Uniformed Disservice

I really was trying to avoid any further discussion of Nidal Malik Hasan on this blog. His wretchedness, and the gross irrationality of his act, really don't deserve any further comment. But – the endless ignorant claptrap about how it could have happened, and why wasn't he stopped, and so on, is getting on my nerves. Forget for a moment the politics involved – our benighted foreign policy, his reaction to it and to his absurd situation in the military, his observations of PTSD patients, and so on. These are all, as a colleague of mine used to say, “interesting, but irrelevant” to the issue at hand, which is, if this guy was a “terrorist” (or whatever) act waiting to happen, why didn't someone, or something, intervene before it actually occurred? As is typical in cases like this, everyone knows, in hindsight, that this guy was disturbed, unstable, volatile, a nut, etc. “Yes, now that you mention it, I always knew that there was something wrong with that dude, and I'm not a bit surprised that he did what he did. Yup.” Well OK then, genius, why didn't you ever bring it up to your commanding officer – or to his? Why are people and situations like this left to fester – for weeks, months, years – until something happens that is irrevocable?

Well, to paraphrase something someone once said about California, people in the Army are like everyone else, but more so. That is to say, whereas some of their quirks, eccentricities, and dysfunctions may be smoothed over by the demands of military life (the standardization, conformity, rigidity, etc.), others will only be aggravated. Because letting on that you have feelings (you know – a “chick” kind of thing, not for real men), and problems, and concerns, and “issues”, may add up to a one-way ticket to boring, dead-end assignments and early retirement (of the non-voluntary sort, that is). See, the point in the service is, if you have a less-than-optimal assignment, or some other problem, not to worry, it will be over with in a couple of years and you can move on to something that might be a lot better – so gut it out, put up with it, and count the days – and mainly, don't rock the boat, because we're all in the same boat, so the one you rock is going to dump you overboard as well. And – one way of rocking the boat is to call “command's” attention to trouble in the ranks – because, guess what, it may turn out that _you're_ the troublemaker... and that's not good. The one thing people in positions of leadership in the service are good at – masters at, in fact – is what is called “killing the messenger”. Someone comes to you with bad news... about someone, or some thing. This constitutes an immediate threat to the peace and quiet you have learned to cherish... because the way the system works is, if you don't screw up you might get promoted, or get decent assignments. Whereas a “screw-up”, even if completely not your fault, is going to place a very large turd in your punch bowl. It's like in “Home on the Range” -- “Never is heard a discouraging word.” This could be, in fact, the motto of the armed services.

So what happens when some hockey puck darkens your door with bad news? “Well gee, that's the first I've heard of it – and, are you sure?" (He might just be making it up, after all.) "And how bad is it, really? Aren't you being just a bit (hysterical, hypersensitive, paranoid, etc. -- pick one)?" ("Plus, YOU are the one who is disturbing my tranquility on this otherwise fine day... not the person you're complaining about, but YOU!”)

Understand the mind set? Job One is keeping peace in the valley – which means papering over, or ignoring, any problems, or any signs of problems, or any vague hints of problems, until... well, until you get transferred, what else! Then it's some other chump's problem! Yes, that golden day will arrive when you can leave all the troubles of this benighted place behind and march off to a new destination, and a new destiny... and someone else has to deal with all the things you've ignored or neglected. They have to pick up all the pieces you left, clean up your mess, carry out your trash, dump your garbage. But so what? You've gotten your orders, you got your rating (from a guy who is, presumably, totally ignorant of the situation, because that's what you've been working all this time to achieve – his total ignorance), and you're untouchable. So it's “so long, chumps!” and off to greener pastures.

So... given this bit of background (and I guarantee that it's all true, because I've seen it with my own eyes, time and time again), where does MAJ Hasan fit into the picture? He was clearly one of those types that always winds up on the “too hard pile” -- i.e. that stack of problems that, with any luck, is going to just sit there undisturbed until the next chump, er, supervisor comes along. Plus, let's not forget, Hasan was on his own career track – he got his promotions and transfers just like clockwork – i.e. just like everybody else, i.e. without due consideration of the problems he might be having or might eventually cause other people to have. See, there are really two ways of dealing with problem people in the service – either you get yourself transferred away from them, or you get them transferred away from you. And if the latter strategy involves an undeserved promotion, or a ginned-up performance rating, well, so be it.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that it's not as if mechanisms aren't in place to deal with much of what was wrong with Hasan – on the contrary, there are quite elaborate mechanisms, and an elaborate infrastructure that includes personnel, facilities, regulations, forms, procedures... you name it. But it's just that, more often than not, people choose not to use them, because – again – not only is it too much trouble (also called, “detracts from the mission”) but it has a funny tendency to backfire, and to brand you, and your unit, as an attractor of problems and problem personnel. Is this fair? Of course not! It's wildly unfair, and irrational, and shortsighted; it's also almost universal. And this, in turn, is because the armed services, even though they have a clearly-defined mission, on any given day are bogged down doing things that have little or nothing to do with that mission. (This is even true "in theater", to say nothing of stateside.) And this, in turn, constitutes a demotivator, and before you know it politics and personal agendas start to creep in, the way weeds creep into an uncultivated garden. The many small irritations and frustrations lead to hostility and a generally sour, cynical attitude. Then you add the crushing burden of political correctness at all levels – and no one can outdo the armed services when it comes to mindless and dogmatic pursuit of political correctness – and the demoralization is complete. Plus, when it comes to promotions, the pyramid gets awfully narrow at the top... which means that most people are going to wind up losers, and much sooner than they would like; so this sticks in their craw as well. And what happens once they get out? The unemployment line – when the guy with 20 years in typically, by that time, has a wife and family to support? Or if not unemployment, then at least underemployment? And what about medical care? We all know what marvelous places the VA medical centers are – and that's if you're basically healthy, to say nothing of, what if you wind up in combat, and come home badly wounded? Ah yes... when you start to think about it, it just gets worse; the night comes on suddenly and without mercy. And yet, under these conditions, we expect people to go out of their way to focus on people like MAJ Hasan, who was, I'm sure, considered not much more than a sorehead, slacker, or goofball.

So yes, the Army has “met the enemy” in MAJ Hasan – and wouldn't you know, the enemy is them.