Iowa legislators who’re in the military watch Iraq war with interest

Four members of the Iowa legislature are watching the second Persian Gulf War with particular interest, as they’re currently serving in the military. Senator Steve Warnstadt, a Democrat from Sioux City, is a Major in the Iowa Army National Guard and is a veteran of the first Gulf War. Warnstadt says he knows of men and women who he served with a dozen years ago who are now back in Kuwait.Warnstadt says he felt a mixture of unease and confidence upon hearing the U.S. was again at war. He says it’s unlikely he’ll be called up to serve unless another conflict breaks out, say, in North Korea.Representative Jodi Tymeson , a Republican from Winterset, is a Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. Like Warnstadt, she’s not assigned to a specific unit. As the Assistant Adjutant General at the state headquarters in Des Moines, Tymeson says it’s her job to help deploy her fellow soldiers. She says she’s been in the Iowa Guard for almost 29 years, so her thoughts and prayers are with her friends.Tymeson says chances are slim she’ll be deployed but she says it’s not out of the question. Representative Royd Chambers, a Republican from Sheldon, says he doesn’t know from day to day if he’ll be called up. Chambers is a chaplain’s assistant in the Iowa Air National Guard. He says he’s proud to be a public servant, and if called to go, he would go. Senator Chuck Larson, a Republican from Cedar Rapids, is also waiting to hear if he’ll be called to duty. Larson is a Captain and an attorney for the U.S. Army Reserves — a Judge Advocate General, or JAG officer. His unit’s commander and assistant commander have already been called up. Larson says he’s been assigned as legal counsel for many soldiers who’ve already been activated. He says he helps them prepare wills and gives them legal counseling. Larson says Iowa has the fifth-highest number of soldiers mobilized, while on a per capita basis, Iowa is likely numbered. He says that’s something of which the entire state can be proud.