p1: I would like to make it clear, that there is NOT
the simplistic dialectic of
DraftBait v. ProfessionalWarMongerBabyKiller
as from time to time flops out as an unfortunate
false dichotomy from the effects of the american war in vietnam.
inside the family we would stratify into
1. STRAC - strategically ready all command,
{ I think that this term would not arrive until
after the vietnam conflict, but was clearly in place
by the middle to late seventies when the Hot BuzzPhrase
was being Mimic'd about "Tactical Santa" and his "Tactical
Reindeers" bringing toys to the Good Boys and girls. }
2. ROAD - Retired on Active Duty
3. LIFER - Loser In For Early Retirement
and their point of origins were not based upon whether
they had volunteered or been drafted. My trainer with
the 401st Trns Squadron was what would be called STRAC,
but he was also SHORT, so short he needed a ladder to
get to his boots, since he had been drafted.
p2: Professionalism has to do with how one does the JOB. Is one
in compliance with the 'professional standards' not whether or not
one was STOOPID ENOUGH to volunteer for the operation. As many will
recall lovingly
NAVY - Never Again Volunteer Yourself
As folks will note above, two thirds of the labelling refers to
those who would, in essence, FAIL to Become Professionals, and would
simply use the US Military as a Welfare Program, EVEN IF they had
volunteered, RATHER than being drafted.
p3: I would also have to argue AGAINST the simplistic model that
the Military is a 'class-based concept' any more so than any other
heirarchical structure is any less class based. Upon arriving in the
'the world' I would work for a series of Corporations and found that
they would have been greatly enhanced with the Inclusion of an IG team,
and an NCOIC/CMC parrallel command system. I was all excited when the
Civilian Economy started talking about 'total quality management' and
'team concepts' since these are really rather useful adaptations of the
reality of Modern Warfare to the Current Struggle Against the Ferrign Devils
who surround us on all sides.
I love the token 'empowerment' that has also come into popular
usage, since a part of the Long Standing Naval Tradition of Petty
Officers has been that we, in essence, run the Fleet. NCO's run
the other lesser branches of the armed forces. Given My druthers,
I would rather sail with a Western Power than with the Red Banner
Fleet, as at least the chances of getting a Mutiney to Work are
better in the American and Royal Navies, as we as 'members of the ranks'
have been Empowered to Run the Ship!!!!
Then there is the that Other Loving BuzzPhrase, called 'coaching'
that has come to the forefront, and I am sure that any of the
Recovering ShaveTails out there will remember how Lovingly and
Caringly they were helped along from mere PostCadetKaoticMess to
actual Officer material by the 'coaching' of their Key CPO or
CPO Equivolents.
I will confess, that I haven't the FOGGIEST idea how to make
heads or tails out of a SoftwareSpecailist IIa, over and against
say a Lecuturer v. JuniorUnderAssitantProfessorShip. But when we
get into Serious PhallicMetricAnalysisModeling, the standardized
ranking system of the US Military Does Simplify matters some. But
as anyone who has served will understand from CPO Miley's Comment:
"Call me Ginge, you know, Like Carrot Top and All.
If we need to deal with why HM gave me Crowns, one
of us will be having tea, and the other won't."
Leadership Comes From WITHIN, NOT from pretty DoDads on the Uniform.
The TRUE 'class based' system would collapse first in prussia under
the onslaught of Napoleon, and then finally in Russia, when the
restructured German System would establish that the Old School Tie
of the Russian Imperial Army was not enough to lead modern military
formations. What most folks seem to forget is that the American Military
Academy System, and the 'land grant college' R.O.T.C. Systems were set
up NOT to support the Great Landed Aristocracy of Nobility and the Divinely
Appointed Junkers who had the Hereditary Rights to Military Leadership, but
to broaden the base of the Basic Training of the Officer Corp that would be
needed to fight America's Wars. As we see with the Rise of Collin Powell to
the Pinnacle of the American Military War Machine, the REAL TRAGEDY is that
there was NOT an opening in the Civilian Economy for Leadership Skills of a
person who was UnWhite.
He was not the ONLY UnWhite who would make a Home in the Military
Due to the Technical Complications of the Civilian System that was
still Tied Up in a variety of somewhat Antiquated Class Models.
p4: all of this having been said, what SCARES me most, is that the
false dichotomy is becoming the basis for getting the Wrong Sorts
into the American Armed Forces, since they Really BELIEVE the Propoganda
about what a 'professional' military is about. In the seventies there
was also an interesting resuscitation of 'mithra-ism' a rather dead
'warriors cult' from the Roman Era. Which really is all we need to
help create a nice cleavage between the military kulture and the civilian one
is the creation of a Good Old Fashion Religious Basis for telling those
who are followers of the TRUE FAITH and the Parasitical Elements.
Thus I repudiate the false dichotomy between professionalism
and a conscript force, in favor of requiring PROFESSIONALISM
of all who serve. A core component of that Professionalism will
always remain that the Military is a Tool of the Civilian Government
and NOT the arbitor of Foreign or Domestic Policy.
ciao
drieux