Shucks, I prefer the word "deterrent". But if "pox" is somehow more scary, that works fine for me. I can kill people & break things if I have to, but it's much better to achieve the same result by just jumping out from a dark alley and shouting "Boo!"brewer12345 said:
I spent 31 months sneaking around the North Atlantic practicing launching ICBMs at the USSR. When Libya shot down an American pilot in 1986 our commanding officer went to battle stations missile for what we were told was a pre-emptive punitive launch at the Russian "advisors" behind the act. At 2:30 AM, right up until we broke open the authenticators and realized that it was an exercise, I was ready to launch 16 missiles on two different countries RIGHT NOW DAMMIT so that I could get back to bed for a couple hours' sleep before I took the morning watch. I was mostly ticked off that the Russians & Libyans didn't seem to understand the meaning of the words "mutual assured destruction".
I spent another 32 months sneaking around off the coasts of Vladivostok & Petropavlovsk, and a few other allegedly "international" bodies of water, making sure that we had good fire control solutions entered into our torpedo computers on the "targets" we were following around. When we found one (and we eventually found them all) we'd practice that trail 24/7 for weeks, ready to take them out before they had their necessary 10 minutes to spin up & launch. I was just a mediocre member of that crowd of hired killers-- read all about it in "Blind Man's Bluff". I prefer the analogy of a knife fight in a phone booth but it's the same result from a spectator's perspective.
Having said that, I think we all owe Brewer our respect for his frank, up front, and repeated statements that he's a conscientious objector. Guys like him kept the U.S. govt from screwing up the war in Vietnam even more than Kennedy & LBJ already had. Cronkite couldn't have changed LBJ's mind without COs. Guys like Brewer exist for the express purpose of keeping guys like me from slipping our leashes and terrorizing the neighborhood. We're just hanging out in the boxes labeled "Break Glass In Case Of Danger". Brewer's one of the guys who has to decide when to break the glass. Frankly I don't know who's more dangerous-- frustated autocratic imperialistic retired Navy Reservists like Rumsfeld with a grudge left over from the Mayaguez incident, or head-bobbing military wannabe crowd-followers like Bush. But without the spectre of guys like Brewer intimidating Karl Rove and the rest of the "national command" authorities, the Pax Americana campaign would already be parading down the streets of Tehran.
I think you veterans & military retirees could stand to lighten up. You swore an oath to protect the constitution, and guys like Brewer take their oaths just as seriously as we do. You may not agree with his politics or his morals but he's protecting the same way of life that we are. Frankly I think he has the harder job because he has much more to be scared of than we do and he's not allowing himself to shoot back. If we get that "serve at the pleasure of the President" call then all I have to do is go ride the conn again or stand watch in a command center. COs like Brewer have to go empty our bedpans when we land in the VA hospitals and smile at us to keep our morale up.
For those of you who swear that you'd be right in there with us if it wasn't for the doctors or the family situation or whatever's "keeping" you from serving, don't let it be an excuse. Brewer didn't use that line of reasoning to avoid stating his convictions and being ready to stand on them just as virtuously as we trained mercenaries do. I know a tiny Hawaiian woman who worked at our local military exchange, with a loving husband and two beautiful smart daughters, who's agreed to work at the Green Zone exchange for a year. Sure, she's getting paid a good bit of money to do so, but she didn't have to. She'd make a ton more money shuffling papers in a Halliburton office in the same compound. Nobody asked her to volunteer. She actually had to go on a waiting list of dozens of other exchange/commissary volunteers. She's no steely-eyed killer of the deep but in her own way she's taking care of "her soldiers". You can too, so don't tell us that you'd "like to be there" unless you're willing to find a way to do so. You're only being held back by your self-imposed limits.
One final shot from Brewer's side of the lines. A recent USNA alumnus, who I'm told was actually a brigade commander (student in charge of the entire student body) was dismissed as a junior officer after successfully completing the process of being declared a conscientious objector. (Those of you with military law training know how difficult this process can be and how it can lead straight to Leavenworth if not properly, honestly, and quickly completed.) One of his old USNA professors asked him how he went from being the brigade's top military guy to CO in less than five years. He said it was because while he was training at USNA and later in his warfare community's pipeline, all he had time to do was to learn his job. He never had time to think about what he was doing or why, just about how to get it done as quickly and as lethally as possible. Once he got on the job and had time to think about the consequences of his actions, he was horrified to discover what he'd become. He then had the courage to act on those convictions, knowing full well what sh!tstorm would ensue.
Brewer has shown the same courage of his convictions. I think it's unfair for a bunch of guys like us, who "just have to follow orders" without thinking too hard about it, to object to the example set by guys like him.
![:-\](https://www.early-retirement.org/sk/forums/images/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
