.Master Sgt Blogging from Afghanistan
CJ Grisham’s blog which has been online since 2004 is sporting a fresh, new look.
But there’s a lot more than just a new look. CJ, a Master Sgt. in the U.S. Army will also be blogging for an entire year from the frontlines of Afghanistan on A Soldier’s Perspective, a popular military blog that nearly shutdown two years ago after a dispute involving CJ and his children's school PTA made the blog more trouble to operate.
CJ eventually sold the rights and web address for his blog to Cat5 Commerce, an online retailer that focuses on the military and owns properties like BDU.com and Tactical.com, in an attempt to keep the blog running under new ownership.
The deployment to Afghanistan isn’t CJ’s first combat deployment.
In 2002/2003, CJ served in Iraq, but due to an injury sustained during an artillery strike outside As Samawah, he hadn’t been back into combat physically since late 2003.
This past week he wrote about his blogging intentions:
I want my readers to understand what life is like in a combat zone, especially after ten years. Some of it will be mundane, but will answer the simple questions I think a lot of people wonder about. What are the rooms like? How do Soldiers get fed and is the food good? What is a typical day like? How does mail work? Showers? Laundry? Etc.
Obviously, I’m not going to get specific on schedules or get anywhere violating OPSEC. I will voluntarily run any blogposts that could even be misconstrued as sensitive through a third part, objective source like a commander or a more Senior NCO. But, I know what I can and can’t, should and shouldn’t talk about.
Yesterday, CJ wrote about his decision to deploy again, a question often asked of the men and women who voluntarily go into harm’s way.
In all honestly, I could have stayed home and remained safe until I retired. I could have easily never seen another day in a combat zone due to that injury. While preparing for this deployment to Afghanistan, I was given a medically non-deployable status during Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP).
I feel like I’ve sat on the sidelines too long, though I couldn’t really help it.
People often ask me why I WANT to go back. It’s a valid question. Why would anyone WANT to put themselves in harm’s way? Even better, why would anyone WANT to put their families through that?
The answer to the first question is easy: I’m a Soldier. I want to do my part.
The second question isn’t so hard to answer.
There's much more to his answer, so please pay a visit to his blog to learn more.
CJ is a very candid writer with a great sense of humor.
The result will be an insightful view of Afghanistan for the next year from a Soldier’s Perspective.
Milblogging
But there’s a lot more than just a new look. CJ, a Master Sgt. in the U.S. Army will also be blogging for an entire year from the frontlines of Afghanistan on A Soldier’s Perspective, a popular military blog that nearly shutdown two years ago after a dispute involving CJ and his children's school PTA made the blog more trouble to operate.
CJ eventually sold the rights and web address for his blog to Cat5 Commerce, an online retailer that focuses on the military and owns properties like BDU.com and Tactical.com, in an attempt to keep the blog running under new ownership.
The deployment to Afghanistan isn’t CJ’s first combat deployment.
In 2002/2003, CJ served in Iraq, but due to an injury sustained during an artillery strike outside As Samawah, he hadn’t been back into combat physically since late 2003.
This past week he wrote about his blogging intentions:
I want my readers to understand what life is like in a combat zone, especially after ten years. Some of it will be mundane, but will answer the simple questions I think a lot of people wonder about. What are the rooms like? How do Soldiers get fed and is the food good? What is a typical day like? How does mail work? Showers? Laundry? Etc.
Obviously, I’m not going to get specific on schedules or get anywhere violating OPSEC. I will voluntarily run any blogposts that could even be misconstrued as sensitive through a third part, objective source like a commander or a more Senior NCO. But, I know what I can and can’t, should and shouldn’t talk about.
Yesterday, CJ wrote about his decision to deploy again, a question often asked of the men and women who voluntarily go into harm’s way.
In all honestly, I could have stayed home and remained safe until I retired. I could have easily never seen another day in a combat zone due to that injury. While preparing for this deployment to Afghanistan, I was given a medically non-deployable status during Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP).
I feel like I’ve sat on the sidelines too long, though I couldn’t really help it.
People often ask me why I WANT to go back. It’s a valid question. Why would anyone WANT to put themselves in harm’s way? Even better, why would anyone WANT to put their families through that?
The answer to the first question is easy: I’m a Soldier. I want to do my part.
The second question isn’t so hard to answer.
There's much more to his answer, so please pay a visit to his blog to learn more.
CJ is a very candid writer with a great sense of humor.
The result will be an insightful view of Afghanistan for the next year from a Soldier’s Perspective.
Milblogging
posted by madtom at 7:25 PM
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