When I started posting diaries, it seemed as if my being a soldier was a relative novelty. In fact, for awhile during my last deployment I had at least three diaries in the row make either the rec list or the front page. Recently, that has no longer been the case. I'm not complaining, most of my diaries have been written quickly, and haven't always been of great quality; I always felt that it was the fact of my being a soldier that made them interesting. It has occured to me that both a member of the armed forces and a participant at Big Orange is no longer uncommon. I am certain that there have always been a lot of lerkers amongst us, but the number of diaries by service members have gone up. I was thinking, maybe we'd like to talk to each other. So, with that thought, I introduce MIL-KOS, an as weekly as I can get it diary/forum for military kossacks and any one else who'd like to hang out.
I'll try this for a few weeks, and see if it catches on. I mean for it to be a place where those of us in the military can see who the other ones are here without necessarily reading through all the diaries every night. But more than that, I think it'd be great if those who aren't the military could get a semi-regular chance to interact with those of us in uniform. But first, I think a few groundrules are maybe in order.
- I probably don't have to say this, and I'm not your S-6 so I don't really care, but don't forget that this is a big internet. Lets refrain from specific places. For instance, I'm south of Baghdad but I won't say what camp I'm at.
- In relation to #1, for the civilians, remember that we can't necessarily answer every question. Don't be offended if someone dances around an answer or ignores a comment that you think needs a responce.
- Lets try to keep the acronyms and military terms to a minimum, just because it's easier. Also, if you don't know what something means, feel free to ask. An S-6 is the person in the unit who deals with communications, such as over the internet.
Ignore what you wish, I don't care, but it seems like those three guidelines are a good place to start. So, if you please, intruduce yourself, gripe a little if you'd like, and maybe share a war story if you feel like it.