What are you in again...was it the Army?

My crew in Afghanistan

Having been a soldier for over 22 years now, I can't even begin to tell you the number of conversations that have begun with someone asking me a question that began something like this, "So...you're in the Reserves right?  What is that again...the Navy, or what?"  Usually it takes me a couple of moments to collect myself, give a genuine smile (not a fake one that shows my annoyance) and reply, "Yes.  I'm actually in the Army National Guard of Minnesota!"

Here's the problem.  As veterans, we've done alot.  That's not to say that others from other professions haven't, or that others contributions to society at large aren't just as critical and important.  But for whatever reason, we as veterans seem to think that what we've done is special.  And guess what?  IT IS!  The problem is that your average everyday civilian walking down the street doesn't have the slightest clue what it is we do or how we do it.  "You all get together and just shoot guns and stuff, right?"

The assumptions range in variety from thinking that we're all high tech computer war gamers who never go into harm's way, to folks who think our knuckles drag on the ground as we grunt and groan and wave our weapons about in a mad effort to terrorize the rest of the world.  Now, I know not everyone out there has a poor opinion, and not everyone out there thinks we're knuckle draggers (I would hope it's only a very select and limited few).  The problem is not those folks who actually HAVE an opinion, regardless of how misinformed it might be.  The problem is the folks who DON'T have an opinion, and in fact, don't really even think about us at all until we cross their path in everyday life.  It is at those moments that they stop, and think to themselves, "Hmmm....it's a soldier!  I forgot we even had those anymore..."

I think I've said this before, but it bears repeating.  Less than 1/2 of 1% of the population today even has a remote connection to a service member.  Family, friends, acquaintances....less than 1/2 of 1%.  That statistic speaks volumes.

There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that our population is significantly higher today than ever before.  It stands to reason that if you have a higher civilian population, less civilians will actually know or be connected to a member of the Armed Forces.  But there are other reasons....

In Word War II, the propaganda machine was alive and well.  It was a simpler time.  Things were less ambiguous then.  We knew who the enemy was, and it was ok to hate them.  In fact, it was encouraged behavior, for both civilians and service members.  The "war effort" was an all inclusive thing, from the economy to the support for the troops abroad.   

Today, it is much more complicated.  There are 7 sides to every geo-political issue, and just as many opinions about what's going on as there are issues.  It is what it is, and we as service members have come to terms with it, and endeavored to separate our country's foreign policy initiatives from our service.  We don't serve so that we can wreak havoc across the globe.  We serve (most of us who are professionals and have re-enlisted or stayed longer than the initial 8 year service obligation) for love of our country and our countrymen.  We believe in the concept of freedom and strive to embody the values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.  

What we've done a poor job of as service members is communicating our values and belief systems, along with the professional competencies we bring with us, to our civilian population.  The old propaganda machine which made the war posters of yesteryear did not survive the complication of political activism.  Once opinions and beliefs starting significantly diverging, the art of communicating our advantages was lost.  The Vietnam War was a VERY tough time for veterans.  Our Vietnam Veterans bore the brunt of bad press created by an overindulgence of political activism that improperly targeted our service members.  

Fast forward to today.  Support for our troops returning from war is a very hip and popular thing to say these days.  Support the Troops!  Yellow ribbon car magnets, license plate tabs that support the military family, it's all the rage to be able to say you support the troops!  But there is still an unemployment rate among returning veterans that is, in some cases, triple the civilian unemployment rate.  

Enter an organization called "ESGR".  Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve was commissioned in 1972 as an organization within the Department of Defense.  Policy makers in our nation's capital began to see the effects of a close-lipped policy when it came to championing our veteran's accomplishments.  When they created this organization, they had a vision of establishing a cooperative partnership between civilian employers and their guard or reserve member employees.  By striving to educate employers about the issues facing their citizen-soldiers, they hoped to alleviate some of the stress and difficulty of deployment, extended periods of duty, and absences due to military commitments.

Today, ESGR hosts multiple events every year, from partnering with guard and reserve air units to offer things like "Boss Lift", which takes our civilian employers on a helicopter ride, to events such as "Breakfast with the Boss".   By fostering these kinds of partnerships with our civilian employers, ESGR has made significant strides toward educating our civilian population about what we do and how we do it.

We need to figure out how to take this to the next level.  We need to reach out beyond the employers to the communities as well.  By publicizing our stories, and re-acquainting the societies from which we come with our efforts to secure freedom, we will only be doing ourselves a favor.  And in the process, we might not hear questions like, "Now....what is it you actually do again?  You're in the Marines, right?"