Starting tomorrow I am officially an active duty member of the US Navy. Two months of basic training in Chicago, then a year and a half of Arabic in Monterey (I know, but somebody’s got to do it right?) before they send me to the Persian Gulf.
I signed my contract and took the first oath (there are several apparently) on March 30th, just seven days after I contacted a recruiter to ask a few questions. When I started telling my friends and family they all assumed it was an April Fool’s Day Joke. The reaction was pretty standard: laughter mixed with disbelief, then a stunned silence, and always, always the same question: "Why?"
It’s a fair question. I spent most of the Bush years bumming around Europe either on study abroad or teaching English. I deeply resented the man on a personal level for destroying the sex appeal Americans abroad enjoyed during the Clinton years. Every time I would try to chat up some gorgeous girl in a café I would get a lecture on responsible use of the military might, the perils of colonialism and the general stupidity of my president. As someone who was mid-twenties and entering into that almost-adult period I was also furious that such a large chunk of my life, my generation, was going to be wasted on a stupid war. My loathing for the pundits on the right was only matched by my loathing for people who talked about how great the US was whilst simultaneously undermining our best qualities. I was in France when Americans started pouring French wine into the gutters and let me tell you, I got an earful.
It was hard listening to that for eight years, especially since people on both sides of the political divide equated criticism with sedition. My conservative friends called me a coward for saying we couldn’t win a war in Iraq, my liberal friends called me an apologist for pitying the dyslexic recovering-alcoholic who was clearly in way over his head. Le sigh.
I love our country. Our plurality is our greatest strength, and our decision to unite as a nation not based on color or creed but on commitment to an ideal is unique in the world. I was in Hamburg last November and I wept when my faith in my country was vindicated, and I know I was not alone.
We have so much work to do, but the only thing we can do is start, so I came home to Colorado in December with the intention of finally settling. I wanted to put everything I had learned to good use, I wanted to be part of the solution, but like many of us I couldn’t get a job and for four months I volunteered in my community while paying my rent with a credit card. There's a point where optimism turns into folly and faith becomes madness, but their was no alternative.
Completely by chance I stumbled on an advertisement for a job with the US Navy as a linguist. I speak a few languages, so I did a little investigating, took the ASVAB and the DLAB then sat back and reflected. Here was a chance to be directly involved in one of the biggest issues of my time, to put my talents and passion and education to good use. To serve all of you in a way that could save lives and give me a chance to restore a part of our good name. The military, like any organization, is only as good as the people who are a part of it. This is my chance to be part of the solution, so I’m off.
But before I go, I wanted to thank the lot of you for fighting the good fight. Listening to your voices has been (and I think will continue to be) a great encouragement in desperate times. To everyone who is struggling: don't give up, we are making progress. I’m sorry I’ve only now gotten around to putting out a thank you, and I doubt many people will read it, but I wanted to go on the record.
So thank you.