Free Riders: US Army Edition

Free ridership is ingrained into the very existence of the US military. We provide a public good--national defense--paid for collectively through taxation. Of course, those who pay fewer taxes than the average receive proportionately more of this good for their dollar than others. Those who pay no taxes are classic free riders, even though this may be because they simply don't earn enough money to do so. This is one of the main reasons I object to the cutting of taxes on the rich and corporations; they receive very substantial benefits from the protection we provide for their wealth.

But it's a problem within the service as well, as I realized last night when I was cleaning up after someone else's mess. (Again.) Cleaning is a highly collectivized task here. We all take turns cleaning up. But the disconnect this creates between people and their own crap leaves us with people making a bigger mess than they otherwise would, and more work for everyone.

The most common manifestation is hugely overflowing trash cans. It's not that hard to take the trash out when it's full, but nobody thinks to do it because it's someone else's duty day. Unfortunately, however, duty days get missed sometimes, and the sheer volume of trash created by soldiers is mindboggling. (Don't get me started on the lack of recycling opportunities in this job either.)

On the other hand, I guess I'm lucky to be in an MOS of 4-person teams. Nobody can afford to slack off or the mission is immediately jeopardized. Yay for economies of (small) scale.

My Mutant Head

Can barely fit a standard gas mask. Apparently my chin is too pointy. Combine this with the fact that apparently the mask they issued me back at the unit has a mysterious defect, and I was there about a half-hour longer than anyone else trying to successfully clear the damn thing. All that time spent for a threat that will not occur. It's not just unlikely, it's simply not going to happen. There are no WMDs in Iraq. Period. "But what about those chlorine VBIEDs the insurgents were using?" ask the retards who only watch CNN Headline News. Yeah, uh-huh, remember how they completely failed to accomplish anything? Not only does the explosion incinerate most of the gas, it's a pretty weak chemical weapon even used alone.

Bottom line: My gas mask is, unless I'm ordered otherwise, going to stay stowed for the next year. (Once I get one that works.)

Rumors

Just heard through a grapevine (some of the instructors here) that USACAPOC (my big bosses) may be headed back under USASOC (special operations big bosses). Apparently USARC (reserve big bosses) find us too damn expensive, and they're spending all the money that Congress is allocating to fund us on other shit. Meanwhile USASOC supposedly has commitments to maintain the equipment they issued us until we got moved, but they're not getting any money to do it.

This would be a very good thing. USASOC knows how to manage us a thousand times better than USARC. From what the old hands at this unit say, our training was a lot better back then too. I would be happy, very happy, if this happened.

Army Vaccines

They're some tricky buggers, I'll tell you. The Japanese Encephalitis shot that I got last year, I was fine for a few days. Then I started itching--everywhere. Toenails to asscrack. It went like that for about a week...damn did that suck. And anthrax just kind slides in there real smooth like, then it lights up like, in one SSG's words, "a ball of hot lead."

Shit. Sux.

This Anniversary

All it really does anymore is piss me off, because it makes me think of the rampant lawlessness that those 19 angry Arabs unleashed on this country. In my opinion, they enabled far more damage--to the rule of law and constitutionalism--than they inflicted themselves.

In fact, that's one of the few things that truly offends me about the last 8 years. I disagree with most of the Bush administration's policies, but those are just opinions that reasonable people can disagree on. But their disregard for the basic constitutional precepts (accountability, checks and balances, and transparency in government, among others) that have kept us free for 200 years is far beyond the pale. I took an oath when I joined the Army to defend that scrap of parchment, goddamnit. And the President, whose orders I also swore to obey, has been the primary architect of dismantling it.

The Countdown Has Begun

399 days.

Political Awareness

The first time I ever paid any attention to any "issue" was back in high school. Youth rights, the right of teenagers to not be treated like babies, was what got me fired up. Of course, there was a degree of self-interest in that, and I was angry at the world. (Still am, though now it's because of all of the manifest failures of humanity than any particular injury done to me.) But I still think that if you expect young adults to act maturely and give them the tools and opportunities to do so, most of them damn well will.

So, it's interesting to see someone in the mainstream media bring these issues up. And of course, it would be in Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2199258/ The only thing that irritates me is that Mr. Saletan's argument seems to hinge at the end on the idea that restrictions on young adults are bad insofar as they lead to restrictions on legal adults. But whatever.

He acknowledges that young people are disadvantaged politically because they lack the franchise, which is a crucial fact. Most often, when I brought this up to people, they counterargued that the parents' vote would represent their children's interested. But that's just not how a representative democracy/republic works. Everyone is supposed to be able, if they wish, to have their voice heard. If you want my view, abolish the damn voting age and require people to pass the citizenship test in order to vote. But I don't think that'd be very popular. Ah well. Baby steps.

Six Flags

Even hard working Civil Affairs soldiers need/get time off now and then. So we went to Six Flags yesterday. I learned something: I'm not a thrill ride guy. "You'll drive a humvee in a combat zone, but you won't ride a roller coaster." (This was after I'd gotten a taste of it and opted out of most of the rest.) "I get paid to do that," was my reply. But it's only partly that. I don't mind a shot of adrenaline now and then, but I'd rather be in control of it. Just going along for the ride is not particularly fun for me. Just one of my personal pathologies. Plus it makes my head hurt. But most of all, one of the damn things took my lucky driving hat. Bad rollercoaster. No cookie.

Nonetheless, it was a damn good day, overall. Got out of the nasty barracks, spent some time in the real world, learned something about myself. The 50 bucks or whatever I spent was well worth it.

Although our main job is talking to people, Civil Affairs can absolutely tear the battlefield up when it becomes necessary. We've got a high percentage of former combat arms soldiers, plus loads of combat experience that makes an FNG like me feel much better about my chances for surviving this tour. We did our final pre-mob exercise today, and the cadre running it said we were one of the best units they'd ever seen. Hells yeah.

Also, training-FOB life sucks. The guys in my unit who've been downrange say real FOBs aren't so poorly designed. They better be right.