Introduction

It has taken half a deployment, but I, Spc. Spencer Case, have finally succumbed to the narcissistic compulsion to see my own life in glorified BLOG form.

Since this is my first entry, a little background information may be of some use. I am a 20-year-old print journalist for the U.S. Army currently deployed to Balad, Iraq with Denver’s 207th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. I enlisted in the Army a little over two years ago while I was a student at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. I joined as a result of a few different factors. I wanted to pay for school and I wanted to see things that would inspire my writing. There may have even been a smidgeon of patriotism involved. At any rate, here I am.

Life in Iraq has its disadvantages of course. I miss some of the freedoms I had as a civilian (and probably didn’t appreciate.) But life isn’t all that bad. I’m on a base that has amenities that are so good that if I told you about them, you’d stop sending care packages. I am in a unit where I actually have friends, unlike Basic Training, and I generally enjoy the adventurous work that I do. As Confucius would say, “while in soup, might as well enjoy flavor.” So take a moment to wallow with me in the hearty soup of Army life.