The Real Problem with Warrior Culture: a Cult of the Self

 In certain parts of the commentariat, it is now common to criticize the large presence of recently-returned veterans in the police force, which stands at 1-in-5. Supposedly, they bring home the rules of war: to occupy and to conquer. I do not see veterans in the police force as a problem in itself, since citizen-soldiers have routinely joined the blue line for generations. Where I see room for concern is in how the professional soldier-turned-policeman divorces themselves from life in the civilian world.

During the Cold War, military service- as a servicemember or family member- was a shared experience in every tier of society. The average enlistment was 2-3 years. A soldier would return to his community ties, and find employment with honor established through performing his national duty.  

Today, because of advanced military training requirements, a single enlistment lasts 4-6 years. The world moves faster, the average citizen more mobile, and social media divides geographic communities into tribes. The soldier, especially the combat vet who served multiple enlistments, becomes part of the Warrior Community, mentally separate from the civilian world. This identity applies whether on active duty, on disability pension, in the national security sector or local police. This virtual community has its memes, jokes, common understanding, and values. In contrast to warrior classes of past societies, the American warrior is somewhat detached from the real-politics of institutional power, a holdover from the age of the citizen-soldier.

There are veterans who eagerly reintegrate into civilian society. This has been a national priority since the demobilization after WWII. As a result of GI Bills in 1944 and 2005, the veteran today brings resources to the economy that few younger adults have. Their college education is paid in full, and they have access to good mortgages and business loans. Meanwhile, America's general workforce readiness is in decline: fewer citizens are ready, willing and able to perform in the workplace. Veterans today are hired for the right reasons: proven reliability, hardworking, fit, and with transferable skills. 

The Warrior Community is then one  for a sense of belonging. In previous conflicts, a two-week ocean voyage demarcated the return from the warzone to the homefront. Dislocation was first observed in Vietnam veterans, the first to return home alone on airplanes. Today, the distance is even shorter, as a veteran at home can Skype his friend on the frontlines; and he himself could be recalled to the war zone on 48-hour notice, as a contractor, expeditionary civilian, or reservist. While these post-deployment opportunities are often financially rewarding, the mostly invisible war comes home to the kitchen table. 

Beyond this reality is self-identification. I have curated small libraries onboard warships. Beside the yellowing dime novels were leadership titles with troubling themes.  

-There is the identity of the sheep-dog, protecting sheep (regular people) from wolves (terrorists abroad, street thugs at home). 

-Belonging to a "tribe" is characterized as a binary, all-or-nothing subscription: an 80% ally is nonetheless a traitor to the cause. 

-You are either a superstar or a mediocre failure. 

-One must have a brand of the self. 

- Glorification of lone Special Operations Forces

-"Agile Project Management", with a focus on small, high-performing teams, is taught in STEM colleges. 

Even the Army put out a short-lived campaign advertising "An Army of One", forgetting that only large-scale teamwork liberated Europe and Asia from tyranny. 

In reality, each person works within a larger system of society, and within which is an amalgamation of overlapping communities, tensions and motivators. The Warrior Community operates in a vacuumed ideal. Military housing today reflects the perfect but fictional Mayberry of yesteryear; and beliefs in spartan autonomy can only be practiced in unspoiled wilderness areas. The culture of the warrior must evolve away from the cult of the individual, but reflect the individual as part of the team as part of the whole.

How does this work into present day policing controversies? Many of the shocking misuses of authority, against suspects and innocents, were caused by individuals insulated from wider community interests. Neither were they team players within the police force, who would heed peer advice. As much as it is important for police departments to use community-based policing to integrate with the communities they serve; it is important for individual officers to truly join the community, whether they gained life experience in Baghdad or in Boston.   

     

Canada

What do you call a two-lane road with yield-turns? In Canada that is what is called a freeway. Apparently, Canada has not been using its tax money right. In a nation with a skyrocketed 18% overall tax rate nothing has been done. Everything is still overpriced. (Who ever heard of spending $15 per person at a Chinese take-out, or $40 for a toll bridge?) So, anyway, the only thing I know that you get is American-style general hospital care. So I collected my receipts to get a tax refund from the place up north when I got back to the nice place. Apparently, they had canceled that program in 2006 and away went the tourists. So then, we should think, would it be too bad if America was made the police of the world? (Or at least make us the bank).

PS: Subway makes this lobster roll sandwich, and I was asked to say that it was no good. And remember, Prince Edward Island potatoes are allowed back into the States/ Colonies, and a good lobster roll is done with Mayo, Salt and Pepper, and a little Lettuce.

My Trip to England

"Part of the time I was preparing this email I was test-driving a Mac in London. I only had about 10 minutes there, and that was all the computer use I got in England. Since July 6 I've been in England on a choir trip. For the last week of so we have been looking at old cathedrals and singing in them. They look so much the same that I stopped taking pictures of them. Some of the places we stayed were just plain nasty, but there was one super-modern one. Now if you go to the tour blog, www.anglicanheritage.blogspot.com, it will say a lot, maybe but I don't know, about almost a total of 100 hours of singing, (it's true! sometimes up to 6 or 7 hours a day) but it will not mention some things.
Our bus originally came with a trailer attached, in which we kept our luggage. When we were going up a really steep hill the trailer snapped off and rolled partway down the hill, however not hitting a BMW that was behind us. About a week later the bus sprang a gas leak. We waited in a parking lot for four hours at night for a replacement bus to come, and that was the end of the travel problems until we had to literally run to make the plane because the check in and security lines were so long (American Airlines). Otherwise the trip was fun."

PS. The country is totally socialist! The tax rate was a whopping 18% and I did not get to go to duty free to shop for cheap stuff, neither did the rest of the group. This might have been a good thing, as I got an offer of 2 pounds (approx. $4) on a single crunchy bar on the way home. The milk was disturbingly cheap, and International pay phone call pricing was gouged to subsidize 20p local and national calls. Nessie was cute (Scotland, not to offend) and I recommend Rowan Glen yogurts.
Quotes: " A Scottish coach with a Scottish Driver", "They're all driving on the improper side of the road", "Lots of crashes happen within the first half hour of the Chunnel because of England's "backward" driving system" "Even the light switches and power goes the wrong way." "It's alright, England, we understand"