"In the 10th Year, a Harder Army, a More Distant America"

As future policy analysts and hopefully makers, we need to pay attention to all types of trends and problems in society. One issue which is going to play a huge role in future policymaking are those of our Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs.

In my little circle of friends from West Point and the Army, a recent article titled "In the 10th Year, a Harder Army, a More Distant America" has been floating around and getting a lot of approval for its overall message (http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/09/09/in-the-10th-year-of-war-a-harder-army-a-more-distant-america/). The central theme of the article is that as the wars drag on and only 665,000 people out of a population of around 300 million have deployed as active duty soldiers to either Iraq or Afghanistan (many of us in that group multiple times), people who serve or have served feel more and more separated from society.

Why do people in the armed forces feel different about civilians? It's simple - civilians have never seen or done the things that the soldier has seen and done. When soldiers come back from war and see people arguing or stressing over the smallest things in life, they laugh. Very rarely is any choice in America a life or death decision, and overseas those choices come every day.

I find myself totally agreeing with the article. There are things that I can talk about with my Army friends that I could never talk about with, for instance, everyone in politics class. I certainly feel, and my friends who have just left the Army and gone on to grad school have all agreed with this, that my experience separates me from anyone who hasn't served and that there is a figurative wall that will always exist between us and you.

On the policy making front, this will be a huge issue to deal with. The government is going to be paying for the injuries (both physical and psychological) that many have suffered in these wars for years to come. We are going to need to find ways to reintegrate soldiers who leave the Armed Forces (either through retirement or choosing to get out like I did) back into society so that they can be productive. Post-vietnam, a lot of veterans ended up homeless and on the street - is that going to happen again? On the front of psychological issues mentioned above, what are the prospects for increased alcoholism, spousal abuse, or using other forms of violence for a person suffering from the effects of war. What happens to the children of parents who have been kiled overseas, does the government owe them a paycheck and psychological counseling, or a one time payment like they do now? These are all examples of social ills we are going to have to face more and more as the wars drag on.

Another policy issue is whether the growing "warrior class" who fights these wars is a good thing or bad thing. Is it ok to let one group of Americans fight our wars while the rest sit on the sidelines? Is it ok to have politicians who are increasingly made up of less veterans make decisions on war without having served?

All of these are issues we'll be facing and we as policy makers will have to find ways to fix these problems.