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A Soldier’s Perspective

From Cpl M: I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08 back in February. My overall duties haven’t changed much, but it has given a new perspective on the Corps. I plan on elaborating on that during my time here on VA Joe as a guest blogger.

Q & A With Cpl M

Question: What are three things your readers probably do not know about you?

Wow. Good question.

1. Well, a few of my readers know this one, but not many. I was an honor graduate and was offered a great scholarship for college that I gave up in favor of joining the Marine Corps. I grew up in Arkansas and graduated from high school there, but my first three years of high school were spent in a suburb of Atlanta.
2. I’m very proud of my little brother. He has overcome great obstacles in his life, and he is now attending college majoring in English Education. The kid has a talent for writing like none other I’ve ever seen.
3. Um. I’m really racking my brain for this last one, but the only thing I can come up with is that I’m a lefty. It makes shooting rifles, pistols, and shotguns rather interesting since a big majority of the Corps is right handed. I end up having to learn a lot of things backwards.

Question: How long have you been blogging and why did you get into blogging?

I’ve been blogging for two and a half years. I started out as a political commentator and was able to work up a pretty good following before I went on a guard duty and stopped blogging. I joined CJ on ASP after coming off the guard duty. I was already looking at converting my political blog into a MilBlog at that point and joining ASP seemed like the best option.

Question: What is your military experience?

My military experience is rather boring compared to a lot of other guys in the Corps these days. I’ve spent my entire career thus far in beautiful Camp Lejeune. I was an admin guy by training, but I was moved to the computer section to maintain the consolidated admin center’s assets since I was very tech savy. I reenlisted in 2006 and became a Career Retention Specialist. I am the guy everyone goes through when they want to go on any type of special duty assignment or want to reenlist. It’s a pretty rewarding job so far and I’m really enjoying it.

Question: What are some of your other favorite Milblogs?

Some of the other MilBlogs I really enjoy are some that a lot of people may not be aware of. In no particular order I have a couple of Marine Combat Artists that I read. Fire and Ice (http://mdfay.blogspot.com) and Sketchpad Warrior (http://kjbattles.blogspot.com/). There is also a Marine with History Division that is a great writer. He is Marine Historian (http://marinehistorian.blogspot.com). Some of the more well known MilBloggers I like are SandGram (http://sandgram.blogspot.com/) and One Marine’s View (http://www.onemarinesview.com/).

Question: What has been the biggest factor in helping you create and publish a successful blog?

I have CJ to thank for creating A Soldier’s Perspective. I joined him after he had a great base of readers. Those readers accepted me pretty much right off the bat. I think all of us at ASP maintain a pretty good blog because we write how we feel, we try to keep things as civil as we can, and we reach out to our readers and include them in a big portion of our online lives.

Question: Do you have anything else you would like us to mention about you, your blog, or your readers?

I would like to mention that all of the support for the troops coming from Americans, especially those who are regular MilBlog readers, is awe inspiring. I have never met a bigger group of people who care so passionately about those who serve in the military. I want to tell them all thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything they do!

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