From Ivy League to olive drab

Hi Tom. I think you're spot on, but I don't think the restlessness is constrained to just the Ivy League. When I was in company command, many of our new enlisted "9/11 recruits" were professionals (investment bankers, lawyers, etc...) that gave up their paychecks to serve. Similarly, my brother just graduated from a party school along the east coast. A good majority of his friends are seeking to serve either in the military, teaching for america, peace corps, christian ministries, etc...These are upper-middle class, priviledged kids that choose not to simply spend a life pursuing money. They yearn to serve something greater than themselves. Most of them did not know how to volunteer. Unfortunately, no one has really asked any form of sacrifice from the general populace since 9/11.

Sometimes, all we have to do is ask them. We might be suprised with the results.

v/r

Mike Few

If you join a big corporation now and next year you get downsized, it will look bad on your resume for a long time. Particularly if you're unemployed for a couple of years afterward.

Do you want to start your own business this year? Who will you sell to? What kind of line-of-credit can you get?

Join the military and you get a nice steady paycheck, you'll get veteran's benefits for the rest of your life, and it isn't that bad a stepping stone to something else later.

It was a great step for young investment bankers who could see the writing on the wall.

It isn't just patriotic. It's good business sense too.

I am a female who is graduating with a 4.0 and who will be attending Air Force OTS soon afterwards. My original plans had been to go to graduate school, but I realized that I wanted to actually have a role in the future of the nation and not sit idly commenting about the situation from the sidelines (like I would have otherwise).

I generally agree, but I think many more people want to serve in non-military ways. 9/11 occurred during my senior year of high school. I seriously considered signing up. Since then, disillusionment with the GWOT has made me very glad I didn't.

I've learned that the best regular and/or irregular warfare military in the world is still bound to lose without sound civilian strategic leadership. Most people I know that feel compelled to serve their country want to contribute to growing America's softpower since we've seen just how impotent hardpower is in the 21st century.

There are several ways "to actually have a role in the future of the nation."

In May of 2008 I graduated from a prominent liberal arts college in the Northeast. For the last several months I have been working hard to find a form of employment that is both challenging and fulfilling. Unfortunately, I have had little success.

My frustrations have forced me to think unconventionally on a personal level. After much rumination, I have decided to join the ranks of the men Mr. Ricks is discussing and throw my lot in with the United States Army--attempting to gain acceptance to the Army Officer Candidate School. If you asked me 4 years ago would I ever join the Army I would have laughed in your face. Even as I was graduating such a thought never for a second crossed my mind--ironically enough, I was applying to the Peace Corps then.

However, a lot has changed in a year. The thought of sitting in a cubicle, staring at a computer-screen all day (something I'm doing now) is sickening. I want to do something meaningful, something that is a bigger than me and isn't just about making money.

Also, Mr. Ricks makes a great point about the negative trend. He is right in many ways: college was too easy and involved too much alcohol. My parents spent $40,000/year for what? I have learned more in the last year outside of college than I ever did while in school.

So I do feel an emptiness, especially with the current economic situation and constant discussion of war. And I ask myself: am I a part of the problem? Is my generation the fuel for this fire? Will we make things worse? What can I do?

I think joining the army helps me answer those questions. In many ways I am afraid. Afraid of the things I will inevitably confront. But I think it will make me stronger and teach me the value of life and the lives of those you depend on during war.

I appreciate this post Mr. Ricks. You're books on the Iraq War are enlightening. For anyone who wants a good insight on what its like to be a platoon leader in the Marines read "Joker One" by Donovan Campbell.

Mr. Ricks,
This article really hits home. I'm a 24 year old female with bachelors and masters degrees in engineering from prominent universities. I have been working for a defense contractor in DC for the last year and have found it so frustrating and un-fulfilling that I am quitting my job to attend the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School this summer. I couldn't be more convinced that this is the best decision I have ever made.

Tom,

This is a fascinating phenomenon that you've picked up on. I've got no unified theory of why this is happening, but a few ideas.

I'm right in this demographic, '07 grad from the SFS at Georgetown. I heard the explosion from the Pentagon from the bleachers during gym class in high school. You're right in saying that our "adult" worldviews have been shaped by 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bush. Our childhoods were in the relatively warm glow of the post-Cold War 1990s, but our formative political consciousness started in the 21st century.

Furthermore, and this is roughly true for people within a few years of me, this formative period coincided with the 2000 election and two terms of George W. Bush. It's no secret that the prevailing opinion in the elite universities you're talking about was vehemently anti-Bush, especially by the time he was reelected.

After 2004, much of this disappointed energy was diffused and unfocused-- "how could we have elected him again?"-- but it was still mostly oppositional, or negative, and not constructive. Many people I went to school with came in with a strong desire to participate in the world and effect change. As demoralized as we may have felt about Bush, the basic desire to fix what we had broken remained.

I agree with the above commenter who pointed out the tradition of well-off graduates going into the Peace Corps or Teach for America, as well as the commenter who pointed out the economic or career self-interest of some of those decisions. (It's my understanding that TFA is a good way to get into a top law school.) A combination of factors may be in play: the twilight of the Bush era, the rise of Obama, the realization that we need to fix what we started in Iraq and Afghanistan, the changeover in leadership and strategy in the US military that made the prospect of actually winning either war more conceivable. I think that all of these things interacted with the dormant desire to make change, and finally made the military seem like an attractive option for those with pedigrees who were searching for more meaningful service.

I don't think this is a purely politically catalyzed phenomenon. However, having civilian and military leadership that seems to have a plan for meaningful progress certainly helps. Think of the analog to the Peace Corps-- spend two years on the ground helping people in need. I think that being able to conceptualize your role in the world in a similar way through military service has a particular resonance for my generation.

Big fan of your books and the blog. Sorry this went on long! I felt obliged to pitch in from my perspective in the thick of the early-20s soul-searching. Looking forward to your talk next week at CNP.

-alec

Mr. Ricks,

I'm a sophomore college student whose currently applying for a spot at OCS for the Marine Corps. I can't speak for everyone, but your analysis was like reading my own mind, and absolutely spot on for my reasons for joining.

I've heard of sour job markets being a factor, but there's few other explanations for the fact that the Marine Corps and other services have met or exceeded enlisted and officer recruiting goals for the duration of the Iraq war. For example the Naval Academy applications have been steadily increasing over the years (militarytimes.com said yesterday that this year, Annapolis has 50% more than they have ever had). Since building an application for such a place requires steady dedication and hard work throughout all 4 years of high school, its something that cannot be explained simply by a bad economy.

edit: link to the navytimes.com article: http://navytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_navalacademy_applicants_041609/

Tom,

I agree with many of the comments made in response to your post. Going to a liberal New England prep school and then an “elite” university, I was surrounded by friends who were for the most part against the war in Iraq, somewhat indifferent to the war in Afghanistan and ridiculed the Bush administration. The only thing I might add to previous comments is that since a lot of us 20 something’s graduated, many of the military leaders who supported the invasion of Iraq have been replaced by men who were against the war at its conception. Rather than wash their hands of a war they were against, they have taken responsibility for arguably the hardest parts of both engagements. For a generation who grew up reading about scandals in the White House and watching politicians do everything possible to avoid accountability, at least personally, seeing General Petraeus before Congress asking for a surge and taking personal responsibility for the result made quite an impression.

Tom,

Thanks for this interesting post. As a moderator at www.armyocs.com, I am noticing a similar trend.

Not surprisingly, the Marines are well positioned to capitalize on this phenomenenon. The USMC leadership sees the value in obtaining officers from a breadth of academic instiutions and with diverse pre-military work, training and travel experiences. The Marine Corps also devotes some of its most promising Captains and Majors to serve as Officer Selection Officers (OSOs). Their mission is to promote Marine officer programs, provide first-hand testimony to the programs they are "selling", evaluate applicants and serve as role models. While serving as an Army Health Professions Recruiter in NYC (before and after 9/11) I was continually in awe of 1) how effective the USMC OSOs were in what the Army reflexively perceived as anti-military environments; and 2) the quality of officers the USMC allocated to this mission.

While the Army is getting some of the motivated young people you describe, it is missing most of them and repeatedly fails to see this unique opportunity to replenish our officer corps, attract officers with unique skills and improve civil-military relations. Despite a mission to provide nearly 40% of Regular Army LTs this year via OCS, the Army still hasn't fielded a dedicated recruiting force for OCS or officer careers. The same detailed Sergeants assigned to recruit in high schools are expected to advertise OCS on campuses. As an illustration of the absurdity of this arrangement, the Army Recruiting Station on 125th Street in Harlem also has the responsibility of recruiting for OCS candidates at Columbia University (Ivy League) and the City College of New York (GEN Colin Powell's alma mater). Is it a fair expectation for harried recruiting NCOs - who likely have never attended college themselves - to effectively and convincingly showcase the breadth of opportunities available by serving in the officer Corps? Are enlisted recruiters in rumpled field uniforms the appropriate ambassadors for Army OCS at college career fairs when the USMC sends officers in dress uniforms? We must do better than “Army Strong” (at least for officer/professional recruiting) and we need to be more selective in how we appear before certain audiences. The USMC has this figured out pretty well. As a result, they are seeing great success.

Mr. Ricks,

I agree with you on many levels, especially about the drive to serve that the post-9/11 generation may feel. Your comments on the negative aspect of the recruitment may be spot on for some universities, but I would like to point out that many, including my own, strive to fulfill that void you mention. I attend Texas A&M, one of the oldest institutes in the state of Texas. It may be our military college background, extensive corps of cadets institution, or any of a myriad of factors, but in my heart I believe it is the type of person A&M attracts as well as the efforts placed on the "other education" which sets A&M and many other universities apart from what Sec. Gates (and former President of A&M) called "education factories."

One part of A&M's overall vision for students is to receive an education about how valuable public service and self sacrifice are. Traditions such as honoring students who have died in the last month with a candlelight vigil, public service events which draw thousands of students, and gentlemanly values like holding doors open and giving up seats for ladies are part of the character of A&M. We have a base of tradition common to many military academies, but instead of being restricted to the cadets, it is disseminated throughout the student body, all 45,000. I also feel that it is this basis of traditional values that sees A&M graduate more officers than any other institution.

You may be correct in assessing many higher education institutes as failing to mold the person as well as the mind. I may be too optimistic about A&M. Whichever the case may be, there are those institutions out there who should be held up and recognized because of their contribution to this nation and its defense. I hope that other readers who attended universities which gave them experiences similar to mine will post their feelings.

Best Regards,

Jordan

I have a friend who graduated a year or two ago from UCLA. He's now preparing to join the Army. Part of that may be that his major was philosophy and he's decided graduate degrees in that field will not be fulfilling, but there's something else going on.

He tells me that he feels a sense of international obligation to be a part of the military. The way he sees it, in Iraq (which is where he'd like to be deployed more than Afghanistan, I gather), what the US is engaged in now is cleaning up our own mess. He doesn't really see the conflict there as being involved in defending the country or keeping America safer. It is a sense of guilt/shame/apology that drives some people to action, perhaps.

Additionally, reading your book, the Gamble, seems to have cemented his decision even further. Perhaps you have something to do with this trend, Mr. Ricks? :)

I don't really understand the Ivy to Military obsession. Does every Harvard graduate who becomes a second lieutenant have to write an op-ed in the WSJ before they even get to The Basic School? How about getting to the Fleet and serving a few tours first?

In 1987, near the end of the Reagan era and at the height of the Iran Contra scandal, I was one of four among 5,500 UCLA undergrads who joined the USMC. No one from the College Republicans joined. In my OCS class there was one Harvard grad. In my TBS class one from Darthmouth. The numbers have and will always be low. Heck, I live and work in Orange County, Calif, and Iraq and Afghanistan never come up during the course of my work week. We are not a nation at war; we are a nation with less than .1% at war (300,000 deployed).

As far as the Ivy grads feeling let down, some who finish their military stints feel the same. That's why they get out and move on.

More attention should be paid to the lowering of standards for incoming recruits. Is another "Project 100,000" around the corner?

By the way, there's nothing wrong with pursuing the money.

As one of those Princeton USMC OCS'ers, I would say your analysis is very accurate, as above comments have already indicated. However, I would also like to add another element; a number of us have been disgusted by the amount of ineptitude and flaunting of the rule of law that has occurred in the name of national security. We believe this country should be protected in a responsible manner and without doing things that actually make this country less safe. As a very popular professor on campus, who has a disdain for students going into i-banks or "useless" consulting firms, has said, and I'm paraphrasing, "If you guys, who are among the smartest and most well informed young adults in this country, don't go into public service, then those who will be making the most important decisions won't be the smartest and most well informed." So while some students may treat this opportunity as a way to act out Animal House, the University certainly doesn't encourage it, and many students do feel obligated to enter into public service in whichever path best fits them.

I am a freshman in college, I was 11 when the twin towers fell, I was 13 when we invaded Iraq. I did not know what a terrorist was, what WMDs were, I could not even find Afghanistan on a map when we went in. Now I know all of that and much more. They say that some are children of the cold war, I would say that my generation are the children of a real global war, not just on terror but on many, many things.

Many things have changed since then and it really has shaped the world view of me and my peers. More then once I have passed by Rotc recruiting booths and thought about what that could mean for me to jump in. My two closet friends in HS are in the military, one enlisted in the navy and the other is attending the AFA in Co springs. We grew up talking about the global war on terror, discussing the possibilities of civil war in Afghanistan and worrying if the next time we go into a big building it might blow up.

It seems to me that a greater moment towards national service by the upper middle class (which I and my friends belong to) should be heralded as a step forward in society. It will bring more equality to the system and the complaints of those who say that poor kids can chose a McDonald's uniform or a Marine Uniform will be countered by the MBA weilding 2nd Lt. I still might join up someday, but if not that I believe the times compel people like em to geve back to the country in some way.

I'm not so sure that this is a promising trend, correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the best and brightest from ivy league schools responsible for the FUBAR professions of finance, law and politics?