{"id":163,"date":"2008-10-08T09:14:36","date_gmt":"2008-10-08T13:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therowboat.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2022-04-11T23:51:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T03:51:31","slug":"when-soldiers-become-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nathanschneider.info\/2008\/10\/when-soldiers-become-warriors\/","title":{"rendered":"When Soldiers Become Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>For some time, I’ve been hearing talk of “warriors” or “warfighters,” rather than “soldiers,” in my casual observation of the U.S. military. You hear this at all levels, from infantrymen referring to themselves, to the “warfighter standardized equipment” discussed at the highest echelons of the military-industrial mafia. At a recent talk in New York, the British journalist Robert Fisk brought home what this little switcheroo of words means. He compared the “Soldier’s Creed,” composed after the atrocities in Vietnam, to the “Warrior Ethos,” adopted in the early months of the Iraq War, apparently with Donald Rumsfeld’s blessing.<\/p>\n The difference between the two is a haunting reminder that, by 2003, the U.S. military had exorcised the lessons of Vietnam from its memory, paving the way for Abu Ghraib and so much else.<\/p>\n Both versions are on Wikipedia<\/a>, at least right now. Or else look at the dramatic animated versions on the Army website, here<\/a> and here<\/a>. You see it is pretty clear from the visuals which one they consider more important nowadays.<\/p>\n Here is the first, evoking the responsibility and honor that our country expects from its people in uniform:<\/p>\n I am an American Soldier. I am proud of my own organization. I will do all I can to make it the finest unit in the Army. As a soldier, I realize that I am a member of a time-honored profession\u2014that I am doing my share to keep alive the principles of freedom for which my country stands. I am proud of my country and its flag.
\nI am a member of the United States Army\u2014a protector of the greatest nation on earth.
\nBecause I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation it is sworn to guard.<\/p>\n
\nI will be loyal to those under whom I serve. I will do my full part to carry out orders and instructions given to me or my unit.<\/p>\n
\nNo matter what the situation I am in, I will never do anything, for pleasure, profit, or personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my unit, or my country.
\nI will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and to the uniform.<\/p>\n
\nI will try to make the people of this nation proud of the service I represent, for I am an American Soldier.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n