Burnout And The Need For Renewal

It seems that the morale in the military is once again in the toilet. Given who the current occupant of the White House is and his sycophantic wannabe successor who will say anything, do-anything-to-get-elected, this should come as virtually no surprise to anyone.

In an article in The Washington Times yesterday, a confidential study conducted among Army officers revealed deep dissatisfaction with their superior officers and with peacekeeping assignments. In fact, a full two thirds of them say that they do not see any possibility for continued job satisfaction in the Army. More than two-thirds of officers felt there was ‘excessive micromanagement’ in the Army. I can relate that from first-hand experience from my own observations over twenty years ago in the Marines, and it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. From all indicators, it seems that from among the officers surveyed and probably many that weren’t, seem to be suffering from burnout.

With job satisfaction down across the board in the officer corps, one can only wonder just how bad things are among the enlisted men. After all, the officers’ salaries do not yet qualify them for food stamps, whereas the enlisted men on food stamps already number too many – even one is one too many. In addition, they should not have to be working part-time jobs in order to support their families. Enlisted men on food stamps was a tragedy from the Carter administration that was remedied by Ronald Reagan; now it has been revisited/inflicted on the troops by the treasonous, draft-dodging, pot-smoking, skirt-chasing Commander-in-Chief Bill Clinton.

One of those most disturbed by the mass exodus of officers and enlistees from the Army is Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki. This had been the first comprehensive look at officers’ attitudes and needs since 1998. That study acknowledged that the high pace of wars overseas and peacekeeping missions were factors in driving these otherwise fine officers to throw in the towel and quit. One can only imagine that Shinseki is beside himself trying to figure out how to chart a course for the Army that will increase combat readiness, yet still his keep his politically appointed post and its accompanying prestige.

As one who has served on active duty in both the Marine Corps and the Army National Guard, I can understand the concerns voiced by these officers that were surveyed. Between 69 percent and 73 percent of those ranks agree with the statement "I see no possibility for continued job satisfaction in the Army." In addition, fully 70 percent of those surveyed said, "I can no longer balance the needs of the Army with [the] needs of my family."

When I was on active duty in the National Guard, Reagan was President, and all of our military personnel were looked after. We had working equipment, we were well compensated and very well trained. Although important, our duties were able to be done efficiently, well and in many cases, with time to spare in some cases. There was a time to work and a time to relax, and the 30 days leave we were given each year as one of our benefits allowed us time to get away regularly without burnout. Our Commanding Officer made sure we used our leave regularly to keep our morale up and our effectiveness and productivity high.

With the current military, it is harder to be effective as frequent and ongoing peacekeeping missions keep soldiers on the move with less turnaround time between deployments. Marriages are suffering and in order to keep their families together, more and more of our finest in uniform are leaving and doing so in numbers that have recruiters unable to keep up with the need for recruiting and training their replacements. Of all four branches of the service, only the Marine Corps is meeting its recruiting goals.

As for the Army where the need is the greatest, we need to remember that there are 11,000 troops in Kosovo and Bosnia who should be home with their families. Other NATO allies can take care of the situation there without imposing on us. In addition, there is an ongoing rotation of troops on assignment in the Persian Gulf as well as a permanent presence of Army personnel in Europe, most notably Germany and in South Korea as well.

With the lack of adequate training, increased deployments and equipment that is having difficulty performing in the manner for which it was designed, the exodus from the Army will continue to worsen before it improves. What is needed for our military and for the national security of America is a renewal of Reagan’s commitment with an increase of basic pay and allowances for all military personnel of all ranks. In addition, we need more money for the development of advanced defensive weapons systems; this is necessary to protect us from China and other miscreants such as Osama bin Laden who are bent on destroying what they consider "The Great Satan" as well as other cretins that have the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Another area America needs to beef up is in our foreign intelligence, counterterrorism and counterespionage activities. The CIA needs to have more agents in place around the world that can aid in disabling the ability of the Communist Chinese to engage in any nuclear activity against any country, particularly Taiwan and the United States. This is one area where George W. Bush can take a page from his father’s playbook, as his father was Gerald Ford’s CIA Director. We also need counterterrorism beefed up in order to send the world a message when American interests anywhere in the world are harmed; and that message is that we will protect our own at whatever cost.

While the merit in having permanent normal trade relations with China is at best questionable, it is wholly inappropriate for the United States to share nuclear technology with a nation-state such as China that has described itself as an avowed enemy of the United States and her people. Like Cuba, China is a Communist nation with an abysmal record for human rights and there should be safeguards to protect our vital national interests. They serve no interest of any kind other than their own, and the United States needs to keep that in mind as they deal with China in any capacity.

For if we don’t, we may have to send our Army and Navy into harm’s way in a battle in which there will be no winners.

You can e-mail your comments to Timothy at trollins@idirect.com.

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission