O.B.E.

            According to thundering proclamations in nearly every professional journal the army has, we have passed, once again, through the throes of a new “Revolution in Military Affairs.” Yea. U/… Read full post »

    **

         Some time ago, a few years actually, I was having lunch at a dining facility in Iraq and I found myself sharing a table with several members of a Personal Security Detachment or a “PSD,” as we cal/… Read full post »

“Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers' Green.”

        The first of my friends to fall in this… Read full post »

 From: backsight_forethought@fakeaddress.com
To: IncredibleDaughter@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Changes
Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 12:14:09 -0400

Daughter Forethought,
 
      As always, I cannot tell you how proud I am of you. Sweetheart, I am as proud as a… Read full post »

Dear Readers of Open Salon, help.

The few who might see this, and know something of my prior writing, will know that I am a soldier, and that I am in Afghanistan. This means that there are some things that I, and those around me, do… Read full post »

          A few other Open Salon writers have now made reference to their own time under the colors, years and even decades ago.  We who have been inside the military do, however, seem moderately few and far between at this site. As a corollary, there/… Read full post »

"So why did you sign up?”

I am still trying, as best I can, to answer a few of the questions posed to me here. This one seems like the logical next step. The only problem is that the decision at issue was so long ago that I fear and… Read full post »

“Why do you continue to serve?”

This was the question posed to me, among others, just the other day.

It is not a new question. I have heard it said half a dozen ways over the years, both during peace and war. It is not a simple question to answer.… Read full post »

          It was a bright fall day, sometime in the mid-1970s. My friend Tad and I had ridden our bikes down into town after school to check out the hobby store. Not that it had changed. Taggart’s w… Read full post »

The inherent contradictions embodied in what I am about to say cannot be resolved without amusing somebody. Several somebodies, in all likelihood. Hell, probably all of you.

I am an Army Airborne-Ranger-Infantry Gleek in Afghanistan.

Yes, you read that right. I am, in addition to being a professional… Read full post »

By almost any measure, I think I am somewhat alone here. On Salon, in Afghanistan. But then, that's nothing new. So bear with me for a moment while I tell you what it has been like here for the past couple of days.

At least, for me.

The news for… Read full post »

  Not too long ago a civilian I know, a devout conservative, upon hearing speculation about the resumption of a draft, said, “I support it but we just have to make sure that the right people are drafted.” I asked for clarification, and after disclaimers it came down to th… Read full post »