Ten ways to support the war effort

Here is a note from Army Maj. Michael Burgoyne. You may remember him as the co-author of the terrific Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa.

By Maj. Michael Burgoyne and former Army lieutenant Shelly Burgoyne
Best Defense guest columnists

1. Join the military. Encourage your sons, daughters, friends and relatives to join and defend the country. Military service should be admired not seen as an option of last resort that the well-off shy away from. The military needs the best of the best to win current and future conflicts. This is a problem, we recommend AWOL by Roth Douquet and Schaeffer for a look at who is joining and who isn’t. 

2. Ask Congress to pass a “War or Patriot Tax” à la Thomas Friedman. When people feel the financial pinch of the war they will connect with the war effort. More importantly, they will be helping to attack the financial infrastructure of our worst enemies by stimulating alternative energy development and dropping demand.  

3. Ask Congress to pass a real and meaningful national service act. Check out veteran Jason Blindauer’s American’s for a National Service Act.

4. If you have a special skill, see number 1 or join the Civilian Response Corps. “The Civilian Response Corps provides the U.S. Government with a pool of qualified, trained, and ready-to-deploy civilian professionals to support overseas reconstruction and stabilization operations. Additionally, the Civilian Response Corps reinforces regular standing staff in Washington and overseas in support of reconstruction and stabilization operations in countries or regions that are at risk of, in, or are in transition from conflict or civil strife. If U.S. national security interests are at stake, we must be prepared to respond quickly with the right civilian experts.” It sounds like these types of folks would have been helpful in 2003 at the Haditha Hydroelectric Dam where a political science degree wasn’t cutting it.

5. Support a non-governmental aid agency working to better the lives of others in potentially dangerous regions. For example:

• Central Asia Institute
• One Laptop Per Child

6. Don’t do drugs. Drugs support our enemies just like our addiction to gasoline. Heroin, marijuana and cocaine are all cash crops for international terrorist organizations. With 22,700 dead since 2007 in Mexican drug wars, maybe smoking that dube isn’t totally harmless. Grab a Budweiser instead and call your congressman if you want to legalize it.

7. Donate your time or money. There are tons of great charities that support veterans and the wounded. We like Fisher House, the USO, the Wounded Warrior Project, and the VFW.

8. Send letters and packages to deployed service members and units. Your company or family can sponsor a unit from your local area.

9. Learn more about the military. Take a military science class if you’re in college. Ask a veteran to speak to your class or business. Read a book about what’s going on, there are lots. In particular, we recommend Craig Mullaney’s The Unforgiving Minute, Andrew Exum’s This Man’s Army, and Nate Fick’s One Bullet Away. 

10. Support veterans and parents of service members running for office. When we have people with a stake in the game and/or an understanding of the costs we will make responsible decisions when it comes to deploying our forces.