The reality of a Marine reservist

Deepa Bharath

Police officer Glorioso Manigbas patrolled his heart out on the

city’s Westside.

Supervisors say he is a “tough street cop.” They don’t forget to

add that he is a “super, super nice guy.”

The 26-year-old officer is preparing to leave his wife and two

kids on Monday to fight a war that’s already begun.

Manigbas trained to clear land mines for four years in the U.S.

Marine Corps. That’s what he is being sent to do in Iraq as part of

the infantry.

“I can’t say I’m happy about the war,” the young Marine reserve

said. “But I’d be lying if I said I’m not excited to go there. It’s

time to do what I was trained to do.”

Perilous thoughts of war catch up with his brain only when

Manigbas thinks about his family -- wife Leah and two children, ages

2 and 1.

“I have mixed feelings about leaving,” he admitted. “Part of me

wants to stay here with my family, and another part of me is just

dying to get out there and fight the war.”

Leah Manigbas said she was “shocked” when her husband got his

papers. Manigbas himself said it was “totally unexpected.”

But he knew Wednesday morning when he saw a FedEx messenger walk

up to his door holding an envelope.

“Yeah, by then I knew what was in the envelope,” he said.

Leah said she is “not upset, but very, very worried” for her

husband.

“I hope it’ll all be over before he leaves, and he won’t have to

go,” she said.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tim Starn said the department will feel

Manigbas’ absence. Det. Victor Bakkila and Frank Castorena, a cadet

with the department, have already been deployed.

“[Manigbas] has been with us for over a year,” said Starn, the

officer who trained him. “He’s turned out to be an excellent cop.”

He said Manigbas, who worked on the graveyard shift, is known as

one of the “highest producing officers on that shift.”

Starn said the employees who left will not be replaced, but other

officers will be offered overtime to do their jobs. It is a challenge

because the high orange alert requires the department to deploy more

officers, he said.

Manigbas said he will leave for the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines,

4th Marine Division in Encino on Monday and then go to Miramar Marine

Corps Air Station.

“I don’t know where I’ll go from there,” he said. “I’ll just have

to wait and see.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].