Despite the United States’ sizable standing army and worldwide military presence, a distinct divide remains in the country between the military and general society. Pew Research Center reports that only 33% of Americans age 18-29 have family who have served or are currently serving in the military. Of those with immediate family serving in the military, 75% claim that the public does not understand the problems the military faces.
At Brown, this division plays out in academic and social spheres. The Office of Student Veterans and Commissioning Programs was only established in 2012 in response to the ROTC review and to a report chastising the university to “move from being reactive to proactive… relying on volunteer efforts… [and] to move from being perceived as indifferent to military service.” Symbolically, Brown is the only Ivy institution not to have ROTC on campus and struggles to reach out to and recruit returning veterans.
The military-civilian dichotomy is not a new phenomenon — concerned pundits and military leaders have brought it up since the early ’90s. As recently as November 15, the Navy’s Chief of Information Rear Admiral John Kirby noted that fewer Americans are gaining direct knowledge of the military due to the United States’ all-volunteer force, and that this volunteer pool is increasingly composed of service members’ children who are more likely to share their parents’ proclivity to serve, claims supported by Pew Research surveys.
The United States Military Academy (USMA) exists as an odd combination of military and civilian values, straddling the traditional college experience with military preparation. I recently had the chance to attend a student conference (SCUSA) at West Point Military Academy, which trains incoming cadets (i.e. students) to enter the Army as Officers. West Point — its 1802 founding making it the oldest of the military academies —is different in almost every way from Brown: there is an 11PM (21:00 hours) curfew on weeknights during which cadet leaders do rounds to make sure cadets are in their rooms, neither sex and nor alcohol is allowed on campus, and the uniform of the day — for all cadets — is announced each morning at 6:45 along with the few breakfast options.
The culture shock I experienced while at the military academy was incredibly educational and is important to share. West Point cadets are really just like any other student, just as Brown veterans and RUEs are, but in addition to academics they are also graded on physical and military performance. This includes military strategy (tactical and strategic), military movement (stealth training), and survival swimming. In their “free” time, every cadet plays a sport and takes supplemental courses such as repelling out of helicopters or studying with Army Rangers. They also “study abroad” at foreign military academies in countries like Brazil, Australia, and Canada.
Too often, Brown students conflate issues inherent to military organization with the motivations of individual service members, or allow military disciplinary troubles to color their perceptions of active duty servicemen. Brown’s ROTC debate is representative of this divide. Julian Park’12 cited “the exclusion of transgender people, the documented climate of sexual violence and racial discrimination, the wars themselves [and] the culture of heartless violence” as reasons for not bringing ROTC back to campus. While these are important problems to address, Brown students – intentionally or not – should be aware of the temptation to vilify all troops.
Brown’s active duty and veteran service members are quite approachable. Lauren Rouse, Air Force Reserve, said, “the most common attitude encountered here, on initial encounters, is people who are really surprised that I was in the military but even more surprised that I’m still in the military.” I have heard former and active duty military students comment on Brown students’ lack of interest and hesitation to engage with their military past. Ignoring these student’s military service or being unwilling to ask questions perpetuates silence and the misconception that no one actually wants to be in the military; or the perception that servicemen in school are there, as Rouse explained, “to get out to move on in life.”
One of the student conference’s aims is to facilitate the sharing of culture and principles between citizens and the military. My goal was to grill any cadet with whom I came into contact. This turned out to be easy, partially because West Point does not allow anyone but cadets (and in this case conference delegates) on campus, but also because everyone proved extremely forthcoming. My background is very much that of a standard Brown student: liberal socialization, little to no contact with military members, and strong opinions about the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, and the current wars. Suffice to say, I was expecting dismissive army brats.
I was surprised to hear and discuss a number of diverse opinions on the meaning of military service, the military’s value, and the cadets’ personal motivations for serving. The cadets ponder the paradoxical values of an institution that demands honor and integrity on an internal level while existing as a force to effectively kill other peoples. West Point graduates have a unique experience due to their privileged entry into the military, but while their motivations for having attended USMA are perhaps loftier than the average soldier, they articulate similar internal conflicts of many enlisted men. To this extent, despite general conceptions, the military is an extremely apolitical institution that puts nation first and prides itself in being nonpartisan. The higher-up in military brass, the more ambiguous are political affiliations, a sentiment Rear Admiral Kirby supported: “I think it is important that those of us in uniform stay apolitical — certainly politically aloof.”
The mutual lack of knowledge by civilians and service members can become a catch-22; civilians are hampered by their unfamiliarity with the military’s structure if all their information is sourced from the news. This can lead to insensitive or unintentionally judgmental comments when speaking to an active duty member, a veteran, or a military spouse, further contributing to a shared sense of ignorance and annoyance.
Heather Sweeney, a military wife, is expressive of the disappointment and reservation military spouses feel when discussing partners’ jobs and life choices with non-military individuals. When discussing her husband’s service and its impact on her life Sweeney says her “words were falling on deaf ears” and “know[s] the second I reveal to the nice mom sitting next to me at the playground that my husband is deployed, I’ll be barraged with a series of frustrating questions, and my answers will do nothing but open the door to more frustrating questions.” Expressing the assumption that military service is short term and otherwise undesirable is insensitive, just as asking a veteran’s “kill number” is inappropriate.
On the military side, civilians are conceived as ignorant and soft, and veterans often report perceived distance between themselves and the rest of society.Today, these men and women return from Iraq and Afghanistan to a world dominated by consumerism and #firstworldlproblems. Some become bitter and hypercritical, saying college students “think those who joined the military were too stupid to go to college and were unaware cogs in the political war machine,” and in turn believe college students are “a bunch of overly sensitive, pretentious, hyper-liberal pussies.” Or they become angry; “Angrier with whom, and what, has proven a shifting target. Sometimes it’s with politicians. Sometimes it’s with anyone who didn’t go with us.” Rouse, in contrast, said, “if anything I learned when being [at Brown] is we actually can bridge the gap and it isn’t that hard. It takes a little bit of effort on both sides. And both can gain a lot from each other.”What does the military-civilian divide mean for the U.S.? How can we break it? Brown champions dialogue and the ability to learn through reading, listening, and discussing, yet the administration has upheld the student body’s resistance to greater military inclusion on campus. Attempts to restart the ROTC debate are met with stiff opposition. Yet Brown’s involvement with the military community is moving forward in other ways. The administration is actively working around student opposition to further incorporate military service members (transfers and RUEs) in lieu of ROTC.
ROTC itself is not the make-or-break issue; rather, it is symbolic of the distance between most undergraduates — especially at proudly liberal and politically correct Brown — and the military mentality. As socially conscious students, we can become bogged down in the greater ideological struggle — as illustrated by BDH opinion articles — while ignoring how this might inhibit greater understanding. Rouse values students’ and society’s ability to criticize or support the troops, but also notes how “incredibly important it is for the next generation of American and world leaders to have interactions with the military and [to] understand what it is to go to war and ask people to go to war for you.” We need to understand the repercussions of asking troops to serve on our behalf.
Why is it acceptable or easy to ask an international student about her life and decision making process when coming to Brown while silence and bewilderment often greets veterans? Are we afraid of becoming more supportive of the military and therefore less liberal as a cause of such interaction? If anything, through conversing with West Point cadets, hearing their leaders speak, and quizzing Brown student veterans, I have noticed the nuance, depth, and complexity in ideologies, decisions, and active duty and veterans’ perceived role in society. Had I not had these opportunities, I would be stuck with the same misconceptions. We – as Brown students and members of American society – cannot change the military by shutting it out by not engaging with it; instead this will lead to our own ignorance and misunderstandings.
Great work Emma