It’s said that real love only comes with sacrifice, that real love requires placing some cause or some one first, and truly giving of yourself for that person or cause.

Several stories have “percolated out” following the two recent US Navy collisions at sea which include a number of sailors who gave their lives for their ship and shipmates…

But we’ve also heard that several senior Navy officers were aware of training shortcomings, particularly on ships stationed in Japan, and did little to correct the problems. If the stories are correct, they were apparently willing to “sign off” on these shortcomings, allowing ships to engage in activities for which officers and crew were arguably not prepared. And so, two collisions and 17 deaths.

Is this the same military that conducts incredible midnight raids to rescue hostages – or kill a terrorist; operates submarines under the icecap; flies fighter jets against any threat; or move tens of thousands of tons of material around the world at a moment’s notice?

The cognitive disconnect between the image of extreme professionalism of our nation’s soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that has become part of the tapestry of the nation, and this suggestion that admirals were apparently unconcerned with the declines in readiness, insufficient training, and personnel; of the operators of huge, complex systems with out-of-date qualifications – represents a chasm seemingly too wide to bridge.

How can the same bureaucracy that produces the best special operations personnel, the best fighter pilots, the best submariners – in the world, be run by admirals (and generals) who seem to fall so far short, and who’ve adopted such a laissez-faire attitude to our national security?

The short answer is that admirals and generals are human. They’re neither ten feet tall supermen and intellectual titans, nor are they conniving, self-serving seekers of ever-greater fame. Instead, they’re all remarkably human, with all the strengths and weaknesses that go along with being so. And they’ve always been so; the difference is not in them; perhaps the difference is in those they serve.

Not only has there been a steady decline in the percentage of Congress and other senior officials who’ve served – though with a slight up-tick since 2001; but there’s been a steady decline in the percentage of the citizenry who’ve served.

With service comes a host of things, among them a greater appreciation of the frailties and limitations of senior officers, and a greater appreciation of the difficulties of running a large military organization.

That appreciation is essential to Congress – and the citizenry – understanding that every sergeant, even the ones covered in medals, isn’t Sgt. Rock, every ship captain isn’t John Paul Jones, every general isn’t George Patton. More importantly, Congress – and the citizenry – needs to be able to recognize the difference between Sgt. Bilko and Sgt. Rock.

There are all sorts of steps that might be taken to address the immediate problem: fewer admirals and generals, with clear responsibility for readiness and training; slower promotions to allow greater development of professionalism; longer tours to allow focus on war-fighting skills, etc.

But we need citizens who understand that. There are many reasons why a draft should be looked at warily, but the understanding of both the capabilities – and limits – of our military (and our government) that a draft would bring is one very large reason to consider its merits.

But there’s an additional reason; one that arguably outweighs mere understanding.

Many in our country seem to like America, but they’ve never sacrificed for her and as such can only with great difficulty ever love truly her. This is particularly true among certain segments of our society, those that fashion themselves to be our leaders: whether in politics, fashion, culture, high finance or technology. Their love for America often appears to be conditional; they’ll love America when she is great, when America makes them proud, when America rewards them.

GK Chesterton once observed that Rome wasn’t loved because she was great, she was great because she was loved.

If we wish to fix our many problems – in the economy, the military, or the government as a whole – if we wish to make our country great, we must first love her; and to love her we must be willing to sacrifice for her, and to do that we need to understand, truly understand, those sacrifices.

We must first love her; only then can she be great.

Copyright 2017 Arrias
www.vicsocotra.com