Shall we talk about Defense?  It’s no secret that I’m a battle-scarred military spouse (but not one of THOSE kind of spouses – no victim, no poor-me here) and I’ve got some strong ideas about our military and how it should be run. 

First I advocate mandatory national public service.  It works so well in so many places around the world – why not try it here?  Too many of our citizens feel like public service is great for other people but not for them and not for their children.  An awesome book on the subject is AWOL:  The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service and How It Hurts Our Country.  Our recruiting challenges have become so severe that the maximum age for enlistment is now 43 for the Army.  Now that is going to get us three types of people in our armed forces, right?  Those with a genuine desire to serve but possibly not optimal physical capability to serve (I use myself as exhibit A).  We may get a few that are truly great soldiers who end up drawn to military service by the money (bonuses and benefits) as a result of current economic conditions but we’re also going to get quite a few that are simply unfit for any service.  You know the type – approaching middle age, no education, no ability to keep a job, possibly misdemeanor convictions or lower-class felonies that the military is willing to overlook because they simply need bodies.  This is a dangerous game.  We end up with a sizeable number of unfit, incapable, mentally unfit for duty service members that put the rest of our military in serious danger.   This danger is related both to the ability to fulfill their mission as well as personal danger as evidenced by the numerous media accounts of violent acts committed by soldiers either against their wives or against other service members due to PTSD and other conditions.

And I don’t think for one second that the military is or should be the only public service option.  But I do think that the military gets the right of first refusal.  After that, options like a Conservation Corps type service to do roadside cleanup, park and recreational area maintenance and clean up, working in public schools, hospitals, etc. would be made available.  The reward for this service would be funding for post-secondary education making college more affordable and accessible for everyone.  If you screw up during your mandatory two-year service obligation, there would be punitive penalties assessed up to and including jail time. 

I know  you’re probably hyperventilating right now.  We got to where we were as a nation eight years ago through the blood, sweat and tears of those who came before us and understood the value of hard work.  As a result of each successive generation trying to make it easier for their descendants, we’ve become collectively fat, dumb and happy about what it takes to have peace, freedom, education and wonderful natural rescources to enjoy.  We need to reinstill that sense of responsibility for maintaining and creating the freedoms and privileges we all enjoy to current and future generations. 

There is also the matter of the right time and place to employ our armed forces.  Their primary purpose is to provide for the safety of the citizens of the United States of America.  Their secodary purpose is to protect our interests abroad.  My position on deployments is that there must be a direct connection to and benefit for the American People to justify putting our military servicemembers in harm’s way.  We’re not going to clean up after natural disasters in Asia (or anywhere else) and we’re certainly not sending our troops into situations at the request of entities not willing to put their own troops on the line.  We’re not interested in being the cowboys in the white hats riding in to save your ass.  And we are certainly going to end the policy of election-buyers and armchair Generals deciding what is the appropriate use of force.  To you folks, I would say that unless your son or daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, mother or father, or you personally, are going in with the troops and the benefit to the citizens and taxpayers of the United States of America is clear, the answer is no.  But you’re welcome to take the thousands of dollars you’d otherwise spend buying an election and use them to support the causes you believe in in parts of the world that are not of interest to the collective good of the American people. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not heartless.  Human Rights atrocities are exactly that and I am appalled and angry that these conditions exist around the world.  I am simply thinking as the wife, mother and friend of servicemembers and maintaining that my husband, son or friend’s life is not worth less than anyone else’s just because they put on the uniform of our Armed Forces every day.  Unless we are a part of a global coalition, we will not send troops to be peace-makers or peace-keepers anywhere in the world under my administration.  Terrorism is a very bad thing.  We have been engaged with opposition forces and terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq for too long already.  However, with regard to this situation, I defer to the soldiers on the ground – the ones that don’t watch the news here or read the newspapers – who believe that we can and should stabilize those regions before we pull out.  But we must enable the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan to rebuild their own countries and begin the transfer of power so that they can also be held accountable for their actions and the actions of their citizens.  If they want us gone, fine.  We will leave.  If they are subsequently invaded by one of their unfriendly neighbors, that’s unfortunate.  The military under my watch will only go back if the rest of the UN goes too.  No more cowboy foreign policy.