[Marv Tripp]

MEMORIAL DAY,  Marv Tripp,  May 27, 2014

Memorial Day got me to thinking  ..... about hose who died, and about those who were wounded, both physically and mentally.

Entry into the military can be quite a shock.  Recruits go thru mental conditioning to bring them to group thinking, as opposed to individualism.  Young men and women, whose prefrontal cortex is just arriving at maturity, possessing a desire for independence and anxious to break away from parental control, are now placed into a control environment beyond their imagination.  Conformity to the military way is demanded.  "Don't think!  Go by the book!"

We've all seen clips of the drill sergeant, standing nose to nose with a recruit, shouting commands.  And the recruit responds with a "Yes, Sir!"  Others in the squad observe this and recognize that they, too, must submit to the military culture.  The result of this indoctrination does transform the mind in to submission for "the good of the corp."  Such recruits can now be transformed into a functioning team.  They become a "band of brothers,"  where each has a role in support of his buddies.  They watch one another's back in combat and are willing to die to save a comrade.  Knowing others have this loyal feeling, a sense of group pride is seen.

But when duty ends and the military culture ceases, the comfort they've found in conformity can give them a  shock as they re-enter society.  Now they must find their way in a dog-eat-dog, market economy, where they must find acceptance.  Rather than a "band of brothers," they encounter an environment of indifference.

Do we have a responsibility to aid them in this transition?  Prior to discharge, might a deprogramming effort be offered to counter the original indoctrination of group-think.  It might assist them in escaping the by-the-book, military conformity.   Hopefully such a program would lessen PTSD and suicides.