Come Run 'In My Boots' 5k April 19, Boone, Iowa

An "In My Boots" 5k run, walk, or ruck march will be sponsored by the athletics department of the Des Moines Area Community College, located in Boone, Iowa, Sat., April 19, 2014.

The event location will be McHose Park in Boone. Individual registration is $25 before April 7; same-day registration is $30; team registration is $80. Proceeds will go to the Wounded Warrior Project. At the event, food and clothing donations will also be collected for area homeless shelters.

According to press materials:

5K run/walk/ruck: The 5K will be a loop around McHose Park in Boone, Iowa. Individuals can also compete in the ruck-march that will cross through the woods and streams around the park. A limited number of ruck-sacks will be available on race day. If possible, bring your own. Please preload your ruck with non-perishable and clothing items to donate to a local shelter.

Ruck March: Current military members and veterans are eligible to participate in a team ruck-march competition. Each team will consist of 4 members carrying packs weighing at least 30 pounds. Weight limit will be waived if packs are filled with donations for local shelters. The first complete team to cross the finish line together will be awarded the first ever “In My Boots-Team Ruck-March” award and have bragging rights throughout the year.

For a PDF registration form, click here.

To donate on-line directly to the Wounded Warrior Project in the name of the "In My Boots" event, click here.

For more information about the event, contact:

• DMACC Athletic Director Orv Salmon at: 515.433.5050; ojsalmon AT dmacc.edu

• Journalism and law instructor Julie Roosa at: 515.433.5215; jkroosa AT dmacc.edu

The institution's faculty, staff, and students have a history of supporting military and veterans issues, including the 2012 theatrical production of "Telling: Des Moines." Approximately 650 DMACC students are military veterans and beneficiaries using G.I. Bill benefits.

Des Moines Area Community College, a public institution serving the educational and career training needs of Iowans, is committed to the lifelong success of its students. As Iowa’s largest two-year college, DMACC offers 150 programs, certificates and transfer degrees, annually serving more than 75,000 credit and noncredit students on six campuses and in five learning centers. Thanks to college-wide innovation, new programs and affordable tuition, DMACC has experienced record growth and today is the 15th fastest growing two-year college in America. For more information, click here.

Writers' Event to Focus on 'War, Healing, and Culture'

The schedule for the 2014 Great Plains Writers' Conference, March 23-25, Brookings, S.D., has been published. The theme of this year's event, conducted since 1976 on the campus of South Dakota State University, is "Coming Home: War, Healing and American Culture." All events are free and open to the public except as noted.

A downloadable PDF of the schedule is available here.

The website for the event is here.

A Facebook page for the event is here.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 23 at South Dakota Art Museum

6:00 p.m. Invitational reception for campus and community military personnel 

7:00 p.m. Opening remarks, Larry Zimmerman, South Dakota Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

7:30 p.m. Screening of documentary film, "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (2007)

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MONDAY, MARCH 24 at Campanile Room and Hobo Day Gallery, Student Union 169

9:00 a.m. "Reading & Writing the American Indian Military Experience," Francis, Colin, and Brendan Whitebird 

10:00 a.m. "Home Fronts Then and Now," South Dakota State University instructor Amber Jensen and student Haley Wilson 

11:00 a.m. "Beyond PTSD: Stories of Reintegration," Brian Turner and Ron Capps 

1:00 p.m. "Inside/Out and Outside/In: Distilling the Personal in the Military Experience," David Abrams 

2:00 p.m. "On the State of Teaching Military Writing Today," Ron Capps  

3:00 p.m. "A Long Shadow: The Great War at 100," Patrick Hicks 

4:00 p.m. Oakwood literary journal presents 2014 prize-winners: Marcus Bear Eagle, Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writer Award; and Christine Starr Davis, Great Plains Emerging Writer Prize

7:00 p.m. David Abrams and Patrick Hicks: A reading and conversation. Reception follows

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TUESDAY, MARCH 25 at Campanile Room and Hobo Day Gallery, Student Union 169

9:00 a.m. "Film and Literature of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars," Jason McEntee and South Dakota State University graduate students 

10:00 a.m. "A Field Report: Teaching Creative Writing Online to Military Personnel," Rosalie Owens, American Military University 

11:00 a.m. "Finding and Creating Opportunities in Writing about Military Life," Randy Brown, military journalist 

1:00 p.m. "A Reading and Conversation on 'Flashes of War,'" Katey Schultz 

2:00 p.m. Planning Session and Discussion: "Creating a Military Writing Presence at South Dakota State University," Brig. Gen. Keith Corbett, Dean, College of General Studies; Col. Clarke Pleasants, Air Force ROTC; Lt. Col. Aaron Schultz, Army ROTC; South Dakota State University Coordinator of Veterans Affairs Brian Mahaffy; English faculty 

3:00 p.m. Celebration reading for the Jerome R. Norgren Poetry Contest and Paul Witherington Creative Writing Contest for South Dakota youth, reception follows

TUESDAY, MARCH 25 at Pioneer Room, Student Union 265

3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. "Writing the Military Experience: A Hands-on Writing Session," conference guests and faculty

TUESDAY, MARCH 25 at Fishback Studio Theater, Performing Arts Center

7:30 p.m. Brian Turner: A reading and conversation. Reception follows

Literary Journal Launch: 'The Pass In Review' No. 1

Review: "The Pass In Review" Journal, Issue No. 1

In keeping with the newly launched literary journal's name—it's a pun on a command used in military drill and ceremony—The Pass In Review is a quick-step parade with plenty of flash, brass, ruffles and flourishes. While the content is not restricted to soldierly themes, the premiere issue features the poetry, fiction, photography, and artwork of more than 20 military veterans.

One of them, admittedly, is the writer of the Red Bull Rising blog. The issue includes, among other examples of his light military-themed verse, what may be the only poem ever written on the subject of working in a Tactical Operations Center ("TOC"). There is also one about making an on-line purchase of body armor. And one about life on a Forward Operating Base ("FOB") that is infused with Norse mythology.

Even without this potential bias, however, we would be excited by the prospects presented by this new collection of veterans' voices.

The issue is available electronically for $8.99 purchase via the Amazon Kindle Store. (Currently on discounted to $4.99!) For those who prefer ink-on-paper, the 82-page Pass in Review is also available as an 8x10-inch print-on-demand hardcopy via Amazon (around $18—currently discounted to $15) or via CreateSpace ($20). If you buy a print edition through Amazon, you get the option of purchasing the Kindle version for $1 more.

An annual Pass In Review anthology may also be in the works.

With their first effort, the journal's editors and designers have set their standards high. Check out this statement of purpose that's sure to stir both a writer's pen and blood:

The Pass In Review is a quarterly magazine for the arts that is focused on giving a strong, clear voice to the military veteran. This is a place for veterans of all backgrounds and nationalities to share their artistic visions and join the likes of Erich Maria Remarque, Joseph Heller, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, Wilfred Owen, Otto Dix, John Phillip Sousa and Tim O'Brien before them.

It is a difficult endeavor to separate oneself from the cause he or she fights for. Those artists, those warrior poets, whose perceptions are forged through the fires of war are compelled to illustrate the funny, honorable, disgusting, beautiful and cowardly aspects of the human condition. Through their art, they are able to denounce the machinations of the press, the lies of politicians, and the ideal of the glorious soldier to expose the truth to share with future generations.

In an editor's note in the premiere issue, editor Alex Zapata thanks the hundreds of veterans who submitted their work, and anticipates more such successes:

"After a couple of months of prep work, we opened our inboxes to submissions and the result was incredible," he writes. "Stories, poems, paintings and photographs streamed in by veterans from all services. After going through all of the submissions, I realized how completely and utterly wrong I was. All that time, I had been complaining about there being no artists like the ones I listed before. The truth is, they are out there. They just haven’t been discovered yet. We at The Pass In Review hope to change that."

In issue No. 1, front-and-center of Zapata's artistic assault is the work of photographer Chase Steely, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier currently serving with 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (S.B.C.T.), 25th Infantry "Tropic Lightning" Division (2-25th SBCT), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Steely was deployed to Eastern Afghanistan as an infantryman. After peers and leaders responded favorably to his photographic habits, however, he picked up additional and informal duty as a shooter of a different sort.

In addition to The Pass In Review cover photo, the issue presents 20 of Steely's images and an eight-page Q&A interview. In that exchange, Steely explains:

Even my Sergeant Major, who didn’t even know who I was ... I just became "the picture guy." I mean, I got in trouble a couple of times for stuff I posted [online] and they told me I had to take some stuff down but they were pretty supportive. Most of the time I was an RTO [Radio Telephone Operator], so that gave me the opportunity to be there and not have to worry about pulling security as much and just get to take photos. 

Even when I became an AG [Assistant Gunner] later on, they would pull me off that duty and just tell me "Hey, walk around and take pictures."

Despite the fact that he mostly used a small point-and-shoot camera, his eye for composition, color, and pattern delivers a fine-art treatment of the Afghan environment. Through Steely's viewfinder, you will encounter a day-to-day Afghanistan that seems almost magical.

Currently awaiting medical procedures related to injuries sustained while in Aghanistan, Steely has another year or two on his enlistment. In the meantime, he has self-published a 60-page photo book via Blurb, available in either print  or e-book formats.

Short stories in The Pass In Review's inaugural issue include:

• "Illusion" by Micah Reel

• "Dinner With the Anarchists" by T. Mazzara

• "A Sign of Things To Come" by Keith Ryan Kappel

• "Stream R" by Gerald Nutini

• "The Boatman" by Brad Drake

Poems include:

• "Bullet Proof Me," "Café Sessrúmnir," "Combat Patch," and "Quiet as TOC-rats" by Randy Brown

• "The Cotton-threaded Manacles of Legal Tender will Leave Ligature Marks on our Children’s Wrists" by Phillip Smith

• "Bird Flu" by Anthony L. Haskins

• "Walking Point" by Brett Perry

• "Fireflies" by John M. Koelsch

• "A Ball A Bat and A Beer" by Michael Fredson

Visual artworks—including photography, sculpture, and painting—include:

• "Can’t Patch a Wounded Soul with a Bandaid" and "Tiffany" by Edward Santos

• "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by William Medina

• "Albatross" by Claude Freaner

• "All I Am" by Kimberly Deliz

• "Tesla's Dream" and "Angel's Nest" by Apolinar Peralta

• "Apples Cubed" by Hugo Gonzalez

The submissions window for the second issue of The Pass In Review opened Feb. 1, and continues until April 1. The theme of the next issue is "Humor in the Military." Editors seek previously unpublished fiction, poetry, visual art, and music. Submissions are made through the journal's website. Click here for more guidelines.

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Disclaimer: As indicated earlier in this post, the writer of the Red Bull Rising blog has work appearing in the poetry section of The Pass In Review's issue No. 1.