Glenn Beck Was Wrong

(Disclaimer : These are my personal views only and in no way represent the US Army’s official position.)

            I spend a little bit of time each day listening to one or more talk radio hosts on my computer or in my car. One of my favorite hosts is Glenn Beck. I find his lack of pretension refreshing most days and also find his less-than-perfect background to be a realistic backdrop for many social debates.  All that being said, one area I find myself in disagreement with him on is the motivation many enlistees have for joining the Army.

            Glenn seems to believe that the overwhelming majority of soldier enlist for patriotic reasons. I assure you that from my experience, this is not the case. Glenn had a caller who refuted this claim saying instead that he and the other minority soldiers he had spoken with during his enlistment had in fact joined solely for the economic benefits and “only tolerate this country, we don’t love it.” Now apart from the appalling moral bankruptcy that this caller obviously suffers from it had to take a bit of sack to come on a nationally syndicated radio program and say this (that’s is all the credit he gets though).

            I can speak only from my experience but I was shocked by the numbers of soldiers who had enlisted with me way back in 1992 who joined simply for the “college fund” or to escape bad situations at home. Some of these folks not only did not and do not love this country but actively despise it. Don’t get me wrong, these soldiers are not the majority in the Army, but they are a significant minority.

            Glenn’s caller was also mistaken on one other point in my opinion. He thought that only the white folks in the military joined for ideological reasons and that the mercenary types were the minority soldiers. (the caller identified himself as a black man). I have to say that this is a falsehood. There are just as many white kids joining the military for all the wrong reasons as there are minorities. For many white soldiers enlistment is an easy way to a college education or just as frequently a way to get away from the angst they suffer as middle class teenagers. I will say that perhaps a larger percentage of some minority groups have a third reason besides the aforementioned to enlist namely severe economic hardship, but I do not believe that the percentage of unpatriotic minorities exceeds that of white non-patriots.

            For years the Army’s primary method of enticing young people fresh from high school or college has been to use various monetary or education benefits as the main bait. Therefore it should not come as a surprise that the campaign did not only bring in Pollyanna Chevrolet and Billy Allamerican but also Johhny Collegebuck and Mikey Cantfindajob.

            9-11 may have brought a shift in the enlistment totals as it energized a segment of the patriotic population who might otherwise have never enlisted but that statistical anomaly had been in rapid decline until the start of combat in Iraq.

            Combat in Iraq has been a bit of a watershed for the patriotic troops in the military. It has allowed the true colors of the folks who do not love this nation to shine trough in the clear light of their own fucking cowardice. There are lots of soldiers who would have stayed in the military for the easy money and the non-demanding jobs who are now diving out as fast as they can. Fine, don’t let the door hit you on the ass. This is a good thing. The military has been tremendously diluted by stream of people who joined up in one of the longest peaceful periods the world has ever known. Since the Vietnam War American politicians have been so gunshy about putting large number of American troops anywhere near harms way that the 80% of the Army who never saw action or anything like it in Operations Just Cause, Desert Storm, Enduring freedom, or Iraqi Freedom came to believe that they never would be called upon to do their duty in combat conditions.

            This situation has only been exacerbated by a long-string of perfumed princes who have occupied the highest of military offices (not you Colin, we liked you). This breed of “leader” couldn’t find anything of substance that needed revamping in the entire US Army. Their vision of sweeping change never got farther than giving us a new fucking hat or similar meaningless tweaks.

            Glenn, I wish you were right. I wish that the military was populated only by the segment of our population that is at least *somewhat* motivated by love of country (I don’t think they all need to be Captain America or anything). I wish that there weren’t a larger number of soldiers who were not ready to drop their weapon at the first bit of trouble and leave their comrades to bear the burden of fighting (Yes you Jessica you little ninny). But Glenn, it just ain’t so. Heinlein’s vision of the soldiery has not been true since the 50’s and is unlikely to be so ever again, but it is not a minority thin, it is a culture thing and that’s a shame.