European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday april 13. 199.1 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Martin Anderso Volunteer warriors Superior to conscripts the persian Gulf War has shown that the United states now has something that other societies have had in the past a a Warrior class. For the first time in . History a major War was fought entirely by troops who volunteered by professional soldiers. Not a single blessed draftee. They Are now a victorious Force More than 5 million Strong whose Core Are the 2 million men and women who chose to make the military a career. When the Welcome parties Are Over the reserves and the National guard will return to civilian life but not the regulars. They will go Back to work a at a military base. Since the United states abolished the military draft almost 20 years ago we have argued and debated Many aspects of the All Volunteer Force a the degree to which it represented and mirrored our society the number of High school graduates in its ranks its racial composition the number of women. But the Central question How Well it would fight was rarely raised and remained an unanswered question until Jan. 16, 1991. The world now knows the answer. A. A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a the All Volunteer Force of America is an awesome fighting machine. President Bush was right when he called it a the finest fighting Force this nation has Ever the men and women who fought in the Gulf were skilled and courageous Calm and Cool under enemy fire exemplary in their conduct and gracious in Victory. They proved that men and women who freely choose military service As their of profession Are far better fighters than re Octant sometimes sullen conscripts. Those returning troops Are the beginning of a new tradition a the modern american version of the old Samurai of Japan. A a a a a a. A. A a a a a a a a a a ironically the japanese name for their warriors was Bushi. While our new warriors May rival the old Samurai in the respect shown them and in their fighting prowess there is one important difference. Our warriors Are Kinder and gentler and have not shown the slightest inclination to lust for political Power. But that potential always lurks where Power and respect converge and the degree of military influence in our society is something to watch carefully in the years ahead. One Little known Factor that contributed significantly to the superiority of the All Volunteer Force and to the creation of a new Warrior class is persian Gulf War is the first War America has fought with men and women instead of boys. The median age of those who fought in Vietnam in the late 1960s was 21 years. Almost half the troops in Vietnam were barely beyond being children hastily trained not even old enough to vote at the time. The average age of the men and women Bush ordered to the persian Gulf was 28 years. The average age of the enlisted men and women was 26years the average age of female officers was 30 years male officers 32 years. Seven years of maturity can make an enormous difference in a fighting Force and it did. Ever since former president Nixon moved to end the draft in 1971, our military Force has aged slowly and steadily almost unnoticed. Mu5cle Beach the troops who. Fought in the persian Gulf were the result of 20 years of free Choice an armed Force of mature men and women with the seasoned judgment skill and seriousness of purpose that Only seven extra years of living can bring. It is True that Many Young men who were drafted in past american wars fought with distinction. But in relative terms there is no question about the Overall combat capability of an All Volunteer Force of grown men and grown women. A no one has yet argued that the United states could have done what it did in the Gulf with hundreds of thousands of teen age draftees. No one has Ever argued that the might of the military would have been greater if we had had the draft for the past 20 years. And no one will. By the criterion of combat capability the All Volunteer Force has demonstrated its superiority to a conscripted Force in a a a 1the same compelling Way that capitalism by Concrete example Quot demolished the idea of socialism there is one Small hangover from our past infatuation with a military draft a draft registration. Spending $27 million a year to make computer lists of millions of teen age. Boys was never a Good alternative to a combat ready Force of men and women. Draft registration was irrelevant to the Gulf War and now it stands As an insult to every Man and woman who freely chooses the american military As a profession. One Small thing we might do in Honor of our returning heroes is to repeal this anachronism and spend the $27 million a year on them instead. Anderson is a senior fellow of he Hoover institution at Stanford University and a member of the president s general advisory committee on arms control and disarmament. Quot c los Amer plus turn Edstom Teepe reagans personal political lives very different we will spend the next several weeks wrangling Over the revelations if revelations they Are in the unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan written by Kitty Kelley who has made a career of this sort of thing. Already tales from the just published Book Are Spedl it a amp like gunk from an overworked septic tank. ,. A depending mainly on our political predisposition we 1 will be outraged merely intrigued or tickled Pink. But you really done to have to rely on secret scandal to know that the Public political lives and the personal lives of the reagans were a let s be kind Here at some tension with one another. One of the most astounding accomplishments of Ronald Reagan was to make himself the political Champion and beneficiary of. Social Hustles that were at least at Odds with his own life when they weren t mocked outright by it. Yet even to mention the dissonance at the time was to be accused from the befriended quarters of something like social sacrilege. It was As if the country was under a mass hypnotic spell for eight years. The reagans in Plain fact,.were a fairly typical hoi Lywood couple of their time As they had every reason and right to be. They had never been known for their Charity thoughtfulness or piety but did have a reputation for Good times. They liked Glitz and the company of Rich friends. They were intellectual and cultural ciphers. Few of us Are in danger of being mistaken on the Street for St. Thomas Aquinas but Reagan managed by sheer brass and Clever stagecraft to portray himself As the political epitome of attitudes that his own life belied. The president declared for the religious right though he had never been a churchgoer and attended during his presidency Only when a photo Opportunity was called for. Reagan treated evolution with Public scepticism saying he had doubts about its science a All the while toeing the goofy astrological line his wife Laid Down for his presidency. The president was unctuous on behalf of a the traditional family and a traditional family values a and critical of those of us who done to fill the Bill. A yet Reagan was a divorced Man who had Little to do with his children and seemed indifferent to his grand kids. His offspring variously grouped Rock groups went pea Cenik and combined with the opposite sex in and hoc domiciles. In Short he had a fairly typical family but played a totally different sort of husband and father and demanded Public concurrence in the role rather than the reality. A. In a particularly Nasty and gratuitous exercise the reagans came House sneering at the declasse ways of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter before them even suggesting the White House would be cleaned up after the Carters As if they were tobacco roadies. But where Pablo Casals had just played the reagans brought the nation direct from Las vegas Wayne Newton. A it appears that our appetite for after the fact scandal is now to be satisfied to a surfeit. Enjoy. But the dirt is a poor substitute for having failed to look at the reagans with a honest Eye in the first place. A Pinch of realism then would have saved vats of disillusionment now. Aco no service a
