As the war in Iraq continues, it is becoming more and more difficult to understand the roots of the violence.
For many of us in the United States, understanding Muslim religion and culture can be very difficult.
This week, National Public Radio is looking into the differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims. The series is called The Partisans of Ali, and is definitely interesting reading.
This report comes from News 3’s Heather Jensen…
The cookie wrap session was made possible by God Bless Fort Benning.
To learn more about the organization, upcoming events, or how you can help, log on the God Bless Fort Benning website.
I went into this trip with expectations. Some were met. Others were not.
When we first pulled up to the gate of a FOB on our first night, a shadow rose up on top of a sand dune, with a gun in our direction. I remember thinking “Whoa...I guess it’s on!” By the end of the trip though, I had seen so many guns they almost looked like movie props. This is because during our entire trip, I did not see a single gun fire. I often heard them in the distance, but never witnessed one fire.
This was kind of a bummer. I envisioned fire fights. In my head I saw tanks firing massive blasts across the desert. I was hoping to see an explosion or two.
As it turns out though, those things aren’t positives at the National Training Center. I explained my disappointment to a soldier and he explained it like this:
“If a situation is handled without a gun firing, then we’re doing our job right.”
And looking back at the sticky situations I observed during their training, I can say that they did a heck of a job. Protests, suicide bombers, gate attacks and sketchy encounters with mystery vehicles were handled with a great deal of care and skill.
The living conditions were better than I had expected. I thought I would physically be in a great deal of discomfort. Granted, I wasn’t on gate watch all night with three hours of sleep, or carrying pounds and pounds of gear on my person, but I expected to be tired all the time...and as explained in previous blog posts...smelly.
The true discomfort came in the form of just missing home. I was only out there for a week and I was home sick. I missed my friends and family. Even simple things like my couch or driving my car around Columbus...or just sitting under a tree! I’ve always thought soldiers had it rough and I’m not saying I had it just as bad while I was out there, but just a taste of what they go through was enough to know they have something in them I wish I could say I had.
The best part was chow time. Meals always led to joking around, quoting movies or just listening to their stories, many of which were hysterical.
I enjoyed being more involved in our coverage and not just “the eye behind the camera.” Being able to express some of what I felt here online was great. I hope my posts were a good read for those of you that were keeping up with the HammerSlogger.
So, I learned a lot. A lot of military jargon. A lot of military culture. And most importantly, a greater respect for what these men and women do with their lives.
So we just left the COB, and we’re in the Public Affairs Office where we have and amazing internet connection.
I took some quick snapshots of the soldiers before we left and here they are!
