insurgent49

April 7, 2005
Army Of One
by Owen Cruise, insurgent49

I push through the glass doors of the U.S. Army recruiting station in the Northway Mall and the first thing I notice is the camo uniforms all the recruiters are wearing; as if they might suddenly be called upon to engage enemies in the forest. I am instantly greeted and a chair is pulled up next to a sergeant’s desk. I’d been wondering what it would take to get them to launch their sales pitch, not much. The sergeant barely has time to start, before another sergeant pulls up a chair next to him. Apparently, this is the supervisor of the facility, and my presence is enough of a priority for him to stay with me the entire session. I am assaulted with questions.

Q: What do you do for a living?
A: I’m in construction.
Q: What made you consider the army?
A: The unreliable nature of construction.
Q: Do you have a family?
A: Yes, a wife and child.
Q: Does your wife know you’re here?
A: No (probably the only untruth I told).

     Admittedly, I have a somewhat low opinion of our armed forces. In 2004, the United States spent $759,145 on the military every minute , $45,548,724 on the military every hour , and $1,093,169,398 on the military every day (nuclearfiles.org).   With all the money spent, this military regularly has laughable, mostly tragic targeting failures. Notably the destruction of the Chinese embassy in the Balkans, the annihilation of a wedding procession in Afghanistan, and the inevitable collateral damage that comes with dropping tons of explosives. Making international headlines recently, of course, are the numerous accounts of prisoner torture. At first called “isolated incidents,” these accounts are becoming representative of the US’s attitude towards prisoners. The army also has an established culture of homophobia and blind patriotism. In the November ’04 elections, 80% of the military voted for George W. Bush. My opinion of the military makes my visit to this Army recruiting station, well, shall we say “unsavory.”

     “What would your wife say if you came home and told her you were going to join the army?”, the sergeant asked me. I told him she would be less than receptive. The rest of my visit would be spent listening to him coach me on how to talk to my wife, how to be prepared with positive arguments for joining. This guy was sharp.

     The first thing I got hit with was the army pay scale. I think I was supposed to be impressed. An entry level private makes $1,142 a month. I could easily make that much doing menial work, work without the imminent danger of a violent death. The pay scale is based not only on rank, but years spent in the forces. The sergeant was very eager to show me his most recent pay stub. It was a pretty attractive sum, and it could be mine, given time.

     Food. I need it, you need it, my wife plays the stereotypical role at the grocery store. Did I know that I could spend half as much on groceries at the commissary? I had to admit, I’d never heard of that. The sergeant was getting into my promising life on a army base. “My wife loves military life even more than me!” he said, insinuating that my wife would come around too. I was told I’d have a normal job, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If I was good at math, I could have a career as an accountant (that was almost enough for me to enlist right there).

     Travel, what could be more exciting? I was fed a vision of my being stationed in Germany. When I got off from my “normal” job, I could change into my civilian clothes, and catch a bullet train to Italy on the weekend. My family and I could spend a couple days soaking in the Mediterranean rays at an army resort. Or if I prefer, go skiing in Alps at a resort in Garmisch. “Garmisch Partenkierchen?” I ask. So, I know the area, he notes. Yes, in fact my wife and I love to travel. Sounds fabulous.

     “Based on what I’ve described, would you be prepared to enlist?” The question caught me off guard. “I pretty much just came in to get some information, to keep my options open. I not prepared to make any kind of commitment.” Such pressure should be expected. Nearly every branch of the military has missed it’s recruitment quotas. I’m now told that not just anyone can get into the army. My recruiting officer mentions a placement test that is used to determine if I’m eligible, and what jobs I would be best suited for. I agree to take a practice test; it will project my probable score on the real test.

     I’m led to his office in the back, and left alone with a computer and a scrap piece of paper. The sergeant told me It’d take about 15 minutes, it ends up taking nearly 30. I’m asked word association questions, and lots of “a train leaves so and so at such a time…” I finish with a score of 87. The sergeant explains that this doesn’t mean I answered 87% correctly. No, it means I scored higher than 87% of the people who took the test. Ohhh… I’m so proud of myself!

     I’d run out of time to chat, and was given a packet of “propaganda” (his words). I walked out of the mall, and into a fine Anchorage spring day. Reflecting, I realized something was missing. Not once did he mention deployment. Instead, he painted a rosy picture of base life. He never dealt with the fact that I’d be directly involved with taking another human’s life. These are major moral issues for me. In my packet of propaganda were many pictures of American youth, enjoying themselves while they are challenged to reach their potential. There are no pictures of combat, very few with armed soldiers, in fact.

     Recently, the union I am a member of voted to make of gift of $2,500 to a local organization for military families. Remember that pay scale? Turns out soldiers can’t afford to support their families on that wage. I abstained from that vote; I didn’t want to feel like I was opening up my wallet and paying for this administration’s military. I do sympathize with the average soldier, I have a family to feed too. However, I believe it to be the government’s duty to make sure the standing army is taken care of. Perhaps if they spent less of their budget on frivolous programs such as missile defense, they could afford to pay their soldiers what they deserve.

     Why did I walk into that recruiting office? To be an effective advocate for the changes I believe this country needs, I feel I need to understand the institutions I am at odds with. One of the questions on the computer test asked me to pick which word mostly closely meant “Wary.” Two of the choices were “Cautious” and “Cowardly.” I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Owen Cruise is a freelance journalist, husband, and father who lives in an undisclosed location in Eagle River, Alaska. He can be reached at owen@insurgent49.com.

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