PAULINE'S PICKS: The St. Louis 'Post-Dispatch' Follows Recruits Through Basic Training

By: Pauline Millard As news consumers, we read and watch stories about the Iraq war everyday. Thousands of miles away there are soldiers on patrol and risking their lives for this war.

Who are these soldiers? And why would they join the Army in the middle of such a dangerous and dubious war?

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tries to answer those questions. The paper has one of the best multimedia reports about basic training, and the mentality of new recruits, that I've seen in a long time.

Reporter Phillip O'Connor and photographer David Carson put together Reporting For Duty. It is a multifacted report that follows a group of recruits as they go through basic training.

One of my favorite aspects of the project were the interviews with the recruits before they got into the thick of training. Most are under the age of 30, and they all had different reasons for joining the Army during wartime. Some wanted to escape dead-end jobs, such as managing a fast-food restaurant. Other wanted to straighten out their lives. Still, others were in it for the employment and educational opportunities.

Their candor is tremendous. One soldier, a 24-year-old intelligence analyst named Kyle Holloway had a somewhat macabre perspective on going overseas, possibly to Iraq or Afghanistan. "You're going to die someday," he said. "At least I have a choice in the matter of what I might be doing while I die."

Some of the most intriguing parts of the project were inside training itself. Viewers get a first-hand look at everything from the recruits getting their first Army-issue haircuts to the joy of mail call. Some training exercises seem pretty rough, at least to civilians such as myself, such as the gas chamber and having to rappel down a wall.

Overall, Reporting For Duty is a compelling view into the world and minds of new recruits. In addition to all the well-produced video, there are print stories that ran in the Post-Dispatch as well as background information about Fort Leonard Wood.

Is your paper taking any new spins in covering the Iraq war? I'd love to see them.

Here are some of my past Picks:

Milwaukee 'Journal Sentinel' Makes Videos of Local Stories

Varsity 845 Blends High School Sports Reporting With Web

'Chicago Tribune' Makes Video About Army Platoon