former Italian and biochemistry double-major. "A lot of people think the U.S. role in Iraq now is just security, but it's not all guns and helicopters. There's a lot of good development going on here, and it needs to continue."