Advice for Soldiers

Who am I to give advice to soldiers? I have only been in the military for four years and am a reservist. I don’t know army regulations, how to fill out paper work, or exactly how to be a model non-commissioned officer. I guess I am learning but I am on the slow track to success.

If I know anything it is how to do my job while on deployment. I have only spent about a year off of active duty so I know more about deployment then anything else. I am a modern day reservist. As one of my friends so duly noted we have a new motto in the reserves: “One weekend off a month, two weeks of leave in the summer.” Granted the reserves are scaling back in Iraq but I am one of the lucky ones who came back for a second tour. There are some reservists who love it over here and are on their third tour but those guys are crazy in my book.

So what is my advice to soldiers then you may be asking yourself? Well I recently read a couple of books that shed light on my day-to-day living in the military. The first book is called Stoic Warriors* by Nancy Sherman, the second is The Abolition of Man** written by C.S. Lewis. Both books provide examples of how to better live as a member of the military albeit in different regards.

In Stoic Warriors Nancy Sherman looks at the writings of the Stoics like Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius among others and discusses how the ancient philosophy of Stoicism acts as a guide for not only those in the military but also for people facing hardships in life. In The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis discusses the importance and the need to retain universal values in the face of opposition. Although Lewis was writing against Communism and Fascism I believe his arguments can still be applied to certain situations in today’s world.

My advice comes in generalities that should be applied by soldiers in a way so as to fit their own situations. In no way is this advice complete but rather, only a few things that I have come across that help me to survive with a sense of purpose and humanity while on deployment. Both books go much further in depth then I do here and I recommend reading both of them but brace yourself before reading Lewis, he can be tough at times.

1. My first and most important piece of advice for soldiers on deployment is about respect and empathy towards others. There have been plenty of times on deployment that I would have been more than happy to strangle a fellow soldier or cuss at a local national. Times tend to get tense when living in confined areas with so many other soldiers and while mixing with the local population. While I am not advocating complacency for soldiers I believe as Nancy Sherman says “we need to actively empathize with people, to try to become attuned to their habits and ways and needs, so that however foreign or different they may be, we come to see them as persons in their own right, worthy of dignitary respect” (171). If one can follow this advice then they will easily be able to function in the military. There are people in the military from all over the country and from all walks of life with different habits and different customs. If a soldier can “imagine those in the farthest orbits of our lives as connected to us in ways that make them more like those closest to the center, namely ourselves, and family, and friends”(171), then their deployment will be much easier and everyday conflicts will be easier to avoid.

Sherman exhorts later that this Stoic ideal “requires cultivating humanity through empathetic identification and respect” (179). She then quotes Seneca as saying in his famous discourse On Anger “Let us cultivate humanity” and continues with her appeal that these “words should be a part of any warrior’s honor code” (179). If soldiers can learn to heed these words then they could go a long way in their treatment of others especially in Iraq and Afghanistan where they are surrounded by those who are much different then they are.

2. My second piece of advice concerns cultivating appropriate military manners. Often times soldiers find themselves frustrated with their chain of command and show disrespect as a result. I have plenty of personal experience on this subject and would like to share my advice in the hopes that it helps soldiers in the future to avoid making the same mistakes that I have.

Stoics have a lot to say on the topic of emotions and hold, in my opinion, some harsh and cold beliefs about them, however, their belief concerning body language strikes me as appropriate for all members of the military. Sherman remarks that “Seneca’s claim is that displays of attitude in body language, facial demeanor, tone of voice, and so on are critical elements of doing what is appropriate, regardless of whether they faithfully represent what is inside”(63). Basically Seneca believes that what we show on the outside does not necessarily have to be what we feel on the inside, but it should reflect the appropriate response required to fit the situation. For a soldier this means saying “Yes Sir” even though they wish to argue with their commander, or standing at ease for a sergeant they don’t necessarily respect. Now however much the soldier may not want to do these things the ancient Stoics believe as Sherman says “it may be important for oneself, as a way of coaxing inner change”(63). Once again in my experience of putting this advice to work I have changed some basic attitudes towards higher-ranking soldiers that I did not necessarily see eye to eye with. By giving them the respect that I was supposed to I in turn was treated well by them and over time changed my general attitude toward them not only as soldiers but also as human beings.

3. My third and last piece of advice comes from C.S. Lewis. In The Abolition of Man he advocates the importance of values that are common to soldiers like courage and honor. He explains, “A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery”(73). Now this advice might be idealistic but I believe if soldiers are to affect change in the Middle East where people are accustomed to tyranny and harsh rule then they need to spread objective values like freedom and liberty. I think that for Iraq to form a government that will ensure the equality and freedom of all of it’s people then they need strong examples of how and why those values have worked in the U.S. and need to see them displayed on a daily basis by American soldiers.

I believe that soldiers do a good job of behaving themselves and acting appropriately but I think a reminder to do so is always helpful. I have no allusions that Iraq will change overnight but I believe it if soldiers can provide a good example then it will only help change the hearts and minds of Iraqis.

So my advice is undoubtedly incomplete but I believe the three points I discussed would be good for all soldiers to hear.

*Sherman, Nancy. Stoic Warriors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
** Lewis, C.S.The Abolition of Man. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2001 ed.