8 May 2008: If Vietnam is remembered as the first war that the media brought to the living rooms of America, then the war in Iraq will be remembered as the first war that the soldiers themselves brought to the living rooms, offices, and bedrooms of America.

Milblogs, as blogs authored by members of the military are called, have revolutionized the way soldiers in war can communicate with the public, allowing people from Tennessee to Montana to read, on a daily basis, first-person accounts of the battlefield.

“It’s more than writing letters home, it’s writing letters for the world to see,” said Alan Rosenblatt, a professor and author on digital media, politics, and blogging. Through milblogs, soldiers in war can stay connected to their life back home, and the public can experience war through the eyes of a soldier, which offers them a much closer connection than perhaps they even imagined.

“The ‘insider account’ is essential in connecting segments of the American population to a war that many are very far from personally understanding,” said Gordon Smith, a soldier who served in Iraq and documented his experiences on his blog, Acute Politics.

“Only 10 percent of America has a family member who is serving or has served in Iraq. That number is far less than any previous major conflict that America has engaged in, leaving 90 percent of America without a first-hand account of the war,” he said.

In past wars, deployed soldiers were able to write letters to loved ones, and, later on, phone calls and individual e-mails. But, unless someone was personally connected to a deployed soldier, they had no idea what it was like to jump out of airplanes and land in war-torn Germany during WWII, how hot it was to trek in full gear through the sweltering jungles of Vietnam, or the emotions that surfaced when under fire—and when firing.

Blogs are making and deepening a connection between the general public to the military world that wasn’t present before.

“The unique thing about blogs is that they allow the reader to experience the highs, lows, and terrible times of war,” said Smith.

All across the spectrum, social networks and blogs have made communication between a news outlet, an organization, or a company, more personal. And the market shows that the more personal the communication is, the more popular it is with the consumer.

For the growing number of people who check online news sites more than three times per day, or spend most of their days online, blogs are becoming more popular for analysis and the first-person, less-formal communication that the public seems to be more and more interested in. The same is true for milblogs.

“It’s the desire to get that personal touch,” said Rosenblatt.

“In the summer heat we began to dismount on the main routes and walk a few kilometers to the neighborhoods we intended to operate in. Not daring to face the bombs underneath the street, we were cut off from the life support of the twenty-two ton vehicles that were our second homes ten months prior. Water went from a luxury to scarce treasure instantly: you have only what you could efficiently carry. In the 120+ degree heat, a bottle of water that has been boiling in your cargo pocket is about as refreshing as drinking sand. But when you run out of water, the only thing left to do is drop iodine tablets into a bottle of tap water that you got from some Iraqi’s faucet.”

Studies show that the American public does want to feel more connected to the personal side of the war. A recent PEW survey reveals that 61 percent of the public feels that soldiers’ personal experiences in Iraq are not getting enough news coverage and 63 percent said that the challenges facing soldiers upon return from Iraq were not receiving enough press.

Smith said that he felt that disconnect between the soldiers experience in war and the public, which became part of the reason why he blogged. “I sensed that Americans were hungry for news, any news of the war, anything beyond body bags and body counts,” said Smith.

In more ways than one, the majority of Americans feel disconnected from the war in Iraq. News is increasingly driven by financial concerns, and the Iraq story is beginning to become, sadly, a tough sell in comparison to Hollywood couture, reality television, and the he-said, she-said game of the American presidential election cycle.

“People don’t feel an emotional connection to Iraq anymore,” said Tiare Roth, editor of the Middle East Program at Institute for War and Peace Reporting. But the question is, did they ever?

In WWII, the last major battle the United States was involved in, the majority of the country sacrificed for the “good of the nation.” Nearly everyone had a connection—mom suddenly entered the work force, the local factory switched from making cars to making planes, and dad or brother went to war. People paid higher taxes. Now, it’s a minority that is making the sacrifice—the majority is ‘business as usual.’ Therefore, it’s no wonder that the American public feels disconnected from the war.

“We pulled up along a main road and filtered out of the Strykers and into the black abyss of a huge field. There was a road running parallel to us that we didn’t take out of concern for small IEDs targeting dismounts. Instead we had chosen the less beaten path, a garbage and sewage strewn open area dotted with wild chickens pecking the trash at their feet. We would find, clear and hold a tall building until daybreak and begin clearing in the morning sun. Before getting there, our first platoon spotted a man walking down the street with an AK 47 slung over his shoulder. Muffled shots filled the air, no louder than the tin cans sent flying with awkward kicks from fumbling soldiers in the darkness, tink-tinking against rusted scrap metal. Over the company radio the report came in. One enemy KIA. Well, shit. Now they know we’ve arrived.”

The rising popularity of milblogs has received scrutiny within the military establishment and its civilian leaders in the Pentagon. In 2005, USA Today reported that there were around 200 operating military blogs. Today, there are just under 2,000 military blogs, according to Milblogging.com, an online index of military blogs.

Will the proliferation of milblogs present a new security risk for soldiers in combat? Will postings reveal sensitive information that insurgents could use against them?

In April of 2007, the Army reissued its directive on operations security—a manual guide on keeping personnel, information, and technology strategically secure—to specifically address “recent technology concerns such as… web logs (‘blogs’).” New measures in order to maintain security now include the provision that all personnel check with their superiors before publishing anything, including blog posts.

But, as Smith says, most milbloggers practice their own self-censorship out of the desire to save their own lives.

“I self-censored every single time I blogged. It’s not a matter of wondering ‘does this post negatively affect security?’ It’s asking if this post will reveal something that helps the insurgents build the bomb that kills me or my buddies.”

High up in line of command, there are some who argue for the military to take a more supportive—and even encouraging—attitude toward soldiers who want to blog and post videos and pictures on the internet. Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, wrote for the Small Wars Journal that “…we need to encourage soldiers to “tell/share their story.” Caldwell’s main point is that there is a “war of information” taking place, and that the enemy is using the internet, and being quite successful at it, to further their propaganda. The United States then, he writes, should do the same.

“The public has a voracious appetite for the sensational, the graphic and the shocking. We all have a difficult time taking our eyes off the train wreck in progress—it is human nature... [B]ut when it comes to their men and women in uniform, they also have a very strong desire to hear their personal stories. They want to know what it is like, what the Soldiers are experiencing, and how the Soldiers feel about their mission…”

Not all milblogs are supportive of the war in Iraq. Milbloggers fall on all sides of the spectrum in terms of their feelings about the war, and some are more outspoken than others. Alex Horton, who documented his 15 month experience at Army of Dude, used his blog to give people a glimpse of what life is like for a 21-year-old soldier in Iraq, a self-proclaimed “dude” from Texas, and also as an outlet for frustration with the mission and how it often was reported.

“The intention of this blog from day one was to chronicle my experiences in a way for people to understand and interpret what was going on beyond what was being filtered, distilled and spat out of the mainstream media,” wrote Alex.

Alex’s blog is full of reports, photos, and videos about what he saw and what he did while in Iraq. He writes descriptively of seeing his friends get killed, watching innocent Iraqi women and children get killed, and the reality of people getting killed by accident.

His blog won second place for the best military blog of 2007.

At a time when lack of resources and security are inhibiting journalists from reporting in Iraq, Alex was writing first-hand reports from the streets of combat, telling it as it was with no censors.

“The rules of engagement are a little more relaxed than they were in Baghdad. Anyone burning a tire in the road to soften it up for emplacing a bomb is shot. Anyone laying cable to hook up to a bomb is shot. Shot is an understatement in this situation. A 25mm shell entering a human being’s body leaves a hole the size of a grapefruit.”

Millbloger Gordon Smith said he sees blogs as being a good outlet, psychologically and emotionally, for soldiers in war. “Many soldiers blog as a therapeutic measure,” he said. “It can help in understanding and accepting traumatic events, as well as mediating the day-to-day boredom of Iraq.”

Alex’s blog includes traumatic instances, including the day when his friend, Chevy—along with several Iraqi civilians—were killed by insurgents. Alex wrote about his anger, his shock upon learning that Chevy was killed, and his lack of time to ever deal with it.

“What had happened began to sink in, but it wasn’t fully realized,” wrote Alex. “We loaded up in the evening without one of our own. 25 families were missing their fathers and sons. Several mourned innocent children’s lives lost. And somewhere in Georgia, a little girl is missing her daddy.”

Through milblogs, soldiers can relay the reality of war to the American people. And for the public, milblogs present an opportunity to get a personal perspective on the war.

“They represent the majority of people in Iraq,” he said. “The people who are just trying to make it.”

Paragraphs in italics are portions of posts from Alex Horton's blog, Army of Dude.