Channel Offers Unusual Takes on War, Courtesy of Soldiers on the Front Lines

The channel's main audience is men, military buffs, and service members and their friends and families. It reaches about 45 million households nationwide through satellite and digital TV but is generally not available through basic cable.

David Zaslav, chief executive officer of Silver Spring-based Discovery, predicted that the audience for the video clips will grow. "A lot of it is silly, but it gives you a sense of what life is like," he said.

Jason Morgan, 33, a former Army specialist from West Virginia, submitted a video of soldiers buying goods in a market. It was one of the first segments to air on the channel.

"I just feel with mainstream media, they are only showing the bombs, the negative stuff," said Morgan, who was in Iraq from February 2004 to February 2005. "But all the kids were so grateful to see us. Everybody was really polite."

Since the debut of the segments Feb. 15, the Military Channel has received hundreds of submissions from troops who served or are still serving in the war zones. About five clips arrive every day, and the channel airs eight original segments every 24 hours. Troops can upload their videos -- most taken from digital or cellphone cameras -- directly through the Military Channel Web site. They must provide their names and ages, which TV producers verify. All submissions are sent to the military for clearance.

Master Sgt. Lisa Beth Snyder, in charge of an Army public affairs unit in Los Angeles, reviews clips that soldiers submit. Of 100 she has seen, Snyder said, she has rejected about 10 -- "just to make sure security is maintained."

Bill Smee, vice president of current affairs programming for Discovery, said the videos give a full picture of the daily military experience.

"It's a window into the lives of these troops," he said. "We want it to be a blend. The idea behind this is to make them unfiltered and raw, not to be heavy-handed."

Smee said the segments offer an alternative to other war coverage. "You are struck that there's a human dimension that's lost in the normal coverage of the war," he said. "Some of it is blowing off steam. To me, that's what is surprising. It's not just adrenaline and exhaustion."

Deborah Scranton, director of "The War Tapes," an award-winning documentary that uses video generated from troops in Iraq, said the U.S. public generally has no idea what their daily life is like. Her film will run April 19 on the Military Channel.

"In a way, everyone is sort of numbed out to the war," she said. "This kind of storytelling is effective in helping bridge the gap. The soldiers are trying to get people to understand. It's a human desire. We want someone to know how we live."