Into the Mind of the Military Community

Everywhere I see people are constantly questioning and judging America’s Military Personnel. It’s on my Facebook news feed, the news, and even on here.

They call them monsters, sinners, greedy bastards, and much more “creative” names.

Everything in the book we’re called something else besides what we really are: Human.

Nothing is perfect. Not you, not me, and definitely not the military.

Yes, we are held to a much higher standard then most individuals. But one thing to consider is that there will always be people who are unhappy, who are stressed, and who make wrong/bad decisions because of these things. It happens in the work place, out in town, and yes even with us freedom fighters.

As much as I would want to explain the mindset of the military community, there is no way anyone in the world can possibly understand on the outside of the world’s greatest show on earth.

But I will give you this to think about.

The other day there was a huge explosion on another blog that I was following. The subject was on the matter of our military members saying things like “I should get paid like a professional athlete for what I do”.

In this guys opinion that statement is a little too strong. But it gives you something to put in perspective.

First off, we all know the military is a volunteer job. No one put a gun to our heads and demanded us to sign papers. We all willingly walked into our recruiter’s office and on our own took an oath. We all know what the risks are and what little pay we would get.

But when you actually live in the moment and you see where America’s priority is at it really is a slap in the face and a kick in the rear.

People of fast food chains demanding (in my opinion) an absurd amount of money for the job that they do.

Professional athletes complain that their million dollar contract to catch a ball is too little because they cant “support” a family with it.

Celebrity’s “earning” the right to have America’s flag to be flown at half mast once they pass for doing nothing but being a one trick pony show for America.

After all that going on in the world, I think it’s fair for us to say “yeah we got a little room to complain”.

Now all over the world everyone has a military of some sort. We all wear a different uniform but all have the same job and duties.

What I learned these past few years is that the military is its own breed. It’s own type of person. There is no color, no social class, no age. We are all thrown into only one category and no matter what language barrier there is we all understand and can connect with each other.

This is what I mean.

Now a few years ago I attended “Exercise African Lion 2012” in Morocco, Africa.

We had a whole briefing session about the culture and level of respect that the Moroccans have. We were told all of the things we can and cant do once we were over there.

It was the whole “Now this is a new land, new culture, and different type of people. We can’t act like Marines once we are there. We have to act like American Ambassadors. Don’t screw this up when we’re there”.

So once we got there and set up our training area the Moroccan Military arrived.

In all honesty it was the most ghetto thing I’ve ever seen. These guys were rolling up in Toyota pick-ups and old style 5 ton trucks. Their gear was the equivalent of a Halloween costume.

Though I guess it gave us some relief that we weren’t the only ones getting last pick of the pile when it comes to the military needs.

Now all of us were a little timid because of the brief we just had. We tried to not make any crude jokes or any weird inappropriate gestures.

Our interpreter even hit hard this matter.

Until this happened to me.

A Moroccan sergeant came right up to me and without even saying “hello” or introducing himself with a simple handshake he came right up to me and said “You Chinese?” and peeling his eyes back with his pinky fingers.

Game on. (I’m Korean by the way).

At a drop of a hat we all threw away what we were told in our classes (to be fair, they threw the first punch).

We all had a great time that day.

They gave us hot tea in the middle of the desert and we had weapon assembly competitions with them.

We all laughed and joked about the same thing. Sharing dip and cigarettes with each other while telling stories around a fire. It’s like we knew that no matter what we are all brothers. We found that no matter if you’re a US Marine or a Moroccan Soldier, we are all part of a very large military family.

After spending several weeks with them it was sad to say goodbye to our foreign brothers.

Another thing is that there is a lot of hatred towards us. As if we aren’t “people” to a lot of people who are on the sidelines and not part of the game.

You’ll see on the news about how America’s military are nothing but cold blooded “murderers” and carry out the greedy deeds of the country.

But keep in mind that the news cannot represent us as a whole community. One person’s horrific and unnecessary violent actions does not define who we are as a whole.

If there’s a Soldier who finds it funny to kill off local villagers or a Marine who gets a laugh when he throws a puppy off a cliff, trust me when I say this, we hate those bastards as much as you guys do.

No matter where you go there will always be a certain type of community that no one will understand. Its a culture that isn’t taught from a text book. The only way anyone will understand why we do what we do is to know what its like to be a part of it.

People are still more than welcome to toss in their opinion, but this is my opinion on this.

The point that I’m getting at is people try too hard to pick at our anatomy. From a service member to a civilian I will say it’s hard to get us. It’s hard to understand what type of bond we all have.And more importantly, its hard to see where we are coming from.

 

From all over the world each and every single one of us are all brothers and sisters with a different last name. We are all part of an exclusive club that people on the outside can only get a peek at.

So please remember that we stand for what is right even if you think its wrong.

We are all men and women with a heart and mind even if it seems absent.

We all wake up the same way you do and but may go to bed at different times.

And we laugh at the same stupid jokes that are told over and over.

We are all humans on this beautiful planet.

But quickly going to judgement and labeling is just flat out wrong especially if you haven’t been there.

Understand that we operate in a different way that only the few can see.

That’s all you really need to understand.

 

 

Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on this 🙂