In a class that I am taking, we are assigned movies to watch and analyze the leadership lessons contained in the characters. I watched a movie about World War I over the weekend. As I watched, I considered the conditions that those Soldiers had to endure versus the hardships that we endured. I once believed all of the stories about how bad the living conditions are during a deployment. And some current deployments do have terrible living conditions–no cots, no showers, no latrines, and MRE’s every meal. While some of the units have had to endure this type of hardship, I have not.
Now hardship is a relative subject. Most people in America would be appalled to sleep in the same tent with 80 other people, on a cot, dirt flying around, to use Pot-o-potties every day, dirty showers, and a half mile walk to the chow hall–through the same dirt that blows not stop. But, compared to the hardship of the previous generations of Soldiers who were forced into situations without what we would consider the basics. I lived very good on my deployments. Very good, indeed. With Starbucks, Burger King, PX, and MWR tents, I did not live bad at all. Some units now must endure hardship conditions, without a doubt, but, as a whole, our Army lives much better than the Soldiers of years past, when they spend years in the trenches. It is good to remember when I start complaining.
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This post is a fresh rewrite of a post titled “Harship is a relative subject” written in April 2008.
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