We ask a lot from our military. When they get the call, usually it means they are going to some hot spot half way around the world to fight a well motivated enemy that’s hell bent on killing Americans.
Please take a moment and join me in saluting and honoring the men and women who serve in uniform around the world. They are part of a rich tradition of selfless service and sacrifice and when I see them in airports and restaurants, it makes me stand a little taller, and feel proud I live in this country.
Picture yourself 10 or 12,000 miles from home, fighting an enemy on their turf, quite often a non-uniformed combatant that can blend into the civilian population, or use that populous as human shields; imagine sweltering heats approaching 120⁰ and a terrain littered with land mines and IEDs, and you’re wearing 80 lbs. of gear; now factor in rules of engagement . . It’s a tall order, and we ask our military to fight in these conditions, and they always answer the call.
Today’s American military projects a 4-dimensional global presence. We patrol the earth’s skies, maintain peacekeeping ground forces in Germany, Japan, Korea and Guantanamo Bay and we navigate most of the earth’s waterways and oceans, – both underwater and on-the-water – and we do this 24/7 – 365 days a year.
A vast majority of their missions & objectives are of a peacekeeping and humanitarian nature. Whether it’s conducting air strikes in Iraq to save religious minorities from almost certain death or committing 3000 ground troops to West Africa to help contain the Ebola outbreak, the U.S. military is a force for good. Together with our coalition partners and allies, we try to maintain regional equilibrium in troubled areas and keep the peace worldwide.
There are those in academia who will no doubt disagree with me, but I’m entitled to my own opinion as well.
In the aftermath of Katrina, federal agencies such as FEMA came under attack for gross ineptitude, but the unsung heroes of Katrina were the men & women of the U.S. Coast Guard who recued over 33,000 individuals – many of them from their rooftops.
Invariably, when the U.S. intervenes abroad, our intensions are mischaracterized. When the U.S. sent one of its nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to the Indonesian coastline following a devastating tsunami, European officials scoffed, “What, is the U.S. going to bomb them?!” No, the aircraft carrier has 3 hospitals on board with 500-bed capacity. It can feed an extra 3000 people daily. It provided off-shore electrical power and its on-board desalination plant produced 10,000 gallons of fresh drinking water daily. Helicopters ferried the wounded to the hospitals.
After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the U.S. found itself as the world’s sole, uncontested, (and perhaps reluctant) super-power. Our military has tremendous resources and capabilities, but with this power comes great responsibilities. It means we don’t have to charge like a twelve-hundred-pound bull every time someone waves a red cape. Discretion is the better part of valor.
The critics, both foreign and domestic, will say the U.S. has its own selfish interests at heart or that we are bullies who should tend to our own business. Other critics charge that the U.S. is interested in empire building and territorial expansion. To the latter charges, former Secretary of State, Colin Powell said it best when he replied:
“Over the years, the U.S. sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.”
We have the best trained, best equipped and best motivated military in the world and it’s a 100% volunteer force. It’s made up of special men & women who take pride in wearing this nation’s uniform. They are the Special Forces of today.
At the expense of sounding corny, I’m forever grateful that they exist, I salute their valor and I honor their sacrifice. P.W.
