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.

YS: Do you feel that being a female Military Bloggers adds a unique
perspective to your blog? If yes, how so?
YM: As far as being female actually meaning “Military Mom” in my case.

I know that reading other Soldiers Moms’ blogs has really helped me in adjusting to having a soldier daughter. It’s important to connect with others who are going through the same thing. Having a child in the military during war is something few non-military people can understand.

YS: What impact has your blog had on you and those who are part of your
blogging community?
YM: I have gained so much from having a blog. I have been able to connect with many, many wonderful people I would never had the chance to meet otherwise. It has opened up a whole new world of information and support. I’m much more aware of what’s happening in the country and world and how it affects me and mine. And it’s allowed me to be more proactive as a citizen.

I hope that I have been able to help others in the same way.

YS: What is the best part about being a MilBlogger?
YM: The best part is the getting to know other bloggers and the people who come by my blog and leave comments. The support network is outstanding, whether it’s for me, my daughter or one of my adopted soldiers. The other best thing is it’s an outlet for my emotions. My husband appreciates me blogging so he doesn’t have to listen to my rantings all the time.

YS: What advice would you give to a woman who wants to start her own MilBlog?
YM: DO IT!! And don’t hesitate to ask other bloggers for advice or help. We love to help other voices get out there.

The crazies in Berkeley haven’t given up and have done everything they can to actually obey an ordnance issued by the city council: to disrupt the Marine recruiting effort. How do they do this?

Throughout the week, the curb in front of the recruiting offices becomes a venue for a variety of efforts to disrupt the recruiting and, ultimately, to drive the marines out of Berkeley. Protest singing, dancing, Tai Chi, yoga, breastfeeding mothers, kiss-ins, and photographic portraits for peace are some of the motley tactics Code Pink uses to keep the action lively. Guerrilla theater actions included a symbolic street cleansing (to wash the marines right out of Berkeley and the blood off residents’ hands), and a New Year’s Day dumping of manure outside the recruiting center.

Whoa!! Hold up!! Did I see “breastfeeding” as a tactic to harass Marines? If anything, I may just have to change services and head to the recruiting office myself to show my, um, support!! No, wait. Who wants to see an oily, unbathed, fat, sagging, breastfeeding hippie wearing pink anyway? It might work after all.

I’ve written before about the role of K-9’s before in Iraq. I wanted to share this wonderfully written piece by Tina Susman of the Los Angeles Times:

Staff Sgt. Iron quakes with fear at the sound of explosions. He brawls with other soldiers. He whines when he doesn’t get his way and slows others down when he stops to relieve himself during patrols through hostile territory.

But nobody complains, because when it’s time to enter a building that might be rigged to explode, or cross a pasture that could conceal a minefield, Iron is at the front of the line, making sure it’s safe for those who follow.

If it’s not, Iron will bear the brunt of the blast, along with his best friend, Sgt. Joshua T. Rose, who ranks one level below him. It’s an honor Iron enjoys for the dangerous job he does. It also ensures that charges could be filed against Rose in the unlikely event he ever mistreated Iron — an 80-pound German shepherd.

It’s a great piece that I encourage you to read.

I do not think so. It has not happened in the past few years and it surely is not happening now. On Sunday, the New York Slime published an op-ed piece by seven members of the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Buddika Jayamaha, Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, Edward Sandmeier, Yance T. Gray and Jeremy A. Murphy):

To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day.

All these Soldiers are Staff Sergeants and below in the infantry and EOD fields. Based off their AKO accounts, they appear to be in the same unit, perhaps even the same squad. That is not a problem. These Soldiers have earned their opinion, narrow as it may be. However, it fits the media’s agenda and was, therefore, published in a prominent newspaper and spread throughout the land and blogosphere. It does not end there.

Seven other Soldiers, David Bellavia, Pete Hegseth, Michael Baumann, Carl Hartmann, David Thul, Knox Nunnally, and Joe Worley, wrote a response to the previous seven and submitted it to the New York Slime as well.

Currently, American and Iraqi Forces are clearing sections of southern Baghdad before turning north to the 82nd Airborne’s neighborhoods. As such, the portrait these soldiers painted, while surely accurate and honest, is more representative of pre-surge Baghdad: sectarian strife, lawlessness, and indiscriminate slaughter.

The result? Attacks against civilians are at a six-month low and large al Qaeda-style truck and suicide bombings have dropped 50 percent in Baghdad. With additional troops and a sound strategy, the same results can occur in even the worst areas of Baghdad, including the 82nd Airborne’s sector.

The Soldiers went on to mention the other successes in Iraq while maintaining respect for those they disagree with. You may ask yourself when the New York Slime printed this version of “The War As We Saw It”. It wasn’t printed in the Slime. Instead, it was printed at The Daily Standard:

This Op-Ed was originally submitted to the New York Times, which declined to publish it.

Biased? Naw…….. Keep in mind that David Bellavia was recommended for the Medal of Honor. He has received the Silver Star and Bronze Star with “V” device. This is no chickenhawk Soldier!

I started the process of working through a loan with VAMC. So far, the process is quite simple. I left my information on the site and got a phone call from one of the case workers, Nate. He called me and asked for a little more information about my financial history like all good mortgage companies do. When we get to Alabama, we’ll be buying a home and try to avoid military housing.

I told him about my two 150-foot yachts, vacation home in Sweden, gold plated H2 Hummer and my side income working the streets of DC. Okay, I really don’t have any of that, but with all my debt you’d think I do. My theory of “I’ve got money as long as I’ve got checks” doesn’t seem to work. It’s also not true that you can get a new credit to pay off an old credit card and just keep doing that (eventually they find out).

Now that I’ve got your attention with the absurdities of the previous paragraph, I’ll tell you that the process is quite simple. Naturally, the first step is that you have to qualify for a VA loan. To do that, you have to be a….veteran. That is something that we would normally take for granted, but in today’s economic environment this benefit becomes even more important to us. Most people are having issues getting home loans, but veterans are practically guaranteed VA loans. Not only that, but we aren’t required to pay a down payment (though it’s a good idea to put SOMETHING down when purchasing a home).

So, after only about 10 minutes on the phone, Nate will plug my information into the computer (I called him after hours, so I didn’t get an instant reply like most people will get) and get with me first thing in the morning. He will take the information to the lenders and come back with a pre-approved figure (which I won’t be sharing). It shouldn’t be hard since I’m not looking for a $500,000 home, even though the VA backs up to $416,000 (more for high cost areas).

As for Nate himself, he was a very courteous man. Even when I told him that half my brain was repossessed and i would be selling my kids in Mexico for extra income next year, he remained calm. He’s also got a new 6-week old child, so he’s busy. Congratulations Nate!! (when they’re older, I can hook you up with a good coyote who specializing in child commerce)

Okay, for those who don’t me, I’M KIDDING!! Lighten up and go watch a good dogfight or something.

I know that you’re never too old to go back to school, but I wonder sometimes if my brain can take anymore. I’m living in a Windows Vista world with a Apple IIe brain!! The First Sergeant Course is broken into two phases, I and II. Phase I is a self-paced online study program that must be completed prior to attending the Phase II resident course at the Academy.

Phase I is comprised of about 30 separate subjects that are individually quizzed and studied on my time. The problem I’m having is concentration. There may be a number of reasons for this: 1) The stuff seems so “duh” to me that I can’t get interested; 2) I have too much going on around me to focus; 3) I’m so busy during the day that I’m just too worn out when I have time to sit down and read or study; and 4) I’m just too dumb to learn new things - my brain is just too full and I need to dump something to make room for the new information.

Now, with that said, I’m not going to pretend to be humble on this point. I know that I’m a pretty smart guy and I can do this. I just need to apply myself. In typical fashion, as the deadline gets closer to when I have to finish the Phase I’ll get more stressed which will motivate me more. I work well under stress!! Thankfully, I’m in a position where I can knock out a lot in the next few days. My evenings are mostly free and I don’t have a car where I’m at. There’s nothing to do BUT study. I’ve already finished quite a bit of it. To be fair, even the common sense stuff is teaching me a little. Or, at least, reminding me of things that I may have forgotten or need to have refreshed.

For Phase II, I will have to go TDY away from home again for a few weeks. The purpose of the course to help us learn how to manage a company size element. Companies in the Army range anywhere from about 30 people to over 100, depending on the type of company. The course will teach me to become an old man who scowls at everyone and drives a Buick. I’ll also learn different techniques to demand push-ups: “DROP” “BEAT YOUR FACE” “HOLD THE SIDEWALK DOWN” etc.

But more importantly, I’ll get to take care of Soldiers again. I realize that along with that comes the frustration of Soldiers who just don’t get it and I have to assist with UCMJ actions, but I like to think that good leadership can prevent 95% of that. Maybe I’m naive since I’ve had Soldiers go AWOL after sitting down with them for hours trying to help past their drug problems and/or showing up late to formation too often.

Anyway, we’ve been looking at a lot of homes again and I’ve also contacted the VAMC to see what they’re all about with regards to helping with a VA loan for our home. As that progresses, I’ll be letting you all know what is involved with the process. Since I’m a VA home loan moron, maybe we’ll all learn something through the process and I can help my hosts with a little more credibility (not that they don’t have any - or that I have any!!). My wife and I have honed in on three homes and I just hope they’re still available when we arrive in a few weeks (no, I’m not going to be specific).

Going through all my grandfather’s paperwork, I came across an interview he did with the Reichelt Oral History Program at Florida State University. Instead of writing the last post on this topic like I mentioned before, I’m going to sort of backtrack and fill in some pretty cool holes that I found. This personal interview helped me get a little more into his head and see some of the peripheral things going on at the time.

My grandfather, James A. Stuthers, Sr., was born on July 20, 1925 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had great parents - his mother was of German descent. After the war, he would realize that he was actually bombing some of his own forefathers and relatives that were still living in Leipzig, Germany. In April 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. In order to sign up so early, he had to obtain his father’s signature and get their permission. He didn’t actually enter service until after high school in October of the same year. There was a lot of talk about joining the military at the time and the fact that his friends were joining only heightened his desire to join. He initially wanted to become an officer and join the Air Cadets, but washed out of the Nashville tryouts after ending basic training.

He went to basic training in Greensboro, North Carolina where he spent ten or eleven weeks. He wanted to be a pilot. They weren’t supposed to tell him why he failed out of the Air Cadet program, but his math scores were low, which prevented him from becoming a pilot, navigator or bombardier. He ended up going to Lowrey Field armorer school to become an armorer-gunner. At the school, he would learn everything about bombs and how to load the bombs on airplanes and how to wire them. The school was three months long and from there he was sent to gunnery school at Fort Myers, Florida. There are worse places to get trained!!

While he was in school, WWII was being waged across the globe. When asked if he was worried about what was going on in Europe at the time, he responded: “A lot of us were afraid that we weren’t going to get over in time to even fly any missions, you know, towards the end.” After training, they were sent to meet up with their crew at Westover Field, Massachusetts and to obtain their crew training and certifications.

One of the reasons he was worried he wouldn’t make it over to Europe was that they were having “very, very bad experiences.” Before he got to Europe, he was trained to crew a B-24. The B-24s weren’t exactly the darlings of the Air Force at the time. On one particular day, he was coming in from a training flight over Cuba. It was sometime between 1800 and 1900. His crew was following a plane in to land at Chatham Field (now Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport) and the plane he was following exploded right in front of him. He was waved around and had to circle for the better part of an hour while they cleaned up the wreckage. His friend Al Tochman and crew were killed. They shared the same barracks together. Each barracks held four crews - 24 enlisted men. Six of those men died that day. A few weeks later, another crew that was with in the barracks blew up. If that wasn’t enough to spook my grandfather, the following is. The first crew to blow up was crew #297. The second crew was crew #298. My grandfather was in crew #299!! All bad things happens in threes and they all knew this. Was it coincidence that they were blowing up in sequential order? They were all afraid, but got away, finished their training, and later found out that a third crew had blown up on the base shortly after they left. Three crews killed before ever seeing combat within the span of a few months.

It does not matter if they are in Iraq, Afghanistan, Horn of Africa, Bosnia or wherever, but embedded journalists are capturing the real essence of the wartime experience for all to see. Some of them are employees of large media outlets like the AP or Cox Publishing, others are freelance journalists like Scott Kesterson or Michael Yon.

It is not the MainStream Media (MSM) that is capturing anything close to the real life of living in war 24/7. Not because they can’t but because there is only so much you can show in a 60 second news blip and when there is so much focus on Nielsen ratings from the MSM they are only going to show what they think brings ratings.

The small time film makers that are operating in combat zones for long periods of time capture everything 24/7 and 360 degrees. Scott Kesterson is one such guy. He is a good friend of mine who I got very close to in Afghanistan and is currently working on the editing of his documentary at http://www.forgottenwarfilm.com/. I talked to Scott not to long ago and he was working hard on the reviewing and editing of hundreds, if not thousands of hours of footage. Michael Yon is an ex-Green Beret that has been over in Iraq for a long time blogging and writing stories as a freelance, but is frequently picked up by Fox News for his stories. You can check out his site and blog at http://www.michaelyon-online.com/. Another group of guys have recently released their video from Iraq. It has been said that this film is a war story like none you have ever seen. The title is “This is War, memories of Iraq” and can be found at http://www.luckyforwardfilms.com/. I just ordered this video, but have not had a chance to see it yet. From the trailer I saw on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOGqlyJCm-o I think it is going to be a very good one. A majority of the film is focused on 2/162 Inf from the OR NG. In 2004-2005, one of my platoons was attached to this Battalion for the entire year, and it was with this Battalion that I lost my very first soldier to combat. I have lost friends of mine in the Army to combat but he was the first one that was one of mine, and he was not the last. So I am partial to this movie and have a connection to it, hence why I ordered it as soon as I stumbled across it.

The point of this entry is really to emphasize the fact that if you want the real story on what is happening in any war or combat action around the world, you need to find the websites, books, or movies being produced by the low-budget, low-overhead, embedded reporters. They will be the ones to give you bare-knuckle, in your face, no bullshit glimpse into what life is like every day for those that truly serve.

**NOTE, Troy is a 1SG in the New York Army National Guard and writes several blogs on his website at http://www.bouhammer.com**

The what Act?! That’s what I’m saying. Is there some other law in effect I don’t know about called the “Ensuring All Bills Are Rhythmically Named And Excessively Long and Redundant Naming Act”? This act is a piece of work too. It just passed the House, narrowly, with a 229-194 vote margin. And what does it do for us?

The law would require the services to guarantee troops as much time at home as they spend deployed. While this sounds all wonderful and hunky dory, I have to admit I’m opposed to it. As a Soldier, I think I can express my opposition to a bill meant to help me and my family out. As someone who has deployed and will do so again, I also feel qualified to feel this way. I also realize I’m not going to get a lot of support for my way of thinking on this.

You may recall that I wrote about my grandfather’s time in WWII as a gunner and togglier in a B-17. Back in WWII, and later in Vietnam, there was no such thing as this “stability and predictability” crap. What’s so predictable about the enemy? If they were predictable, we’d be done by now. I’m offended that politicians who haven’t served a day in uniform think that I’m not strong enough to handle a deployments to a combat zone. Have our Soldiers become so weak and whiny that we now need Congress to tell us how much combat is too much? I thought we were Army Strong? The Few and the Proud? Aiming High? and Full Speed Ahead? (forgive me if some of those slogans are out of date. You get my meaning).

Thankfully, the President has threatened to veto such a bill and he should. It’s not the right thing for our military, though I’m sure many family members would disagree with me. We’ve already softened up our fighters with PC basic training, the abolition of uniform standards, the watering down of our NCO Corps (in the Army) by promoting without leadership school, etc. Now, we’re going to be coddled with our deployments. I wonder if Al Qaeda has the same policy of pulling their fighters out and giving them downtime for each day spent in combat. Probably not since they usually get killed or blow themselves up before they get the chance.

The other problem is Congress is attempting to take away the power from the Commander in Chief and his officers to decide deployment schedules. National Guard members would be required to have three times as much time home as they are deployed. By law, it would impose specific deployment timelines and homestation dwell time. That’s not Congress’s job to manage. We have Generals who are grossly overpampered to make those decisions.

What happens if during a particular unit’s dwell time at home station, another emergency flares up and those troops are needed? Are we breaking the law if we use them? Do we just ignore the emergency since the law is quite clear about when a Soldier can deploy? Some on the Hill think it’s in our best interests because “our troops and their families are tired.” Hell, yeah, we’re tired, but that doesn’t mean we want to give up. Al Qaeda’s a lot more tired than we are and I kinda like it that way. Our exhaustion means that Americans get to be lazy and continue about their lives as if nothing is going on to ensure that their way of life isn’t altered the least bit. We Soldier on so that Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan can safely put others in danger with their bad driving. It’s important that we remain free.

One can tell that Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., has never served in the military nor does she any knowledge of how we work. “The Bush administration’s current strategy of multiple back-to-back deployments has stretched our military and is breaking our all-volunteer force,” she said. President Bush doesn’t decide who deploys, who doesn’t, and who does multiple back-to-back deployments. That’s the job of each individual service. If President Bush or Secretary Gates is the one deciding that the Marines deploy for nine months while the Army deploys for 15, I’m throwing up the BS flag!! But they DON’T!! The service Generals do!!

If I sound cynical and frustrated, I am. There are better things that Congress needs to be focusing on than how long my deployment is. How about fixing the tax code? Is Social Security already fixed? How about a bill to eliminate all the absurd toll roads on PUBLIC INTERSTATES here in the northeast!? I’m sure the border could use a lot more attention!! Come on, Congress! Get it together. Let us do our job or lace up your boots and get out here and do it for us.

Transfers in the military can be a pain the behind sometimes. As I wrote earlier, I was supposed to be taking a First Sergeant position at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. My wife and I had found a realtor and were actively looking at homes to buy. I would say were just a number of days from starting the paperwork to purchase one.

Then came yesterday. I went to Walter Reed to take some donated books, letters, cards, and other items to the wounded Soldiers. A friend and reader from my other blog came down as well to spread some happiness. She brought some homemade cookies, short bread, and banana bread. She also brought some “Insulting Parrots”, little parrots that say about four or five rude phrases (phrases I can’t repeat or even censor here).

We first went to the Mologne House where Soldier who are recuperating stay. It’s comparable to a hotel in design and function. If it weren’t at Walter Reed, it WOULD be a hotel, I’m sure. In the lobby of the House, there is a table where people can place donated items. I spread out the books and Leslie left some of her baked goods. Almost immediately a few wounded warriors were checking out the bounty on their way in or out. They’re very shy about taking anything, but love to see what people are so gracious to donate. I told Leslie not to leave it all there since we’d be going to a few more places on the hospital grounds.

After Mologne House, we went to Fisher House. We met two families that lived in Fisher House 2 not far from the Mologne House. We sat and met with the wives, Sarah and Susan, of two Soldiers who had been injured in Iraq. For about an hour we just sat and talked with them about whatever came to mind. Both were younger than 25 years old - mere kids themselves. But these two young ladies were in high spirits and thankful to still have their husbands. Before leaving, I made appointments to come back and have a Guitar Hero II bash at the house with all the families.

After leaving Fisher House, I decided to take Leslie and her son to Ward 57 to give out the remainder of the goodies we brought. We arranged to meet with any of the Soldiers willing to see us (none declined). We slowly entered each room and explained who we were and why we were there. For those that don’t know, Ward 57 of Walter Reed is home to the Orthopedics wing. Almost every Soldier in there has lost or may lose at least one limb. Even though some were obviously sedated to deal with the extreme pain they’ve been put in, each made a concerted effort to acknowledge our efforts. We handed out the goodies and our hearts were warmed by the smiles that lightened their faces. They were humble too, afraid of openly accepting anything. Soldiers don’t ask for much. A little food. A place to sleep at night. And money to raise a family. When we’re injured, we just want to be kept alive. Anything beyond that is excessive and unnecessary.

Oddly enough, the point of this post wasn’t to highlight what we did or solicit a pat on the back. Here comes the point…

I was told point blank that my next assignment would be a First Sergeant position in Alabama. We looked at homes in the area. We researched the best schools. I even called the individual I’d be replacing and my new commander. After I left Walter Reed for the day, I got a phone call on the way home. I didn’t get the job after all!! Something got messed up and they thought I had the position, but they were wrong. I needed to pick my next follow on assignment.

“What are my options?” I asked. “Korea, Alaska, and Germany.” Great! My wife has been pretty clear that she doesn’t want to go overseas. I’ve been pretty clear that in the Army, it’s unavoidable at some point. I’ve been lucky that my only overseas assignments have been deployments. Thankfully, the assignment in Korea is also a First Sergeant position so I had them slot me with that one.

I’m not going to get all excited again. I knew better before and went against my better judgment. Experience has taught me never to count on anything until you have it writing. Then, only give it 50% of a chance. When I graduated from AIT, I was on orders to San Antonio as my first duty assignment. Literally as I was outprocessing, I was told that I’d been “diverted” to Fort Irwin, CA - the middle of nowhere. We had an apartment laid on and everything in San Antonio. We had to jump through hoops to plan for the news. I thought I had learned my lesson, but I guess I was wrong.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not angry, depressed, or demotivated about this.  Just using the forum to express some slight discomfort and frustration - something you get used to in the Army.

Another downside is that I was actually going to use VAMC to get the loan to pay for my home. I was going to blog about the process so that others would understand how the “other side” the site works. Depending on where my family stays while I’m deployed, there may still be a chance. You’ll just have to keep checking back to find out what’s next for us.