Media & the Military: Across the World

Unfortunately, this evening's post won't be able to be too long. We are leaving the barracks at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning to watch/do physical training with the new enlistees.

Today's schedule wasn't as full as yesterday's was, but it was still great. We spent four hours on the road this afternoon, driving to Ft. Leonard Wood (where we are now).

This morning, first thing, we had a conference call with Lt. General Caldwell in Afghanistan. He talked to us about the NATO missions and how they were succeeding in training the Afghan armies, police, etc.

The first thing he told us, though, was how much he respected and appreciated journalists. He told us what we (journalists) should expect from the military, and what the military should expect from us. He said he wanted to be as open as possible with journalists, because they help get the information out to the American public.

The CGSC at Ft. Leavenworth

After his presentation, we had more than half an hour for questions. I got the chance to ask him about how the combined NATO forces were working together in their mutual mission to help Afghanistan's military become self-sufficient. He was happy to answer, and was very delighted to hear that I was a KU student. In fact, he ended the conference call with a "Rock Chalk" sign-off.

That, I think, was the highlight of my MilJo experience so far... so far, though. We have a full day of activities tomorrow.

Ft. Leonard Wood is very different from Ft. Leavenworth. Everything is more spread out; the buildings don't look as colonial; and there are more trees, or at least the trees are more clustered together. It definitely looks and feels like southern Missouri.

There are 35,000 people on Ft. Leonard Wood (FLW) at any given time, and I believe there are 10,000 enlistees in training here. There are also a few schools here, including basic training, military police, and several programs that include Hazmat and Explosives.

On the four-hour drive here, we had plenty of time to chat. We talked about colloquial terms, accents, pets, stories, the military, families, and different sub-cultures within the United States.

 A public affairs officer (PAO) from Ft. Leavenworth, who was accompanying us to FLW, sat next to me, and I got the chance to ask him about his military career and his experience with the media. It was interesting to get a perspective about the media from the military's perspective--much like General Caldwell shared with us earlier in the day.

It was also interesting to ask him more questions about the military's responsibility, infrastructure, and operations. I'm glad that the military personnel have been so open and willing to talk to us, General Caldwell especially. Obviously, someone that high-ranking has plenty of things to do, but the fact that he took time out of his schedule said that he cared enough about our program to invest his time.

Conference room at FLW

And that's something I can be proud of--the knowledge that the military is willing to be transparent and honest with us and with the American people in general. Obviously, they can't disclose everything, but it's great to know that the military is willing to work with us.

So, that's all for now. I will have a lot to blog about tomorrow night, so be looking for a long entry Thursday morning (or late Wednesday night).

And, in case you couldn't see them very well, here's the link to my Flickr slideshow of all my pictures so far. (I'm still working on the the video.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/67923100@N02/show/