Specialist Christopher Robinson is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard currently serving in Afghanistan. Throughout the course of his deployment, he is sending reflections on his experience as a soldier in a controversial military engagement. This is part five of his series of dispatches on the war. I could hardly breathe. My rucksack [...]

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Specialist Christopher Robinson is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard. Due to the unpredictability and delay of mail, Robinson pre-filed this piece for the current issue. He has arrived safely in Afghanistan and will write his next column from there. This is part four of his series of dispatches on the war. Two [...]

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Specialist Christopher Robinson is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard deployed to Afghanistan during 2010 and 2011. This is part three of his series of dispatches on the war. It was our first week in The Box when the orders came in. We were to defend a mountain. We knew nothing about it, [...]

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Specialist Christopher Robinson is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard who will be deployed to Afghanistan during 2010 and 2011. This is part two of his series of dispatches on the war. Three years ago, I went through Camp Shelby for the first time, during the mobilization for Iraq. Little has changed here [...]

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Jessi A is the partner of Specialist Christopher Robinson, the Iowa Army National Guardsman who will be deployed to Afghanistan during 2010 and 2011. His reflections on the Afghanistan war debuted in the September issue of the Ames Progressive. This is the first of Jessi’s reflections from back home. You left on a Thursday. I [...]

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Specialist Christopher Robinson is a member of the Iowa Army National Guard who will be deployed to Afghanistan during 2010 and 2011. Throughout the course of his deployment, he will send reflections on his experience as a soldier in a controversial military engagement. The Eve of Deployment Sunlight rides low on the wall, making the [...]

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