Swearing to devote himself to improving the lives of others didn’t just pertain to the Hippocratic oath that Navy Cmdr. Dennis McKenna took in 1992.
The son of Ellen and Peter McKenna of Delmar, McKenna is married to the former Karen Delley of Voorheesville, but his influence goes well beyond the Capital District.
In the rural town of Rutbah in Iraq’s western al-Anbar Province, McKenna has gone above and beyond, working with forces and the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior to reopen the town’s only hospital. He is also dedicated to establishing an economic base, which he says will be the catalyst for overall improvement in the quality of life there.
McKenna, 42, is the battalion surgeon for 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, a reserve unit based in Garden City. A 20-year Navy reservist, he’s on a one-year mobilization with the battalion, which is attached to Regimental Combat Team 5.
McKenna is an emergency medicine physician at Albany Medical Center as a civilian, where he has worked for 11 years. When he’s not mobilized, McKenna drives 360 miles round trip one weekend every month from his Selkirk home to attend reserve drills.
I believe in service, McKenna said in an interview with Capt. Paul Greenberg, Regimental Combat Team 5. `I believe you have to give something back, and I love serving with the Marines.`
Even though he has a science and medical background, McKenna volunteered to take on the collateral duty as the economics line of operations officer (LOO).
`I bring a common sense approach, identifying problems and proposing logical solutions,`said McKenna. `That is what it takes to be a LOO ` someone with a real passion for the subject and who is able to present the commander with different options. The lines of operations are about setting the people of Rutbah up for success. We need to find those people, those Bill Gates and Thomas Jeffersons. These people have been reluctant to show their potential in the past because of the situation that existed here for so long.`
McKenna said the first step in making strides toward improving the economy was to conduct an `economic atmospherics` assessment. Explaining that the most important thing is getting out into the community, McKenna said Americans are talking to `the average man on the street,` and getting the whole story of what is going on in the community.
The project is certainly not an easy one.
Considering that the remote part of the country ` about 230 miles from Baghdad ` is just starting the transition to a full-fledged democracy with a free-market economy. In addition, Iraqi Security Forces have only recently quelled the insurgency that rocked the al-Anbar province for more than three years.
In October, McKenna met with the Rutbah City Council and Muthana Jubaer Juwana, the city council president, told him that most local Iraqi businessmen with the capital are investing in businesses in Jordan and Oman.
Juwana alluded to foreign investment in a large-scale business, such as a cement or glass factory, as the town’s main hope to provide jobs, according to McKenna.
A local tribal leader at the city council meeting said a western company would have to build the factory in order to be successful, and that its operation would need to be supervised initially by forces.
McKenna disagrees.
`They have the skills and potential here,` he said. `They built this city. They have educated people. We just need to focus on establishing a cadre of business leaders who have confidence in their city.`
McKenna said he and his fellow Marines and sailors have their work cut out for them. However, he added, as forces take a step back and focus on providing mentorship and guidance to the Iraqi Security Forces, it is ultimately up to the people of Iraq to determine what direction their country will take in the future.
“