The Cost of War

"Arms alone can give the world no permanent peace, no confident security. Arms are solely for defense -- to protect from violent assault what we already have. They are only a costly insurance. They cannot add to human progress."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Address before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Statler Hotel, Washington, DC, 4/21/56

The financial cost of this long war is staggering, and because it is fueled by Islamic hatred of the West, in particular the Judeo-Christian societies of Europe, America and Israel, it offers no near-term resolution.  But dollars and debt are not the greatest cost we will pay in this war.

There is a slow realization among the military leadership of the terrible cost of conflict on the human spirit.  I am not sure the civilian politicians can ever grasp the price this nation is paying with our future. 

In past wars we sent our soldiers, sailors, airman, marines and coastguardsmen off to war, they fought until either the war or their service was over, they were led by a small cadre of professional officers and non-commissioned officers, but for the most part they were volunteers or conscripts.  They historically fought as a unit, and were relieved as a unit.  There were exceptions of course, and we saw in the Vietnam War the idea we could just send the draftees over for their term and abandon them back into society.  What we didn’t know then, but should now, is the psychological trauma that war imparts on the survivors.

With this war we are sending our professional warriors back into the crucible time and time again.  I guess the simplest analogy would be to compare the impacts to concussions in football that are so much in the news these days.  We ask of our young men and woman unimaginable things, and they deliver time and time again.  I was fortunate this weekend to listen to the stories of an Air Force Master Sargent, who has served as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal expert for 12 years, talk of his experiences during four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how he is dealing with the post traumatic stress from being blow up three or four times, watching his friends die, seeing young children torn apart by the bombs placed by the Islamic extremists that he could not safe, or blew up without realizing they were near by.

He talked about how we are just now realizing that skilled counselors, who can cut through the walls they build to protect themselves, can provide the tools to help understand and cope with the damage that has been done.  He spoke of four pillars of resilience that form the basis for successfully coping with the trauma and horror they experience. 

First comes the mental pillar, how can those who’ve seen so much find peace with the horrors?  The critical concept centers on something I’ve understood for a long time.  You have got to understand the demons, sort through what you can control and let go of what you can’t.  We see this exact same concept summarized in the serenity prayer that forms the basis of recovery in Alcoholic’s Anonymous.  God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the tings I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.  At the end of the day mental strength and recovery comes from an acceptance that only you can control your life and the hard choices must be yours and yours alone.

Next is the physical -- study after study shows that through proper diet and exercise the body improves and strengthens the chemical make up and supports the individual’s mental strength.  There is a story of an extremely obese man who suffered from severe depression.  His doctor had advised he was suffering from heart disease and he sought a way to commit suicide that would not be so obvious and affect the insurance payments to his wife and family.  So he set out one day to run until he suffered a heart attack which he new he would surely bring on.  Having no breath, he ran for about a mile before he collapsed in exhaustion and waited for the attack.  It did not come, so he slowly walked home vowing to run harder the next day.  Needless to say he ran so hard he collapsed again.  He repeated this every day for a week, and all the sudden he realized he had lost weight, his breathing had improved, and his outlook towards the future was different. If we want a positive outcome in our lives we must start with care of ourselves.

Then comes the social aspect of resiliency.  We need to value and accept our friends and family and not be afraid to look to them for the strength and compassion we need to make it though the rough spots.  Those who are alone, or feel so alone they are not part of a larger group are the most likely to have problems in their recovery from PTSD.  I would suspect, although I’ve not done the research, this is one of the biggest contributors to the large number of Vietnam Veterans who came home from the war, hating everything around them, who sought refuge in drugs and dropped out of society.

Finally, and certainly not the least important, is the concept of spirituality.  The recognition that your life serves some higher purpose and power.  If your choices are always about self-gratification then you will make increasingly poor choices.  For you to make sense of life and society you must have something to anchor your moral compass to, to turn to when you have to release what you can’t control and to help balance your needs and those of the larger society.

Please keep these in mind if you see someone who seems to be lost and searching for a way to deal with the day.  Don’t be afraid to talk with them, a small word at the right time can be the difference between a life well lived and a life tragically cut short.

Observations

I am one of the lucky ones.  I’ve led a life that was of my choosing.  It was not perfect, as I am not perfect.  I have made my choices, and for what those choices were worth, I’ve accepted the consequences.  I suppose it would have been nice if I had been born into a family where my parents encouraged me, and helped me achieve a greater potential, but as I look back, they shaped me into who I am.

As a conflicted teen and young adult I was not a very smooth individual, and perhaps that is true to this day.  I lacked the confidence to be myself, but for some unknown reason I knew who I was, and what I must become.

Fate, or the hand of God, has brought me to this place and this time.  I see the future and I remember the past; I find myself fulfilled more in the passing of knowledge than in the achievement of fame.  Perhaps, just perhaps, because I embrace a philosophy of stoic resolve that creates a comfort in being a quiet professional.

So let’s talk about some truths, or more correctly some Special Operations Truths[1], for I think they are valuable reminders not only for Special Operations, but also society.

Truth 1:  Humans are more important than Hardware

This is really the core of what makes Special Operations different from the conventional force, and if business and the government embraced it would reflect a significant philosophical shift in priorities.  For the USAF this is probably the hardest idea to grasp, for if you trace back to our foundation we’ve always been about technology.  Given a choice between getting the right people and getting the newest aircraft we will always choose aircraft.  Not once in a while, but every time.  We may talk about our people, and reflect on the value of our people, but they seem always to come second to the technology our leaders need.

And isn’t that true of business as well?  We seem to lose sight of the fact that a corporation is made up of individuals, with hopes and aspirations.  When the top of the corporation makes it about themselves and their lives they forget about the workforce that has grown the business and hopes for success so they can continue their lives.

Truth 2:  Quality is better than Quantity

One of the things that has characterized Special Operations has been its relative size to the larger organizations.  This truth is embraced by the US Marine Corp and has been at its core since 1775.  Looking back to Roger’s Rangers, Francis Marion, on to the Rangers, Raiders, and Air Commandos of World War II, we see getting the right people, training them to the highest standards and expecting excellence in their performance will pay dividends in ways that no one expects.  We see the same thing with a group of airman who, despite the oppression of the military in the 1940’s rose up to become legendary in their ability to protect the bombers they were assigned to escort.  Of course I am referring to the 332^nd Fighter Group.

As a society we celebrate those small organizations that rise to the top, how do they do it?  What separates a Tesla from a GM?  What makes Honda different than GMC?  What has allowed the companies of Kia and Hyundai to rise above Chrysler and Ford in profitability?  Fifteen years ago Hyundai was viewed as a disposable car, I don’t think that is true today.  Why?

Truth 3 and 4:  Special Operations Forces cannot be mass-produced. Competent Special Operations Forces cannot be created after emergencies occur.

If you accept that quality is more important than quantity then obviously the screening and selection of the best will result in a time consuming processes.  One of the things that troubles me about our society is we think we have to treat all people equally and a child’s self esteem demands they win or be recognized for playing.  The special operator will dig deep within themselves and when others will surrender and go home, they will not allow themselves to fail.  This quality is what separates those who show up and those who succeed.  Expecting that you can find and nurture these attributes whenever you want leads to a false sense of accomplishment and failure.

Unfortunately we American’s have never understood this and have allowed those rare and unique people to be cast aside by the politicians who can never understand the mindset of those who would sacrifice their life for a friend.

What I see in the self-centered world of our business is that corporation leadership does not understand these truths any better than our politicians.  They will, without consideration of the skills, release the experienced personnel who’ve made the business in the hopes of hiring a cheap replacement.

Finally, truth 5:  Most Special Operations require non-SOF experience.

This speaks to the idea that as a small force Special Operations cannot do everything itself and expect to be successful.  I assume it was also recognition to appease those who would feel threatened by the elitism of a special unit.  If we look back to the Raid on the Son Tây prison camp we see a great example of how the US Navy flew diversionary raids to get the radar systems looking in the wrong direction.

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[1] There are a number of possible sources for these, it seems reasonable it came from a 1987 Congressional report, and is authored by USA (Ret) COL John Collins, although I’ve heard them attributed to others.

My Quote of the Day

“We need serious reform!”

I love this quote; it is simple, direct, and totally useful for everyone.  It states a need, implies its importance, and although it does nothing to make the argument, it attempts to legitimize whatever preceded it or will come next.  This line is perfect for conservatives and liberals alike, unfortunately even if it were true, it appeals not to logic, but to emotion, which seems the foundation for most social discussion these days.

For example:  We need serious reform! the top 1% are polluting this planet and need to be stopped!  Or, The people who are protesting the top 1% are leaving too much garbage behind them, we need serious reform.  Or, We need Serious Reform!  Corporations are corrupting the political process!  Or, We need serious reform!  I can’t get the lumps out of my oatmeal.

The use for this phase is endless.

What is the Role of College?

I’ve come to believe the free exchange of ideas, and dissenting views, are frowned on by an increasing number of colleges and college professors.  If you are not part of their idea of correct thinking than you are obviously some sort of racist, Zionist, or religious zealot.

We see colleges clamping down on speech, bowing to the pressures of those who would control the dialogue and shape the society, as they believe it should be. 

There was a time where college was a place to expand your mind, not just be shaped into the image of the professor.  Alas, it appears that is no longer the case.  College now has become a thought control factory where young people go to become indentured servants working to pay back the government.

Desensitizing America

It is naïve thinking, but there are times I wish back to the pre-information age.  A time when, if you lived near enough to the big city, there were only a handful of channels on the TV.  A time when radio and television were geared toward entertainment, when things like the news came in measured douses, and you had time to digest the events.  If you were interested you would read multiple newspapers to gain a wider understanding of the events you saw snippets of on the television.  

This all started to change in the 1960’s with the war coverage from Vietnam and the domestic coverage of the antiwar and civil rights movements.  We were shown the graphic images of firefights, protests, riots.  The competition to bring the most graphic images to the viewer took off.  Now I know there is some age bias in these observations, and it was probably an evolutionary process, but as we’ve seen the acceleration of change is on a logarithmic scale and it continues to accelerate.

In 1991 we took the war to the home screens with the images of the bombs going through the windows, into the bunkers and spans of the bridges with only a few hours delay. 

Now -- I routinely see imagery on the Internet and television of Hellfire, small diameter bombs, and other missiles terminating their targets in what seems a sanitary manner.  

Knowing what I do, it is only a matter of time until we see these scenes in high definition.  Don’t mistake my concern.  I believe those being killed would do us harm if they are allowed to live.  I don’t have a problem with us ending a threat, but I wonder what damage we do to ourselves as we share these executions with the general population and the rest of the world?   

As a Home Comes to Life

There is a real difference between a house and a home. For me it is most evident in the mornings, as a home comes to life with the noises of its family. They may be simple -- like a faucet opening, a bed creaking, or the floorboards protesting a new weight, or human -- like a loud yawn, or baby's cry.

A house sits silent, waiting to become a home.