Originally the term 'dog soldiers' was a good thing, referring to a formidable military elite in the Cheyenne nation. Since then the term has become more degrading, to be applied to strong, competent soldiers who nonetheless were treated like dogs and as such, fought like dogs.
For the past several years, it has appeared that the U.S. Armed Forces were under the impression that they employed dog soldiers, not American nationals who voluntarily enlisted to serve their country.
It seems that we are moving back towards treating our service members like human beings.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday that over the next two years the military would pretty much abolish the "stop-loss" policy that has garnered the armed forces so much recent bad press.
Under the stop-loss policy, service members whose contracts with their particular branch of the military ran out whilst they were deployed could have their tours of duty extended until they were rotated home, or even longer. In other words, the "two-year hitch" was more a vague guideline for employment rather than a hard number.
According to Gates, the number of soldiers whose loss has been stopped will be halved by 2010 and almost zero by 2011, although Gates said that "scores" (groups of 20) of soldiers with specialized or varied skill sets and certifications may still be affected.
Those few people still affected in three years by stop-loss will more than likely be the kind of people who are career military anyway: otherwise why would they have invested so much time and energy in military education?
This is wholly symbolic of a return to a better military. We operate a volunteer army in this country, and that isn't likely to change anytime soon.
It's hard to say that stop-loss is unjustifiable; the bottom line is that we need bodies on the ground to fight a way. But, when it is consistently abused and soldiers have no reason to believe that they will be returned home when promised, morale suffers.
The chain appears to be that better treatment leads to better morale leads to a better military in general. Not only will it improve enlistment to treat our soldiers like human beings, happier soldiers are less likely to commit the kind of anger-management atrocities that we dread discovering.
If the money is put where Gates' mouth is, then this may prove to be a turning point for America. Improving the conditions and rules of our military doesn't just make our soldiers want to fight for America; it makes America worth fighting for.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
