Ummm...Did I miss something?
Every soldier knows, when they join, exactly what it is you are there to do. There are no dissolutions. There are no arguments. There are no questions. You are there to defend the freedoms of your family, friends, and those you don't even know. As a soldier you give up some of your liberties so that those who enjoy them can continue to do so knowing that you are there to protect them. Some people don't even think there is a need for a strong military in this country. Those are the people who need protecting most. It comforts me, in spite of the bullshit you see on the news, that guys like me are out there representing our nation. They are the core of this nation and represent all walks of our society. The Army, and all of our other forces for that matter, represent the quintessential melting pot that is our nation. The only hierarchy is that of rank.
Nothing is more discouraging for your average (sane) soldier than being told you are going to go to war. I remember when it happened to us, during the Clinton years if you can believe it. They lined us all up in the courtyard in one big formation and basically said that we needed to start packing because we were going to ship out. It was crazy. After the formation broke up, the morale was low but determined among the enlisted. We knew we had a job to do, and even though it sucked, we were going to do what was asked of us. My question was one that popped into my head several times during my time in green. "How can a guy who has never served in the armed forces send us off to fight?" It should be an absolute REQUIREMENT that you have been in some service branch in order to be the absolute commander of them all. It's like asking Bill Gates to run a fashion boutique. He might be a great manager, but he doesn't know the first thing about style. You can never know how it truly feels to be in that formation if you never stood there yourself.
What really blew my mind was the reactions of the officers. They were excited, almost giddy, with the prospect of going to war. I could not fathom a guy who had that big of a hard-on to go get killed. Most of the officers seemed to have this reaction. It was scary. Suddenly I had very little confidence in my leadership. The worst one was, then colonel, Mark Kimmitt. If you watched the TV at all during the invasion of Iraq you saw this assholes face plastered all over the news. Several of us lower enlisted used to take bets to see who would die first from a "friendly fire" incident. Kimmitt was near the top of every list. None of us was really serious about shooting our leader but that didn't stop us from wishing he would lose a leg in a freak car accident though. I would've felt more sorry for his beautiful convertible beetle than him. Behind his gay little lisp, I'm convinced, Mark was a snake. I didn't trust him. I saw him cheat during a JRTC rotation. He switched injury cards, from KIA to walking wounded, with his driver after their truck was blown up. Evidently, he didn't think the unit was capable of running itself. The point of JRTC was to test the readiness of his troops. I guess he just didn't trust his officers and soldiers to do their jobs. Evidently we were incapable of being trusted. The only officers that seemed to have a grip on reality were those that were prior enlisted. These were the few guys with common sense and brains as opposed to the West Point college types who were book smart but, sadly, lacked in the common sense department.
The whole thing turned out to be a false alarm. I think it was part of Clinton's "Wag the Dog" routine. I was relieved because I was only three months from being set free from my obligation to Uncle Sam. Don't get me wrong, if I went wherever they sent me I was more than ready to kill for my country. It was my obligation to those of you who paid my salary and sent me to college.
Nothing is more discouraging for your average (sane) soldier than being told you are going to go to war. I remember when it happened to us, during the Clinton years if you can believe it. They lined us all up in the courtyard in one big formation and basically said that we needed to start packing because we were going to ship out. It was crazy. After the formation broke up, the morale was low but determined among the enlisted. We knew we had a job to do, and even though it sucked, we were going to do what was asked of us. My question was one that popped into my head several times during my time in green. "How can a guy who has never served in the armed forces send us off to fight?" It should be an absolute REQUIREMENT that you have been in some service branch in order to be the absolute commander of them all. It's like asking Bill Gates to run a fashion boutique. He might be a great manager, but he doesn't know the first thing about style. You can never know how it truly feels to be in that formation if you never stood there yourself.
What really blew my mind was the reactions of the officers. They were excited, almost giddy, with the prospect of going to war. I could not fathom a guy who had that big of a hard-on to go get killed. Most of the officers seemed to have this reaction. It was scary. Suddenly I had very little confidence in my leadership. The worst one was, then colonel, Mark Kimmitt. If you watched the TV at all during the invasion of Iraq you saw this assholes face plastered all over the news. Several of us lower enlisted used to take bets to see who would die first from a "friendly fire" incident. Kimmitt was near the top of every list. None of us was really serious about shooting our leader but that didn't stop us from wishing he would lose a leg in a freak car accident though. I would've felt more sorry for his beautiful convertible beetle than him. Behind his gay little lisp, I'm convinced, Mark was a snake. I didn't trust him. I saw him cheat during a JRTC rotation. He switched injury cards, from KIA to walking wounded, with his driver after their truck was blown up. Evidently, he didn't think the unit was capable of running itself. The point of JRTC was to test the readiness of his troops. I guess he just didn't trust his officers and soldiers to do their jobs. Evidently we were incapable of being trusted. The only officers that seemed to have a grip on reality were those that were prior enlisted. These were the few guys with common sense and brains as opposed to the West Point college types who were book smart but, sadly, lacked in the common sense department.
The whole thing turned out to be a false alarm. I think it was part of Clinton's "Wag the Dog" routine. I was relieved because I was only three months from being set free from my obligation to Uncle Sam. Don't get me wrong, if I went wherever they sent me I was more than ready to kill for my country. It was my obligation to those of you who paid my salary and sent me to college.
posted by Glenn at 7:02 PM
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