Nearly a year ago I wrote about the differences between people who are smart and those who are simply intelligent. I went back to read that post again this morning because of something that came to mind after hearing Lago mention he would have MajorDad on with him this morning by phone. Jim says he was impressed with a post on minimum wages which he considered to be definitive.
That made me think, which has been a chore recently. And it sent me back to that post to clear my mind a bit before deciding what to write.
I have heard many times in my life from many different directions that people in the military are somehow intellectually challenged. The words stupid and loser are sometimes salted throughout commentary. I want to challenge that. And I believe I am imminently qualified to do so.
Let’s simply consider a group of young men and women who graduated from college four years ago. If anyone bothered to collect a broad cross-section of those new graduates and compared their knowledge at that point and then compared them today, there would be a significant difference between two primary groups: those who went to work in the private sector or went on to get graduate degrees and those who chose to enter the military.
I see a lot of heads nodding in agreement right now. Some who are nodding believe those who went into business or education would blow the military folks away intellectually. Others are nodding because they understand the truth.
What is that truth? Those who enter the civilian workforce tend to expand their knowledge in their field of endeavor–and often become very good at it. For the first four or five years after graduation, their focus is on improving those skills, because that’s where personal progress is.
The group that enters the military does the same. They learn their particular craft to the best of their ability. But they also have other requirements of the profession, and those skills are developed just as strongly. This is called Professional Military Education. It encompasses everything from public speaking and writing to practical psychology and sociology. It also includes analytical history and management. And it is all taught in real-world application. The education a military officer gets from college is a very simple beginning for the much broader practical education in dealing with people from all backgrounds and cultures. Within that, their military specialty is but a small part. At USAFA there is a statue of an eagle and her offspring which the cadets all the “Knowledge is good” statue. The quote on it is “Man’s flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge.” Education and practical learning are emphasized throught the military. Every installation has an education office and access to all forms of learning.
I’ll be the first to admit that my skills as an engineer are less than those I graduated with. They focused on engineering after graduation. I couldn’t. It was important, but simply a part of what I was expected to know. But I was one of the best aircraft maintenance managers in the world, leading some of the best aircraft mechanics in the world. And a pretty good engineer on top of that.
Okay. Some will now say I’m talking simply about officers. What about the enlisted slime? Well, I were one. For eleven years. Later, I was in charge of over 300. Many of those had a year or two of college behind them and joined the military out of boredom with school. Most were enrolled in some kind of educational program, working on a degree or some technical skill they could use when they separated. I had several senior NCOs with college degrees, and one with multiple graduate degrees.
But that is simply their formal education. They also had professional military education programs which differed little from those for officers. At NCO Leadership School when I was an E-5 our management section of the course was derived from a graduate school management course.
But the technical aspect of military jobs is also pretty strenuous. A tanker must know how to operate, maintain, and effectively use his M1A2 tank. Everything. My helicopter maintenance course included not just nomenclature and tool use, but the aerodynamics of helicopter flight–how do all these parts work together to make it fly. And infantrymen are no longer simply cannon fodder. Some of the brightest young men you’ll ever meet carry an M16. They know people and societies, and can work with a team in ways civilians cannot even grasp.
I’m not saying those in the military are the smartest group on Earth…. Yes, I am. As a group. There are geniuses, and there are idiots in the military. I’ve managed to discharge some of those idiots and promote some of those geniuses.
The military is not a refuge for incompetents. It is not society’s trash heap. In general, it is populated by people with a far broader education than you will find anywhere else, and a worldview that is far more inclusive than that of our friends on the far left. And that broader practical learning experience makes them smart, and not simply intelligent. That opportunity is lacking in civilian life and must be actively sought. Not everyone has that ambition. In a military career, there is no choice. Learn, or leave.
Man’s flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge.