In 2003 I was a gun chief. I had an M-198 and a crew of 10. In 2004 I had a prison compound with 600 detainees and a crew of 8. We stopped being a professional force when they started handing out brassards.

With the Bush administration doing its best to destroy the military and our generals doing everything possible to help, what's a sergeant to do? You can't protect your men from that. My enlistment ended 8 months after we got back from Iraq and I voted with my feet, walking away after 14 years of service. I loved being in and miss it, but I won't serve under those conditions.