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John Moulton - War On Terror
John Moulton started his military career as an enlisted man in the U.S. Air Force in 1967, and served in Okinawa and South Korea during the Vietnam War. He left the Air Force after his tour and started a long career as a civil servant in Illinois. In 1980 he returned to the military, this time earning a commission and joining the U.S. Army Reserve. He deployed as a civil affairs officer to Bosnia in 1997-98, and deployed to Iraq in 2004-05, this time as a colonel, serving as Chief of the National Civil-Military Operations Center and Asst. Chief of Operations, Reconstruction Operations Center. He reflects extensively on both of these deployments, and on the successes and frustrations associated with civil affairs work.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
Iraqi man cultivating plants
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Early years and enlisted Air Force service in Okinawa and S. Korea
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Post Vietnam War year civilian career and USAR military career
Interview Session 03 (Audio)
Service as a Civil Affairs Officer in Bosnia, Nov 1997-Jul 1998
Interview Session 04 (Audio)
Post Bosnia service and deployment to Iraq, 2004-2005
Interview Session 05 (Audio)
Service in Iraq thru 2005 and remainder of military and civilian career
Photos
Caption
Staff Sergeant John E. Moulton, father of COL John Moulton, was a radio operator on a B-24 Liberator, who spent the war in the United States. Circa 1943.
Where:
United States
When:
Circa 1943
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Moulton’s bomb assembly team is assembling 750 pound high explosive bombs on Kadena Air Base. The bombs are being prepped for a B-52 airstrike against South Vietnam in September 1968.
Where:
Kadena Air Base
When:
September 1968.
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Fruits of their labor. A completed trailer at Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base is loaded with 750-pound bombs with fuses and fins mounted, ready for loading onto B-52s.
Where:
Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base
When:
September 1968.
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
A local protest sign against the American presence in Okinawa was posted outside the Kadena Air Base in December 1968.
Where:
Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base
When:
December 1968.
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
John Moulton attended Bob Hope’s December 1968 Christmas Show on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. Ann-Margret headlined the show that year.
Where:
Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base
When:
December 1968.
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
When Bob Hope visited Springfield, IL for a show at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in 1985, John got the star’s signature on the photo he took of Hope’s USO show in December, 1968 at Kadena AFB in Okinawa.
Where:
Springfield, IL
When:
1985
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
An aircraft bunker for F-4 Phantom jet #710 in early 1970. The aircraft was crewed by pilot MAJ Tony Andreasy, co-pilot Lt. John Feldon, and crew chief SGT Bill Langworthy.
Where:
Kunsan AFB in South Korea
When:
early 1970
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Korean locals often worked on the Kunsan AFB. John Moulton’s houseboy, on the left, invited Moulton to his residence outside the airbase in the summer of 1970.
Where:
Kunsan AFB in South Korea
When:
summer of 1970
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The munitions handling crew relax at the Airman’s Club at Kunsan AFB in the summer of 1970.
Where:
Kunsan AFB in South Korea
When:
summer of 1970
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
John Moulton’s barracks at Kunsan AFB in South Korea, during the time he was stationed there in the summer of 1970.
Where:
Kunsan AFB in South Korea
When:
summer of 1970
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Major Moulton, shortly after arriving in Sarajevo in December 1997. The team’s equipment is being unloaded in the background. All of his personal equipment for eight months was in the backpack he wore.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
December 1997
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The Civil Affairs Team took time for their picture at Joseph Tito’s summer home in Sarajevo in January 1998. Major Moulton, front row, 3rd from the right, was in charge of the business team consisting of five people.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
January 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Major John Moulton stands in front of a Turkish armored personnel carrier outside Joseph Tito’s summer home in Sarajevo, circa February 1998.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
circa February 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
An interpreter asked Major Moulton to teach an English language class for a group of Bosnian Muslim high school students in Sarajevo in early 1998.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
early 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Moulton accepts an appointment as task force commander from Sir Andy Bearpark (light blue shirt), a representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Major Goulka is on the right and a German officer is on the left. Circa April 1998 in Sarajevo.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
Circa April 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Moulton was enroute to Banja Luka, in the Republic of Serpska sector of Bosnia in May 1998. He had just been assigned as the Chief of Reconstruction Return Task Force. The team consisted of an interpreter, a guard and a driver.
Where:
Republic of Serpska sector of Bosnia
When:
1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
This building in a downtown Sarajevo neighborhood suffered artillery damage from the Serbian military in 1995. Moulton took the photo in the Spring of 1998, illustrating how little recovery work had been done by that time.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
Spring of 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The Serbs intentionally destroyed every room in this apartment complex in Sarajevo during their wartime terror campaign. Reconstruction was just getting started in the spring of 1998, and much of the population was just beginning to return.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
Spring of 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The Civil Affairs unit’s operations center was located in Joseph Tito’s summer home in Sarajevo. The team is returning from a mission in late spring, 1998.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
Late Spring of 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
In June 1998 Moulton was sent to Tuzla, Bosnia. Moulton is at a State Department office in Tuzla with his team of interpreters, where he worked on the Reconstruction Return Task Force. All three interpreters were Bosnian Muslims.
Where:
Tuzla, Bosnia
When:
June 1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Major Moulton conducts a meeting between Serbs and Bosnia Muslims business owners to help them form a community business club at the U. of Sarajevo. Serbs are facing the camera, while the Bosnians are on the opposite side of the table.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
This Superman comic book was developed by UNICEF to warn the Bosnian public about the danger of mines
Where:
Bosnia
When:
1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
More from the Superman comic book developed by UNICEF to warn children about the danger of mines
Where:
Bosnia
When:
1998
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
More artillery damage, two years later. Apartments are gutted and junked cars were still rusting away in the streets.
Where:
Sarajevo
When:
2000
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The 353rd Civil Affairs command team gathers on the flight line at Fort Bragg, NC in September 2004, ready to deploy to Doha International Air Base, Kuwait.
Where:
Fort Bragg, NC
When:
September 2004
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
The 351st Civil Affairs Command (cell) at Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad, Iraq in October 2004. LT. Colonel Moulton is in the second row, second from the right.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
October 2004
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Some of the members of Moulton’s Reconstruction Operations Center team gather for a photo at Saddam Hussein’s Victory Arch in the Green Zone in November 2004, during the leadup to elections.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
November 2004
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Lieutenant Colonel Moulton in his quarters in Baghdad’s Green Zone shortly after his arrival in country in November 2004. A Russian watch that he traded for with a Russian soldier in Bosnia is visible on his vest.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
November 2004
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Colonel Moulton plays golf in May 2005 with equipment a sporting goods company sent to the troops. He is outside the unit’s office building, commonly referred to as the Ziggurat Building.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
May 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
This group of Gurka Napalese guards helped provide security in the Green Zone. This photo was taken near the King of Jordan’s summer palace in early 2005.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
early 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
A 2.75 in rocket had landed only 100 yards from Moulton’s residence, located in Baghdad’s Green Zone, in the spring of 2005. LTC Moulton, on the right, stands with Sergeant Major Ireeuw of the Dutch Army.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
spring of 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
COL Moulton is on the left center, discussing South Korea’s humanitarian assistance with Embassy officials. The meeting, reflecting the wide-ranging responsibilities that Moulton’s team took on, was held at the ROC in the Spring of 2005.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
Spring of 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
From left to right, Major Stoica, from Romania, and two Iraqi interpreters met for a photo in the Reconstruction Operations Center in Baghdad’s Green Zone in the summer of 2005. Note the ROC logo behind them.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
summer of 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
This gold gilded carriage was used by Saddam Hussein for parades and ceremonies. Following the fall of the Saddam regime, the carriage was on display in Saddam’s former palace grounds in Baghdad.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Dust storm on the horizon, referred to as a Haboob. John Moulton took this shot when traveling to the Baghdad International Airport in the Spring of 2005.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
spring of 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
COL Moulton with his two interpreters in May 2005 during a time when he was working with Iraqi governmental officials. Alia was Shia Muslim who spoke English well. Mr. Fahla was a Sunni Muslim.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
May 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Dhyan Ahwan was an Iraqi civilian working in the Reconstruction Operations Center with COL Moulton. He was one of several Iraqis who invited Moulton to visit his home. Moulton presented the family with a Brazilian soccer team jersey for the boy.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
COL Moulton, with other members of his team, typically closed the ROC’s daily 0900 hrs. briefing by meeting with approximately twenty private security company representatives, who are seated in the front. Circa April 2005.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
Circa April 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
COL John Moulton is receiving the daily 0900 hours briefing at the Reconstruction Operations Center during the summer of 2005.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
summer of 2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Moulton watched this Iraqi gentleman faithfully cultivate plants outside the ROC building every day. Moulton later presented him with a set of gardener implements, which were much appreciated.
Where:
Baghdad, Iraq
When:
2005
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
Specialist Brian Moulton, COL Moulton’s son who is second from the right, was an Aerial Sensor Operator during Task Force Odin. He and fellow crew members proudly display an American flag while serving in Iraq in March 2009.
Where:
Iraq
When:
March 2009
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo
Caption
COL Moulton, joined by his wife Janet, retired in July 2009 in a ceremony in Homewood, Illinois. The event culminated a thirty-two year career.
Where:
Homewood, Illinois
When:
July 2009
Ownership:
Narrator’s photo