Research Paper

April 11, 2010
Sunday, 10:35 A.M.
Home

“After forty eight hours, you know it’s not yours…And I know it sounds terrible, but then you think, ‘Thank God it’s not mine.’”

These are the words of Kelly Bridson, wife of Army Spc. Joe Bridson who, in October of 2007, was stationed in Samarra, Iraq. She waited anxiously on a daily basis for the phone calls from her husband that assured her, for at least one more day, that he was still alive and well. When those calls didn’t come, she knew it most often meant that someone in his company had been killed or injured and the Army had cut communication until the next of kin could be notified.

Families with loved ones in the military expect that their husband, wife, son, or daughter will be deployed to the hot spots during war time and do their best to prepare themselves for that contingency. What has not been expected, is tours lasting fifteen months and the prospect of repeating those tours two, three, and even four times. In the days of the draft, which was ended in 1973, if a soldier was sent to war, he served for twelve months and was not forced to return for a second tour of duty. The mental and emotional impact of the horrors of war is
almost unfathomable. To be exposed to it as a routine part of one’s life could be tantamount to the torture we so vigorously oppose using against our enemies.

This piece will explore the impact of redeployments to the Middle East on the soldiers, themselves, and their families. It will also attempt to weigh the pros and cons of an all volunteer military force versus conscription to the service.