Way back when I was a private in the 82d Airborne, one of the NCOs I looked up to & respected explained it this way: "Draftees? Oh HELL no! There is no way in this business do I want people next to me who do not want to be here!"
I carried that sentiment forward with me everywhere I went. Whenever I felt my personal moral slipping, I'd remind myself I was a three-time volunteer even before I became a Green Beret: Army - Infantry - Airborne. There was one occasion we had a guy who was bad mouthing the organization, kept saying he wanted out of there. I was newly assigned to the team but not new to SF by any means. Been in SF long enough to know that "Hard Times Don't Last but Hard Men Do."
I'd been there about a month, long enough to be accepted, past the "dog-sniffing stage." One morning after a particularly grueling PT thrash session, Mister Malovent was mouthing off as usual.
I just turned to him and said, "You want out of here? Come with me, I can get you out of here!"
He said, "You can? How?"
I said, "Easy! If you really don't want to be here, there's always a way out of an outfit like this! If you don't want to be here, I sure as hell don't want you next to me when the excrement hits the rotating ventilator! Let's go to the Chaplain's office!"
That shut him up, quick smart. Never heard another peep about him wanting out of there. I think I got through to him, because he turned out to be a good troop, went on to bigger and better things and I'm still in touch with him to this day.
America has the most capable professional military since the Roman Legions. The sentiment should be to keep it that way, not turn the clock back to the days of the draft.
STORMBRINGER SENDS
No comments:
Post a Comment