Vote Responsibly

Posted 12Jul18.

“What ways are there to support our troops even though I don’t necessarily agree with the government’s policies? I’m troubled by the military industrial complex and worry that it puts these brave and selfless people in more danger than necessary.”

Vote responsibly.

This is the biggest way to support our troops.

Don’t vote because of a local or national candidate’s identity, gender, political affiliation, or stance on just one issue alone.

Don’t vote based on empty campaign promisises that you know are full of crap, unrealistic, and/or readily forgotten as soon as they are sworn in.

Don’t vote because what I, or anyone else, says.

Vote after research into their track record, their ability to cross party boundaries and work with the other side in addressing the issues of the future.

Vote with the understanding that they will hold the Department of Defense accountable for the funds they will work to ensure, rather than the funds they will cut for other programs with the irrational expectation of the DoD to somehow manage the status quo of defense.

Vote in confidence that the foreign policies of said candidate will keep us from stagnant and expensive conflicts in the future.

Vote knowing that the ability for our nation to remain strong requires money to sustain the proficiency of our warfighters as well as the capability for our troops to remain viable today, tomorrow, and in the decades following.

After every conflict, we have sacrificed funding to the military out of a sense of national war-weariness, resignation, or victory.

“Whew. THAT is done,” we think, only to have the threat that was simmering elsewhere erupt into a full boil due to either a regional power vacuum or other significant geopolitical upset. The hard-earned experience is lost when defense budgets are cut, reductions-in-force are enacted, and the politicians become nauseatingly self-congratulatory in their ability to “bring the troops home before ___.”

Here’s the thing, though:

We don’t want to come home if that means we have to return again, a few years later, with no solid leadership and with the same (now broken) equipment that was never refitted or replaced, with our skills atrophied due to lack of money for intensive and realistic training. Likewise, we don’t want to deploy with expensive shit we don’t need and more than likely won’t use due to irrelevance, specificity of intended use, or complexity of operation.

You want to support our troops, vote for someone who will support our troops.

Period.

You can keep the stickers, you can keep the thanks at the airport (for some of us, that’s just awkward, but ok… it’s the thought that counts). You can keep the discounts or sales.

Just let us keep training effectively.

---

“I probably should have submitted this anonymously because I find telegraphing support for anything a tad disrespectful and an empty gesture.”

I get it… my own personal views on politics are often very limited when it comes to social media. In the past, I have been baited/tempted into replying, but I find that where we are now is not going be resolved through a comment thread.

However, I do like and appreciate your question. I think my response sort of missed the second part of your question about the military industrial complex. I blame the limits of Quora’s mobile app and the fact that I was preoccupied with a 3-month old while I typed.

Right before I came across your question, I was reading about the latest issues with the Zumwalt-class destroyers — seems they have had some more teething problems with their engines.

News like this, when balanced with some of my more left-leaning friends posting misleading information about the DoD budget being the largest consumer of our taxes and recent congressional hearings about aviation readiness inspired me to finish a blog post about public attention and visibility of how budget reductions may increase aviation accidents.

I understand and emphasize with you in terms of feeling like that’s not how that works; that’s not how any of this is supposed to work.“ Yet this is what we have to work with.

So we make the best of it…

“I will do my best to be an informed voter, thank you for the advice.”

That’s all any of us — retired like myself, or active like many of my friends — ever truly want.