The Association for Military Journalists
By Mike Francis, The Oregonian
MRE member
While in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, Lawrence Booth of Hillsboro wired buildings at LSA Anaconda — known widely as “Mortaritaville” — and drove his crew’s Armored Security Vehicle through some dangerous parts of the country. He’s been shot at, had his truck blown up once by a roadside bomb and had his back damaged by the wear and tear of his deployment.
But in Oregon, he’s out of money and almost out of time. [Read more...]
By Mike Francis
The Oregonian and MRE board member
Of the 400,000 or so classified military documents that WikiLeaks released to the public this month is one that addresses a question that has been bothering some of us for six years. Why did higher-ups in the Army order a detachment of Oregon National Guard soldiers to turn around and leave an Iraqi government facility where Iraqi officials were beating and torturing a group of African immigrants? [Read more...]
Want to friend me, soldier? Sir, yes, sir.
It’s safe to say that when Tech Sgt. Nick Choy joined the military, there was no MOS called “Social media manager.” That just meant that he didn’t have to push anybody out of the way to become one.
Goodbye, and a memory of goodbye
Mike Francis
Click here to read the rest of the story at the OregonLive.com.
The headline hints at the problem: “Military misconduct may be a symptom of stress disorder, Navy doctor warns.” It says that when military personnel who have long functioned at a high level start behaving in uncharacteristically destructive ways and get in trouble, they run the risk of getting kicked out of the military medical system at the very time they most need attention for post-traumatic stress.
Mike Francis
