Jeff Dahlin wrote Iraq Chronicle while he served as a medical platoon sergeant with l battalion 278 Regimental Combat Team. Beginning with departing from Tennessee with the cheers from hundreds of roadside onlookers to arriving in the sweltering humidity of southern Mississippi for training, Dahlin introduces members of his platoon and as training continues, witnesses the transformation of weekend warriors to full time professional soldiers. Training cumulates at the national training center in southern California with a simulated attack on an Iraqi village followed up by a fruit loop race in...