Feb. 20, 2008

Military photographer to join panel

of officers in depicting “The Many Faces of Iraq"

Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika

An award-winning military photographer and two officers who each led hundreds of soldiers in Iraq will discuss “The Many Faces of Iraq” during a panel at Morningside College at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Ave.

The public is invited to this free event, which is sponsored by Morningside College, Morningside’s Leadership Academy and Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS).

“I’ve asked the presenters to focus their comments on what happens when our soldiers come in contact with the local populace,” said Maj. Gen. Steve Saunders of Sioux City, who will moderate the event. “This is a rare opportunity for the public to go behind the headlines and to hear firsthand what it’s like in Iraq.”

Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika is an award-winning military photographer who has completed two tours of duty in Iraq, one in 2004 and the other in 2006. His photos of Iraq and mobilizing soldiers have appeared on eight separate magazine covers in the past year. Other panelists will be retired Lt. Col. Michael Dosland of Sioux City and Col. Benjamin Corell of Strawberry Point, Iowa.

A self-taught photographer, Klika joined the Marine Corps at age 17. After four years, he became a military photographer and spent the next eight years documenting Marine Corps training around the world. In 1990, Klika left the Marine Corps and worked for several newspapers as a photojournalist. He covered the L.A. riots and won several awards for his coverage. Klika returned to the military in 2003, this time serving in the Tennessee Army National Guard. Now as a media trainer for mobilizing solders at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., he is teaching others how to tell the soldier’s story through photographs.

Dosland commanded the 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. His command consisted of 680 soldiers, with headquarters in Eau Claire and companies or detachments in seven other Wisconsin communities. Dosland was mobilized and deployed with his unit to support Operation Iraqi Freedom III from April 2004 until November 2005.  He is now president and CEO of Vantus Bank in Sioux City.

Corell took command of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, in February 2003 and led hundreds of Iowa soldiers from communities such as Waterloo, Dubuque, Oelwein and Charles City. They were mobilized and deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom from September 2005 until July 2007. Known as the “Ironman Battalion,” these soldiers were part of the longest deployment to date – 22 months – and they were featured on “60 Minutes” in May of 2007. Corell is currently assigned as the deputy commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division.