Buck Sargent talks about his milblog American Citizen Soldier.

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

1. I love classical music.
2. I was born in Berkeley, People’s Republic of California, of all places.
3. Before I joined the military, I actually voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 (still can’t explain that one).

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

Since July 2005, just prior to leaving for Iraq. I had kept a longhand journal in Afghanistan that I used to tear pages out of and periodically send to my parents, who’d then xerox and send around to family and friends.

I figured an online journal this time around would save them a lot on postage. Once I was deployed, however, the blog took on a life of its own.

Question: What is your military experience?

I enlisted in 2002 as a paratrooper and my first unit was the 501st PIR (currently in Iraq under the 4th/25th Infantry). I saw action with them in Afghanistan and a year later in Iraq with the 172nd Stryker Brigade (also from Alaska). We would ultimately serve out a 16 month tour throughout Iraq, to include Mosul, Tal Afar and Baghdad. Presently, I’m back in Alaska and working on my graduate degree until I leave active duty by this fall.

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

Question: Without my own laptop in Iraq, there’s no way I could have accomplished all that I did. It’s next to impossible to write with any depth when you’re limited to a 30 minute session on a public internet kiosk. You have to write on your own time and then use the public computers just for uploading and formatting. Plus, your email communication with family and friends would suffer and your wife would probably end up divorcing you because “you love a blog more than her.”

Additionally, without the attention sent my way via the big-time milbloggers like Mudville and Blackfive, my readership would likely still consist of my mother and the random college buddy. The rest of us owe them a lot for widening the field and sharing the spotlight.

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

I’d like to take the opportunity to apologize to my loyal readership for hyping up my documentary project “Give War a Chance” and then dragging my feet on putting it all together now that I’m finally home. Life tends to get in the way of big ideas, but it will eventually see the light of day.

That I promise.

Thanks to everyone who’s supported me in the past and continues to do so today.

Buck

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