Captain bound for Afghanistan
Friday, March 24, 2006

Capt. Danny Green, longtime Brewer Police Department veteran, has announced his retirement so he can go to Afghanistan and serve as a police adviser.

He's been thinking of working overseas since 1999.

"I wanted to go off and do something different," Green, 52, said Wednesday afternoon while sitting in his office at the police department. "I've been here 28 years."

The veteran cop bent and straightened a paperclip, twirling it at times, while speaking about his future. Green admitted he is nervous and, at the same time, excited.

"I've been thinking about doing Iraq or Afghanistan since the time [Chief Steven Barker] got back from Bosnia," he said.

Barker went to Bosnia in 1998 for a year as a United Nations adviser and also went to Iraq for a year during 2004 where he served as a police adviser, or consultant, for the entire region north of Baghdad.

"They just started recruiting me last week," he said of DynCorp International, a private company that contracts with the U.S. State Department to recruit and hire professionals to provide law enforcement and security services overseas. "The timing seemed strangely convenient."

DynCorp is working in Afghanistan to help rebuild the country's police force, he said.

Green's last day on the job in Brewer will be April 7. A week and a half later, he'll be heading to Fredericksburg, Va., for a weeklong crash course on Afghan culture and its hazards before heading to the Middle East.

"I'm going to miss the people" at the police department, he said. "I've made some good friends, and I'm particularly fond of the current crew we have right now - they're dedicated to the cause."

Green said he's also going to miss his daughter, Dani-Lynn Green, a Bangor High School senior who will graduate while he's away, and his son, Jerritt Green, 20, who lives in California. He will keep in touch with his family through e-mail and possibly a satellite phone.

Green spent time in Brewer as a child and after graduating from Presque Isle High School began his law enforcement career in Conynham Boro, Pa., where he stayed for four years before returning to Maine. In total, his police career has lasted more than three decades.

"I started at Brewer Police Department in April 1978, and I never regretted it for a minute," he said.

While a young officer, Green worked with the schools and eventually became the department's first public information officer. He worked as a detective for a while, and then in 1992, after Barker became chief, Green was made captain.

"It's ironic that Danny and I started together as chief and captain, and we're leaving together," said Barker, who announced his plans to retire two weeks ago.

"I'm happy for him," the police chief continued. "It sounds as though he's pursuing his dreams to serve in a mission overseas and put his talents to good use."

Green, who served twice as acting chief, is one of the reasons the Brewer Police Department has such a hard-nosed but positive reputation, City Manager Steve Bost said Wednesday.

"He's a great guy," Bost said. "Danny has been a very loyal member of the police department and he served with distinction.

"He will be missed."

A copyright story from the Bangor Daily News, Friday, March 24, 2006 by Nok-Noi Hauger.