A separate warrior class???

There is a rather interesting article in the LA Times, positing that there is a growing separation between the members of the military and the citizens of the USA.

And I do believe they are right. As a military member, one EARNS their pay every day and more so on deployment or in a combat zone. A not so joking statement was made back around 2004 that America was at war and Americans were at the mall.

I’m beginning to see some of the same separation we had during Vietnam, where John Q. Public didn’t ‘get’ the military. They aren’t calling the military folks baby killers (yet), but they are prosecuting them for pretty much any infractions they can find, including researching things that happened in combat that ‘might’ have violated the moving ROEs that seems to be changed on a whim.

When I hear what is happening inside the beltway with contracts, and contractors, it’s pretty obvious the administration IS going after the military anyway they can, and forcing out good leaders any chance they get.

The whole article is HERE.

Thoughts?  Comments?

 

Comments

A separate warrior class??? — 20 Comments

  1. I agree. Our administration ‘appears’ to support the troops , then cut or take away their (earned) benefits which were PROMISED for their service to their country. Military personnel are treated as ‘more prone to violence’ due to their deployment(s) to the Middle East. And yet those who admit to having PTSD symptoms are told that they have to wait their turn – if ever.

    If the military is having trouble finding new recruits – the administration should shoulder a lot of the blame.

  2. It has appeared to me for about six years that the administration is purging our military leadership corps of those that do not “think correctly”. That is, agree with the administration and fulfill it’s intended goals & policies. This is a policy which was, in fairly recent history, carried out by Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The result is and was a neutered military that will not turn on the leadership, but also is weak at doing the primary job of a military organization.
    It is also worthy of note that all of the regimes that purged their leadership corps were in fact or ultimately became brutal dictatorships. Something that this administration is creeping toward being.

    • the admin isn’t ‘creeping’. it is running full tilt.
      outright treason.

  3. I totally disagree. This is nowhere near as nefarious as you seem to think. The military reflects the people it comes from. There are plenty of welfare queens in the military just as there are in the larger society. 95% of blacks in the military voted for Obama (shhh, don’t tell them their votes didn’t count, just like all the other absentee ballots). There is no big separation.

    Nor is there any great purge going on. The army alone has over 400 active generals and they are constantly churning to make room for new ones. They always have been. Obama has his friends don’t know more than 5 of them, so all the rest are not political toadies. But generials and admirals are by their very nature, liberals to the core. They have worked their whole careers living in government housing, using government health care, sending their kids to government (on base) housing and breathing in a definite us vs them sort of artisocracy way of governing the jr enlisted people, who aren’t allowed to wipe their asses without a 3 hour block of instruction by a certified instuctor. This is the way we have always been. A reflection of our larger society. nothing has changed.

    Having Obama (and Clinton before him) as president only results in a sort of benign neglect of national defense matters because they (rightly) have determined that our national survival is not at risk, so all that money can be spent elsewhere this year. Despite that neglect, our military is FAT, slow and stupid. Our leaders biggest problems are that they are incapable of making hard decisions and constantly expect Congress to just bail them out or all those bad decisions they made last year.

  4. Most members of the military are not warriors.

    I realize that may sound a bit pejorative but it’s true. Wearing the uniform doesn’t make you a warrior. Operating the war machine does, pulling the trigger does, and even stitching up the broken men does…but stocking shelves and managing the gee-dunk does not.

    The public doesn’t understand warriors. They never will.

    • I have some interesting stories in this regard that I can share over a burger the next time that we get together.

  5. Everybody wants to be the warrior but no one wants to spend their whole life working at it.

    Everyone wants to see themselves as the sheepdog and not the sheep.

    Maturity helps you value each life, even the gee-dunk supplier.

    Of course that doesn’t stop the Army from redefining Warrior as “everyone in a uniform”. A few years ago I wrote a blog post about how the Army selected their “soldier of the year” as a woman who had never done any “soldiering” and had spend the previous year doing nothing but preparing for that contest. The simple fact is that the Army doesn’t need 100% ninjas. They do need a whole lot of truck drivers, mechanics, cooks, medics, and supply stackers. in peace time, we need even fewer “warriors”, and for all practical purposes, we are a peacetime Army again.

  6. If this means an us versus them, I don’t see it here either at work or in my community. I have friends who did not serve who’s kids did and vice versa.

    This part of the country offers a great deal of support for the military and respects those who gave of themselves for the defense of the nation.

    Is everyone one in the military a warrior? No. Lots of clerks, bureaucrats, support folks and just plain tradesmen and women even in the combat arms these days. IMHO, not a good thing.

  7. I certainly agree that the current Admin and most of the Repubs have it out for the military. Sequestration was stupid. There are places to cut the military budget, but that wasn’t the way to do it. Commissaries and exchanges are run poorly in many cases. It’s not a good time to be in the military.

  8. Obama is from the group of “intellectuals” that believe the USA needs to be humbled and forced to be part of a world wide “democracy”. A strong military doesn’t fit with that concept.

    One wonders how the Western European branch views Putin and the Russian Bear. Second thoughts, perhaps? Awakening to the false idea that weakness equals peace?

  9. Hey Old NFO;

    I havn’t seen it except from the liberal colleges and the liberal talking heads. The average person still supports the Military. I don’t give a dang(Pardon the pun) of what they think. The prior posters also were accurate about the class stratification that is being seen. The present administration is hostile to the Military, but because of the support the Military has from the public, they have to work in roundabout ways.

  10. Old NFO

    I work for a defense contractor and interact with military at all levels and many countries, including USA. The vibe is that socialist bent governments everywhere are doing their best to suppress and decimate the military, this effort is now jerking around the whole procurement system to the detriment of the military, the treasury and the defense industry. No good is coming out of this and it will take years to recover assuming adults take over and we are not literally bankrupted with the whole system locking up going the way of Argentina and Venezuela (or Rhodesia nee Zimbabwe and others). I wish I could be more positive, but nearing retirement I am questioning if we will survive this as a constitutional republic.

  11. Ahem. Let me adjust my hat. What some may call my tinfoil hat.

    Read the article. You are correct. For a fact, the current admin knows little about the military, does not support them, and seeks to make any and all cuts at a time when we need to build our forces. There is a historic reason why we project power. Why nations (used to, at least) look towards us for leadership. For Protection.

    Think China and their belligerence in the S. China Sea/Pacific, Obama/Kerry’s pandering to Iran, N. Korea, Boko Haram in Africa and of course, ISIS and the whole middle east fiasco. Obama’s proud “Arab Spring.”

    Western Europe has every reason to be weary. Let me paint a bleak picture, plausible only as Obama has so weakened our country: Weak leadership on the Ukraine problem – which Putin has already annexed part of – Russia then proceeds to take not only Ukraine, but Balarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Outlandish? No. The Germans did the same thing before we joined WW2. Chamberlin negotiated some peace with the Nazi’s and they then went and helped themselves to most of Europe. Putin does what he may and at the same time, China hits our dollar and “someone” takes out our east coast with an EMP. Our economy, power grid, and east Europe/Nato down in one fell stroke. What then? Pandemonium. You think our most-common-demoninator can do what needs to be done to recover from that?

    To those that would argue that Obama has not gutted our ability to project power, well, you’re ignoring fact. How is that even up for debate? On a macro level, we can debate all day long – but its true, the F22 got killed (you can argue it was not a great plane anyway), the F35 is constantly threatened. Why are we even thinking of scrapping the A10? Scores of officers have been drummed out of the military during this administration – that’s experience and leadership. Some 20% of any walk-ins to any recruiter’s office are accepted. That’s it. I have seen more forced retirements in the last five years then I have ever seen – and I’m a civilian. Obama campaigned on getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Yay, cue the clapping drones. We’ve had a standing force in Korea for how long? Yet we couldn’t keep 100k troops in Iraq? Arming rebels in Syria – hey, that’s a great idea. Lets make it easier for ISIS, Assad regime aside. And Benghazi.

    Hey, I have a great idea, lets sacrifice protection for income re-distribution. Oh wait, already being done.

    What then? Some say we are heading towards a 3rd World War. That in some ways, its already started.

  12. Pingback: A Separate Warrior Class and Our Dear Leader. | FlaGunBlog

  13. All – thanks for the comments we seem to be pretty well divided on this even amongst this group.

    Posted from my iPhone.

  14. A couple of different things in the article and the comments, IMHO.
    I agree with article’s main point as I see it: the majority of the US population does not live near military bases or know members of the military. Vice versa, serving members of the military and their families generally live near and know military families. Therefore that the military culture is increasingly a foreign one to most Americans is undeniable. It certainly is to me.

    It doesn’t necessarily follow that most Americans don’t support the military however. I live in about the bluest state there is and have had occasion to be in some fairly heated political arguments over government spending. Not once have I heard anything negative about the actual members of the military. Nor have I ever seen a negative bumper sticker, sign, t-shirt, or ad.
    The Democrats in Blue states don’t run on an ‘anti-military’ campaign. They do run on a different (and stupid) foreign policy campaign. But that is not, or should not be, the same thing. One can say that the job shouldn’t be done but still believe that the job is done well if it is. I’ll admit it is a fine line at times.

    I have heard arguments for budget reduction. Is that lack of support? Well, yes. Generally, those same people also don’t support: teachers, foresters, park rangers, and any other visible government employee. It is not the bit of the budget that needs trimming. But it is the obvious one. And obvious wins in politics.

    Now, the administration’s relationship with and use of the military is a whole different game…as is Hollywood’s and most of the education establishment. There a strong case for them being out to get the military can be made.

  15. They are gutting the military. They are reducing forces. They are cutting benefits. Cutting programs, research, and training. They are cutting recruiting, equipment and arms. The only increases we are seeing, domestic armanent. DHS, FBI, heck, even the EPA, they are arming up. I saw a raid the other day with the FDA. We can see the contracts being filled. In real time. Really?

    *sigh*

  16. The sad reality is that welfare now pays better for most than the military does… what has happened to this country…

    Dann in Ohio