Monday, April 14, 2014

The Newbies at West Point Are Crying

West Point, the elite officer training school, has a gaggle of disappointed graduates this year. With the war over in Iraq and winding down in Afghanistan, most of them are unlikely to see combat. And they are sorely disappointed.

Some of the more creative thinkers figure that if they join the elite Green Beret or other Special Operations units, they might still be able to kill a bunch of foreigners since the US operates covertly in a number of countries.

One would think that these newbie military beings would be thanking god on bended knee that they don't have to command their fellow humans (and themselves) into battle, that their role as protectors of the peace would be the most proud position they could ever dream up.

But in the machismo world of combat, war wounds and battle yarns are the stuff of brotherhood/sisterhood that the wannabe West Pointers yearn for. (Unless you are a shattered soul, like so many of our veterans, who are left with the real horror of their crimes against humanity or the pain of crimes inflicted upon them by the "enemy.")

Way back in the 1960's, a more enlightened military figure suggested that the Armed Forces retool themselves into the Earth Battalion, using their vast training and resources to help rebuild infrastructures, plant gardens in ruin-wracked cities, and train the young and lost to develop disciplined purpose. If only those smart West Pointers with their dumb ideas could think outside the box, what a wonderful world it could be.


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