Black berets for all
Daft is the appropriate description of the Army Chief of staff's decision
to issue the hard-earned black beret of the Rangers to all soldiers - cooks
and bakers, clerks and bandsmen and the GIs who count the shoelaces in the
supply room.  Gen. Erik Shinseki's diktat suggests that Potomac Fever is as
virulent among the military brass as among politicians.  Some generals and
admirals forget what is important to the troops when they begin inhaling
the exotic air at the Pentagon.
 
Gen. Shinseki's decision is a denigration of the terrific dedication and
ability it takes to earn the shoulder tab of a Ranger and to be awarded the
black beret.  Evidently the green berets of the Special Forces and the
maroon berets worn by the paratroopers also will be replaced by the
all-hands black headgear - thus diminishing the pride that these emblems
represent.
 
To those who've never served, the beret fuss may seem parochial.  A
soldier's a soldier, right?  Well, yes and no.  It takes an unusual
commitment to endure the often-brutal rigor of the training and earn the
recognition that the warriors' berets confer - and this in no way demeans
the rest of the troops.  As America's governing class increasingly tries to
squeeze out the competitive juices (prizes for all school children in
contests so no one's self-esteem will be dented, ending valedictorian
designations and the like), it now appears the Army thinks it must further
civilianize to attract recruits - in which it now routinely falls short of
requirements.
 
That is boneheaded.  The Marine Corps, for instance, has been successful in
attracting young Americans by the very fact of emphasizing how challenging
its training is and how fulfilling it can be to prove oneself equal to it.
Esprit de corps, that's known as.
 
The military is a different culture from that of the civilian world, and it
must remain so if it is to be equal to its crucial obligations.  By erasing
distinctions, by dampening the pride of uncommon achievement, and by
flattening the recognition of sacrifice and dedication, Gen. Shinseki's
martial egalitarianism can be seen as more of the desperate effort to
evolve from a proud and demanding subculture to a feel-good environment -
the erosion that Stephanie Gutman details in her book, "The Kinder, Gentler
Military."
 
A news report quoted a serving officer as saying that he would not want to
be the first pay clerk or mechanic to wear a black beret into a Ranger bar.
That's  the real soldierly world - about which Gen. Shinseki seems to have
developed amnesia.
 
copyright: Washington Times October 23rd 2000  
 

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