Combat Artist Is Becoming A Lost Profession

Photo: Army Master Sgt. Martin Cervantez takes pictures of soldiers on a mission during an embed in Afghanistan. Cervantez and Marine Staff Sgt. Kristopher Battles often take photos downrange, then go back to the States and produce paintings based on those impressions. Courtesy of Martin Cervantez

Combat Artists Still Use Traditional Media To Document Life In Digital Age -- Stars And Stripes

NAPLES, Italy — Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Kristopher Battles is unsure of his technical military job category, better known as his MOS. He is literally a force of one.

Battles is a 4606: combat artist, the only active-duty Marine doing the job these days.

For combat artists like Battles — troops and civilians who chronicle their comrades’ lives through art — obscurity comes with the job. Their ranks are so sparsely populated that the average Marine, soldier, sailor or airman can be forgiven for not realizing they exist.

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My Comment: Sadly .... this is becoming a lost profession and art.