I Am A Soldier...

"I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight."

I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight: cognitive decisions, situational judgement, explanations that fit within the frame, breaking from one's script when it has served you well, walking off the battlefield when it is over, winning and losing with respect. I'm not allowed to explain how I achieved those cognitive, situational and explanatory situations and judgments because, while many Soldier skills might be learned, the mental processes behind them are not readily observable by outsiders. I have to walk into situations with my head wrapped around my shoes to explain what happened, and the faster I do so, the faster I earn respect.

That's okay; it has to be allowed. But the assumption that Soldiers have to fight and win with their heads wrapped around their shoes to have respect from civilians has become a barrier to the opportunity to explain ourselves and the situations we have to fight. I'm not a street protester. I'm a Soldier. And I'm really not sure what the difference is, but since I'm a Soldier I'm sure I have a right to explain the circumstances in which I fought when a civilian stands in the street protesting, spitting on me as he does so.

My memory of someone spitting on me would be different if I didn't fight on a battlefield where the soldiers who were defending the soldiers who fought to defend me stood in between me and the soldiers spitting at me. But because I did fight on a battlefield where the soldiers did stand between me and the spitting soldiers, my memory of the spitting incident is much different. I'm not sure if my perception of the importance of the fighting I'm required to do on a battlefield is accurate. But I'm not going to argue with the realities that make my view of it different than that of the people standing on the street.

That's my opinion. I really don't know what the answers are to the questions you asked me. But since you asked, I think I can explain how I'm a Soldier, explain the situations in which I have to fight and explain why I have to fight.

So I really do appreciate you inviting me to your office this morning. I would have liked to explain that combat situations and contingencies do exist in the daily lives of Soldiers, particularly Soldiers who do what you do. It's just that there are things that are difficult to explain and difficult to defend. Combat situations and situations that justify the reason you need me to walk on the battlefield with my head wrapped around my shoes are the cognitive decision-making situations, situational judgement, how I explain myself to people outside of the battlespace and the explanations that are shaped to explain my understanding of the situations I'm in. So my explanations might be different from yours, but I'm not going to convince you I have an easier job than you do with my explanations.

I can talk to you about my perception of the common ground we have in considering the problems facing both Soldiers and civilians. For example, I don't have as much common ground as you might think with most civilians, who, according to a study of the journalistic and political reporting of our wars published in the journal Analysis of Conflict, are often unable to distinguish between soldiers and insurgents, or "the enemy." They can't think through the contexts in which soldiers and civilians find themselves, or how common ground is established between the two groups. But I do have common ground with some civilians who can understand the tactics of war and what my perspective is, in making comparisons between soldiers and civilians.

I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of civilians when I explain the difference between fighting someone who is a soldier and someone who isn't. I think that I can explain to the civilian, on the streets or in the classroom, the situations in which I have to work on explaining things to people who don't know what I know or think I know.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your office this morning.