2 Iowa Soldiers Killed, 3 Injured in Syria Ambush Dec. 13, 2025

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Coalition troops with Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) provide security for a multinational diplomatic delegation, including French air force Brig. Gen. François Tricot, CJ9 director with CJTF-OIR, as they prepare to depart Al-Hol camp amid low light and dust during sunset in northeast Syria, Oct. 14, 2025. The visit was part of ongoing global coalition efforts to raise awareness among countries with citizens in Al-Hol camp, which houses a population displaced by ISIS, and communicate these conditions to national authorities, while underscoring the camp’s humanitarian and security challenges, the continued need for funding, coordinated action, and support for repatriation and returns. French air force photo by 2nd Lt. Lena Adam

Leaders at the Iowa National Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division (2-34th BCT) currently deployed to Southwest Asia cancelled a planned public “town-hall” videoconference via Facebook with just 4 hours before its scheduled 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time launch Sat., Dec. 13, 2025.

Hours later, Iowa government officials confirmed international news reports that two Iowa citizen-soldiers and one U.S. civilian—an interpreter assisting the Iowans—had been killed in an enemy attack in Syria Sat., Dec. 13, 2025. (Syria is 8-hours ahead of Central Daylight Time.) Three additional Iowa soldiers were wounded, and evacuated for medical treatment.

The incident reportedly occurred when a single gunman attacked during a Key-Leader Engagement (KLE) meeting either conducted or protected by the Iowa soldiers.

Coincidentally and heart-breakingly, December 13 is also the traditional birthday of the U.S. National Guard, complete with cake-cutting ceremonies.

The 2-34th BCT is currently deployed throughout Syria, Iraq and Kuwait at a strength of 1,800 soldiers, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. As part of those missions, units of the 2-34th BCT’s 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment (1-113rd Cav.) and others are operating within Syria. The Red Bull units reportedly account for 250 of approximately 900 U.S. troops currently in that country. The U.S. troop presence in Syria has reduced from about 2,000 since January 2025.

The 2-34th BCT town hall cancellation read:

“Due to the ever-changing environment, we will not be able to host our planned Facebook Live Town Hall at this time.

We truly appreciate your understanding and patience. Please know that we are working to reschedule and will be sharing an update very soon.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to connecting with you soon.”

During overseas deployments, it is common practice for military units to “go dark” or “River City”—to shut off all public-facing communications for a day or two, so that immediate family members of killed or wounded soldiers can be officially and privately notified. The practice prioritizes face-to-face communications and direct presence of family-support personnel at time of notification.

Official announcements of names of those killed or injured comes later, or at the direction or action of the deceased’s family. Until then, everything else is rumor or gossip. 

(UPDATE: At approximately 11 a.m. Sun., December 14, Jeffrey Bunn announced via Facebook that his son Sgt. William “Nate” Howard was one of the two Iowa soldiers killed: https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-army-national-guard-soldiers-killed-nate-howard-identified-by-family/69720484)

In a December 13 press release, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds indicated soldiers’ names would be withheld until 24 hours following next-of-kin notifications—a time estimated to be 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time, Sun., Dec. 14, 2025. Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of Iowa, was quoted in the governor’s press release. There was apparently no separate Iowa National Guard press release.

In news reports, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated the attack had been conducted by ISIS, and promised retaliation. The New York Times reports, however, that “The Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, the first killing of Americans in Syria since [former president] Mr. al-Assad was overthrown. The Syrian government has also not said who was behind the killings, even after Mr. Trump’s statement blaming ISIS, and said it had warned American counterparts about potential ISIS attacks on U.S. forces.”

A useful, detailed and non-paywalled Dec. 14, 2025 Associated Press backgrounder regarding U.S. military deployments to Syria is here at this link.

Spooky New ‘Red Bull’ Poem at Rawhead Journal!

A new poem by Global War on Terror (GWOT) writer and U.S. Army veteran Randy “Sherpa” Brown, author of the award-winning 2015 poetry collection “Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire,” is newly featured in the debut special issue of the literary journal “Rawhead.”

Brown’s poem is titled “at the Motel Mehtar Lam,” and can be accessed FREE on-line.

The on-line journal “Rawhead,’ write the editors, takes its name from “one of many folkloric bogeymen used to frighten children into obedience. In our numerous and varied myths, monsters emerge from cultural shadows, not only as instruments of fear or control, but also as mirrors of our shared humanity.”

The “Rawhead Presents: Bloody Bones” special issue features a seasonal mix of horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and other forms of speculative story-telling.

A 20-year retired Iowa Army National Guard veteran with one overseas deployment, Brown embedded with units of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division (2-34th BCT) as civilian media in Afghanistan, May-June 2011. 

“The poem ‘at the Motel Mehtar-Lam’ was inspired by a night I spent in the rustic guest quarters at Forward Operating Base (“FOB”) Mehtar Lam in Afghanistan’s Laghman Province, May-June 2011, says Brown. “I was laying-over with my old unit, the headquarters of Iowa’s 1-133rd Inf. ‘Ironman’ Battalion. My hooch was located right next to the helipad, and just off that pad was a cordoned-off, above-ground Afghan gravesite.”

“It was just after Osama bin Laden had been killed, and stealthy black-helicopters were everyone’s top-of-mind,” says the poet. “I’m haunted by the sound of muffled chopper blades, but I tell myself I just imagined that they sounded different than usual.”

The artwork accompanying Brown’s poem in “Rawhead” is an image of the snowy mountains surrounding the FOB and the adjacent Afghan town of Mehtar Lam, pop. 144,000. The prolific photographer was then-Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson, a U.S. Army Reserve soldier assigned to the 2-34th BCT’s public affairs section.

After returning to Iowa, Brown helped publish images and words such as Matson’s in “Reporting for Duty: U.S. Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011.” In addition to producing other Sci-Fi/Fantasy and war-themed anthologies, including “Giant Robot Poems” and “Things We Carry Still,” Brown most recently edited  “Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters.” 

Notes from a 2025 Deployment Ceremony

Hundreds of family, friends, and fellow veterans gathered to send-off 113 troops of the Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment at an afternoon parade-field ceremony Wed., May 28, on Camp Dodge, Iowa. After speeches, music, jokes, farewells, and tears, members of Alpha and Bravo Troops, 113th Cav. Reg. mounted-up on commercial buses and rode out of Johnston, Iowa on streets lined with flag-waving patriots and well-wishers.

The event was part of 24 such ceremonies to be conducted statewide this week, as approximately 3,300 citizen-soldiers of Iowa's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) move first to conduct three weeks of simulated combat training at Joint Readiness Training Center (J.R.T.C.), Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk), Louisiana. The JRTC rotation is a large-scale, multi-echelon "test" that serves as a capstone for 5 years of individual soldier and organizational training.

Following the JRTC rotation, approximately 1,800 Iowa soldiers will then deploy in late June directly to various Middle East locations, there to perform missions under Operation Inherent Resolve (O.I.R.). That deployment will include members of the 113th Cav. Reg., whose specific mission seems not yet publicly announced. The remainder of the brigade soldiers will return to Iowa, to continue regular drills, training, and maintenance operations throughout 2025-2026.

Wednesday's two-company formation took place on a lush hilltop parade field constructed on the former site of the historic Camp Dodge outdoor swimming pool, once one of the world's largest. To augment the low bleachers set to each side of the pool's still-visible walls, attendees brought folding lawn chairs and umbrellas, the latter as protection from gray clouds that occasionally threatened a sunny afternoon.

If not for the weighty purpose of the day, the vibe could've been that of a band concert, or youthful soccer game. The weather rock was occasionally damp. Temperatures were in the mid-60s Fahrenheit, partly sunny, with a light breeze that occasionally moved some dark clouds, and lifted the American flags held by approximately 20 members of the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle club who served as escorts.

Spirits were high as soldiers began to arrive with their families even before 1 p.m. Wednesday—"thirteen-hundred hours," in military-speak. Any soldier knows the drill: "If you're on time, you're late." Soldiers were to report on site by not later than 1400. The event would start at 1500—not a minute sooner.

In history, whether on horses or helicopters or wheeled vehicles, cavalry are often employed as fast-moving scouts—soldiers capable of quick reconnaissance, sudden attack, and maintaining security through patrols. Perhaps appropriately, then, cavalrymen and directional signs posted early along the route from the Camp Dodge main gate to the parade field.

Many soldiers Wednesday wore the semi-official duty uniform of black U.S. cavalry stetson, camouflaged combat uniform, and sunglasses.

The generally unregulated shape of a  can reveal as much about a soldier as the rank or unit emblem that is affixed to the rear. Some soldiers shape them as slouch hats—relatively flat, or with brim front and back turned down. Others as American "cowboy" style, with sides up-turned. A few even sported "fedora," with the front grim down-turned, and flared upward toward the back. Regardless, when not in formation, many soldiers Wednesday adopt a familiar, "laid-back" attitude. Even if you ain't Cav, you know the Cav.

"Hey, buddy—you took a wrong turn!" A group of soldiers gathered around a bed of a parked pickup calls out to a dismounted compatriot, struggling to carry his entire kit up the hill toward the baggage point. In addition to briefcase and rucksack, he carries an over-stuffed Army duffel bag by one of the shoulder straps, which is stretched taut across his forehead. Despite the physical load, he laughs and shrugs good-naturedly.

There would later be prayers and anthems, and speeches by elected officials and their representatives, as well as Army leaders. After the ceremony, the troops would say farewells, eventually boarding busses at 1700. Before all the pomp, however, a low-buzz mix of hope and melancholy runs throughout the crowd. Moments of sun. Gray clouds. Teary faces. Young parents and spouses hold small babies. Older parents repeatedly embrace and kiss their now-soldier children, hesitating to let go. Overheard: "Dad, I've got to go inside for accountability. I promise I'll be back."

In some of the drizzle, bagpipers and drummers warm up under some distant trees. Bagpiper Dawn Baldwin of the Mackenzie Highlanders, says she learned the instrument just eight years ago, after she won a set of bagpipes in a raffle. She figured it might be something to do when she eventually retires. Upon request, the volunteer group regularly supports military and first-responder ceremonies. What does Baldwin do in her day-job? "I'm an audiologist," she smiles wickedly, before moving to join the other musicians. "I test people's hearing!"

Also before the ceremony, Iowa National Guard veteran and American Civil War cavalry re-enactor Mark Wiedenhoff holds the reins of Blondie, a 38-year old Palomino, so that young children can pet the horse and say hello. Blondie attended her first send-off and welcome home ceremony in 2003, when the cavalry deployed to Kosovo.

Coincidentally, later this summer, the brigade's deployment to the middle east will include a company of troops from Kosovo, perhaps a happy result of the Iowa National Guard's 24-year "strategic partnership" exchange with that independent state. Kosovo is also one of nine official "sister states" to the state of Iowa.

The Iowa brigade will also be joined by a brigade from Colorado, along with a company of that state's counterparts from the country of Jordan. Companies from Minnesota and Alabama are also anticipated.

Col. Randall Stanford, former Bravo Troop commander and now the director of human resources for the Iowa National Guard, serves as the senior military speaker at the send-off.

"I can't help but notice how many alumni of the cavalry are here—that is so awesome to see [...]—but the other part of that is the number of parents that I served with, that now have sons and daughters in this formation, is truly amazing," Randall says in his brief remarks. "The fabric of the National Guard, the history of service to our state and nation, is remarkable. I want to honor all you veterans, and all you warriors who have sons and daughters here. It is truly awesome to see."

Stanford continues, "I stand before you filled with pride, excited by the journey that our new troopers are about to take on their first deployments, and humbled by the dedication of our unit's senior leaders, who may be embarking on their final tours before hanging up their spurs. This moment is especially meaningful to me: 21 years ago, I stood in a formation just like this as a young staff sergeant. Today, as a colonel, it is an incredible honor to help send-off a unit that I had a privilege of deploying with three times. Being here allows me to help recognize the unwavering commitment, readiness, and sacrifice of the men and women of Alpha and Bravo Troops, 113th Cavalry Regiment. [...] These soldiers are once again answering our nation's call."

In his remarks, squadron commander Lt. Col. Kent Greiner tells of discovering some archival Camp Dodge photographs while working in the installation's facilities management office. One of the photographs was dated in the early 1900s, and marked "113th Cavalry."

"I wondered about the soldiers on horseback. Where they there for their regular drill? For their version of Annual Training? Or, perhaps, like us, they were preparing to leave for a much bigger mission. [...]" he says. "While cavalry uniforms, equipment, and modes of transportation have changed a lot in the past 100 years, the core of what makes the 113th has never changed. The 113th is filled with men and women who want to serve their state and nation, and to be a part of something much greater than themselves. Our ability to serve and deploy is only possible due to the support we receive from families, friends, employers, and communities—all demonstrated by your presence here today. [...]"

Greiner ends with the squadron motto: "We Maintain"!

Red Bull Poet Writes Humorous Odes to Black Coffee

With a tip of the campaign hat to both April Fools’ Day and National Poetry Month, Middle West Press LLC has today launched a new digital chapbook featuring 10 humorous “war poems” about coffee.

The $3 sampler, available as a Kindle e-book, collects new and previously published poems by the award-winning citizen-soldier-poet Randy “Sherpa” Brown, as well as the classic drill-sergeant essay “Listen Up, Maggots! It's National Poetry Month!”

Find the digital chapbook at Amazon here at this link.

Red Bull Rising mil-blogger Randy “Sherpa” Brown embedded with his former Iowa Army National Guard unit—the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division—as a civilian journalist in Afghanistan, May-June 2011. He served in uniform for 20 years, with one overseas deployment in 2003. He subsequently authored the award-winning poetry collection “Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire.”

He is a former editor of community and metro newspapers, as well as national trade and consumer newsstand magazines, and is now a freelance writer, editor, and independent publisher. His essays, journalism, and poetry have appeared widely both on-line and in print.

His on-cover book credits include co-editing the anthologies “Why We Write: Craft Essays on Writing War” and “Things We Carry Still: Poems & Micro-Stories about Military Gear.” Brown is a three-time poetry finalist in the annual Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards, administered by the Chicago-based literary magazine Line of Advance. 

Learn more about Randy Brown at: linktr.ee/randysherpabrown

Middle West Press LLC (www.middlewestpress.com) is a Johnston, Iowa-based editor and publisher of non-fiction, journalism, and poetry. As an independent micro-press, it publishes one to four titles annually. Its projects are often inspired by the people, places, and history of the American Midwest.

Former 'Red Bull' Citizen-Soldier Writes New Poetry Chapbook

“Every poet,” warns journalist and poet Randy Brown, “has a heart filled / with shrapnel.”

In his new chapbook SO FRAG & SO BOLD, the former U.S. Army “brigade staff jester” takes aim at endless wars, parent traps, social media, and stodgy religious beliefs. It’s an iconoclastic cluster-munition that’s bursting with more hundreds of haiku, aphorisms, philosophical puzzles, and other experiments in pithy and pulpy poetry.

Brown’s careful constructions of line-breaks and language are intended to variously provoke chuckles, empathy, and thought. “Any poem is a device,” he writes, “improvised to explode with meaning [...] ignited by a trigger / word.”

In addition to other accolades, Brown is a three-time poetry finalist in the Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Awards, administered annually by the Chicago-based literary journal Line of Advance. His debut collection, Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire, was awarded a 2016 Gold Medal distinction from the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA).

In May-June 2011, Brown embedded as a civilian journalist with the Iowa Army National Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division. He subsequently collated and helped publish Reporting for Duty: Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011, an unabridged 668-page chronicle of that deployment. (Click here for short promotional video of the book.)

His poetry and non-fiction have appeared widely in print and on-line. As “Charlie Sherpa,” he blogs about modern war poetry at www.fobhaiku.com, and about writing on military themes at www.aimingcircle.org.

Starting Nov. 1, 2021:

SO FRAG & SO BOLD: Short Poems, Aphorisms & Other Wartime Fun (84 pages, Middle West Press LLC) is available in a $9.99 trade paperback edition through Amazon and other booksellers, as well as a $2.99 Kindle e-book edition exclusively via Amazon.

Middle West Press LLC (www.middlewestpress.com) is a Johnston, Iowa-based editor and publisher of non-fiction, journalism, and poetry. As an independent micro-press, we publish one to four titles annually. Our projects are often inspired by the people, places, and history of the American Midwest.

'Red Bull' Featured in 'True War Stories' Anthology

Fifteen captivating tales of humor, horror, and other wartime experiences are presented in the forthcoming 250-page comics anthology "True War Stories." The 250-page hardcover, co-edited by Alex de Campi and Iraq War veteran Khai Krumbhaar, will be published by Z2 Comics in November 2020. However, a 30-day Kickstarter campaign launches today, Tues., Aug. 18, 2020. Through the crowd-funding effort, readers may preview and pre-order the book.

One of the featured "True War Stories" is related to the 2010-2011 deployment of the Iowa National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division.

Written by former Iowa National Guard citizen-soldier Randy Brown, "In the Valley of Lions" originally appeared as an essay in Volume 2 of "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors." As "Charlie Sherpa," Brown writes about citizen-soldier culture at the Red Bull Rising blog; about modern war poetry at FOBhaiku.com, and about military writing at The Aiming Circle. He also edited a 2015 collection of U.S. Army public affairs journalism about the Iowa brigade's deployment, "Reporting for Duty: U.S. Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011."

"As far as I can tell, the last time the 'Red Bull' unit patch showed up in a comic book was in 'Combat Kelly' No. 21, published in 1954," says Brown. "Unlike that story, however, this 'Red Bull' tale is the non-fiction—the real deal. I hope it adequately portrays some of the strange context and significant sacrifices our citizen-soldier neighbors made for the United States, for the people of Panjshir Province, and for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA).'"

Art on the 13-page comics story "In the Valley of Lions" is by Ryan Howe. Colors are by Kelly Fitzpatrick.

Brown's original essay contrasts a 2-day U.S. Department of State-sponsored "tourism conference" held in Pansjhir Province in June 2011, with a July 2011 insider attack that resulted in the deaths of Sgt. 1st Class Terryl Pasker, 39, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and civilian law enforcement advisor Paul Protzenko, 46, of Enfield, Mass. Also injured in the attack was Master Sgt. Todd Eipperle, 46, of Marshalltown, Iowa. Eipperle was recognized for his response to the attack.

Later in 2011, the Red Bull Rising blog posted additional information about the attack here.

Published annually published by Southeast Missouri State University Press, Cape Girardeau, Mo., the "Proud to Be" series is an anthology of military non-fiction, fiction, poetry, photography, and more. For a Red Bull Rising review of the 2013 volume in which "In the Valley of Lions" first appeared, click here.

For more information about "True War Stories," and to pre-order one or more copies—including editions autographed by the co-editors—visit the Kickstarter campaign here.

'Red Bull' Author to Speak in Iowa City & Des Moines

Author Steven L. Moore, a former Iowa National Guard citizen-soldier who deployed with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) to Afghanistan in 2010-2011, will conduct book talks in Iowa City and Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, 2020.

A 2010 graduate of the University of Iowa and now a resident of Oregon, Moore wrote "The Longer We Were There: A Memoir of a Part-Time Soldier," a collection of essays that won the 2018 award in non-fiction from the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (A.W.P.).

Widely published in literary magazines and journals, Moore was recently featured in the Military Writers Guild-sponsored anthology, "Why We Write: Craft Essays on Writing War." A selection of his work can be sampled FREE on-line at the author's website here.

In 2018, AWP awards judge Dinty W. Moore wrote about Steven Moore's work:

"The Longer We Were There" is both a tale of our longest war and an astute coming of age memoir, the story of an English major who finds himself filling sandbags as an Iowa National Guardsman one day and deployed on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border the next. The prose is marked throughout by his compelling voice and precise description, and like Heller, Herr, and O’Brien before him, he understands that war can often be most hellish in its tedium. The Longer We Were There is an honest, absorbing, sharply-observed narrative that questions both the nature of war and the nature of the stories we tell ourselves.

Moore will speak at the following times and places:

Thurs., Jan. 23, 2020 at 7 p.m.

Prairie Lights Bookstore
15 South Dubuque St.
Iowa City, IA 52240

Fri., Jan. 24, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.

Beaverdale Books
2629 Beaver Ave. #S1
Des Moines, IA 50310

Two 'Red Bull' Soldier-Writers Featured in New Book!

Featuring more than 60 leading and emerging writers of military- and war-themed fiction, non-fiction, journalism, poetry, and more, the anthology "Why We Write: Craft Essays on Writing War" launches TODAY, Dec. 10, 2019 in both print and Kindle e-book formats! The Middle West Press LLC project is in partnership with the Military Writers Guild. Contributors include service members past and present, as well as scholars, historians, journalists, and civilians with experiences in international relations and national security.

The book coincidentally features a number of current and former Iowans—including two former members of the Iowa National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. Steven L. Moore, author of "The Longer We Were There: A Memoir of a Part-Time Soldier," served in Laghman Province during the brigade's 2010-2011 deployment to Afghanistan. Anthology editor Randy Brown helped produce a print collection of the brigade public affairs journalism from that same deployment.

The anthology's title echoes Frank Capra's patriotic "Why We Fight" films of World War II, the cover by illustrator Paul Hewitt of Battlefield Design reinterprets propaganda poster images from the same era.

Response to the anthology from other war writers has been overwhelming and positive:

"Page by page, line by line, these men and women—veterans and civilians of various eras and nations—speak the truth about what it is like not just to fight, but to write," notes U.S. Army veteran Doug Bradley, author of "Who'll Stop the Rain: Respect, Remembrance, and Reconciliation in Post-Vietnam America" as well as other non-fiction and fiction about that war. "'The power of a good story is as important as the sharpest policy paper,' writes one Vietnam-veteran senator's son. As a U.S. Navy chopper pilot who himself flew in Afghanistan, he couldn't be more accurate. Read this book and discover what he means!"

U.S. Marine veteran and literary agent Tracy Crow says: "A notable first, 'Why We Write' delivers immeasurable, experiential wisdom from an impressive range of military voices regarding the power and impact of writing—on the self, on the truth, and ultimately on the world. […] The courageous contributors within 'Why We Write' are filling a disturbing void for humanity by expressing a sense of urgency and historical reflection about the complexities of war—whether writing and reflecting on the insanely humorous, or the insanely atrocious."

Crow also serves as president of the national non-profit MilSpeak Foundation, Inc., and is the author of six military-themed fiction and non-fiction titles, including "On Point: A Guide to Writing the Military Story."

The "Why We Write" anthology comprises four sections, each loosely organized around a theme:

• Calls to Action, Calls to Arms: Stories of how-to and inspiration toward engaging the public and/or the military profession through writing!

• War Stories: Stories of writing success and lessons-learned!

• Building Bridges & Platforms: Stories of how-to and inspiration toward building connections, communities, organizations, author platforms, etc.!

• The Arts of War & Writing: Essays about writing literary fiction, genre fiction, poetry, history, and more!

Women make up approximately one-third of the anthology's contributors. Approximately two-thirds of the contributors are past or present members of their respective countries' armed forces, with the remaining one-third being "civilians"—journalists, scholars, historians, and more. Military Writers Guild members comprise approximately one-fifth of contributors.

To order the $19.99 (U.S.) print version via Amazon.com, click here!

To order the $9.99 (U.S.) Kindle e-book version, click here!

To order via an independent bookstore, contact Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, Iowa at: 515.279.5400. Phone orders only. Shipping & Handling approximately $4 (U.S.).

Anthology co-editor Randy Brown is an award-winning war poet (Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire) and U.S. Army veteran who embedded as civilian media in Afghanistan in 2011. A former newspaper and magazine journalist, he previously edited the book Reporting for Duty: U.S. Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011.

Widely published in literary journals and anthologies, he has also written the Red Bull Rising military blog since December 2009. He writes about military-themed writing techniques and markets at The Aiming Circle blog. He is a member of the Military Writers Guild. On Twitter, follow him at: @FOB_Haiku

Steve Leonard is a retired U.S. Army strategist, a program director in organizational leadership at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and the creative force behind the web comic Doctrine Man!! He is published widely, including in the anthologies Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict, and Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflict. He is a member of the Military Writers Guild. On Twitter, follow him at: @Doctrine_Man

Established in 2017 for the purpose of promoting professional collaboration in the practice of writing, the national non-profit Military Writers Guild has grown to comprise more than 150 past and present service members, as well as civilians with experiences in international relations, national security, journalism, and intelligence.

Middle West Press LLC is a Johnston, Iowa-based editor and publisher of non-fiction, fiction, journalism, and poetry. As an independent micro-press, it publishes one to four titles annually. “Why We Write” is the first of its projects conducted in partnership with an association, and the fifth of its titles involving war and military themes.

Book Review: 'Still Come Home: A Novel'

Fiction Book Review: "Still Come Home" by Katey Schultz

Katey Schultz is an educator and author based in North Carolina. In 2013, Schultz delivered "Flashes of War," an award-winning collection of 31 short stories, generated around U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each story is each told from the perspective of a single character, and many resolved in only two or three pages. Writing in the mode of "flash-fiction" forces an author to pare down one's prose, but also to infuse meaning and metaphor to optimize each word.

As a writer, Schultz is a master of one of the principles of war: "economy of force."

In a new, 260-page novel, "Still Come Home," Schultz deploys her Spartan words to deliver what others have not: She distills the seemingly never-ending war in Afghanistan to a relatable scale, articulating through her characters the questions that can be asked about war, and duty, and family. In doing so, she illuminates the complex emotional calculations of regular people caught up in war, be they "friend," "enemy," or seemingly indifferent. Her work serves the highest calling in a heartless world: to create opportunities for empathy, and for reflection.

The action of "Still Come Home" takes place over three days, in a handful of settings near Tarin Kot, a real place in Southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province, as woven together through the voices and threads of three main characters.

(More geography: The novel settles into spaces between a semi-fictional Forward Operating Base ("FOB") Copperhead, and the fictional town of Imar, pop. 300. Potentially noteworthy to the readers of the Red Bull Rising blog, the base is likely modeled after FOB Davis (aka FOB Ripley). FOB Davis was a coalition installation originally established in 2004 with help from the Iowa National Guard's Task Force 168.)

There is Nathan Miller, a former farm-boy valedictorian who joined the active-duty Army right out of Indiana high school. Now a member of the North Carolina National Guard, Afghanistan is his fourth deployment. Miller is soon to return stateside to his semi-estranged wife, with whom he has one child and has lost another. There is the teenaged and possibly infertile Pashtun woman Aaseya, who seeks to establish the stability and legitimacy she enjoyed before her family was killed in an explosion. She suspects the assassination took place after the family had been wrongly reported to the Taliban as U.S. collaborators. And there is her brick-maker husband Rahim, 37, her late father's cousin, who is a victim of the institutional sexual abuse of male children known as bacha bazi.

Based on such relations, readers might incorrectly anticipate melodrama or comic-book soap opera. While engines of hope and shame drive much of the plot, however, the narrative never feels one- or two-dimensional. Complexity happens. Objectives change. Characters move out smartly, based on their intelligence. Most importantly, in all of this, the author treats her Afghan characters with care and content equal to their American counterparts.

War is hell, after all. On everybody. Especially family. And everyone's got family.

In a typical selection, Schultz describes a three-vehicle convoy's arrival in Imar with semi-automatic rhythm:

The convoy nears the main part of the village. A vendor selling kebabs works frantically to hold his makeshift cart intact as the Spartans vibrate past. Miller can see actual residences now—mud-cooked family homes, the occasional two-story dwelling. Coils of smoke lift from several courtyards. Some homes have no windows or openings at all, just a hand-built wall surrounding each compound of small, interconnected dwellings. Others have cut tiny spaces to welcome the light and air, faded red or yellow curtains flapping thinly in the breeze. Three little girls hurry from a hiding spot behind an outbuilding. The oldest shuffles the other two away from the convoy and looks over her shoulder at the men, moving with the practiced hustle of war. Even here, at the far reaches of nowhere, they seem suspicious.

Schultz has just as carefully curated the time of her story, as much as she has chosen the place. The year is just before the "Afghan Surge" of 2010-2011; just before Humvees are banned from deploying outside the wire; and just after a controversial new set of Rules of Engagement ("R.O.E.") has been issued to coalition troops by U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

In the posh think-tank phrasing of the day, the counter-insurgency tactics were intended to "win hearts and minds" by exercising restraint in the application of violence. Nobody wants to kill civilians, of course, but many rank-and-file soldiers chaffed at the ROE, feeling as if they'd been told not to defend themselves.

As both metaphor and at a meta-level, this mix of time and place is an ideal observation point from which to consider American involvement in Afghanistan. At no other time did the country's declaring victory and coming home seem more likely than 2010. (At risk of self-promotion, this trailer video for "Reporting for Duty" captures something of the hopeful "clear, hold, build" spirit of the time.) Through her storytelling, what Schultz exposes is not necessarily that these "strategies" (tactics and techniques, really) were wrong, but that we were asking the wrong questions.

War is hell, after all. And hell is a koan.

Schultz writes: "Miller calls to mind the [ROE] directive, its ominous sentiment: The Taliban cannot militarily defeat us, but we can defeat ourselves. Like grabbing fistfuls of sand—that's what this war is. Like trying to hold onto the impossible."

Later, as Miller is about to move out with his men, he inventories his squad emotionally, noting each soldier's customized need for redemption. "And with that, the war is theirs. They will fight it for these reasons. Not for freedom. Not for politics. Not for God or country or trucking companies. But for the individual things. The needles of hurt across a spectrum of life."

Against this, the troops collectively face, an unseen, random, and constant threat. "They all know the risks," Schultz writes. "No front lines in this war. Enemies, ambushes, and IEDs popping up willy-nilly, a stomach-churning child’s game of anticipation. It could be now. Or now. Now."

This game of roulette is what we have asked of our soldiers, our fellow citizens. For 18 years and counting.

At readings and other events, and on her website, Schultz tells audiences that "Flashes of War" stemmed from the urge to understand, as a citizen and educator and artist, what her country was doing in her name. Somehow without ever traveling downrange herself, her stories include sounds and smells and slang that consistently ring true. In "Still Come Home," Schultz's prose is similarly well-researched, and carefully targeted. Through her fiction, Schultz has not only successfully captured the cultural landscape of Afghanistan in 2009, but the on-going equation of American involvement in Afghanistan. And she's packaged it in an easily accessible form, without judgment.

Not, however, without hope.

In present-tense, Schultz artfully but explicitly traces each main character's shifting wants and needs. Grabbing at their own fistfuls of sand, Miller, Aaseya, and Rahim continually triangulate their respective decisions with their individual desires for safety, security, and family. Miller, for example, volunteered to deploy without first soliciting his wife's opinion. She assumes he wants to play soldier again. In reality, he hopes to make up for past mistakes—some of which have occurred on the battlefield, and some that have happened back home. At one point, as Schultz succinctly states: "This tour is Miller’s final chance to find his cool again, forget he ever drafted a suicide note, and land softly back home, back into marriage, composed and capable as ever."

The obvious question would seem to be, can he still come back home?

The essential question is, can we?

Red Bull Veterans & Others to Share Stories on Stage

Five Iowa military veterans—four of them alumni of 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division—will share stories of their respective military experiences in the last installment of the Des Moines Register's "Storytellers Project" 2018 season. Stage performances are 5:30 and 8 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 6. 2018 at The Tea Room, 713 Walnut St. No. 600, Des Moines, Iowa.

Ticket information is here.

Previous 2018 performances in the series have included themes on rural life, siblings, and everyday miracles. Included in the line-up of "War Stories" cast members are:

• Brian Lenz, a retired U.S. Air Force officer who became an environmental scientist. 

• Sara Maniscalco Robinson, a senior non-commissioned officer in the Iowa Army National Guard, and founder of Iowa Veterans' Perspective, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that documents veterans' stories. Maniscalco Robinson served with Iowa's 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Battalion during a 2003 deployment to Egypt. 

• Jodi Marti, an Iowa Army National Guard officer who served as commander of Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Battalion during the unit's 2010-2011 deployment to Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan. 

• Miranda Pleggenkuhle, an Iowa Army National Guard officer who served as part of Task Force Archer in Bagram, Afghanistan, during the 2010-2011 deployment of Iowa's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. 

• James Suong, a non-commissioned officer in the Iowa Army National Guard, who once served in Iowa's 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry while on a 2003 deployment to Kosovo. Before immigrating to America, he spent some of his youth in a Cambodian child-labor camp.

Red Bull Poet Wins Iowa State Lit-Journal Award

Editors of "Flyway: The Journal of Writing & Environment" have announced that poet Randy Brown is the winner of their 2018 "Untold Stories" contest. The annual competition focuses on amplifying voices from marginalized populations.

This year's competition called for poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction, and hybrid forms produced by past and present military service members and family. Brown receives a prize of $250 for two new poems, "Better Hooches and Gardens" and "a chaplain's assistant writes haiku."

A former magazine editor and 20-year retired veteran of the Iowa Army National Guard, Brown embedded as civilian media with his former unit in Afghanistan, May-June 2011. He is author of the 2015 poetry collection "Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire."

Writer and U.S. Navy veteran Travis Klempan received an honorable mention for his short story "No Mere Storm."

You can read Brown's winning poems here, and more of his poetry work here. You can also access the Flyway Journal via Twitter here and Facebook here.

Based at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, Flyway's mission is to "explore the many complicated facets of the word 'environment'—whether rural, urban, or suburban; whether built or wild—and all its social and political implications."

"Contests like ['Untold Stories'] and our 'Notes from the Field' contest in December-January help us find new voices that keep our journal filled with interesting and diverse stories, while defraying some of the costs that come with running a non-profit literary journal," the editors write in their announcement e-mail. "[…] The editorial staff was overwhelmed with the breadth and quality of this year's submissions and enjoyed reading contributions from each author."

This year, the final judge for the "Untold Stories" effort was poet, memoirist, and anthologist Brian Turner, author of Here, Bullet; Phantom Noise; and My Life as a Foreign Country. The director of the low-residency MFA program at Sierra Nevada College, Turner also recently released an album of ambient music and poetry as part of the Interplanetary Acoustic Team.

Red Bull Poet Finalist in 2018 Darron L. Wright Awards

Randy Brown, author of the 2015 collection "Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire," was recently named a poetry finalist in the 2018 Col. Darron L. Wright awards. The award recognizes a new poem that unpacks the phrase "God willing," which is found in multiple languages.

Brown's poem, "Inshallah Mañana," explores the connections of language, as heard with the ears of a citizen-soldier. The soldier first encounters the phrase for "God willing" in his first year of junior high school Spanish, and again in Afghanistan. The phrase is a common one, used in both religious and secular contexts. The poem also mentions a deployment anecdote from "Saber2th," a member of the Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment.

You can read Brown's poem in its entirety here.

Administered by the Chicago-based on-line literary journal "Line of Advance," and underwritten by the Blake and Bailey Foundation, the awards commemorate a U.S. Army leader who was killed in a September 2013 parachute training accident.

Other poetry recognized in this year's Wright awards included:

• "No Rolling, Shrink" by Ryan Stovall
• "Maneuvering" by Colin Sargent

Prose recognitions included:

• "Some Kind of Storm" by Travis Klempan
• "Green" by Brian Braden
• "October's Daughter" by Brian Kerg

The annual poetry and prose contest is limited to U.S. military veterans, and named in memory of Col. Darron L. Wright. In addition to other assignments, Wright served as battalion operations officer for 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo., with whom he deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2004. Wright was next assigned as brigade executive officer with 4th Brigade, 4th Inf. Div., Fort Hood, Texas, with whom he deployed to Iraq from 2005 to 2006. He commanded the 1st Battalion, 509th Parachute Inf. Reg. at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La. in 2007. From 2009 to 2013, Wright was assigned as deputy brigade commander for the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Inf. Div., with whom he deployed to Iraq from 2009 to 2010.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval War College, Wright authored "Iraq Full Circle: From Shock and Awe to the Last Combat Patrol in Baghdad and Beyond." in 2012.

Wright's full biography appears here.

"Darron L. Wright was a larger than life Soldier’s Soldier. He was a physically imposing, direct, and skilled warrior," the Line of Advance editors wrote when the award was first launched.

He was also witty, hilarious, generous, kind, and wholly consumed with love for his family. He will certainly be missed but he will never be forgotten. His intellectual curiosity, boundless optimism, and untiring work ethic, allowed him to reach heights he could only dream of as a young boy growing up in Mesquite, Texas. It is in this spirit that the Darron L. Wright Award was created, to inspire fellow military writers and poets to aspire to become better and more accomplished at their craft and at telling their story.

'Journey to Normal' Film Features Iowa Red Bulls

In its Iowa premiere, the 2017 documentary "Journey to Normal: Women of War Come Home" will be shown in an exclusive, one-time engagement on the Boone, Iowa campus of Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) at 7 p.m., Thurs., March 22, 2018.

A Q&A session with producer and director JulieHera DeStefano will follow the 93-minute film.

Hundreds of women service members were interviewed for the film project, and plans call for their stories to be archived and made available to researchers via the non-profit Journey to Normal website, producers say.

"Since 2001, over 280,000 women have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan," the documentary says. "Journey to Normal shares 8 of their stories so that we might reflect on the individual experiences of all who serve."

Two of the eight women featured in the film are originally from Iowa. Featured in the documentary are:

• Jessica Astorga Dayton, a U.S. Air Force nurse from Dayton, Ohio
• Abby Brookbank Allen, a U.S. Army National Guard combat medic from Ida Grove, Iowa
• Ivonne Daly, a U.S. Army Reserve surgeon from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Jill Finken, a U.S. Army National Guard attorney from Souix City, Iowa
• Christine Mau, a U.S. Air Force F-15 pilot from Mountain Home, Idaho
• Judi Reeves, a U.S. Army Reserve surgical technician from Middletown, N.Y.
• Devon Reyes, a U.S. Army Military Intelligence officer from Fort Knox, Ky.
• Amy Sinkler, a U.S. Army truck driver from Chadbourn, N.C.

The event is the last installment in the inaugural "In Their Boots Film Festival," a three-month series of film presentations intended to foster conversations about military service, veterans issues, and social reintegration. The event is co-sponsored by the DMACC-Boone student group In My Boots 5k, and the Central Iowa non-profit Paws & Effect. The festival is made possible by a generous grant from Humanities Iowa.

"Because we train service dogs for veterans, we recognize that 'coming home' from a wartime deployment can be a journey, not a destination," says Nicole Shumate, executive director of Paws & Effect. "Reintegrating into our society and with our families doesn't just happen overnight, and it doesn't happen without hard work and continued support. We are extremely proud to celebrate the lives and stories of the veterans depicted in 'Journey to Normal'—and all who have walked these paths."

In 2010-2011, in what was described as the largest deployment of Iowa troops since World War II, the Iowa Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) sent more than 3,000 citizen-soldiers overseas as part of the "Afghan Surge." The 2-34th BCT is headquartered in Boone.

Randy Brown, a Central Iowa-based freelance writer and editor of "Reporting for Duty," a collection of U.S. Army public affairs reports from the Iowa brigade's deployment, says that "Journey to Normal" uniquely captures some of what it was like to deploy to Afghanistan—and what it is like to return to family, friends, school, and work following a wartime deployment. "All of these stories are important—individually and collectively," says Brown. "To most of us, this is a depiction of war far more 'real' and relevant than popular movies about snipers and drones."

Interviews with at least three "Red Bull" soldiers are featured in the documentary. Each appears multiple times on-camera, in settings both downrange and "back home." Abby Brookbank was a combat medic assigned to 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1-168th Inf.), and was based at Forward Operating Base ("FOB") Gardez. Jill Finken was an attorney assigned to the brigade headquarters, which was based at Bagram Airfield ("BAF") during the 2010-2011 deployment. Martha Kester, a chaplain with 334th Brigade Support Battalion, also makes a number of appearances throughout the film.

For more information about "Journey to Normal," visit here. A Facebook page is here.

To view an early (2011) trailer about the film, visit here.

There will be a freewill donation pasta dinner fund-raiser preceding the movie, starting 6 p.m. in the DMACC-Boone food court area. Proceeds will go to support the "In Our Boots 5k" run, walk, and ruck fund-raiser event April 14, 2018. The 93-minute movie "Journey to Normal" will be shown in the adjacent auditorium starting 7 p.m.

A Facebook page for the "In My Boots 5k" student group is here. A website is here.

A registration page for the April 14, 2018 5k run, walk, and ruck event is here.

Same Mission, Different Verse: The Aiming Circle

When I first started writing the Red Bull Rising blog in December 2009, it was partly because I needed to learn about blogging technology and practice for a then-upcoming full-time Army job, and partly to document for my very young children what had been so gosh-darn important that I had to leave home for a year.

Later, when I got dropped off the deployment list for Afghanistan, I found myself writing in order to translate and document the experience for my buddies' families.

I eventually traveled to Afghanistan on my own dime (and my wife's airline miles), and embedded with my former unit as civilian media in May-June 2011.

In each and all of these endeavors, I've followed the same mission statements:

• To explain in plain language the roles, responsibilities, and routines of the U.S. citizen-soldier, with particular focus on the U.S. 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division.

• To illuminate ways in which citizen-soldiers past and present--as well as their families--can be remembered, supported, and celebrated.

After I retired from the Army National Guard, I found myself exploring different forms of art and writing other than journalism, often during events that brought service members, families, and veterans together to share military experiences. Since then, I've been published many times as a poet and essayist.

I wrote an award-winning book, "Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire," which was published in 2015.

I also helped collect and edit a 668-page book of news articles and photographs generated by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division during its deployment. That book is "Reporting for Duty: U.S. Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011," published in 2016.

As I've continued to generate poetry, essays, and other military-themed writing, I've sought to encourage and enable others do to the same. I regularly signal-boost publishing opportunities via a special "Get Published" page on the Red Bull Rising blog. I conduct how-to workshops and seminars. I edit the poetry section of the non-profit Military Experience & the Arts' "As You Were" literary journal. I peer-mentor via conversations with my fellow members of the Military Writers Guild.

Having grown beyond military blogs, "Veterans Lit" is now a vital and vibrant field of practice. I'll include in this label any man or woman, military or civilian, who attempts to build community and mutual understanding through art and writing. This is not just writing to express one's feelings (as it is so often dismissively regarded)—this is doing the hard work of stitching society back together.

It may be time to expand the effort to include more fronts, and to ask for more active engagement by my fellow practitioners.

You can continue to read about citizen-soldiers and how to support them at the Red Bull Rising blog here, and at the related Facebook page here. That includes occasional humor, news, events, and reviews of books, movies, and other media of potential interest to military service members and their families.

You can continue to read about my adventures as citizen-soldier-poet at the FOB Haiku blog here, and at the related Facebook page here.

And now, if you are a fellow practitioner of military writing—poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essay, you name it—you can help support and explore a growing amount of how-to coverage at The Aiming Circle blog here, and at the related Patreon page here.

Re-run: Review of 'Citizen-Soldier' Documentary Film

Film review: "Citizen-Soldier" (2016)

[Blog editor's note: This review originally appeared on the Red Bull Rising blog on Aug. 31, 2016. The movie is currently available on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.]

Before I offer a few insights and impressions regarding the new documentary "Citizen-Soldier," a few caveats up front:

1. The movie explores a recurring theme in U.S. history: How citizens routinely pick up their muskets to become soldiers. This is a theme fraught with tensions, between state and federal powers, and between those who argue that the United States must at all times maintain a large, standing, "professional" military, to those who who argue for a smaller active-duty military, augmented by citizen reservists in times of need. This is a central engine that drives much of my own research and writing. [Blog editor's note: The book "Reporting for Duty: U.S. Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011" was published in November 2016. The book collects reports and photos from the Iowa unit described below.]

2. The documentary depicts a unit that replaced the Iowa Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division shortly after my media embed with the latter in May-June 2011. For a 9-month period, Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (I.B.C.T.) was made responsible for all U.S./coalition missions in Eastern Afghanistan's Laghman Province. Together with Iowa's 2-34th BCT and Vermont's 86th IBCT, this represents the only times a brigade-sized U.S. National Guard unit was assigned as a "battlespace owner" during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

3. There are other connections. Afghanistan was not the first time, for example, that the Red Bull and Thunderbird fought and trod the same ground. In World War II, both units were at the battles of Anzio, Solerno, Sicily, and Mount Cassino. To my particular delight, each unit boasts unique artistic pedigrees, too. The Red Bull shoulder patch was designed in 1918 by Marvin Cone, a citizen-soldier who would later become a well-regarded regional artist. Famous World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin was a Thunderbird.

I am, in short, a big fan of the 45th IBCT. I am probably genetically predisposed to like this movie.

*****

I like this movie. A lot.

That's not to say, however, that it's easy to watch. Or even fun. It is, however, necessary.

Released earlier this week on DVD and Blu-ray, the documentary "Citizen-Soldier" accurately captures the trials of people just like you and your neighbors—police officers, marketing directors, X-ray technicians—who are routine trained and transformed into soldiers. With this deployment, they tasked with fighting waves of unseen enemies, while traversing unforgivingly brutal terrain. Along the way, they adapt, improvise, and overcome.

"[O]ne thing the Guard is able to do very effectively," says Sgt. Jared Colson, who is a corrections officer on the civilian side. "We're able to look at things practically, and not just according to a manual."

Members of Oklahoma's 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment (1-179th Inf.), deployed to Combat Outpost ("COP") Najil in Laghman Province. Through footage shot by Oklahoma and attached combat camera soldiers, as well as other sources, "Citizen-Soldier" tells the story of a few platoons, follows them through various dismounted and mounted patrols, as well as an air-assault—Operation Brass Monkey, into the Saygal Valley. There are laughs, and there are tears.

An important note: Not everyone introduced at the beginning of the film survives the deployment. It does need to be said, however, that the violence is edited tastefully, and the reverence and respect Oklahoma has for its fallen is apparent throughout the journey home. These are sights that may be unfamiliar to active-duty communities: Patriot Guard motorcycle escorts and flag-bearers. Highways lined with Guardsmen and women, rendering final salutes. Citizen-soldiers have their own traditions, their own customs.

The "Citizen-Soldier" project was managed by the directors of "The Hornet's Nest" (2014), which told stories of Eastern and Southern Afghanistan through the eyes of an embedded civilian reporter. The Oklahoma documentary, however, is framed by two elements: First are scenes of present-day Thunderbird soldiers taking part in a live-fire training exercise, which provides a thematic connection to the National Guard's "Minute Man" history and culture.

Toward the end of the exercise, and at the end of the film, Command Sgt. Major of the Army National Guard Brunk W. Conley addresses a group of Oklahoma soldiers. "Think about 1775 […]," he says. "'The British are coming, the British are coming.' And blacksmiths, and inn-keepers drop their hammers, drop their plates and towels and bedding. They drop what their doing. And they run to the greens at Lexington and Concord […]"

"We've been doing this stuff since 1636 […]" Conley tells the troops. "We need you […] to keep the title of 'citizen-soldier.' There is something noble, something honorable, something romantic about that term."

The second framing device is an off-duty gab session among former platoon mates. A casual conversation alongside a river creates a space for reflection. There, the soldiers joke, for example, that their mobilization station of Camp Shelby, Miss.—a relatively flat place located near the Gulf of Mexico—was exactly like Afghanistan, except for maybe the all the mountains.

As Colson says earlier in the film, "Everywhere is up. Everywhere you walk is up." And the bad guys hold the high ground.

If you are an adult friend or family member of a U.S. National Guard or reservist who deployed to Afghanistan, you will want to see this film. If you are a veteran of Eastern Afghanistan, you might also enjoy the added bonus of seeing some of your old stomping grounds. (The usual trigger-warnings apply, however: While the film is rated "R" only for language, there is plenty of bang-bang and roadside boom here. The kind that might keep your mom up at nights. Depending on your own deployment history, maybe you, too.)

If you are a U.S. citizen and taxpayer, seeing this film should be a requirement. This is what you sent your neighbors to do, on your behalf: Leave their jobs, their friends, their families, the comforts and safety of home. Engage an enemy. Climb mountains. Search out bombs. Build a nation.

More important than what they did, however, "Citizen-Soldier" shows you who they are.

12th Annual Ride Remembers 'Red Bull' Soldier

Photos: Dan Sesker Memorial Poker Run

Organizers of the 12th Annual Dan Sesker Memorial Poker Run are taking on-line registrations for the Sun., May 28, 2017 event, which takes place during Memorial Day weekend.

The event commemorates Iowa Army National Guard Sgt. Dan Sesker, killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) on April 6, 2006 in the vicinity of Tikrit, Iraq. He was nine days short of his twenty-third birthday.

The event will start and finish in Ogden, Iowa. Day-of-ride registration and sign-in will be 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the Ogden city park.

In a poker run, registered participants are dealt random cards and each stop along a designated route. At the final stop of the day, the participant with the highest poker hand wins a pot of cash. Raffles, T-shirt sales, and other fund-raising efforts may also take place during the event. There will be food, drinks, and entertainment at the end of the ride, according to organizers, and the event will be held rain or shine.

James "Juice" Justice and Dan Sesker

Sesker was a member of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment (1-113th Cav.), both then and now part of the Iowa's 2nd Brigade, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. In his role as a citizen, he was a youth counselor and part-time police officer. He learned his fiancée was pregnant with their first child while he was deployed, and looked forward to his future role as a father.

Sesker was friends with many citizen-soldiers, including Staff Sgt. James "Juice" Justice, who was himself killed in action during a later brigade deployment to Afghanistan. Proceeds for 2016 poker run event will go to:

• The Gage Sesker Trust Fund
• Scouts Out Memorial Scholarship
• Skydive Weekend for Veterans
• Glenwood Cemetery in Ogden (American flags replacement effort)
• Scouts Out Memorial Veterans Assistance Fund

A Facebook page for the event is here.

A website is here.

When available, the 2017 route map will be posted here. Via social media, organizers have announced stops will include:

• Ogden City Park
• The Dog House, Colo
• The Hubb in Hubbard
• Pickles Bar & Grill, Kamrar
• Riverside Taver, LeHigh
• The Lucky Pig, Ogden

March 30: Poet-Journalist Talks War at DMACC-Boone

Helping to raise funds for veterans charities via the "In My Boots 5K" student organization, 21st century war poet and Central Iowa journalist Randy Brown will present words, pictures, and lessons-learned from a 2010-2011 deployment to Afghanistan 7 p.m., Thurs., March 30, on the Des Moines Community College (DMACC) campus in Boone, Iowa. The public is invited.

"Des Moines Community College has a history of helping Iowans put knowledge, experience, and service together in creative ways," says Brown. "I'm hoping to share how and why our citizen-soldiers made history in Afghanistan, and how we can engage each other in conversations and stories about war."

A freewill-donation pasta supper will start at 6 p.m., with Brown's presentation to follow in the college's auditorium at 7 p.m. A number of related books will be offered as door prizes, as well as for purchase.

In 2009, Brown started blogging as a deploying citizen-soldier, writing under the pseudonym "Charlie Sherpa" about his family's experiences in preparing for war. The 2010-2011 deployment of Iowa's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division was billed as the largest call-up of Iowa troops since World War II. The 2-34th BCT is headquartered in Boone, with battalion and company headquarters located across the state.

When he was dropped off the deployment list just days from federal mobilization in 2010, Brown retired from the military and then went to Afghanistan anyway, embedding as civilian media with his former "Red Bull" colleagues.

Brown is author of 2015's "Welcome to FOB Haiku," an award-winning collection of often-humorous war poetry; and editor of the recently published "Reporting for Duty," a 668-page collection of journalism generated by the 2-34th BCT while deployed to Afghanistan. He is also a former cast member of "Telling: Des Moines," a veterans' storytelling performance that was staged at DMACC-Ankeny campus in 2012.

The annual "In My Boots" 5K walk, run, and ruck event annually raises funds for veterans-related charities. This year, proceeds will be directed toward Paws & Effect, a Central Iowa non-profit that raises and trains psychiatric service dogs for military veterans and others. The 2017 "In My Boots" event will take place April 15 in Boone's McHose Park. On-line registration is available here.

DMACC-Boone's Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society chapter will also be holding a food drive during the race.

A Facebook page for the "In My Boots" student organization is here.

A Facebook event page for the March 30 event is here.

For information, contact:

• Jared Neal, president, "In My Boots" student group: jdneal AT dmacc DOT edu
• Julie Roosa: 515.433.5215; jkroosa AT dmacc DOT edu
• Nancy Woods: 515.433.5061; nawoods AT dmacc DOT edu
• Sean Taylor: astaylor AT dmacc DOT edu

To make on-line monetary donations to "In My Boots," visit here.