My first grade son Julian sent me a "Flat Stanley" that he made for a school project.  The story behind "Flat Stanley" is he was flattened by a bulletin board that fell on him, but he somehow managed to survive.  Now he travels pretty much anywhere he wants because he can be mailed in an envelope.  So for school, my son made his own "Flat Stanley" out of paper and sent him to me so "Flat Stanley" could finally see Iraq.  (Above is a picture of "Flat Stanley" in southern Iraq). 

I must admit, this is a pretty neat project for kids, especially because it helps them read and write by keeping a journal.  My only complaint is that "Flat Stanley" keeps pulling evil pranks on me after I accidentally took out a pair of scissors and he got upset.  Seriously, he cried for 2 hours straight.

Anyway, "Flat Stanley" will be hanging out with me for a few more days.  Then I send him back and my son can update his journal with his Iraq adventures.  I'll keep you updated on all his shenanigans.

FLAT STANLEY UPDATE # 2:  "Flat Stanley's" story was published on 1-800-Go-Guard.com which is run by GX The Guard Experience magazine.  I must say, it's a neat story, but it seems like there's more pressing news out there than the travels of a sheet of paper.  "Flat Stanley" is even bragging to everyone around here about his new fame, so I suspect he wants to be mailed off to Hollywood after Iraq. And I swear, he and I were in the Computer Center this afternoon, and I couldn't pull him away from the Printer.  It was pretty embarassing, because every time a sheet of paper would print out, he'd say something like "Bow chica bow wow!".  Man, I need to find him a girlfriend.  Or some nice stationary (you know what I mean).

FLAT STANLEY UPDATE # 1:  Yesterday at dinner I made a comment to "Flat Stanley" about the high cost of air travel and how I probably wouldn't be able to vacation as much after my deployment.  I asked if he had any ideas and he mumbled something about, "I got something for ya...". Then, this morning I was awakened by a strange voice saying "Travel by envelope!" then a LOUD crashing sound, which was the sound of a giant 6x6 bulletin board being dropped on my head.

Nice one, "Flat Stanley"..

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(National Review Online) Check out the bylines on the news-reports on the fighting in Basra and see if you can find any foreign reporters who are actually in the city they are writing about.  The New York Times's James Glanzer is filing from a compound in Baghdad. The BBC's reporters are doing the same. Depending on phone calls to more or less reliable — or partis-pris — Iraqi stringers at the other end of the country, they might as well be filing from Amman or Tel Aviv or New York. It's the usual complacency and dishonesty at work.  On the other hand there's something impressive about reporters who may never have never visited Basra — the country's second city and an hour's flight away — sounding authoritative about the place and its atmosphere . . . This is mainstream reporting on the Iraq war as it has evolved. It's why the Michaels Totten and Yon are so important, and the milblogs, and the Iraqi blogs like Healing Iraq.

Read the entire story here.

Thanks to Kathi for the tip.

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It's official folks, my beautiful wife Angelica and I have been married 8 years (tomorrow). I've got limited internet access at the moment, so I wanted to wish my wife “Happy Anniversary” a day early.

I always like to be first with important dates like these before she gets a chance. That's pretty romantic, right? Yeah, I know.  It really is.  And could you imagine if I used my Photoshop skills to draw a rose in my mouth like Don Juan DeMarco (for the picture above)? And maybe a cape and a mustache? Oh, and some chest hair. Maybe like three or four coming out of the collar of my shirt...

I've always wanted chest hair.

UPDATE # 1: Apparently I'm not very good with Photoshop. I finished the first update by drawing a mustache and a hat with some chest hair, and the soldier sitting next to me at the Computer Center said, “That's a real cute photo, did your 1 year old send that?”

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 (Military.com) "The War Tapes" director Deborah Scanton talks about her new project airing on the PBS "Frontline" series. "Bad Voodoo Platoon" follows the ups and downs of a California National Guard unit in Iraq. What has Deborah learned in her years of making films about Soldiers from their point of view? And what is her sense of troop morale and the state of the military?

Listen to the podcast here.

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 (Wired)  A study, written for U.S. Special Operations Command, suggested "clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers."

Since the start of the Iraq war, there's been a raucous debate in military circles over how to handle blogs -- and the servicemembers who want to keep them. One faction sees blogs as security risks, and a collective waste of troops' time. The other (which includes top officers, like Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. William Caldwell) considers blogs to be a valuable source of information, and a way for ordinary troops to shape opinions, both at home and abroad.

Read the entire story here.

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(Washington Post) Frontline director Deborah Scranton was online Wednesday, April 2 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss her film "Bad Voodoo's War," which consists of footage shot by a California-based National Guard platoon during their deployment to Iraq.


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(Inside Bay Area)  In the grainy green night vision light, the embedded camera on the military transport zeroes in on the truck in front as it hits an improvised explosive device.

The explosion from the IED jars the soldiers out of their mundane drive, electrifying them into hyperactivity. There's no thought of a camera trained on their actions, a recorder keeping track of their verbal response. Just gut reaction working on instinct.

Unlike a journalist embedded with the troops, the camera makes no judgements; no color commentary spews from its lens. Just hard reality that viewers can filter through their own eyes.

Filmmaker Deborah Scranton ("The War Tapes") felt it was important to give soldiers a chance to press their own record button on the war.

"Soldiers have been sharing stories around the campfire since time memorial," Scranton says during a phone conversation from her home in New Hampshire. "Warrior stories have been around forever, but with technology and the Internet, we're allowed to share in this experience and go on the journey with them."

Sgt. 1st Class Toby Nunn, 32, of Oakland is predominantly featured in the "Frontline" documentary "Bad Voodoo's War" (10 p.m. April 1, Channel 9). Nunn was chosen for the film because of his work on milblogs (www.mil blogging.com), but you can also go to his personal Web site and blog at www.tobynunn.com.

Read the entire story here.

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My longtime friend and military blogger CJ has been told to stop blogging.  Please visit his website and help him fight this.  Without your support it appears his military blog may finally go offline.

Personal Note: I’ve enjoyed CJ’s website for years and have always appreciated the hardwork he put into it.  Particularly, the web design and layout.  I think the way he is able to place: not 4! not 5! not 6! (wait for it) but 7 Amazon Book ads on the righthand side bar is amazing! That kinda web development doesn’t happen overnight folks.  And the number of web/blog awards he has won? I lost count after five.  Truly amazing.  I’m just not sure what the awards are but they must be important because they appear in different colors...and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes...I think the lettering on one of the Award banners is even misspelled...my favorite is the bagel-shaped award.

In all seriousness, CJ has a great website, and the loss of his military blog would have an impact on our community.

Here’s what CJ had to say in a recent post:

(ASP) I got the MFR (memorandum for record) on the reasons for why I have been told to stop blogging. Before I get started, let me state that I am no longer blogging. Instead, ASP is now an online eZine and write articles in a journalistic capacity.

Read more here.

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(Eagle Times) GOSHEN - Local filmmaker Deborah Scranton has once again brought the Iraq War home for viewers with "Bad Voodoo's War" premiering Tuesday at 9 p.m. on PBS.

"This film is more about the sit and wait game," Scranton said. "I want to bridge the disconnects."

Scranton's desire to tell the story of the war through the eyes of those experiencing it is best defined by platoon team leader Sgt. Jean-Paul Borda: "The media writes what is going to sell," Borda said. "They're a business, too. We're not a business. We're just writing what we're doing. We've got nothing to sell. We've got nothing to lose."

Read the entire story here.

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The film Bad Voodoo's War airs on April 1st.  Deborah Scranton and my Platoon Sergeant SFC Toby Nunn, have done an outstanding job telling the story of the Bad Voodoo soldiers.  I know for a fact, my family, friends, and several of my readers are excited to see what I finally do over here.  

It's always tough to explain my job.  Even after my last deployment to Afghanistan from 2004-2005, I had some short video clips, photos, and my blog to help illustrate my job as an Infantryman.  But man, having this film is way neater.  

As a military blogger, I don't share alot of what I experience as an Infantryman. I never have.  Not because of the so-called new restrictions on blogging or because of lack of support from my chain of command, on the contrary, the DoD guidelines on blogging have never prevented me from writing online, and I've always had great support from my leadership.  No, I choose not to write about things I do, because my family and friends read my blog, and I'm sensitive to their feelings.  Therefore I choose write about simple things, like Care Packages and other day-to-day experiences.

Now, with this film, my family and friends will know alot more about me.  More than I've ever shared. 

Personal Note:  I used to dress up my Mom's cats when I tried explaining to my kids what I did in Afghanistan and we would re-enact events in the kitchen.  Sweet, I know.   But I swear, cats are a pain in the ass to work with.  Take my Mom's oldest cat, 'Mr. Punky' for instance.  He didn't like being forced to wear DCUs.  Nor did he like having a rucksack strapped to his back or standing fire watch for 14-hours straight on the refrigerator.

Anyway, I think I only confused my kids more about what I did in Afghanistan.  Especially when 'Mr. Punky' in the middle of an Air Assault scene, would storm off set (the kitchen table) to go poopy in the kitty litter box.

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(Frontline) SGT J.P. Borda, SFC Toby Nunn and director Deborah Scranton tell the story of how a virtual friendship led to the making of Bad Voodoo's War, coming April 1 to PBS and http://www.pbs.org/frontline/badvoodoo/




Watch more videos here.

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(Danger Room) Deborah Scranton didn't have to go to war to shoot her latest documentary about Iraq. Instead, she gave hand-held, high-def cameras to soldiers in the Bad Voodoo platoon, and let them handle this "virtual embed" themselves. The result, Bad Voodoo's War, airs Tuesday night on PBS' Frontline.

Scranton first used the technique in 2006 in The War Tapes, which followed three soldiers from Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion of the 172nd Infantry Regiment during the rise of Anbar province's Sunni insurgency. Troops and critics almost universally agree it was the clearest, most honest window into the Iraq conflict ever recorded.

Read the entire story here.

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(Sound Politics) For publishing Captain Aaron Bert's blog, The Other War, describing his experiences in Afghanistan.  As I write, there are just two entries, but both are interesting.  

Read the entire story here.

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The blog I wrote announcing Bad Voodoo's War was re-posted over at The Sandbox by the very awesome David Stanford.  Deborah Scranton (who produced The War Tapes) even left a comment about my participation in the film over at The Sandbox.  And I quote:

"Staggeringly handsome, and geeky smart JP did an AMAZING job filming and of course without him -- the film never would have happened to begin with! His cameo appearances I'm sure will be savored by many...

Deborah Scranton
Director
BAD VOODOO'S WAR"

'Staggeringly handsome' is a bit much, but what the hell. Unfortunately, about all I can do to rid myself of this 'Handsome' curse is to wear a paper bag over my head.  I tried making something similar to cover up my biceps, but it turns out no one makes 80-inch paper bags to hold these fearsome guns.

Watch a video of the trailer below:

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(Danger Room) A couple weeks back I reported on the Coast Guard's new policy for official messages posted to the internet. The service was prohibiting its personnel from posting messages from senior officers unless they had been vetted by Coastie HQ. In light of all the bad press the Coast Guard was getting for its disastrous Deepwater modernization scheme, I read the new internet policy as a possible sign of a impending crack-down on Coastie bloggers.

Some of these bloggers disagreed. But then, last week, a Coast Guard civilian contractor was fired for his blogging.

Read the entire story here.

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It's been about a week since I've posted something of my own. I was expecting to blog sooner, but when I'm on mission, it's not easy to find time or access.  I got back safe yesterday only to find more Care Packages waiting for me.  I'm not returning home just yet, but soon, so therefore, I'm gonna have to ask everyone to stop sending me Care Packages.

I'm real depressed about this. I mean, leftover Valentine's Day candy?  Magazines published in the early nineties?  I'm not sure how I'm going to survive without.  Luckily I have twelve cases of mini Shampoo and Conditioner I received last week to get me by.   God, I feel loved.  And not because of the melted chocolate surprise I found at the bottom of my last care package. 

Although, it was easy to clean up the chocolately mess because there was a case of hand sanitizer left open in another Care Package.  All I had to do was jump up and down on top of the Care package (repeatedly) that had the hand sanitizer, and presto, the mess was all cleaned up.

You'd be surprised how useful alot of the Care Packages I receive truly are. Like the time I used a Humvee to run over a pile of Care Packages that contained flushable wipes and Crossword puzzles.  You know? To check the tire pressure. Duh.

I'll keep you updated on the final care packages I receive. It should be interesting.

Care Package Update # 1:  I just picked up another Care Package. Neato, this one seems to be ticking

Care Package Update # 2: I opened another package this morning and I must say, it's true ingenuity at its best.  Why not use bubble wrap or other packing material when you can just pour in a bunch of loose candy or garbage?  I must say, I admire your packing efforts.  I don't even have to read the enclosed card (that is glued shut by candy wrappers).   I know what it already says:

"This box was packed with love."

Care Package Update # 3:  Jesus, I just got a Care Package with "Word Finds", candy canes, and trinkets bought from a dollar store. And as a added bonus: there are even feminine hygeine products in the box. This pretty much tops my list of worst care packages, even beating out the letter I received from a third grader who wrote and asked, "How are you still alive?". And I'm not much of one for getting upset by what a third-grader writes, but I've been looking for a way to get back at the kid. Maybe I could write him back and tell him Santa Claus doesn't exist. And then, end the letter by calling him a "meanie".  Or a "poopy head".

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(NewsBlaze) Blake Powers (Laughing Wolf of Blackfive milblog) is a longtime donor to Soldiers' Angels, who then went to Iraq - twice - as an independent embedded reporter.

Blake talks about the changes he has seen in Iraq. He tells of meeting Iraqis who are grasping their future, helping themselves. He shares stories of walking in places where before nobody dare walk.

Read the entire story here.

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(MAIL CALL! Supporting the Troops) I came across a great round-up of what's out in the blogosphere about the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war from Lt. Nixon Rants:

Tuesdaze Bloggin' Roundup of Iraq (18 Mar)

and then (because my entire week has been a jumble, and so I'm behind on my milblog reading)  came across this post from Monday over at Milblogging.com

Milblogs in the News: Five years later: Iraq war goes online

which just cracked me up, because I've been reading milblogs for at least Four years now, and USA Today is just now apparently catching on that they're out there? Snort.

Read the entire story here.

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(VA Mortgage Center) In an ongoing series spotlighting military blogs maintained by female bloggers, the You Served staff recently sat down with Deb from YankeeMom.com to learn more about the woman behind the popular milblog. She generously took time out of her day to participate. Enjoy!

You Served: What led you to be a Military Blogger?

Yankee Mom: My daughter decided to enlist in the Army in her senior year of High School. I had been reading everything online I could about the military and the wars and through this online searching, discovered the milblogs.

Finding a military community online was a godsend because I was then living in a town that wasn’t very pro-military. I was prodded to start my own blog by some folks at the troop support organization I was involved in. I wasn’t so sure I was the blogger type, but then my daughter left for Basic and I was mostly alone in dealing with it.

I found little understanding with the people I knew in town. Blogging was a great outlet for my rollercoaster emotions and I also received so much support from other military family members and soldiers online.

Read the entire story here.

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(USA Today) BAGHDAD — The black-shrouded website opens with a soldier's silhouette and the pounding rhythm of Nine Inch Nails: "Into the fire you can send us," the words go. "From the fire we return."

This is the Unlikely Soldier's blog, where a young infantryman known as The Usual Suspect rants and shares his experiences in what soldiers call The Sandbox.

"One year ago," when his unit first arrived in Iraq, "we were nervous and excited and apprehensive. Ready to do this. Green as snot. I was all sorts of optimistic, thinking we were going to do great things and kick lots of ass, GI Joe hero type (expletive). That we could be cool with the people, and bring the hammer down on the baddies."

Then, every soldier's nightmare: "A low rumble shakes my Stryker (armored vehicle), and two of our guys are killed by an IED while they were dismounted.

"People emerged from their houses and cheered.”

This is the war in 2008 — coming to a computer near you.

Read the entire story here.

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