Talk Story: Greg Gimenez

As the freshest face to the prosecutor’s office, deputy prosecutor Greg Gimenez says he’s glad he’s ended up in Kauai.

Originally from the Midwest, Gimenez, who joined the office in October, has traveled to about 25 percent of the world as a military officer for the U.S. Army Reserve. Prior to his arrival, he worked at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, as a Joint Staff, J5 (Strategic Plans and Policy), officer on the military staff directly under Ambassador Samantha Power and met all sorts of high-ranking officials.

Currently, as a lieutenant colonel/battalion commander, Gimenez is in charge of a Senior Regional Officer Training Corps (SROTC) battalion under the 104^th Training Division, U.S. Army Reserve. The battalion is based in Seattle and covers almost half of the United States training cadets for the Army. But Gimenez wanted to launch his civilian career off the ground, so he set up in Kauai and began work as a deputy prosecutor on traffic crimes.

With three kids, a wife and two jobs, where does this guy find any free time?

Don’t you feel like you’re seeing more of the community now that you are a prosecutor?

Yes and no. I’m not really interacting with them on a personal level. I’m seeing them for traffic crimes and infractions. And, when doing so, I’m not out to get them, but to do my job. I feel it is important to treat people with respect.

Why did you want to be a lawyer?

My family is from South America and I lived in Europe for a few years and that’s where I met my wife. My wife is French. I’ve always had an interest in international affairs, diplomacy and the law. What initially drew me here was to learn about another part of the world while studying law.

That’s why I went to the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law. I had the opportunity to study a different region in a very diverse university setting. And, through travels with the military, I spent a lot of time going to Southeast Asia and that part of the world … In the end, it was kind of to round myself out a little bit, maybe. I really enjoyed it.

In the process, when you’re going to law school, you’re trying to figure out what kind of lawyer you want to be. I was really drawn to litigation and ultimately to prosecution because of the frequent opportunity to go to court. That’s the part I like best.

That’s the part, for me anyway, where I can learn the skills of litigation, which I enjoy. And maybe because as a military officer, I’m used to being in front of folks, there’s something there that makes it natural.

So you’re on active duty with the military and you’re a prosecutor?

Not exactly. When I’m a prosecutor, I am in a reserve status. Otherwise, yes, I’ve been in an active status. Said another way, of my 16 years in service, 13 of them have been active. So the majority of those reserve years were active in some sort of capacity — to train units, plan military exercises overseas, work at the Pentagon, or serve at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City. But during those years, I was continually reactivated because, technically, I am a reserve officer. Most recently, when I left New York, I left active duty status.

My current position, as lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, is that of a battalion commander in reserve status. My unit’s headquarters is based in Seattle and it’s a unit that has a responsibility to provide adjunct faculty to the military science departments in over 150 universities in an area that covers half the country, including Hawaii.

So, when I came here, I stepped back into reserve status to assume command, but also on the civilian side, I became a deputy prosecuting attorney. I kind of jumped into two hats after leaving the active duty status.

What are your responsibilities in the military?

The unit’s responsibility is to provide adjunct faculty to universities. We have about 50 majors and 30 captains and 20 senior noncommissioned officers. Their job is help train cadets who want to become commissioned officers. They work at universities that are located everywhere from Missouri to California to Hawaii to Guam. My job is to help them do their job by providing direction and guidance.

In 2014, you went to the UN to work under U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power. Tell us a little bit about your experience.

You basically work cutting-edge world issues. I was responsible to keep Ambassador Power informed of all UN peacekeeping issues and U.S. military issues that pertained to my geographical area of responsibility of Central Africa and Latin America. Other officers in my office had different regions. We often supported Foreign Service Officers from the State Department who had the lead on political issues. The UN community is heavily political, so they were more often in the lead, although you would engage the ambassador directly (or through her other ambassadors) if the topic was directly a military matter. It was a fast-paced environment, so you had to be ready at a moment’s notice and at all hours.

Technically, I was a joint-staff military officer assigned to the U.S. Mission. Because of that, our reporting chain was through the Joint Staff at the Pentagon leading up to the Chairman, but our everyday tasks came from the U.S. Mission in New York City. A visual example of this was that we mostly wore suits to work, not military uniforms, because we worked for a civilian boss.

The U.S. Mission, like Kauai, is a “small community.” You meet and interact with everybody — that includes a Cabinet-level official like Ambassador Power. She’s the principal — the boss. Her boss is the U.S. president. As a staff member to someone like that you end up meeting all sorts of interesting people on the international stage. They are coming to see her and you are there to support her. The U.S. president also visited our office in September as part of his larger visit to the United Nations.

In practical terms, this plays out in different ways. Sometimes you are advising her in the office, staffing correspondence by email to her, or being part of the staff that’s sitting behind her during U.N. Security Council sessions — and passing her notes as she speaks. Ultimately, you have the unique experience to interact with her quite often one way or another.

In terms of who you meet on the international stage, honestly, you see (and sometimes meet) everybody. From the pope to the U.S. president, you name it. They all come to the United Nations. Especially during “high-level” week in September. In my career, during that one year, I met more senior officials then I can keep track of.

It was interesting, from a professional point of view, because you learn how our government collaborates at the highest levels. You learn what is called the interagency process. You learn how the Security Council really works. You walk away understanding the powers of our government — especially as it relates to interacting with other nations.

It was really rewarding to gain insight on how our National Security Council functions. They look at shaping future decisions that are significant. Learning to think how officials think at that level is really important. That’s what you must do in order to prepare the Ambassador. You have to think, “OK, what are the U.S. interests and what are the strategic implications?” in order to render the right advice.

Accordingly, you have be mindful of what you say, because you can steer a very senior person in the wrong way and it could have the wrong repercussions. You have to be very careful.

Was there any type of decision-making that could have been steered in a different direction? Do you think that there could have been things said that could have steered someone in the wrong way?

Well, you don’t work in a vacuum. You work with a lot of smart people. And there’s experts on each thing. You kind of collectively come together on certain issues, even if you have a lead on it, before going forward. You develop a teamwork atmosphere, kind of like here. People understand each other.

The way I understand your question is if we had done something different then would there have been a different result? Yes. It’s human nature. More specifically, it’s hard to predict hypotheticals due to the political nature of the UN. But nonetheless, the starting point for understanding how something may occur is to understand where the five permanent members of the Security Council stand – they are called the “P5” in UN-speak, which stands for the U.S., Great Britain, France, China, and Russia.

How would the Russians or the Chinese respond to a given issue? That’s not the easiest thing to foretell. From my position, however, as a military guy, it’s was not my part to get into the political side of it, but I had to understand how the politics operated in order to render the best military advice.

I guess there were times where we could have said something where the Russians would have acted differently or the Chinese would have acted differently or even France or Britain for that matter. And then the U.S. would have to respond accordingly. But I can’t think of anything that just completely flopped, although there were stressful episodes on the organization. It was just a fast-paced environment and that comes with the territory.

It’s kind of like prosecution.

Prosecution is a very fast-paced environment – with a lot of cases, in district court at least. There, you’re always working through them very quickly because of the volume. You have to be comfortable with decisions and making decisions. And understanding where your limits are. Where you can go and where you can’t go. You learn a little bit of that from everybody – from your boss, colleagues, judges, and other attorneys. You also learn their different personalities and bring your own personality. You basically learn your environment. In my office, in particular, we have a great environment where folks learn from each other and we have some very seasoned attorneys and helpful clerks and staff. I often pick their brains. I give Justin a lot of credit for creating the environment we have and obtaining really good people.

What do you do for fun?

Well nowadays, I have three little kids, so all my free time is spent with them. My kids are all aged six and under, so we’re busy.

But in my free time, I’ll go hiking with my colleagues. That’s what is really good about this office. In my last work environment, many people were a socialites over there – New York City will do that to you. And, like there, my current office is influenced by its environment. But, this time, the influence is the Aloha Spirit.

There are a number recent hires at my office, but everyone has bonded well. Besides enjoying the natural beauty Kauai has to offer, there’s also different events that pop up and it is good to see folks participate. I share an office with a very experienced attorney from Honolulu. She’s very knowledgeable. I like sharing an office with her because I learn from her.

Everyone just clicks very well and you don’t always get that in other places, even in Hawaii. Here it just works out. We’ll take care of each other and help out as needed.

What about the legal community in general?

It’s a small bar of defense counsel and of private attorneys. Everyone has a job to do, but generally-speaking, everyone is really friendly. An example of this occurred in November when one of the private attorneys had a holiday party and invited prosecutors and judges. I wouldn’t say that happens everywhere. I wasn’t able to make it because I was on military duty. But, on a general scale, I think that’s reflective of our the Aloha in our community. We’ll go tooth and nail in court to advance our causes, but outside of court, we’ll talk story.

Overall, I’d say that’s a very healthy way of living. It’s nice to be in a community with those values. You may find that in other places, but it’s rare. Rather, people dig in too deep and make things personal. Maybe it’s because we all live here on a small island and Aloha just permeates your soul. You know when to take things seriously when you need to, but you also know when not to take things too seriously. Knowing the difference is not easy for everyone to understand, but many folks here seems to intuitively get it.

Any final comments?

I’m not from Hawaii. I’m a transplant. Transplants come from many different places. This is our fourth time moving to Hawaii. From someone who has moved around so much, I can confidently say Kauai is a great place. What’s happened over the years is that we fell in love with Hawaii, in general, and kept coming back. We’ve lived on three different islands. The Big Island, Oahu and Kauai. They’re different. All of them are different for different reasons, but what’s similar among all of them is what everyone calls The Spirit of Aloha.

There’s just that sense that draws you. You know when you go somewhere else, whether it’s New York City, or the small town of Carterville, Illinois where I am from, or the west coast or Seattle – or to the many different places I’ve travelled – this place is unique.

My wife and I have talked a lot about where do we want to settle and where do we want to raise the kids. Where do we see ourselves living because we’ve lived in so many different places, from Europe to you name it. And Hawaii always came back to mind. Outsiders who don’t know Hawaii always think about its natural beauty and the weather. That does exist.

But the real beauty here is the people. Kauai also has that. When you live here you realize you can’t replicate that when you go to another environment. Even other laid-back environments. They are not like this one.

It’s just what’s unique about here. And, that’s what the same across all the islands.

That Aloha Spirit. There is no better way to describe it. Just embrace it.