A View of the Military

This is a view of the military and it's place in the History of the United States.

In the beginning there were two services. Army and Navy. It did not matter what you did prior to joining just that you joined. I know of two examples of individuals who would be considered traitors today. 

The first one was George Washington. He was an Officer with the Colonial Army of the English Army. His rank was not listed other than he was an officer.  He changed sides and became a General in the newly formed Continental Army of the United States of America. Founder of our country perhaps. Traitor? Only to the British Army. Murderer? Only to the Iraquios. 

However he did believe in service to his country. He did follow orders as he understood them and carried them out to the best of his ability.

The next person was a Sargeant Major of the Prussian Army. He resigned his position with the Prussians and moved to the United States of America. Why did he do that? First was the fact that he would be paid on a regular basis. The military of the time did not get paid by the state but rather by the paymaster who usually was some rich person. 

The Second reason was far simpler. He was needed by the Continental Army to enforce discipline in the ranks. Most people would think that our soldiers were disciplined to the point of charging the enemy point blank and fire. Wrong Answer.  The original Army was nothing but a mob of citizen soldiers who were lucky to have all their weapons pointed in the same direction. The British had better equipment, training in it's use and discipline to keep going even when they should have known better.

What about the Navy you ask?  They were all a bunch of civilian craft that might have cannon on board to repell pirates. Or they might not. Most of the sailors were a motley bunch of murders, rapists and thieves that could trim a sail and keep the ship pointed in the right direction. The captain of the ship was usually the toughest person on board who had some knowledge of navigation and could generally keep the crew together.  Once in a while they had a trained navigator who could keep the ship on course but usually it was the Captain who had to do all of that.

What tied all of these people together though was something else. It was called Patriotism. The word as defined by Dictionary.com is devoted love, support, and defense of ones country. National loyalty. Patriotism brought a bunch of irregulars into one of the toughest fighting forces the world has ever seen. It did not bring order to them but it did forge a fighting force. We are still fairly tough but not as tough as the older military. We are too organized to be that tough.

Moving forward to today's military.

Today you have five branches of the military. They are as follows: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy. They are disciplined and willing to follow orders given in the appropriate terminology. They are out in harms way doing what they are told to do when things get tough. I will talk about the Army.

Today's Army is not like it's predecessor. Soldiers are taken through boot camp and taught the basics of being a soldier. During Boot camp they are taught to march in the same direction, shoot a weapon at a specified target, and what it takes to get into military shape. This is just the basics. After that they are sent to Advanced Individual Training(AIT) to learn a specific skill set that they need to serve the Army. 

At AIT the soldier learns such things as the Code of Conduct, how to type a letter, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), how to repair a vehicle, how to repair a helicopter or airplane, how to cook a meal for 10,000 people, different kinds of explosives and how they work, different kinds of fires and how to put them out.  In the Continental Army either you knew the job or you did not. If not then someone had to beat it into you.

However today's military is also like it's predecessor in that the people serving are just as varied as they were back then. They also have a patriotism that goes beyond complaining about Congress, or the current war in whichever country you would like to name.  All would die, if it came down to it, for their country and complain to God that they had nothing left to give. When all is said and done the average soldier has aged around two years for every one that they have served just to keep in shape for the military. 

Is the military a demanding individual? The Army is a demanding spouse requiring all you have to give and wanting more. The only thing that it gives back is a paycheck and job security for as long as you want it.

Personally I have sweated in a variety of countries, bled in quite a few others, and eaten food that would make a goat toss it's cookies all in the name of patriotism.  Yes I believe in the United States of America. Yes I am willing to die for the sake of this country. 

I am not willing to sit by and let someone smear the military who was my spouse for 25 years. She demanded everything and only gave me a paycheck in return for that loyalty. I have paid a price for gambling with my life and would do so again if asked.  Yes there are plenty of politics in the military, and these politics make the elections look like two kids fighting over a cookie in the school yard. 

Like I said, there are areas that most people don't see and would refuse to see even if they could. Yes soldiers can and do reach a breaking point just like their civilian counterparts. Only with soldiers the results can be and are more deadly.

I am not saying most people are not patriotic or even not patriots, but remember when you read this, the average person has not been outside of the United States of America. You might not know what it is to be judged by the fact you represent the United States to a foreign soldier. Nor what it is to be judged by a foreign civilian and found to be less than below contempt. Nor what it is like to be on display 24 hours a day. 

I personally felt like I should have had a brass band to lead the way of the parade. Most soldiers feel the same way. We represent an ideal to soldiers and civilians around the world. This may not be what we are in reality but this is their idea of a United States Citizen.

Remember the military IS the United States to many countries around the world. After that remember that those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines are all out there bleeding, sweating, and dying all in the name of the United States of America. 

Can you do the same for your Country? Are you willing to die for your beliefs? Are you willing to be on display 24 hours a day seven days a week for the rest of your life? Are you willing to follow orders even if they make little sense to you? Or are you like members of Congress who just give orders and demand all obey them?

Comments are welcome.