The Ivy League has had a rather complicated relationship with the military in recent years (see Sanchez, Matt-- or better yet, don't). Despite the ideological gap that has alienated many liberal Ivyfolk from their country's adventures in Iraq, the Schools have produced a few good military men with a penchant for writing about their experiences. A couple years back, Columbia's magazine The Eye ran recurring dispatches from Lt. Josh Arthur, CC ’04 in Baghdad. Now Princeton alum Capt. Nate Rawlings is providing commentary and answering questions about his current deployment in Iraq for NPR.

Rawlings comes across as extremely hesitant to cross party lines and doesn't say anything even remotely controversial, but it's hard not to have some affection for a guy who's writing a bafflingly eclectic advice column from a war zone. In yesterday's installment, his three questions were: a heart-tugging letter from a soldier who will likely miss his son's birth, a scathing anti-war screed disguised as a question, and a jaunty inquiry about being an Ivy Leaguer in Iraq. I wonder which of these we're interested in?

Dear Capt. Rawlings,

What was it like making the transition from the military program at Princeton to leading a group of men in Iraq? Did your reputation as an Ivy Leaguer precede you? Did that mean anything to them?

I hope things are well. All the best.

Zachary Gall, Kansas City, Mo.

Dear Zachary,

Thanks so much for the question. I did get a bit of friendly ribbing when I first came to my unit and my troops found out where I went to school, but I try to keep this Irish proverb in mind: Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused. I probably made fun of myself as much as they did and learned that it's all part of becoming a large family of soldiers.

I was truly blessed because the Princeton Army ROTC cadre taught me that when you are a leader, you are essentially a servant of those you lead. I learned from amazing, patriotic and professional noncommissioned officers that accomplishing the mission is our most important duty, followed closely by taking care of those in our charge. I tried to use my status as an officer to help with the nagging problems soldiers face, from pushing paperwork through the red tape to finding the person who could help make something happen. I hope that any feelings they might have had that I was a snot-nosed kid from an Ivy League school went away pretty quickly.

Now, Ivy Leaguers aren't necessarily known for their ability to laugh at themselves (have you seen the comments at that IvyGate website?), so Capt. Rawlings' ability to do so suggests that a stint in ROTC might be just what's needed to turn those privileged frowns into amiable but heroic grimaces. Or maybe not. I also like how Rawlings' skills ("finding the person who could help make something happen") are exactly the ones you'd expect a good Princeton schmoozer to be able to wield successfully. Who says those practice interviews at the career center were totally useless?

The real story here though is that Rawlings has been stop-lossed-- as a result of the Pentagon policy of forced redeployments, Rawlings went back for a second tour rather than applying to film schools as he had planned to do. Having watched Stop-Loss on DVD last night, I'm in a pretty good position to say that this really sucks. Don't worry though. I'm pretty sure that once we withdraw from Iraq nothing bad will ever come up in the Middle East again.

In conclusion: Joseph Gordon-Levitt kills himself at the end of Stop-Loss. Happy Thursday morning.