[Ragtime Cowgirl]

One day last week, Capt. Vincent J. Heintz and his men were trying to quell an unruly demonstration by a group of Iraqi villagers when a lone suicide bomber rushed the crowd. A blast rang out....

...Within minutes, the soldiers were dusting the snow off their uniforms and bantering with the villagers, actually Iraqi-Americans flown in to Fort Drum, N.Y., from Michigan.

The drill — part of an elaborate four-day simulation at this snowbound Army base near the Canadian border — represents the Army's best effort to prepare its new civilian soldiers, who will soon begin heading to Iraq in ever larger numbers.
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Bless our courageous National Guard civilian Soldiers ~ their families, and employers.

   * * * God Bless those who serve our country  * * *

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[blackie]

Bless our courageous National Guard civilian Soldiers ~ their families, and employers ~ Bump!

[PhilDragoo]

The challenge to the military, then, is much more urgent than dealing with frustrated National Guard families who want to see their loved ones during the holidays. It is how to keep these civilian soldiers alive, and to teach them the skills they will need in a very short period of time.

God Bless these "civilian soldiers", historic heroes of the Republic, stepping from ordinary life into extraordinary circumstances.