The U.S. Army - Road to Indecision? (Essay #3, Rough Draft)

From television commercials to radio broadcasts, no matter where one goes there are always recruitment slogans and jargon being thrown around to join the U.S. Army. Most of these slogans and statements focus on one of two things, the first being a call to duty of American’s to serve their country and the other one being a claim that joining the army and becoming a soldier will make them a “better” person, such as “The army provides a remarkable environment for personal growth…” (U.S. Army, 2008). This claim is invalid and the allusions that the recruitment personnel use are far from truthful. Although joining the army is marketed as something that will build character and make one a stronger individual, joining as a young adult actually causes a degradation of morals, character, and independence because while in the army one is encouraged to partake in activities that never allow them to grow up, one's choices are very limited and mandated by someone else, and because one is forced to adhere to strict regulations without being able to have free thought in deciding one's own actions.

In today’s world there is a definite need for a combat ready force capable of defending the nation at a moments notice; the author is not claiming to refute the fact that the United States of America needs a military, nor is the author making the claim that it is not honorable to serve in any branch of the military, including the U.S. Army. However, the author is claiming that the recruiters working to draw the attention of the young adults within this country are making claims and allusions to things that are not true in their ploy to enlist young people into their ranks.

Most people think that “growing up” and becoming mature means something along the lines of learning enough life skills to move out on one’s own, becoming financially independent from one’s parents or guardian, and more or less becoming independent in general. The army often markets itself as a path to independence; a way for someone to magically step through a door and go from being a boy to a man, or a girl to a woman, however this is not true. In fact the day to day activities of most soldiers do not at all reflect the responsibilities or norms of being mature in civilian life. While on the job it is true that soldiers are given responsibility for a variety of tasks and leadership roles that would normally not be given to them in the civilian world, however, it is also true that after the last formation of the day most soldiers find themselves holed up in their barracks room playing video games and drinking beer. When the weekend rolls around you will find the majority of soldiers getting drunk, that is the major pastime of the soldier. Now this may sound like the normal college age pastime, and may not in fact sound that alarming, until one looks at the fact that drinking and video games are not only a serve as the main hobby and interest of the college age soldiers, but also of the over-forty age group as well. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), in a report entitled Alcohol Use and Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems Among Young Adults in the Military, prepared by Genevieve Ames and Carol Cunradi, “Of the young men in all branches of the military, 32.2 percent engaged in heavy drinking, compared with 17.8 percent of civilian men” (Ames & Cunradi, 2004). To the public the army gives of the front of caring about the soldiers and looking down upon alcoholism and drinking in general, however when it comes to what goes on day to day within the walls of the barracks, alcohol flows freely and soldiers are encouraged to drink while off duty. Could this be a ploy to keep young adults in the army as time goes by and the choice comes up to stay in or get out; to make them so used to not growing up that they cannot face the “real world” when the time of their enlistment has come to an end?

In the “real world” when a young adult graduates high school and is faced with the decisions of life, they often find it hard at first to cope with the decisions at hand. They have to decide what college to go to, what to major in, what kind of job to get, what town they want to live in, etc. However, upon entering the army the individual is stripped of all choice in these matters. The last decision one makes upon joining the army is what job they would like to do, beyond that it is the government that calls the shots in every aspect of one’s life. A young person in the army is told what to wear, what to eat, where to eat and when, where to live, and when they will be moving; there is no longer any time in the young persons life to make decisions for themselves. So how does this lead to independence and becoming a stronger person? It doesn’t, this leads to one being dependent upon someone else to make the decision within one’s life, causing a very hard to break personality trait of indecision if and when that young person decides to one day leave the army life and return to the civilian world.

Bad lifestyle choices and indecision are not the only things that the army does not talk about when offering their recruitment propaganda, they also fail to mention the fact that on a day to day basis a soldier is told how they will act; there is no room for an individual in the army, truth be told the word “individual” actually has bad connotations attached to it in modern day army life. When one acts as an individual in the army it is looked at as an act of defiance against the very foundation of the army way, instead one is expected to follow everyone else and do as they are told, free-thinking and open thought are looked down upon until one gains a certain amount of rank, which is looked at like respect in the civilian world. However, unlike the civilian world, where one is more times than not looked well upon for offering unique ideas and thinking “outside the box,” the army discourages this because many leaders are not properly trained, and instead rely upon scare tactics and threats to demand respect instead of earning it. This in itself causes those who join the army to become less independent and more reliant upon others to not only make decisions for them, but to also define them.

The decision of a young person to join the United States Army is a very important and life changing one; a decision that will change the rest of their life. The author, after having served five years in both garrison and combat operations, is in no way saying that the army is a bad choice for anyone. Some of the brightest and most incredible people the author has ever met were among those he served with in the U.S. Army; however the decision to join needs to be given the respect that it deserves. If one is thinking of joining the army make sure that person is doing it for the right reasons, not because they have some idealistic idea that it is going to make them a better person. No matter what reason one joins, make sure that they already have a good bearing on who they are and what type of morals and ethics they hold; make sure they already have a good character and enter the army with the idea that the individual is going to make it a better organization to serve, instead of the organization making the individual a better person for serving.


U.S. Army. (2008). Retrieved April 12, 2008, from http://www.goarmy.com/for_parents/personal_growth.jsp


Ames, G., & Cunradi, C. (2004). Alcohol Use and Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems Among Young Adults in the Military. Retrieved April 12, 2008, from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh284/252-257.htm