Most of what the military does and suffers flies under the radar

ìWhereís Rumsfeld?î by Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 4 Aug, p. A19.

ìAs Ranks Dwindle In a Reserve Unit, Armyís Woes Mount: After Tours in Two War Zones, Many in 110th Are Fed Up; Tough Sell for Recruiters,î by Greg Jaffe, WSJ, 4 Aug, p. A1.

Harold Meyerson whines on (yes, it seems like everyone is whining in the papers today) about how Rumsfeld and the neocons are off the TV right now, like itís some big conspiracy to hide Iraq from the American public. We actually lost several more soldiers there in July than in June, but because of the handoff, Meyerson surmises, no one seems to be noticing anymore.

Trust me, the families notice, just like they always do in military towns all across America. People want to portray American military activity all over the Gap right now as unprecedented. It really isnít that different than the heavy load that was shouldered by U.S. troops across the entire 1990s, itís just becoming dangerous in the GWOT, but thereís not a lot of surprise in that. They killed almost 3k Americans on 9/11, so upwards of 1k combat deaths in two wars and a vast host of counter-terror ops elsewhere in the three years sense canít be much of a shock to anyone with their head screwed on straightóunless we were simply expected to swallow that mass murder like some infinitely clever crime instead of an act of war.

The media fascination with U.S. military activities across the Gap will come and go over the coming years, dictated by an endlessly competing list of ìnews events,î like the current presidential election. But the effort of our troops will be day-in and day-out.

When you visit the force generator that is JFCOM (Our Area of Responsibility is the future,î they will tell you), you canít help but be deeply impressed by the sense of dedication and duty of this mighty institution. Good stuff happens, bad stuff happens, but this military never stops getting smarter, or better prepared, or learning from its mistakes, or planning for the next thing ëround the bend. Youíre never more proud to be around these guys and gals than when things go south. Why? Because they never pack it in. They just continue to believe and perform.

These two days at JFCOM have left me feeling very confident about where this military is going and what itís capable of doing in coming yearsóno matter who gets elected in the fall. These people are just that good.