Military: Idiots in the American Army?
Me in 2005 - I sure have changed. . . I think
| This is an entry in a series about the military. It’ll be a week of Army-Stuff.
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I don’t normally talk about my time in the military. It’s not because I’m embarrassed of it, but because people think that I must have done amazing things—that’s what you see in movies—when, in reality, it was a job almost like any other for me. Recently, though, the topic came up in a conversation with a colleague from Australia and she said something that really surprised me. Obviously, you’ll have to listen to the recording to know what she said and why it surprised me.
After You’ve Listened to the Recording
What do you think? Do you think that maybe I’m crazy and I don’t realize what’s going on? I really do think that in the U.S.—I mean, among my family and the people I know in the U.S.—military service is seen as something ‘good’ to do. People routinely thank U.S. Servicemen and women for their service.
What kind of status does the military have in your country? Is there a draft? Are people grateful to the military? Do you think that only the people who can’t get a ‘real’ job go to the military? Let me know!
October 17th, 2009 at 00:55
Dear Toby,
In Mexico a 1-year military service is compulsory for men when they reach the age of 18. I don’t think they like it, but if they don’t do it they have all kind of problems. For example, they can’t get a passport. They can’t get married either.
When there is an earthquake, a flood, etc., low-rank soldiers risk their lives rescuing people, delivering food, medicines, water, etc. Citizens volunteer, but the difficult and dangerous tasks are always carried out by soldiers. So yes, people are grateful to the military for that.
But along with personal gratefulness, there is also a certain sense of pity mixed with disdain, because the stereotype is that they are good at physical work, but not at intellectual work.
Because I’ve never heard or known of anyone enlisting for a certain period of time, I am under the impression that contrary to the US, people that join the army in Mexico join it for a lifetime.
Best regards,
Beatriz Martinez
Mexico City.
October 18th, 2009 at 07:37
Do you mean that, if I join the Army when I’m eighteen in Mexico, I have to decide between the mandatory one year enlistment . . . and a life-long one? I mean, I thought I’d enjoy the Army. If I made the ‘mistake’ (only in my case) of signing up for life, I wouldn’t be a very happy person right now.
October 18th, 2009 at 16:43
I suspect that being a soldier is not considered the best career choice in any country, as being subjected to a lot of hardship and possibly dying in a war are definite possibilities anywhere nowadays.
But is the standing of soldiers really an issue of intelligence? Isn’t it more of a political issue?
There’s a huge disconnect between the very different role the military plays in the US compared Germany. I know too little about Australia. There perhaps it is an option for people with little education. But in Germany it’s rather different. Very few German men that I know between the ages of 45 and 50 – the largest population bubble in the country – have ever served in their military. One exception to this, a friend of mine, was actually an excellent student, and really nobody would associate what he did during his two years in the German military with a lack of intelligence or education, there was a lot of technology involved. He wasn’t considered stupid – his values were severely questioned by his peers, to the point that he considered becoming a consciencious objector after the fact (figure that one out). Most of my friends chose to do civilian community service rather than military service. They’re very critical of any military engagement abroad. The US is viewed as militaristic and prone to the logic not of diplomacy but of military power. My German friends (and my husband) would like to see their own military focus on peacekeeping alone, but what that involves is not always clear to this anti-military generation. What will happen now that the German army is collaborating in Afghanistan? Soldiers will most certainly find themselves breaking moral codes and will have to answer for their deeds.
I think the US military got the population on its side as a result of the media mismanagement in Vietnam (with its focus on personal brutality), and the ensueing redemptive veterans’ movement of the 70s and 80s, which thoroughly rehabilitated soldiers. I was very surprized by the masses of yellow ribbons I saw all over Michigan during the first Gulf War. As for their standing in Europe, whatever good the GIs did in WWII is now definitely history. The Bush wars destroyed the US military’s international standing.
October 19th, 2009 at 22:06
No, I did not mean that, sorry if I was not clear.
The mandatory term in Mexico is called “conscription” and you have to do it if you are a man when you’re 18. Point.
If you want to join voluntarily, that’s an entirely different matter. Now, I have never heard anyone saying that he would enlist for a short period of time; this makes me think that the intention of the people who enlist is to make a career in the Army.
Best regards,
Beatriz.
October 24th, 2009 at 10:35
@Anne: You know, I don’t have any connection to Vietnam, except to have met a few Veterans. My experience was that the U.S. Population liked soldiers, because they were perceived as doing something. . . good, or necessary ‘for’ the population.
What makes me crazy here in Germany is that the military does a lot of good here: when there are floods or blizzards, or bird flu, you’ll see German soldiers doing what other’s can’t or won’t. . . but the soldiers who do those things still aren’t respected.
You–living closer to the GIs in Germany–would know better than I would what the ‘locals’ think of the U.S. Army. But the Germans we encountered when we were in uniform weren’t big fans of what you call the ‘Bush wars,’ but they recognized that individual soldiers didn’t get a choice. I think–and maybe things like Abu Ghraib have put a damper on this–that GIS are respected for professionalism.
But then, maybe I was brain-washed, you know?
October 24th, 2009 at 11:34
Actually, do you really think there is a lot of contact between GIs and the general public? I thought the army provides just about everything a GI and their family needs, and who is going to really learn German (or any local language) if he’s/she’s only going to be stationed at that location for a few years?
I do think the German army’s involvement in domestic crisis is very much appreciated… as opposed to involvement oversees. The Germans have a steep learning curve ahead. After all, the army has a self-image of “citizens in uniform”, and being a citizen in Germany comes with a non-interventionist, follow rather than lead, political philosophy.
October 24th, 2009 at 12:42
Anne,
I really don’t know how much contact the ‘average’ GI has. I know that we–my unit only spent 6 months on guard duty–had a lot of interaction with the private security guards we worked with, with people in the bars and clubs and (most of my clique was single at the time) with any woman in and around Bad Kissingen who could speak English or was willing to try.
It’s true that I was the only one to speak German–all the Germans seemed to speak English, so I can see why the soldiers didn’t bother–but I do think that most people saw the deployment to Germany as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Germany and Europe. Almost nobody spent free time on post.
-Toby