At the age of 17, Sage Moritz enlisted in the U.S. Army as an interrogator. She attended language school and then was reclassed to counterintelligence. At Fort Lewis, where she was stationed, she pushed to get into the source operators class, something she achieved. In 2003 and again in 2006 she was deployed to Iraq.
Moritz shared some of her experiences with members of her Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Lake Arrowhead. While the Rotarians listened, they enjoyed the Iraqi dolma Moritz had prepared for their lunch. That food told the Rotarians how deeply her experiences in Iraq had affected Moritz.
As a source handler and human intelligence collector, Moritz provided direct support to a combat unit in Mosul. “I went with them to get intelligence from people,” she told the Rotarians.
She lived on a combat post on the banks of the Tigris River. “It was gorgeous,” she said. “We had no resources from the U.S. forces. Most were from the community; folks brought us snacks, gifts.”
Moritz recalled one local shop owner. “He talked to me all the time as I reminded him of his daughter who had gone to law school in London. We talked about family histories – my parents and grandparents. He told me a story about his family from 400 years ago like it had just happened.
“That was one of the greatest things,” Moritz said. “To hear how close people were to their heritage.”
Later Moritz said that her “biggest takeaway from Iraq was probably about the depth and culture of a deep civilization and a people who had been failed by both internal and external power plays and prejudice.”
When she joined the Army in 2000, Moritz said, “I had no idea what was coming.” She was in language school in Monterey, sitting toward the back, when phones started ringing. It was 9/11.
In Iraq, Moritz worked side by side with the people who used her information. “It was incredibly satisfying and I loved it, despite being attached for patrols and raids. At 21 and 22, I felt invincible and it was more excitement than fear. Unfortunately,” she added, “we saw and did things that the human brain is not prepared for. PTSD was rather common in my small group.”
While in Mosul, Moritz spent a lot of time walking around. “I got to know the city pretty well,” she said. “I wasn’t just deployed there – I lived there. I was part of the city. It was my home.”
She shared photos of the city pre- and post-ISIS, saying you can see how much damage was done to historic areas. “The place I called home was destroyed by ISIS, eventually paved over and made into a parking lot,” Moritz said.
She told the Rotarians about the Yazidis, an ethnic and cultural group she worked with. “They were like no one I had ever seen before. It’s a culture, a people, a religion. They are spread out all over the world.”
In her job as a source handler, Moritz would go out and talk to people. Members of the strike force she worked with would circle a neighborhood, making sure it was safe. “We used this as an opportunity to get to know people,” Moritz said.
“I got information from police officers, did liaisons with them. As a woman I didn’t have any standing in the Iraqi culture. However,” Moritz noted, “Mosul has a huge diversity of cultures and religions. We didn’t have to be as careful as if we were in a smaller community.”
Moritz would be sent out as the secretary, sitting quietly taking notes. “People would complain about their bosses. I would report back.”
After her deployments and her release from the Army, Moritz first taught counterintelligence and human intelligence management to officers and non-commissioned officers assigned to those positions. “I was there as a person who had worked on tactical teams and transferred to an operational management team during my second deployment,” Moritz said.
She then went to a school that catered to active and former military students, earning a bachelor’s degree in intelligence. That was followed by her earning a master’s degree in social justice and human rights with a focus on immigration and asylum from Arizona State University.
“I chose this major,” she said, “because I had been working closely on a volunteer basis with youth in crisis through a support line. I had seen the pain firsthand and experienced what can happen when people hurt. I wanted to work toward preventing the harm done and, because of my experiences, I believed that preparation and prevention were going to be the key factors.”
Moritz said she uses her degree to “guide my practices and priorities. I take action whenever possible. I like to be able to spread information where it may have gone overlooked.
“I am overwhelmingly driven by a sense of atonement for all the lives that were ended on my watch. I have feelings of responsibility that draw from actions I took as well as actions I didn’t. Rationally I understand I did all I could but it’s hard to reconcile reality with emotion.”
0 Comments