Awareness Months

Before I get started on this one, believe me, I have no doubt I will offend some of you who read this. I merely ask that you read the entire article and let my point saturate before you start accusing me of being insensitive.

On April 2nd I received an email regarding "Sexual Assault Awareness Month". Now, a little background for all non-military members. It is not uncommon to receive precisely this type of email daily in the military, which normally consists of a PME (Professional Military Education aka class) which is sent down by the Battalion Commander or Sergeant Major, and normally contains the language "highly encouraged to attend" which translates into "attendance is mandatory." Now, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to belittle PME's in any way. I have attended numerous PME's over the years which were incredibly informational and provided a valuable tool for all required personnel to quickly and efficiently receive what they needed to know at the time. My issue with this is, we are ever increasingly broadening the definition of "PME" to include numerous "politically correct" organizations which have no other intent than to force their opinions of different topics upon servicemembers and indoctrinate them.

It is quite incredible to me the amount of politics which has been allowed to creep into the military atmosphere in the last ten years. I would bet money that if I conducted a poll of the civilian population, they would be in disbelief at how many military workdays are wasted each year on numerous "Awareness Month" PME's, as well as other special interest group propaganda. Each new month brings about one, sometimes multiple "Awareness Months", that all military members end up being forced to be "aware" of. This will take place on a day during the appropriate month. Each particular unit commander aboard the installation will get the "highly encouraged to attend" wording from his superiors, and in turn, will pass the same lingo down to the lowest levels. This is an integral step in the successful accomplishment of the mission for the high paid civilian GS employee who initiated the training. He must justify his continued employment at this billet by the attendance at his or her particular event each year.

The end result of each of these "Awareness Months" is mandatory attendance by everyone on the military installation. What does this mean to you, the taxpayer? It means that millions of man-hours and taxpayer dollars are spent each year sitting in the Base Theatre at our installation, being "educated" on various topics, which in turn, is supposed to translate into less of whatever behavior brought about the "Awareness Month" in the first place. Quite some time ago I heard Rush Limbaugh mention that liberals believe in symbolism over substance. This is a great example of that thought process in action. Specifically narrowing this to "Sexual Assault Awareness Month", I wonder how many Marines in the theatre, after receiving their "education" on the topic, said to themselves, "I was really considering fondling another Marine inappropriately this evening, but after receiving this training, I no longer am considering it." Honestly??? I know, I know…the bleeding hearts will say, "if it stops one incident from happening it was worth it." I am telling you honestly that I don't believe this forced training has stopped one incident from happening since it's inception. This naïve belief in a Utopia, whereby, if we can just educate everyone appropriately, someday we will eliminate this behavior altogether, is unfounded. There will always be good and there will always be evil, but that's a rant for another day.

Getting back on track, to further demonstrate the wasted money, time, and ultimately, training which helps maintain the national security of this great land. I have listed below the many "Awareness Months" that the military allows the symbolism drones to come indoctrinate us on:

Safety Awareness Month
Asian American Awareness Month
Alcohol Awareness Month
Child Abuse Awareness Month
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Black History Month
Shaken Baby Awareness
Month of the Military Child
Suicide Awareness (not a month, happens every time somebody commits the act)
National Safety Month (not to be confused with safety awareness month)
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Drunk Driving Prevention Month
Womens History Month

Some bases may have more, some less, but this is a general idea of what we're looking at here. I hope everyone can sleep safely tonight knowing that if all else fails, your fighting military forces are "aware."