Two Sides of the Army Coin

To begin this article I am going to preface by saying that I support the works our troops do overseas, putting their lives on the line for the country. I recognize the sacrifice that is made by the few who never return home and those who do return home, but not in one piece.

In my limited experiences with members of the military, I have now in my life seen two sides.

On one side was my very close friend Adam Malson. Adam and I attended high school together and were very close, he went away to Michigan State after graduation, I had one year of high school left and then went off to Adrian College in southeastern Michigan. Needless to say we did not see each other very often after this, he was busy with various activities and I was busy with football. We did talk frequently over instant messenger and this allowed us to maintain a fairly close relationship. Adam was the last person I thought would join the Army but did so for a noble reason that he legitimately wanted to help people. He and his future wife were both in ROTC, Adam graduated from MSU with a 3.97. He and his wife then both joined into the Army entering as officers, his wife was in the Military Police and Adam was in Airborne. Both have served tours in the hotspots, Adams wife serving in Afghanistan and Adam serving in Iraq. Sadly Adam did not come back from Iraq; he was killed by a suicide bomber while helping a woman from the burning wreckage of a vehicle. I know that Adam joined the Army to help people, and to serve his country. Any monetary gain that may have come with his enlistment was purely secondary. He was in my eyes what this nation’s army should stand for. Proud, educated people who go in for the right reasons, I have no doubt that if Adam were still alive, he would be serving proudly and would be in a position of great leadership and would have had a great military career. His death touched me in a very real way as he sacrificed his life for a greater good, that of his men, never mind that he was 23 years old buy leading more seasoned men because he was the best. I was a pallbearer at his funeral which hundreds of people attended, a 4 star general eulogized him and many of his soldiers offered up words on how great of a solider he was. Adam Malson Article and Here

On the other side of the coin another friend of mine recently joined the Army and it appears to be for the wrong reasons. I cannot say for sure as when I have asked her the answers have been somewhat vague about why she joined just that "it’s something I want to do". She will also be joining the Army and leaves in 19 days. Today I spoke with her on the phone and she was sure to let me know that she received a 25,000.00 signing bonus, with 10,000.00 of it up front in cash. She also has a mountain of student debt from college which the US government will now be repaying. The decision for her to join the Army came quite suddenly, she actually had bought a 7 week lab about a month ago which will now be pawned off onto various family members. A person who has thought about joining the military seriously does not buy a dog when they know they cannot care for it (I don’t think). Her stint in the Army will be served as a Nurse. No doubt the Army needs nurses, but she had mentioned before joining the army of being a nurse in the private world. This is the aspect of our military that bothers me.

There are a select group of individuals who before and even after 9/11 join the military for the monetary benefits, the signing bonus, the loan repayment. Many of these soldiers (mercenaries) serve their 4 years and then use their military training for profitable private careers immediately after. Another friend of mine was a mechanic in the marines, discharged after 4 years and returned to Iraq to be a private military contractor as a mechanic and was making 160,000.00 of tax free money courtesy of the government and his military paid for training. To me this might as well be robbery, its part of the problem with the military industrial complex that allows such blatant profiteering from the soldiers that it trains. About a year ago I was greatly offended by an article referring to the US Military as a mercenary force. Now I have to say this seems to be the exact case. We have an army that is getting paid 25,000.00 to join up and serve 4 years. What other country on earth offers signing bonuses to their service members? I don’t believe there are any. The enlistment of this friend touched me as well, but in a different way. How can people look at the military as such a for profit venture while so many have died doing what they knew was the right thing? How can one person see it as a noble profession worth dying for and others see it as a means to profit?

I understand capitalism fully and recognize that this is a prime example of how the system works; you take what you can get for a certain job. But in my eyes people that join the military for this reason cheapen the sacrifice made everyday by the soldiers who join for the right reasons. The ones that aren’t trying to just get paid collect a paycheck and get out after 4 years. I as a taxpayer am mortified that I will now be paying off my student loans as well as my friends and thousands of others and then watching many of them going on to lucrative careers at the benefit of the training that tax payers provide. The Army and the military in general used to stand for something, I can’t say that it stands for nearly as much anymore sadly, I wish it did.

You Are Missed:
Adam Michael Malson
11/7/81 - 2/19/05
"Without a sign his sword the brave man draws, And asks no omen but his country’s cause."
- Homer