> In his contentious confirmation hearing, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed that his mission is “to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense.” It is a terrible idea.
The archetype of the Western warrior is Homer’s Achilles. Superbly fit, the “swift runner” Achilles is magnificent in battle. He is an individualist, with dazzling armor and a troop of admiring Myrmidons who would follow him anywhere. His prowess in combat is unsurpassable. He is brought down only by a poisoned arrow (a sneaky weapon if ever there was one) fired by the wimpy Paris, whose seduction of Helen had started the Trojan War.
Quirky_Can_8997 on
The warrior culture has no place in the post-industrial age. Obviously there needs to be health standards, but modern warfare is complex and in reality just a meat grinder.
It doesn’t matter if you’re 6’2” and 190 lbs of pure muscle. A five year old with minimal training can forcibly remove your brain from your skull with an AK bought off the street.
anangrytree on
So, as a veteran myself, I find myself in total agreement with this. Which is funny because A) The Soldier’s Creed conflates being a warrior and soldier as the same thing, which I think is a mistake.
B) As a teen, I remember playing KOTOR2, and there was a scene where the pilot from the first game says something to your companion and to paraphrase “I’m a soldier of the Republic, I exist to protect it from guys like you. Warriors. I’m not a warrior.” That always stuck with me.
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> In his contentious confirmation hearing, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed that his mission is “to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense.” It is a terrible idea.
The archetype of the Western warrior is Homer’s Achilles. Superbly fit, the “swift runner” Achilles is magnificent in battle. He is an individualist, with dazzling armor and a troop of admiring Myrmidons who would follow him anywhere. His prowess in combat is unsurpassable. He is brought down only by a poisoned arrow (a sneaky weapon if ever there was one) fired by the wimpy Paris, whose seduction of Helen had started the Trojan War.
The warrior culture has no place in the post-industrial age. Obviously there needs to be health standards, but modern warfare is complex and in reality just a meat grinder.
It doesn’t matter if you’re 6’2” and 190 lbs of pure muscle. A five year old with minimal training can forcibly remove your brain from your skull with an AK bought off the street.
So, as a veteran myself, I find myself in total agreement with this. Which is funny because A) The Soldier’s Creed conflates being a warrior and soldier as the same thing, which I think is a mistake.
B) As a teen, I remember playing KOTOR2, and there was a scene where the pilot from the first game says something to your companion and to paraphrase “I’m a soldier of the Republic, I exist to protect it from guys like you. Warriors. I’m not a warrior.” That always stuck with me.