Meet Spc. Nick Druecke

Nick Druecke is stationed at Camp Taji, Iraq, 6,339 miles from home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

I was born in Waupun hospital, and lived in Beaver Dam for all of my life. My family was split as a result of a divorce I am too young to remember, both of my parents remarried. My mother, Heidi, first to a man named Eric Schoenberger who was in the Army for ten years. My father Lorne Druecke remarried after several years to a woman named Jenni Hart. They are still married today. My mother however passed away not too long ago, I honestly don’t remember the date. Not one of those things you wish to remember, I do remember however that it was shortly before I graduated high school (BD HIGH). I had trouble with that, I began to drink very heavily and only with the help of my friends did I recover. At the time I was working for a small gas station (CENEX) just on the outskirts of town.

After an unsatisfactory month of employment with a satellite TV company, I joined the military on 20 August 2007. My reasoning was the paycheck was steady, and that is about the only thing true to this day about the military. I enlisted as an infantryman and after basic went to Ft. Hood, Tx where I would report to Bravo Co 2/8 CAV and trained with them for the next year in preparation for their next deployment. Shortly before we deployed our platoon was selected to become part of a new unit called 'blues platoon', which is a big deal in Cav history. The last time this unit was around was in Vietnam. If you've ever seen 'We Were Soldiers,' it’s the same basic principle. I'll let you do your own research on that one, but to the big brass this was pretty huge.

So we moved units and became part of Fox Troop (FELONS) 3/227 Attack Helicopter Battalion. We had a train up and deployed to Iraq in late April.

To be continued.

- Nick

Red arrow points to Lindsay's love in Hi Mom video

Lindsay Herman, fiance of a Madison man serving overseas in the Wisconsin National Guard, tells us how the 32nd IBCT's Red Arrow pointed her to a fleeting glimpse of her young man in the Hi Mom video currently circulating on YouTube.

Here's a portion of Lindsay's email to A World Away:

Initially Chad sent me the link with no explanation, so I started watching. I was watching the video and thought it was cute, but then I saw was the 32nd red arrow in the background of one of the stages, and I started to get a little curious. Then there he was! I actually made a surprised scream sound - my roommate probably thought I was crazy. I haven't seen him in that much clarity since I saw him in April.

The internet in Iraq is so flaky that all I usually get is a grainy image. I watched the video probably 20 times that night over and over.

It was almost as if he was waving just to me :)

(Pause while crusty, cynical news reporter wipes away a tear.) The video was posted by a self-described comedian who apparently entertained the troops. Chad is from Madison, WI. He's a specialist in the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Janesville unit who was working for Capital City Harley Davidson before being deployed.

Can you spot the red arrow that heightened Lindsay's curiousity?

Is your soldier on the clip? Let us know! Click on the comments link below, or email your host at mvesberg@gmail.com.

One more time, here's the clip.

National Guard will be needed

Gen. Craig R. McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau; Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the director of the Air National Guard, and Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, the acting director of the Army National Guard, talk with reporters during the 2009 National Guard Family Program Volunteer Workshop in Dearborn, Mich., on July 27, 2009. In an era of persistent conflict, "our National Guard and our reserve component forces are going to have to stand alongside our active-duty counterparts and contribute, just like we've been doing for almost eight years," McKinley said. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill

Demand for Guard units shows no signs of slowing, according to a WNG press release.

-Steve

Hello, mother!

Alert reader Patti points out a Wisconsin soldier in the "Hi Mom" video making rounds on YouTube:

At least one Wisconsin guardsman appears, yet probably more (Chad Brown at 57 sec.) Enjoy a few light moments in a hazardous country.

See any Wisconsin soldiers you know?

Worst kept secret revealed

The above photo, provided by the U.S. military, was not taken at today's press conference with Wisconsin National Guard Col. Steven Bensend.

At today's press conference, Col. Steven Bensend did manage to commit some news, confirming that Wisconsin troops have been transporting detainees from Bucca, and then resuming their detainee ops mission at Taji.
The colonel also said that Wisconsin National Guard troops are well protected for their jouneys outside the wire, and he said officers including himself also venture out into the countryside.
Read the State Journal story.

It's hard to find the news conference clips on the DVIDS site. The clips get a little lost in all the photos of Angelina Jolie.
Here is perhaps a better link if you want to watch the press conference.

Click here for coverage of Angelina Jolie.

-Steve

B-Roll from Camp Cropper

Here's what the military provides to TV stations to run in the background while the reporter talks. These are kind of interesting. Especially the one from Camp Cropper, just because it shows the inside of a TIF -- something that is fully familiar to many Wisconsin soldiers -- but new to those of us back home.


This clip from Camp Cropper was released recently.

Here's one from the National Training Academy on Forward Operating Base Future, where Iraqi prison guards are being trained.

- Steve

Live ! From Baghdad

Col. Steven Bensend and Command Sgt. Maj. Ed Hanson were taking questions this morning in a live feed from the International Zone.
As one might expect, there were a few technical problems. WTMJ in Milwaukee pointed out that the camera was zoomed in on the Wisconsin flag that stood next to Bensend and Hansen.
Just about every word said in the first half-hour was followed by an echo, and several TV stations had trouble (at their end of the feed) getting a picture.

Bensend reported the morale of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers is very high and the Iraqi military is competent to take over operations over the next year.

"I think they compare to American forces and they should because we trained them," Bensend said.

Meanwhile, the military released several new videos featuring Wisconsin soldiers, including footage from Camp Cropper, Victory Base Complex and the International Zone.
Here is State Journal coverage, including links to the clips.