Some would say it is the end of the world, while others would just call it a brother helping out a brother, but either way, some local UGA alumni are helping Gators in Iraq. These Gators are not of the Florida variety though, instead, they are the VMFA-142 Flying Gators, an F/A-18 fighter attack squadron based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Atlanta.

There are currently about 180 Marines in the squadron serving in Iraq, consisting of FA-18 Pilots, crewman, and support. Plexus Web Creations, a local web development firm owned by UGA alumni, has created and maintained a web log – commonly referred to as a blog – so that these Gators can communicate with family and friends back home.

Buck Sharp, Creative Director of Plexus and co-owner of the company has taken a special interest in this group due to the fact that his brother is one of the Gators. The two devised the idea of a blog to communicate back and forth while serving in Iraq. A blog was chosen because it allows squadron members the ability stay in touch with a large audience, as well as saving the high expense of long distance phone calls to and from Iraq.

Until they return home, they can use modern technology to talk with loved ones here in the U.S. and abroad. Members of the Gator squadron send dozens of photos and stories daily by email to Sharp and he uploads them to the site. The site gets about 700 visits a day from family members and friends. The family members can then post responses to their loved ones directly on the site.

A blog is somewhat like an online diary, where users can update information in real time and post it on the internet. Originally created by tech junkies to communicate with one another, blogs have achieved mainstream status with many of the Fortune 500 companies hosting some sort of blog on their corporate sites. One blog-watching service, Technorati, estimates that there are more than 8 million blogs in existence – and the number grows daily. Helping facilitate the rapid growth of blogs is a free software program called Blogger – which was recently acquired by Google. Sharp utilized this software to create and manage the site.

"My little girl had big tears in her eyes the other night because, she wanted her daddy to tuck her in," says one family member on the site. "I let her get up and showed her this site. Seeing pictures of her daddy and her extended gator family put her mind to rest. The picture of "Mr. Chugger" with Xmas lights and his floppy hat made her laugh out loud. Thank-you"

"I am very excited about the response we are getting from the site," explains Sharp. "We get emails every day from family members, as well as people serving in the squadron, thanking us for making it so easy for them to communicate with each other."

For more information on the Gators, please visit them at www.gatorsiniraq.com or call Buck Sharp at 706-353-2048.