In Case You Missed It: Blogword Expo at Random
Friday, November 30, 2007, 11:05 AM
In case you missed the various reports of BlogWorld Expo from early November, Ward Carroll has a story. He even coins a term in the post – milblogelebrities. Try saying that five times in a row. Then if you want to have fun at work, tell someone to say the word ‘silk’ three times in a row. After they finish, ask them what cows drink. Believe it or not, I have no formal comedy training.
(Ward Carroll Blog) So MKH was left to hug the milblogelebrities, but let’s be honest: Milblogelebrities have an asterisk next to their blogelebrity status. Just like in Hollywood, when hanging with the beautiful people one must keep his or her uniformed self muted unless it’s the premiere for some Michael Bay blockbuster (which this wasn’t) or Veteran’s Day (which was still a few days down the road at this point).
But the milbloggers had fun all the same. It was good to see folks like Matt and Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive, Bill Roggio from The Long War Journal, the always awesome Chuck from From My Position, and John Donovan from Castle Argghhh. It was also nice to meet some quality dudes like Eric Egland, who’s running for Congress, and Tim Boggs. Expo organizer Rick Calvert was generous with the milblogging track, allowing four panels on military blog topics ranging from blogging from the front to the military spouse experience. The panels were lightly attended, for the most part, which was a shame because the right folks were sitting on each one.
The usual milblogging suspects took to the town, ably supplemented by franchise players (who shall remain semi-anonymous here) from the communications shops at DoD and the White House. Claude was a class act and always knew just the right thing to do next, including a low pass through a cigar bar where we were joined by Jack (father to us all), my Navy shipmate Roxie, and one of DoD’s young guns, Jamie. (Fear not. The future is bright and it comes from UCSB.) And the sister I never had Andi from SpouseBUZZ was there too. (She later earned the callsign “D-N-D.” Her story’s safe with me, of course.)
Read the entire story here.
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New Milblogger: I'm Going "Over There"...No, the OTHER "Over There."
Friday, November 30, 2007, 12:38 AM
(Less Than Half a Nickel) The Story: Apparently my name is on the roster to be deployed to Kosovo for the KFOR-10 mission. I don't know much yet as far as details, but they will be forthcoming. It looks like we'll be leaving in the late Winter, maybe early Spring.My 2 Cents: Well, I know this isn't exactly national news or anything, but it's pretty big in my world. Much time has been spent thinking over the last few days. I can't seem to stop thinking. It makes it hard to sleep...which is irritating because I really like sleep…
Hey....it looks like Less Than Half a Nickel will end up being a milblog after all....
Read the entire story here.
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Milblogger Ranger Sid has hot video on YouTube
Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 10:13 PM
When I was back at Camp Shelby, Milblogger Ranger Sid a Team Leader in my Platoon was the star of one of our in house videos. I had completely forgotten I had posted the video on YouTube until I kept receiving emails notifying me that people were leaving comments daily. The video has over 6,000 views. I’m going to let the video speak for itself. The best YouTube comment was, “and they want to protect their country..”
By the way, I do apologize for the lack of photos posted from my current deployment. GX Magazine recently sent me an awesome camera that I plan to use so I can start sharing photos with everyone. They’re also re-designing the existing Bad Voodoo Platoon website so you can stay better informed. It should be ready any day now (ahem). The only way GX could be more helpful to me is if they showed up to my house back home and shoveled the driveway when it snows or took out the trash to the curb.
And to be fair about my lack of blogging and stuff, running Convoy Security missions keeps us very busy. And as you know, most of the free time I have left is spent nursing sick orphaned animals back to health in Iraq and Kuwait.
That I haven’t been nominated for President or won a Nobel Peace Prize or something, I find really odd.
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Georgia Students Show Off Their Appreciation for the Troops
Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 08:20 PM
I received a huge box of heartfelt letters from 8-year old Georgia students and I hand selected a few to share with my readers. The letters were written after the Georgia Superintendent of Education asked all Georgia students to write letters of appreciation to the servicemen and servicewomen who are performing their jobs off of American soil this holiday season. Kids will always be kids, and these letters certainly cheered me up. Each letter was as every bit heartfelt and honest, as it was funny because it was an 8-year old writing the letter. I once listened to a comedian who made me laugh so hard beer started pouring out of my nose and then I fell out of my chair and kept laughing. But compared to the letters I received, that comedian might as well have played spoons on his legs or burped into the microphone for his entire act.And so, without further ado, the letters (paraphrased, of course):
Adam writes:
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you can catch Bin Laden and kill him.
Jennifer writes:
Dear Soldier,
How can you still be alive?
Jesus writes:
And I got a question, is it fun to use guns. Please send it back, please. And say
Yes or No
Circle One
Tam writes:
Do you ride a horse so you can run away? I hope you stay alive.
Stasha writes:
You’re the best person I’ve ever met (if I did meet you)
Laura writes:
I love that you are trying to give us a free country Thank you so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so much for trying to give us a free country.
Bailey writes:
I am thankful that we in the U.S. have a strong and brave soldier like you. I also hope that this letter has encouraged you to do your best now and always.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the Georgia students. I sincerely appreciated all the letters, and will make sure they are all distributed to the men of my Platoon.
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Milblogger Northern Disclosure Contributes Ideas to Doonesbury Strip
Tuesday, November 27, 2007, 04:58 PM
Fellow milblogger Toby Nunn of Northern Disclosure (who is also a member of Bad Voodoo), helped contribute some "boots on ground" experience to a Doonsebury Comic Strip about music. The strip is definitely something I can relate to. Except instead of listening to soft rock or heavy metal, I prefer to rock to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. I consider myself a person with sophisticated taste. Britney Spears is a musical genius is what I always say.(Northern Disclosure) Several times in my life I have been priviledged enough to be able to speak and have people listen. Some times what I have said influenced those that listened, ussually not in the way I had intented though. Recently I was contacted by my friend David over at Doonesbury who was working a research project for G Trudeau the creator and cartoonist of Doonesbury about what we do for music over here. I, along with a handful of others responed and spoke of what we listen to and why.
Read the entire story here.
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In the blogs: Blogging Heroes
Tuesday, November 27, 2007, 09:12 AM
(Marketing Roadmaps) Earlier this week, I ran across a new book called Blogging Heroes. And no disrespect to any of the bloggers profiled or the author, I am appalled at the title of the book.
In fact, disgusted.
What appalls me? The use of the term hero.
The book profiles 30 high-profile bloggers. Whether we need yet another book profiling a few top-ranked bloggers, I'll leave to the market to decide.
But the bloggers profiled aren't heroes. Blogging PEOPLE, in the sense of the gossip magazine, or Blogging Superstars? Sure. Those are already trivial terms and seem eminently suitable for this "literary" work.
But to call them heroes trivializes the term.
And that really offends me.
The folks profiled in the book have done a great job building and promoting their blogs. That makes them interesting, and perhaps good, examples. But they aren't heroes.
Blogging heroes are people like Susan Niebur of Toddler Planet who has used her own diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer, a very rare form of breast cancer that is not diagnosed from a lump in the breast, to spread the word about IBC. To the point of giving up her anonymity in the process. That's a hero.
And not just Susan. Many, many people use their blogs to chronicle their battles against life-threatening and fatal diseases. To help others. Stricken with the disease or simply trying to support someone who is. They are heroes.
Milbloggers. Young men and women thrust into a war not of their making, but determined to serve their country. I don't necessarily share their politics, but I have no doubt that bloggers like Chuck, who blogs at From my position on the way and who was seriously injured in Iraq last year protecting a fellow soldier, or Jean-Paul, now in his second tour as a Guardsman, are a lot closer to a hero than some business blogger.
Read the entire story here.
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Confessions of a Military Parent Blogger: I'm Addicted!
Saturday, November 24, 2007, 11:46 PM
(Mementos of a Military Mom) I'm a complete MilBlogger! I discovered the MilBlog web ring and now I sit here for hours (seriously) and read Military blogs. I tried to join the ring, but as savvy as I THOUGHT I was on the computer, I got frustrated and gave up. I especially enjoy reading the Military Mom blogs. It's so refreshing to read that someone else is having the exact feelings I'm having or have had.Read the entire story here.
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Milblogs in the News: We are the thought police
Friday, November 23, 2007, 03:38 PM
(Reclaim the Media) Yet in many key respects, the In short, no war has been more fully chronicled or minutely analyzed than this one. And, as a result, the Bush administration has been unable to spin it as it would like. The spreading insurgency, the surging violence, the descent into chaos -- all have been thoroughly documented by journalists and others, and public support for the war has steadily ebbed as a result
Read the entire story here.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 22, 2007, 04:19 PM
Thanksgiving came up pretty quickly, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their support these last few years, especially this past year while deployed. I’ve been on R&R the last 2 weeks, and I’m getting ready to head back to the desert. So, if you hvae a hrad tmie raeidng my writnig it’s besuace I can’t contain my excitement. While I’m traveling, I might not be able to update the website because of limited internet access. But if something incredible in the milblog world happens like Chuck Norris starts his own Delta Force milblog, you can bet I’ll use all available resources like a set of airplane headphones and roasted peanuts to get connected and post it.
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Milblogger in the News: Remembering, and Giving Thanks for, Those Overseas
Thursday, November 22, 2007, 01:55 PM
(WTOC) Once the troops leave home, they spend a couple of weeks in Kuwait, preparing and training in the latest techniques designed to keep them as safe as humanly possible.A couple of weeks ago, our veteran military reporter and anchor, Mike Manhatton, went to Kuwait as well to get a firsthand look at the training.
Mike has already written some online material about his experiences in Kuwait with the 4th Brigade, and you can read about that here: Manhatton's Military Blog.
Read the entire story here.
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Afghanistan Documentary: AT WAR
Wednesday, November 21, 2007, 02:37 PM
(Bouhammer via The Sandbox) In March of 2006 I met a guy who I was at first very skeptical about and was not sure I could trust. He was an embedded reporter, and we in the military typically have to be wary of such people. However, it did not take long for me to come to consider him a true and damn good friend, a Great American and a hell of a Patriot. His name is Scott Kesterson (that's him on the right) and he accompanied the Task Force I was with, spending three months in pre-deployment training and one year plus on the ground in Afghanistan. During the train-up time at Camp Shelby, Mississippi our paths crossed a few times and he seemed like a nice guy, but it was not until after the 20+ hour flight around the world that we really got to know each other. At some point during my tour I was in Kabul at Camp Phoenix and Scott and I spent two or three hours just talking. Talking about our past, what we were currently going through, and a little about what we hoped the future would hold for us. It was here that I learned that Scott had been a Lieutenant in the Oregon National Guard (the same Brigade that was in charge of our Task Force), and had worn the uniform and walked the talk.
Read the entire story here.
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Interesting News: State Dept. Tries Blog Diplomacy
Tuesday, November 20, 2007, 02:03 PM
(The Washington Post) The State Department, departing from traditional public diplomacy techniques, has what it calls a three-person, "digital outreach team" posting entries in Arabic on "influential" Arabic blogs to challenge misrepresentations of the United States and promote moderate views among Islamic youths in the hopes of steering them from terrorism. The department's bloggers "speak the language and idiom of the region, know the culture reference points and are often able to converse informally and frankly, rather than adopt the usually more formal persona of a U.S. government spokesperson," Duncan MacInnes, of State's Bureau of International Information Programs, told the House Armed Services subcommittee on terrorism and unconventional threats on Thursday.
"Because blogging tends to be a very informal, chatty way of working," MacInnes said, "it is actually very dangerous to blog." So State has a senior experienced officer, who served in Iraq, acting as supervisor and discussing each posting before it goes up. "We do not make policy," MacInnes added.
Read the entire story here.
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New Milblogs Added: November 3rd - 18th, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007, 05:25 PM
A ton of milblogs were added recently to the Milblogging.com database. The milblogs in this latest batch are written from all over the world including: Approving blogs that get submitted to Milblogging.com based solely on pictures isn’t as scientifically sound as you might guess.
Made a Difference for That One, Chris Coppola, Iraq, Read about the experiences of a military peidatric..., 18 Nov 2007
LT Nixon Rants, LT Nixon, Iraq, Strange insight on Iraq, US Military, politics, mo..., 17 Nov 2007
Army Wife, Priscilla Marie, United States, Personal blog of Priscilla Marie. Wife of Shannon ..., 13 Nov 2007
Fort Bliss Voice, Dustin Perry, United States, Serving the Fort Bliss Community, 12 Nov 2007
Combat News (CN), Jyrki T. Mäkelä, Finland, Combat News (CN) is a brand new independent news a..., 11 Nov 2007
CHINA military, Unclaim, China, you can find angthing about military there,also th..., 11 Nov 2007
A Battlefield Tourist, David Tate, Iraq, David Tate bio: Accomplishments: 1985 – Became..., 10 Nov 2007
Humbled Infidel, Twana Blevins, United States, Mostly I put out the good news of what our troops ..., 09 Nov 2007
Military Spouses for Change, Carissa Picard, United States, The thoughts, efforts, and journey of an active du..., 09 Nov 2007
This Veterans Life, @WR, United States, From Iraq, to Walter Reed, and Beyond., 08 Nov 2007
Hurry Up and Wait, Kasey, United States, My adventures (and misadventures) of my life as an..., 04 Nov 2007
Ish's Cyber Wolf Den, Jason (Isnala) Baker, United States, Opinions and comments about various subjects from ..., 03 Nov 2007
My War Stories, Paul Mehlos, Afghanistan, Our chance to tell our tales of war. Mine was in t...,
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New Milblogger: Milbloggin?
Sunday, November 18, 2007, 12:10 AM
(LT Nixon Rants) Well I just submitted this blog to milblogging.com which seems like a pretty respectable website. I've always perused the Milblogospehere, but never knew about a one-stop shop that they have set up. I'm not really interested in posting stuff about my personal life. It involves me working most of the time capped off with sitting bored out of my knickers in a trailer. When not deployed my free time is spent drinking frequently and passing out on my friends' couches. Not very interesting stuff. A lot of Milblogs have pretty interesting personal experience posts and you can check them out on the links over to the right.Read the entire story here.
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Milblogging.com in the News: On board HMS Ark Royal
Friday, November 16, 2007, 07:52 PM
(BBC Radio 5 Live) Next Friday Nicky Are you in the Navy? Were you? Have you ever served on board the flagship of the Royal Navy?
Read about the Ark Royal's visit to Greenwich (and look at the 360-degree panoramic view) or here
Read other military blogs here
Read the blog of the Commanding Officer of HMS Somerset here
See Ark Royal on Youtube
Read the entire story here.
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Milbloggers in the News: Soldiers' 'Sandbox' blog now a compelling book
Friday, November 16, 2007, 05:32 PM
(Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) First Sgt. Troy Steward becomes fascinated with Garry Trudeau’s pen. It writes so richly, it rolls so well! For this mission, the New York Army National Guardsman feels not as well-armed as the creator of “Doonesbury.”“If you want to know about killing people, I can tell you that,” Steward says. “When it comes to signing books ...”
Trudeau, whose cartoon strip appears in hundreds of newspapers, including The Journal Gazette, holds his pen aloft and offers a tribute. “This is called the Uni-ball Vision Elite,” he says. “And it’s mightier than anything you got!”
Read the entire story here.
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Milblogging Buzz: What some other people are saying about Band of Bloggers
Thursday, November 15, 2007, 02:53 PM
(Doc in the Box) Just a Grunt wrote thisMy good buddy Kasee wrote this and then did this great round up this morning here
MoFiZix Gr4FiX had this to say
But Wait, Hearts and Hates Colby, hah.
We all know ALa loves Colby, she rounds us all up including calling me the awesome Doc in the Box and dropping a picture of her and Colby, thanks:)
Pilgrim thought they did a good job
and that's it for my round up this morning. I problem myself and other bloggers say with the show is that they didn't included the screen names nor the name of the blogs. Other then that, it was great, looking forward to the next chapter.
Well, I'm off to Knotts Berry Farm to take advantage of this months free military thing they do every year:) Have a good weekend, next showtime is at noon my time (check your local listings first).
Read the entire story here.
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Milblogger on the Air: KQED Radio Show
Thursday, November 15, 2007, 12:54 AM
(Bouhammer)Well the radio show I took part in on Monday went well. I was the only participant from Afghanistan and there were three other guests from Iraq. The theme of the show leaned a little further to the left that I would have liked, but I can't say I was totally surprised. I mean it was on a San Francisco based radio station that does carry NPR. Both of those facts lead me to think it may be a tad liberal. However when the discussion mentioned things like the war in Iraq being a criminal act and that it was all about oil, I was stunned. As I mentioned in the VAMC blog entry I wrote, if it was about oil then I am eagerly waiting for the $1.00 a gallon gas which I have yet to see. I cannot there are people that ignorant to believe the war in Iraq was about oil. I guess they are the same ones that think the attacks of 9/11 were staged by our own government too. Man this country is made up of all kinds. To read more about my experiences on the interview, be sure and check out my entry called Get a Life on the VAMC blog site.
If you would like to listen to the broadcast, but did not have the opportunity, you can check it out at http://www.kqed.org/programs/radio/forum/ as they have it archived there in mp3 and real media formats.
Read the entire story here.
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Milblogger in the News: Women Who Serve Their Country
Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 04:46 PM
(About) Although written in March 2007, a post by military blogger Sgt Stryker is appropriate for today, Veteran's Day. In a thoughtful look at "Women Serving in Iraq" Sgt Stryker notes:There are more than 350,000 women serving in the United States military. Women make up fifteen percent of active duty personnel. One in seven service members in Iraq are women. While women service members are still excluded from certain military occupations, they are essential for others. For example, female troops are needed to perform searches on Iraqi women. The very presence of female service members has helped defuse a potentially catastrophic cultural clash between United States troops and the Iraqi Muslim population
….Our daughters, wives, mothers and sisters ….serve and die for this country. Gender has no influence on patriotism or heroism. When the call to defend this nation comes, the women of America are just as capable and just as determined to win the fight.
Read the entire story here.
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Milblogs in the News: Asked and answered
Monday, November 12, 2007, 12:05 PM
(Freep.com) QUESTION: Where can I get more information firsthand about the war?ANSWER: Try www.milblogging.com. This site catalogs and provides access to the writings of troops in
A lot of the writings are positive. Soldiers tell of successes and friendships. Relatives back home talk about how they cope. Postings include photos of newborns and other children.
Throughout, the writings are personal. The human side is evident.
Read the entire story here.
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