This book is not written like a traditional "Blood and Guts" war time book because the American public can see this side of the war nightly on CNN, Fox News or the endless numbers of Internet and blog sites. This story is told from a personal perspective of war explicitly from the written journal kept throughout Valley's tour of duty. The author looks at this project as a modern day M.A.S.H. as it examines the good, the bad, the brilliant and sometimes illogical decisions that took place in the public affairs-media spectrum during his 12-months in Baghdad from January 2004 to January 2005.

The work reflects both positive and negative on military and governmental leaders that Valley dealt with and therefore, he didn't use the real names of certain characters he writes about because of national security and legal issues. Everything included in the book is based on his personal experiences or from stories of participants in events and not intended to represent the official views of the Bush Administration, the Department of Defense or the US Department of State.

This book is not Democratic or Republican, pro-or anti-military or a condemnation of Islam. It is a book of what Valley personally witnessed in Iraq as a Soldier, an Army senior enlisted leader and an American in Baghdad.

The book begins during a US Army Reserve weekend battle drill assembly in November 2003 with notification that his unit has been mobilized for service in Iraq and follows the reality of an Army Reservist leaving his family and civilian life behind to serve his country in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.