I should be working on something but I'm feeling a mix of anxious and powerless at the moment. The war in Iran is on day 10 of "shock and awe" and boots on the ground is all but inevitable at this point.
I found another interview I did that I had forgotten about until recently. Now I know it's "solider" I need to search for.
Fort Hood soliders breaking the silence in war in Iraq
If you're wondering why Casey and I don't have ranks, it's because I had been "written up" at this point and was accused of violating OPSEC. The evidence used against me was that I identified myself in a blog post by rank and MOS *insert jerkoff motion* My mentality was that I wasn't trying to get in trouble--I was gonna make the Army work for it--but I also didn't want Casey to get in trouble either. (You'll recall we had to register all blogs and websites with CENTCOM at the time)
Selena, on the other hand, didn't give a fuuuuuh.
After this interview, Casey deployed for a second time, Selena actually made it to E7 and retired just a few years ago, and I was offered an honorable discharge by my commanding general.
So yeah! I think my experiences were fairly unique and I'm both up and down to answer what have you.
PS. In another comment, I said the GI Rights Hotline was legit when I used it. I have to backtrack that. I never actually called the hotline, I met the people who answer the hotline organically. No, not everyone who answers the line is a lawyer. Yes, they have lawyers on staff. No, it's not an "easy out." There used to be an "easy out" option that was Other Than Honorable, but you really had to thread the needle and the Army locked it up once they realized the secret was out.
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