E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten
Wark / Rodriguez The Warfighter's Soul
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6021-9
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
Engaging in the Battle for the Warrior's Soul
E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6021-9
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
Greg Wark founded Mission Force in 1996 and currently serves as president. Prior to starting Force, Greg served as lead pastor of a congregation in Southern California, which had a large percentage of military personnel. This experience drove him to concentrate on the unique moral needs of those who serve in America's armed forces. Several years later, he began to work full time developing leaders among military and law enforcement personnel. Greg holds several postgraduate degrees, including a master's degree in theology and a Doctor of Ministry degree. His experience, education, and drive make him an excellent fit for this task. Greg continues to be a pastor, counselor, mentor, and friend to a large group of military and law enforcement personnel spread across the United States. He also serves as a chaplain for a federal law enforcement agency. As such, Greg devotes his time, energy, and knowledge to developing positive and influential leaders who work in high-pressure environments. He also mentors military and law enforcement personnel to help them and their families cope with the emotional difficulties of their service. For Greg, the work of Mission Force is a continuation of his passion to create dynamic, positive leaders who defend the vulnerable and fulfill their civic responsibilities with excellence. Currently, Greg is the executive vice president of Atlas Aegis LLC, a premier security firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. Greg's main responsibilities are business development and customer relations. Greg has authored three books: A Prophets Reward, A Good Death, and The Warfighter's Soul. Greg and Amber have been married for forty years and have five children, nineteen grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. They currently reside in Nashville, Tennessee. R. T. Rodriguez (Dr. Ray) has dedicated his life to helping people in crisis while continuing to maintain a successful career as an engineer and remaining a lifelong student. Ray was born and raised in Texas to a loving family. His father, a farmer, a lifelong student himself, and a Korean War combat veteran, instilled in him a love for children and the importance of a caring environment. His father witnessed the suffering of young men enduring trauma born out of their warfare experience. During the Vietnam War, Ray himself noticed a phenomenon that has driven him to seek answers to this day: Why do two seemingly equal veterans return from war with one leading a hope-filled life and the other suffering with lifelong trauma? While attending Texas Tech University, Ray was convinced to join the US Marine Corp. While there he learned about and found a knack for writing computer code. This career path allowed him to become a business entrepreneur with extensive experience in encoding and encryption systems engineering. His job has allowed him to work and live in multiple countries. Ray and his wife, Cheryl, have raised four children of their own and now have seven grandchildren. While raising their children, they volunteered as directors of the children and youth departments at their local church. At the same time, Ray finished up his undergraduate degree in preparation for law school and possibly entering a career in politics. After he received his juris doctorate degree, he changed course and earned a master's degree in military history and became certified as a crisis counselor.
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PREFACE
The flag...is a visible symbol of the ideal aspirations of
the American people. It is the one focus in which all
unite in reverential devotion. We differ in religion; we
differ in politics; we engage in disputes as to the true
meaning of the Constitution, and even challenge the
wisdom of some of its provisions; we inject self-interest
and greed into most of the ordinary transactions of
daily life, but through the sanctifying folds of the flag,
the collective intelligence of the nation rises superior to
the wisdom of its parts, and thus ensures the perpetuity
of the Republic.1
—Major General Arthur MacArthur
To declare war is the most sobering decision a nation’s leaders will ever make. Because nothing tests a society more than war. Its debate brings out every kind of emotion, every belief stance, every political position, and every life’s philosophy. Nothing can polarize a people and then unify them more then war. War’s “justness,” therefore, is a relevant discussion for debate for a nation right up until the time the decision is made. But once the decision is made, a nation’s moral responsibility is to unify around those who are called to prosecute it. The nation who sends men and women to battle must come to the place where those who are fighting the war have to question their support and respect.
Several years ago, I met with an Iraq veteran and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan for breakfast. Our conversation focused on their experiences, many painful, as one story of deployment and war seemed to spark the other vet to tell of his experiences. Neither vet cared what those around thought as they laughed, teared up, spoke profanities, and ate. Both shared the common torture of losing their childhood best friend.
After a while, an older man walked past our table in the direction of the restroom. The next time we saw him he seemed confused, and we later found out from his caretaker that it was due to dementia. As he approached, we noticed he was wearing a World War II veteran hat. When he came close to our table, both the soldiers stood to their feet introducing themselves as veterans and reached out to shake his hand and thank him for his service. Surprised but joyful, the older man began to share his experiences with the two fellow veterans with absolute clarity and no signs of dementia. Knowing he was speaking to brothers, he spoke like he was as a young warfighter again. Our new friend spoke about landing several times on a foreign beach to face the enemy in combat. We fixated on him, and time stood still as he teared up along with the rest of us, remembering his fellow brothers and the loss of his best friend. It was as though his friends had died just yesterday, an experience all three men and I shared. Our new friend was ninety-two years old and truly a hero.
Over the years, I have been privileged to sit around fires with those who served and listen for hours as men and women told their own stories. I noted how hard it is to serve our country. Our men and women give so much, and the memories they live with never go away. While they may heal a bit, the pain is always there.
Warfare has been part of the human experience since the very beginning of our species. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that humanity is somewhat predisposed to it. “Since the United States was founded in 1776, she has been at war during 214 out of her 235 calendar years of existence. In other words, there were only 21 calendar years in which the U.S. was not engaged in a war.”2 While the exact number of years without war remains debatable, we can agree that war has been a significant part of this country’s existence.3 Most boys from early childhood have a dream of fighting and defeating an “enemy.” As a child, I would often make a bow and arrow out of green limbs and play cowboys and Indians with several of my boyhood friends. We would divide into teams and go to the orange groves of Fullerton, California, and pelt each other with oranges until only one man remained standing. In our later years, we would joke that this was the true birth of paintball.
However, this book isn’t about war; it is about the effects of war on the warfighters. Unlike the make-believe warfighting games of one’s youth, adult military members take a stand and volunteer to go into the abyss of battle aware of the risks. Still, most are unaware of the consequences war can have on the stability of their soul. Over the past decade, an unimaginable tragedy has begun to unfold that seems to be ignored or shrugged off for the most part. I don’t think it’s because people don’t want to do something. I just think it’s because there are few real answers. This tragedy is happening to the best of us, the selfless and honorable segment of our population. They don’t speak of their suffering, their dark experiences, or the depth of their sacrifice. I call this people group warfighters. You might call them veterans.
The idea that an average of twenty-two veterans commit suicide per day originates from a 2012 suicide data report on veterans at risk of suicide.4 After the Department of Veterans Affairs took a passionate stance to reduce veteran suicide in 2007, research into the issue began. Using data collected from twenty-one states, the researchers reported, “Among cases where history of US military service was reported, Veterans comprised approximately 22.2% of all suicides reported during the project period. If this prevalence estimate is assumed to be constant across all US states, an estimated 22 Veterans will have died from suicide each day in the calendar year 2010.”5 An estimate to be sure, but since its publication, that number of twenty-two veteran suicides per day has become the moniker or calling cry for action to prevent veteran suicide. In the VA’s “2020 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report,” it estimated that in 2018, a total of 6,435 US Veterans had committed suicide.6 That number averages out to approximately 17.6 suicides per day. This statistic does not imply that things are getting better, only that reporting has improved, resulting in more accurate numbers. Yet the twenty-two per day moniker continues.
Too many of our veterans continue to make the agonizing decision to end their own lives each day. They may be veterans from Vietnam or any war since. Furthermore, the suicide rate of active-duty personnel has continued to climb.7 For example, a 2019 report by CNN news indicated that 2018 saw a 300% rise in the suicides of Special Forces personnel.8 Additionally, this problem is not limited to just the US military. In a 2020 article on mental health in the military, The British Forces Broadcasting Service reported a five-year increase in suicide amongst its military.9 These reports show that during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rate of suicide has skyrocketed. While the Pentagon has worked diligently to erase the stigma attached to suicide, the rate among warfighters remains high. This unbelievable statistic hit us unprepared as a nation and must be faced with determination and tenacity to stop it.
When warfighters’ time in active service ends, many other aspects of their lives end with it: their time away from home, their pay, time with their military brothers, the grime and smell of war. However, their personally endured tortures do not so easily wash away. Tortures resulting from participating in the conduct of war, regardless of their MOS (military occupational specialty). Torturous memories endlessly replaying out of sight from even their closest family and friends.
As such, it’s our turn to have their backs. It is our turn to tend to their wounds. It’s our turn to sit by their sides while they heal. And it’s our turn to hold them up as they rehabilitate from their physical, mental, and moral injuries. Today, science is making great strides in mind mapping and the promotion of knowledge that heals the warrior, but little time is spent on healing methods for the soul. A soldier unprepared for the anguish of war is as vulnerable as a soldier sent into battle without armor. Due to the stressors of military life, veterans are often left with life-altering ailments that make life after service seem unbearable. For too many, the results are a high degree of homelessness, an ever-growing suicide rate, devastating divorce statistics, post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and more.
The seriousness of the issue of veteran suicide deserves a life-and-death approach if we are to win the battle for the souls of our warfighters. We aren’t seeking passive answers or ways to numb the pain. I approach this issue with the belief that the way to save the lives of those who stand at the precipice of life and death is through the discovery of multiple truths. We will enter this darkness with the determination that truth-seekers must carry. And no matter how long it takes or hard we must fight, we will find it. My dream is to wake up a struggling and confused nation to focus on a blight we can fix. To make hope go viral among our warfighters and their families. It’s our turn to sacrifice for their freedom. It’s our time to go all in, to find answers, and call those suffering out of the shadows and into the clean, healing air.
When writing this book, Ray and I made a conscious choice to address the warfighter, but we are aware that it isn’t only that part of the military who struggle with suicidal ideations. It is because of this that we wrote programs that will greatly help all military...
