Perspective

I read an article from Militantpundit on Making Tomorrow's Military Today. Based on articles like this one (un mikeunruh@hotmail.com/ pw fredderf567) you'd think that the greatest threat to a decent education is the presence of military recruiters on campus. It was such a terrible fate for Ms. Brousseau's child. Six phone calls from that horrible, horrible recruiter. I'm willing to bet an Army of One pen that those phone calls went like this:

"Hello, I'm Sergeant Soandso with the Army. Is Skippette available?"
"Sorry, no, she's not."
"Well, would it be possible for me to leave my name and number and if she would like some information about the Army she could give me a call?"
"I suppose so, but I don't think she's very interested."
"I understand that sir or ma'am, and if she is not interested if she could just call me and tell me so I'll make a note of that and I won't call her again until she's ready."

30-45 seconds, a minute tops. I, as the professional non-commissioned officer I am, will always remain cheerful, friendly, and respectful. Whether I'm on the phone, seeing you on the street, meeting you at your house or my office. As long as you show me the respect and courtesy you expect from me, I will treat you better than anyone else who will talk to you on the phone.

This is a dangerous world. The military is a dangerous profession. We go into harm's way to, hopefully, kill those who wish us harm. When the US Army goes into battle we go equipped with the most effective equipment available. The Interceptor body armor we wear can stop a bullet so effectivey that the guy shot gets up, returns, fire, and captures the man who shot him. Our training and tactics are the best in the world. When the Army goes to war we go ready.

Any parent who thinks the worst thing going at their school is the presence of recruiters is woefully ignorant. High school is dangerous now.

And if parents want to opt-out of the military because they're worried for their kid's safety, then maybe colleges should be opted out at the same time. After all, the college recruiters probably never told these kids how dangerous their campus could be.

The world is dangerous. Every time you walk outside, get into a car, take a shower, go to work, go to school, answer the door, or even stay in bed you're exposing yourself to risk of harm. I, as a recruiter, do not hide those risks from my prospects. I can't even if I wanted to. The risk of the Army is shown every day on the news, cover of the paper, talked about on the radio. I can't deny it. I can't claim it doesn't exist. I embrace it. I show the applicants and their influencers how the Army goes about protecting our own. Equipment, training, planning, intelligence, all go together to make sure everyone comes home safely. It doesn't always happen though.

It's a fact of war that young men and women die. 42,000 people die in car accidents in our country each year. That's like 115 people a day. In car accidents. High schools have student parking lots. They're facilitating the death and injury of students by providing them with a place to park the cars that can kill them.

I hate hypocricy. If these counter recruiters just had the intestional fortitude to admit that they hate the US and want to see it overthrown I'd have a lot more respect for them. They're not about protecting children. If recruiters can't find enough volunteers then people will be conscripted. The people who are against recruiters would, probably, also say they are against a draft. Without volunteers or drafting there is no military. No military, no United States. Thus, to be against recruiters finding people interested in enlisting, and providing them with the information necessary to make an informed decision, is to be against people joining the military. To be against people joining the military is to be against the military. And without a military America as the land of the free is gone. I appreciate that there are more nuanced views than this. I understand that not everyone who is against recruiting thinks they are against the military. But this is my spot on the web and I'm free to call the counter-recruiter movement bullshit if I want to.

Back to work. The Army Reserve will need a new Sergeant Major in a couple decades. I gotta go find the person who will be that SGM.