Francis Marion talks about his milblog Where I Stand!

Question: What are 3 things your readers probably do not know about you?

1. My name: I am still fighting terrorists and the last thing I want is for someone to start harassing or attacking my family. Beyond a select few who have been vetted, my name will remain anonymous.
2. I acquired personalized license plates for my bike. I will not advertise my plate number since it will make it easy to track it back to my name but I will say that I use a single non-English word that adequately expresses the freedom I feel when I ride.
3. I love a good challenge that gets my cognitive juices flowing. For example, while attending the Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC) required for the rank of Sergeant in the Army, we were required to demonstrate our ability to lead a formation by properly giving every Drill and Ceremonies command a squad could perform. Rather than just going down the list numerically, I had to identify the order which would use each command only once and in the shortest time and space. I did it all in half a volleyball court.

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

My first blog posting was in 1995. Does this make me the first Milblogger? I created a photo journal after I returned from Haiti as an attempt to practice some html and web design. My domain name expired during my first deployment to Afghanistan and was acquired by a domain name pirate who tried to sell it back to me. It is still online in a subdirectory of the parent domain but I will not link it because it has too many pointers that can lead back to me.

My first post 9/11 blogging was by request of the America’s Army game program. I was asked to write about life in the army. I received some pretty good reviews. I added links to the original articles and posted a final few that they never got around to posting; you can find them on the side bar at my site.

I started Where I Stand while recovering from a motorcycle accident which left me unable to walk or work. I had been following GoldFalcon’s blogging at The Jump Blog and decided to give it a try. My initial excuse was to use it as some mental therapy to help me get over my post accident depression but I am pretty opinionated and it is really an excuse for me to express myself.

Question: What is your military experience?

I joined the National Guard at 17 and graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) at 20. After a few years, I enlisted active duty and was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group for 5 years and participated in the Haitian (almost) invasion. I spent 2 years teaching at the SFQC before returning to the National Guard. I have deployed to Afghanistan twice and I am currently in the Philippines as an advisor.

Question: What are some of your other favorite Milblogs?

I usually start my day going down the list of links on my side bar but if I’m short on time, I typically hit BlackFive, Andi, and Barb; between them, I get a pretty good balance of news and socializing.

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

Successful? You would have to ask someone else…

Ok, based on what little success I do have, my history and location contributes much of my success. Taking online classes with the University of Phoenix has greatly improved my writing abilities. But, my biggest effort comes from the way I develop my drafts. I don’t touch the hot/popular topics unless I have something unique and substantial to add to the discussion, and I will frequently spend a couple of days thinking about the topic and composing my rough draft in my head before I start typing. I choose my words carefully to ensure that I express my true intent.

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