"You don't think about Politics within the Marines"

Talking Global Issues at the Global Leadership Center sometimes tends to become a bit abstract. Throughout this Semester, our group of students is going to elaborate on issues of Human Security, Water Security, Cyber Security, and Economic Security – just to name a few.

However, an outwardly theoretical approach can drive a group work sometimes rather towards building castles in the air. Some grounding discourse is always an appreciated opportunity for revising how realistic own assumptions on real events actually are. 

This week, a Marine Veteran joined our class, barely older than us, who served in Afghanistan in between 2013 and 2015. His name is Wayne. He said he worked on an Air Force Base in the Helmand Province, South-West Afghanistan. 

Soon, tension filled the air. Clearly, differing viewpoints were colliding in this conversation. Within the class, a lot of students emphasize on the value of Soft Powers, peacemaking, or development strategies for failed states. However, Wayne represented the “Boots on the Ground”, and provided actual insight from a war-torn area.

Interestingly, the discussion quickly emerged into a very personal interrogation. Asked about his general opinion on the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, Wayne simply replied: “I did my job, the people were happy, so I am happy”. 

                                                         Air Force Sticker on the back of a Truck

Before setting out for Afghanistan, Wayne and his comrades received training about the countries’ peculiarities. They were taught about the different tribes in Afghanistan. They learned about the countries’ history. However, Wayne also speaks a lot about de-humanizing the enemy. “All the psychological warfare going on in these areas makes it necessary”, he said. Soldiers would need this censored enemy face to be able do “Just the fighting”, he added. 

It is this military cloak casting a shadow on every of his answers. Or, in other words, it is this strict implementation culture of being a Marine. Wayne describes this foundational structure with a clear formula: “Under-value your own life - over-value the lives of your comrades”.  There is a clear chain of command. Everyone must fulfill his or her duties. 

Therefore, he also has a clear stand on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a US-Soldier who apparently left his post in Afghanistan back in 2009. Bergdahl got caught and was held captive by the Taliban for five years. “Send him straight to Jail until the end of his career”, Wayne said. 

Some of his answers made him sound like a robotic. “Yeah, you could call it like that”, Wayne noted. There was just no culture of discussion. When news were trickling through that U.S. forces may have lost a larger battle or that there was a fatal bombing killing civilians, an overall response within his unit would have not been more than: “Oh, okay.”

There were more basic questions for Wayne. For example, why people were yelling all the time in the Army. Wayne’s simple counter question: “You ever tried to talk to somebody when a bunch of rifles going on?”

No, none of us did. Still, his stories were fascinating. In the way he told them, there was always some hidden doubt. Nevertheless, having doubts does not make you a Marine. Wayne is not the robotic some of his answers made him look like. 

Having him speak at the class was a lesson. It was a lesson on how urgently needed the discourse is between the academic ivory tower and the boots on the ground.

“You never going to fix these conflicts down there”, Wayne concluded, “But maybe we can find better ways to medicate it”.