Changing the Guard
If you read Due Diligence with an actual browser - rather than an RSS aggregator - you'll know that the blogroll includes a section devoted to those serving our country overseas. With the rotation of units to and from Iraq and Afghanistan, there are some changes in order:
- Chief Wiggles, aka Paul Horton, is back with his family. He's the guy who used his blog to start Operation Give to donate toys to Iraqi kids, showing that citizens' media are good for more than stateside politicking, and earning a mention in a presidential speech along the way. In his real job of interrogator and debriefer, he may have been responsible for getting some of the 'good guy' senior Iraqis out of detention camps and back to work on our side. I want to keep up with the Chief's projects, so he's migrating up to 'Defense Spinoffs'.
- Army medic Jeremy Botter isn't quite out of the sandbox yet. He's in Kuwait helping wash down and reorganize his unit's transport, so is hopefully out of harm's way. (Funny how wargames never mention running a whole division's worth of gear through the carwash...)
- Jason von Steenwyk is helping prepare his Florida National Guard battalion to move out of Ar Ramadi down to Kuwait and into the carwash line. You know, Ramadi, as in the baddest part of the Sunni Triangle. A financial journalist in 'real life', his critiques of the media coverage of Iraq and the military in general have been wickedly on target.
Thank you all, gentlemen, for your service, and for taking the extra time and energy to let us know what it's like.
There's a new shift headed out, and the blogroll will be updated accordingly:
- Warren, writing as 'LZ Xray' at Iraqi Ground Truth is back in Iraqi, after already serving one rotation at the start of the war. He's in Civil Affairs, one of the places where the real outcome of the Iraqi campaign will be determined.
- Eric or 'Dagger Jag' is with the 1st Infantry, and is already in Kuwait gearing up to head north. That JAG, like the TV show but with much added grunge and boredom, I'm sure. He'll see a back story of the occupation that we won't get any other way.
- 'Sgt. Hook', a veteran milblogger has been getting his unit ready to deploy to Afghanistan. Just in time for the spring Omar and Osama hunting season.
Good luck, good hunting, come home safe. (Write when you get the chance.)
(And thanks to Smash and Greyhawk for keeping track of everyone out there.)