Click to my podcast On The Front Lines!
This podcast is taken from On The Media.
Matt Mabe is one of the few people who know what it's like to be on both sides of the strained marriage between the military and the media. He left the army in 2007 to become a reporter and he was recently recalled to duty as a soldier. Mabe describes how both sides mistrust and misunderstand one another. He joins us from Afghanistan to tell his story:
"On what I thought was my last day in the Army in May 2007, my battalion commander gave me some parting words of discouragement. “I just want you to understand that you’re leaving the most respected profession in America for one of the least,” he said. It was his final attempt to dissuade me from pursuing a career in journalism.
“Roger, sir,” I whispered.
The Army was in the midst of a crisis, and he was angry. Junior officers were bailing at an accelerating rate. Some were disenchanted with the deteriorating situation in Iraq; others were attracted by high-paying civilian jobs. For weeks my commander had been urging me to stay. But my mind was made up.
He shook his head and tightly crossed his arms. “If you ever happen to write about the military, just remember where you came from,” he said. “Don’t dishonor us.” And with that, I was dismissed.
It was one of the most difficult moments of my career. I was twenty-seven and had spent my entire adult life in uniform. The thought of abandoning my unit in a time of war made me feel cowardly. But having already served two grueling tours in Iraq, I convinced myself that I’d done enough".
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