THE BRITISH DISCHARGE AS OF RIGHT—A MODEL FOR AMERICAN SERVICE REFORM?
The U.S. armed forces staff themselves according to a system that has gone mostly unchanged since the Continental Army first appeared.
In this system, an enlisted service member signs on and takes an oath to serve a required amount of time. After they complete their time, they may be discharged (that is the default) or “re-enlist.”
In the case of officers, they have a commission and may resign after completing a mandatory service obligation.
Officers probably arrive at their first assignment better prepared for it mentally and physically than most enlisted members by virtue of their service academy or ROTC training.
For the enlisted member, who may have signed on for a variety of reasons ranging from the highest (if not theoretical) level of enthusiasm to a dearth of life goals or a personal fable of what to expect, it can be quite different.
It is on these enlisted people we will primarily focus for this article, although the concept could be easily carried over to commissioned officer service.
The outcomes of the young enlisted member trying to adapt to military life can range from the humorous to the macabre as the individual—oftentimes very young and lacking life experience and horizons—seeks to cope.
Some adapt well. A good number do not.
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DC is abuzz with a ton of Trump-hating journalists and politicians all of a sudden learning that national security is a thing about which to be concerned.
The American president has lost patience with the Russian leader – so have his own people.
One of the ways we can access some of the hidden strength within us is to look for the people, events, and opportunities about which we can feel grateful.
Chinese, written and spoken, is my candidate for the weirdest major language on earth. At the Monterey Institute, where US diplomats are taught foreign languages, it takes on average 600 hours of instruction to be fluent in a European language such as French or German, 1200 for Arabic - and 2400 in Chinese. (This means, of course, that for China and the world to communicate, Chinese must speak English, as the world will never speak Chinese).
