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MVarietyNews.com CNMI News Letters to the Editor Letter to the Editor: Them vs. them

Letter to the Editor: Them vs. them

Tuesday, 08 December 2009 00:00
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THE “us vs. them” always seems to be used to describe the relationship between the civilian and the military communities.

I think we should look at it more as a “them vs. them.” Why? Because the servicemen and women who make up the military are under tremendous pressures and stresses, which is why there is higher suicide rate.
One out of three female servicewomen gets raped and/or physically assaulted.
My point is, we in the civilian community should not look at the military as a monolith because it is not. If we think we have problems, and we do, we should keep in mind that the military has lots of problems, as well. They just get hushed up for the most part as negative publicity hurts recruitment and retention. For example, the current commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, misrepresented the truth about the circumstances surrounding the death of NFL star Pat Tillman.

MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam

 

Comments 

 
0 #2 Whodoyoutrust? 2009-12-09 22:31 There are a lot of reasons why the military have problems. Some service members are in it for themselves. Since the change from Be All You Can Be to Army of One to Army Strong, Genuine Leadership is now a like an endangered moral quality. If you go to any unit you will find about 4 or less per company with good leadership skilled individuals. When I started the service, everyone had someone they can count on who had rank. With automatic promotions and low MOS points anyone can make rank quickly which results in no experience. Service members can become a Sergeant in 2 years without a mentor. No mentor means that no wisdom has been passed down. Which is a result of a boring job, which will make someone miserable. I have not seen anyone who is happy to be a service member in the past 2 years. Someone needs to improve our quality of life because some of us can not improve it on our own with all these restrictions hanging on our shoulders.
 
 
-1 #1 JoseRizal 2009-12-08 04:05 After reading the many contributions of Matt Philips\' to the Marianas Variety, I think that Guam really needs to get a handle on it\'s ice problem. Seriously, it\'s starting to affect the rest of us now.
 

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