“As I walk around and eat in the chow hall, I’m very aware of the fact that I’m now a Major. I easily outrank at least 99 percent of the people I see every day. It’s polar opposite from being a lowly Captain at the Pentagon, where 99 percent of the people I saw everyday outranked me pretty surreal,” Major Brad Head emailed shortly after arriving in Iraq.
Head experienced what officers often face: silence.
“When I sit down at a table in the chow hall, conversation typically comes to an awkwardly abrupt halt. I try to convince the soldiers to carry on. Sometimes they’ll ask me a question about how I think things are going. It’s strange to have young soldiers stop to hear what the major is going to say.”
The questions gave him a reason to live up to his rank.
“I understood, for the first time in my career, the responsibility to give a positive but honest evaluation. I generally assure them that what they are doing is incredibly important. So many sources tell them every day that what they’re doing is wrong and inevitably doomed to failure. These assessments are based on lies so it’s hard to keep them from getting extremely cynical,” Head explained.
Head also discovered some hard realities. He met one soldier who occasionally was tasked with suicide watch. Head immediately thought the soldier meant guarding a post targeted by insurgents. Instead suicide watch was staying awake all night with a fellow soldier who was suicidal to prevent that person from injuring himself.
“When people at home say they support the troops, they just don’t support the war that is garbage. That is not a distinction you can make. That’s like saying, ‘I hate schools and everything they stand for but I support the teachers,’” Head continued.
All the political talk at chow time led Head to observe the reason they fight.
“Never fear, these soldiers aren’t fighting for the administration or even their military leadership. At the most basic level, they are fighting for each other. When bullets start flying, you can be assured no one is thinking about politics. They are fighting for the soldier on their right and left.
“Please say a quick prayer for the young soldiers, Marines, and Airmen out there on the front lines every day. They are doing a hard job much of their country doesn’t support, and losing their lives, limbs, friends, and innocence in the process,” Head concluded.
Heavenly Father, I pray for strength, encouragement, and discernment for the men and women serving in the United States military.
“Brothers, pray for us.” (1 Thessalonians 5:25)