“I don’t understand how anyone could join the military.”
Of course you don’t, that’s why we’re having this conversation in the first place! Let’s unpack that statement for a moment. What is it, exactly, that you don’t understand? You don’t understand how people might sacrifice and risk their lives in support of something bigger and more important than themselves? You might, one day after you’ve had children, or your own home, or a profession, or a relationship you care deeply about, especially if any of that might suddenly get taken away by someone else. You might also feel differently after you’ve had a chance to experience different cultures and ways of life, and realize how special the U.S. really is in the world, and that it’s worth fighting for.
It’s not all about idealism, either. Take a look at the economics: Military service could be a ticket to the middle class, a pathway to citizenship, a way to learn a marketable trade, or a way to pay for college. And the benefits package, especially the retirement, is pretty substantial.
The military is an inherently dangerous profession, but it’s also the most respected instruction in the United States, and the U.S. military is the most powerful one that the world has ever seen. There is tremendous job satisfaction in doing one’s part to keep our nation safe, powerful, and rich; plus you get to travel the world, and they pay you for it! After everything I just told you, I think a better statement is “I don’t understand how anyone could NOT join the military.”
“How could you leave your children?”
It’s because of my children that I’m still in. Do you know exactly who and what it is we’re fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere around the world? I do. I’ve seen it up close and very personal, many times. There are a lot of brutal bastards out there who want to kill you, me, AND my kids simply because we’re Americans.
Watch the videos, hear them in their own words if you don’t believe me. My being in the military helps keep ISIL in Syria instead of Syracuse, Al Shabab in Somalia instead of San Diego, and Al Qaeda in Pakistan instead of Philadelphia. It keeps my children in Birkenstocks instead of burqas, in diapers instead of death camps. Me fighting the bad guys “over there” means they’re not fighting my children “over here.”
There are genuinely evil people in the world who can’t be reasoned with, bought off, or captured and put in prison. They can only be stopped with violence, and someone has to stand ready to meat it out. After all, someone a lot smarter than me once observed “if we don’t learn to love the battle axe, someone else will.” So if you want to join the party and stand on that line so I can stay home and raise my children, I’ll give you the number of a couple of really good recruiters.
“But really- did you kill anyone?”
Nope, but I assure you it wasn’t for lack of trying.
“Do you have PTSD?”
No, but many of my friends do. It’s a very complex issue that we as a nation are really just now coming to grips with. Not all veterans have PTSD, and not everyone who has PTSD are veterans. In fact, there are more people with PTSD who are NOT veterans. While we’re on this topic though, asking someone if they have PTSD is a lot like asking someone if they’ve ever killed anyone: those are deeply, deeply personal questions that may or may not be appropriate to ask depending on that particular veteran’s experiences and your individual relationship with him or her. If a veteran feels like you need to know those kinds of things about him or her, you won’t have to ask.
“Thank you for your service, but…”
Let me stop you right there. There is no “but.” Either you’re grateful, or you’re not. I’m cool with however you really feel, but don’t try to play it both ways. I’ll have more respect for you if you pick one position or the other and stick with it. The reason I cut you off is that the “but…” in the statement you started to make normally means there’s a political point following, usually one that involves why we invaded one country or didn’t intervene in another. If you want a political discussion, talk to a politician. Or ask one of our Global Affairs majors, they’re probably smarter and more politically-astute than most of our elected leaders anyway.
Here’s the deal—I’m a Soldier. I fight who I’m told, where I’m told. I don’t get to pick my wars like it’s drop/add day in the registrar’s office. If the U.S. military picked where we fought, do you think it would be a backwater like Afghanistan or a meatgrinder like Iraq? Hell no! If the military got to choose, we’d be “invading” small tropical islands just off the US mainland where they have no standing army and love dogs, homebrew, and everything ‘Murica.
Basically, it would be just like Panama City Beach, but with combat pay and nobody actually getting shot at or blown up. Look, we go where the President tells us, when he tells us, for as long as he tells us. And we always fight to win, because in our line of work the losers come home in coffins; combat isn’t Call of Duty. So if you don’t like the wars he gets us involved in, or the ones he keeps us out of, take it up with him not with me.
Hey, are we going to talk shop all night? This beer isn’t going to drink itself…
This first appeared in The Havok Journal on July 5, 2014.
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Scott Faith is a veteran of a half-dozen combat deployments and has served in several different Special Operations units over the course of his Army career. Scott’s writing focuses largely on veterans’ issues, but he is also a big proponent of Constitutional rights and has a deep interest in politics. He often allows other veterans who request anonymity to publish their work under his byline. Scott welcomes story ideas and feedback on his articles and can be reached at havokjournal@havokmedia.com.
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