Lance Felton

Photo: JPD officer Lance Felton hugs his son during his deployment party as he prepares to leave for Iraq.
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Jackson Police Officer Lance Felton equates serving in the war in Iraq to a team making it to the Superbowl.

"It's kind of like your teammates go, and you have to sit at home and watch the game from the house," he said.

Felton, along with 30 other soldiers from the 412th Engineering Batallion based out of Vicksburg will be deployed in September to serve in Iraq.Felton said his recent appointment is a call to duty, and that's one of the reasons why he enlisted in the Army two years ago.

"I was not surprised.I enlisted in 2003 so I could go," he said.

The 39-year-old has been employed with the Jackson Police Department for 10 years.Although he served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 during America's response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, he says his mission in Iraq will be his first time in an actual combat zone.He is expected to be stationed in Baghdad when deployed in September.

As an engineering specialist, he, along with other specialists, will perform such duties including reconstructing pipelines, detonating explosive devices and even building hospitals.

Family and friends of Felton recently gathered in honor of Felton being deployed to Iraq.Latrice Styles, along with her sister and mother, owners of S&S Printing in Jackson conceived the idea to throw Felton a going away celebration.
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Felton said although he does not agree with America fighting in Iraq and President George W. Bush's policies, a mission still lingers that must be fulfilled."I'm not going for the President.
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Kim Harrison, a friend and co-worker of Lance Felton, and also a JPD officer has known him for more than five years.
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Lance Felton said many other JPD officers have been deployed to serve overseas, but news of their departure is often overshadowed by negative publicity.

"The job is a significant sacrifice.It's disheartening to me that the public isn't aware of the additional sacrifice that the police department is making," he said.

Until the time of deployment for Iraq, Felton and his fellow soldiers will train in areas such as explosives, combat lifesaving techniques and platoon leadership development.Felton, who has been trained in these areas, will be responsible for teaching other soldiers.He said he prefers not to fight in combat, and is expected to be deployed in Iraq for at least one year, possibly longer.

"I'd much rather say I went over there and built a hospital rather than say I killed a bunch of people," he said.