"a soldier interacting, without mediation"

Lieutenant General William Caldwell IV Introduction

Introduction

Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell IV has served as the military's media spokesperson for the Multi-National Force—Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom and as commander of the Army's Combined Arms Center (CAC) and Command and General Staff College (CGSC). These roles, as well as this three-star general's promotion of the Army's rhetorical concept of strategic communications and public advocacy for soldiers' use of digital media and online social networking tools, suggested a combination of interests in education, rhetoric, and technology uniquely appropriate to Kairos and to this special issue in particular.

We, the interviewers—Mike Edwards and D. Alexis Hart—first contacted Lt. Gen Caldwell's staff in 2008 to inquire about the possibility of an interview. In 2009, Lt. Gen Caldwell departed Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for central Asia to take command of the NATO Training Mission—Afghanistan (NTM-A) and the Combined Security Transition Command—Afghanistan (CSTC-A), but in early 2010, he agreed to answer our questions via email from Afghanistan. We are grateful for the generosity of time and thoughtful consideration Lt. Gen Caldwell gave to our questions.