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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Live from an "undisclosed location" in this war-torn city, the soldier leaned toward the microphone and unleashed a smooth, deep voice onto airwaves that stretch throughout Iraq. "This is Staff Sgt. 'CJ the DJ' Sheely coming from the Broadcast Bunker."

(Photos by Nicole Frugé/Express-News) Staff Sgt. C.J. Sheely, 36, waits to go on the air for American Forces Network's Freedom Radio. American Forces Network's Freedom Radio is broadcast from an undisclosed location in Iraq. An Army Reserve unit based in the Texas town of Seagoville runs the station. An illustration shows how to pronounce Iraq in the Freedom Radio studio.

C.J. Sheely, a 36-year-old Army Reservist, was two weeks into a tour of duty on behalf of the American Forces Network and sitting in the same seat as AFN's legendary Adrian Cronauer.

Cronauer became famous through the movie "Good Morning Vietnam," in which Robin Williams starred as the eccentric DJ who won the hearts of some GIs, but not superiors, with humor and honesty about that war.

AFN occasionally broadcasts a recording of Williams saying "Good Morning Baghdad" for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sheely isn't the screamer Cronauer was, nor does he or any of the others behind the microphone have a Cronauer-like following. He was mentored on the job during his formative years at a radio station in Georgia by a retired timber truck driver-gone-DJ.

Still, his segue into a short news clip about a road kill cook-off in West Virginia was seamless. His sarcasm was crisp when he reminded fellow soldiers listening in that "we all love our jobs."

"Just keep telling yourself that. You'll believe it sooner or later," he said.

Then, at the click of a computer mouse, he played the song "Other Side" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The catch with Sheely is he actually does love his job, he said.

His boss, Sgt. 1st Class Gail Anderson, 49, a veteran DJ in and outside of the military, said, "It's the best job in the Army."

The two men are part of the 206th Broadcast Operations Detachment out of Seagoville, near Dallas. They try to mirror radio programs in the United States and "inform and entertain the troops."

They play country, urban and classic rock, among other types of music; however, lyric advisories make way for some limitations.

"We don't want any shock jocks like Howard Stern," said Anderson, a father of three boys. "But you can't please everyone, so we try to offend as few as possible."

Though AFN is run by the military, Anderson said it's not a "propaganda station." But it doesn't broadcast the number of American service men and women killed in the war — 1,914.

"We can, but we don't," Anderson said.

He's outfitted with the same combat boots and desert camouflage — with a 9mm handgun strapped to his leg — seen on other GIs in Iraq.

So far, Anderson hasn't gotten a call from a colonel about on-air antics like Cronauer did, but Sheely said he might get some heat from callers for recommending that a freezing-man contest in Green Bay, Wis., temporarily replace Mardi Gras.

He signed off at 6 p.m. with a long "Seeeeeeeeya," and then passed the microphone onto Spc. Cody Graves, 23, of Arkadelphia, Ark., whose radio voice is filled with stutters and a lack of enthusiasm.

"Good evening everyone, you are in the Landing Zone," he said dryly, of his program that runs until 10 p.m.

Soon he accidentally cut off a new hard rock song midway through for a song by pop singer Sheryl Crow, what he called "a really big booboo." He gave the same teaser when he told a joke that Sheely said he had already used.

Graves shook it off and quipped, "No one listens to us anyway."

Then he read from a card.

"Are you having a problem sleeping? Contact combat stress patrol. Remember that getting the proper amount of sleep is not only good for your health, but keeps you alert for the mission."

Though he's rough and a bit stale, Graves has potential, his peers said. And his biggest asset is he's plugged into what younger people listen to — ideal for the young U.S. troops.

And Graves appears to have guts.

"Right now I've got Hinder with 'Get Stoned,'" he said into the microphone, easing into his shift.

The chorus went: "Let's go home and get stoned. We could end up making love instead of misery."

Graves said the lyrics are OK for military broadcasting because "It's just a suggestion."

It's unclear how many people listen to the station, with MP3s and CDs as competition, Anderson said, but one thing is for sure: "It is a captive audience."