“We Support the Troops, but...”

As I pondered the comments regarding the issue of the quality of leadership seen in ex-enlisted officers, my chaotic thought process brought up the “we support the troops, but…” crowd. It strikes me now that what is being strongly implied is that that “troops“ are the “enlisted” people and worthy of support because (of what is not stated) the stupid, aggressive, knuckle-dragging, violent officer corps is responsible for dragging the “troops” off to these bullet filled “adventures.” In this case, the officer corps is comprised of the educated by the liberal arts college and university system of this nation. This is the same system that has provided these in our ”intelligentsia” with their educations, hut somehow those who choose to take up a profession of arms are not worthy of being considered smart enough to know when and when not to go to war. To plagiarize from modern culture, I ask: “what’s up with that?” Pardon me, but that seems quite arrogant on the part of those who espouse this strange middle ground support ideal. First off, a simple review of the biographies of flag and general rank officers will reveal many master’s degrees and even doctorial credentials, plenty to rival the academic achievements of many school’s faculty lists. The fingerprints of the massive amounts of education is evident in a military that can rapidly deploy and employ weaponry, sensors, logistical and communications procedures that cannot he done by any other county. The troops are trained for their duties by those same officers who cull through mountains of intelligence information and project the needed strategy and tactics that achieve success unrivaled by any fighting force in history. In addition, the methods used provide this nation with men and women who have been trained to employ force to kill in all sorts of exotic and basic ways, yet these “troops” reenter society and are well-adjusted. Liberal thinkers malign the officers who make for a small and economical military, which despite its cost in the budget, is truly remarkable in its ability to defend us. Despite what “they” want to believe, the officers, as a group, diligently work to use the federal dollars wisely in the service of our citizens. None of what is written above is meant to discount the input of the troops, for many are a vital part of the work, in the quest to make for an effective military, but it is more commonly the position of the officer corps to do the planning and implementation of the “big picture” type of things.