... We are citizen-soldiers. The Joes who now meticulously clean their M240s and PMCS their Humvees were months ago working as policemen, teachers, carpenters, engineers, accountants, salesmen, and students. Now they are soldiers. 100% of the soldiers I’m with either signed up or re-enlisted after September 11th, and a solid majority of them are volunteers. Even in uncertain times, these men have cast aside their civilian lives, loved ones, and homes to pick up a rifle and go abroad to fight for their country. A large part of the work of a soldier nowadays isn’t fighting and killing terrorists so much as it is developing societies, infrastructure, and securing the internal defense of foreign countries. Killing terrorists is treating a symptom, fixing broken countries is treating the disease. Of course, it is possible to treat both at once.
Part of the American spirit is the ability to accomplish seemingly insurmountable tasks. We, as soldiers, are instruments of a national policy that seeks to bring stability and freedom to the world –a seemingly insurmountable task. The soldiers that I work with are up to the task. That fact, that we are up to the task, is what gives me confidence and optimism. Despite the news, despite the airline warnings and troubling developments abroad, America will be OK, thanks to the American fighting man.
Charlie at OPFOR Says...
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