Sunday, February 21, 2016

A PLAN TO ASSIST NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH


AMERICAN 'GURKHAS'?

There have been, lately, numerous examinations of and articles about the suicide epidemic among Native American (NA) young people on their Reservations. The hopelessness created by Reservation poverty and its accompanying drug and alcohol abuse are the root cause of these deaths. Efforts to deal with the crisis have met with limited success, and something drastic, new and different needs to be tried.
In a previous Blog post (An American ‘Foreign Legion’?), I suggested a military-related partial remedy for urban gun deaths growing out of the drug/gang/gun culture so prevalent in large cities. I have another ‘military’ option to suggest as a partial remedy for the NA suicide problem. This program (let’s call it FA for ‘First Americans’), like the ‘Legion’, would physically remove the young people at risk from the environment generating their despair. But, unlike the color-blind ‘Legion’, this one would be purely for Native American youth, male and female. Why? Because NAs have chosen to retain their Reservations and resist amalgamation into greater American society and culture. They have voluntarily chosen to maintain tribal separation and cohesion, regardless of the social, cultural and financial costs. The ‘First Americans’ program merely builds upon the NA’s wish to maintain unique identity.
The suggestion borrows from a time-honored program of the British Army; that being its inclusion for over 100 years of a Regiment of Nepalese soldiers known as ‘Gurkhas’. While the story of the Gurkhas is fascinating, for the sake of brevity, suffice it to say that a racial and cultural subgroup can work with great effectiveness in concert with a more traditional organization.
So, I propose forming a modified US Army Infantry ‘Brigade’ of around 3500 members made up solely of NA men from established tribes, most of whom reside on Reservations. Non-combat support functions would be performed by both male and female NAs, thus giving women a place in the extended unit. Forget how Politically Incorrect this concept is (at this writing, February 2016, ‘PC’ may be losing its grip on our society), and remember that the foundation of such a unit is the NA’s own wish to retain separate cultural identity. Any NA wishing to join the US military as a regular recruit would still be able to do so.
Initially, a special training facility would be established to deal with the special needs of the first batches of recruits, e.g. to assess deficits in physical ability, overall health and learning skills and identify cultural stresses that require special focus in the training regimen. Over time, however, the NAs would, as they do now, train as usual with non-NA enlistees, at Ft. Benning, Georgia’s Infantry training facility. Upon completion, they’d head to the ‘First Americans’ Brigade.
‘Warrior Societies’ have been part of NA culture at least as far back as their tribal oral traditions go. Such societies truly flourished when the plains tribes became horse-mounted in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Cheyenne had ‘Dog Soldiers’, the Sioux their ‘Strong Hearts’, etc. and membership in such ‘fraternities’ was hugely important to the tribe’s young men, giving them status and a pathway to tribal leadership. Fast forward to our 21st Century crisis on Native American reservations where a sense of ‘belonging’ is sadly lacking and nothing seems to be on the horizon to reduce the scale of the tragedy.
NA populations are as diverse as their histories, and blending, for instance, Sioux and Crow, Navaho and Hopi, etc. might not be good for unit cohesion. That’s where the ‘Brigade’ structure would be utilized internally to enhance its effectiveness and ‘esprit de corps’. The Brigade would be made up of, say, three or four Battalions, and each Battalion would include three or four Companies. So, depending on the available recruits from the various tribes, the Army could build a Battalion with, for example, one Company of Sioux, another of Crow, yet another of Arapaho, etc. Another Battalion might be three Companies of Cherokee. The combinations are countless. But imagine these various units competing with each other for effectiveness in the usual Army skills of marksmanship, physical endurance tests, training exercises, etc. All soldiers benefit from this competition, but tribal pride could add a degree of intensity that their leaders would marvel at.
Who would be the leaders? Taking a step back, a Brigade is typically attached to an existing Infantry Division, for instance, 10th Mountain, 101st Airborne, etc., and a Division could include three or more Brigades. So, initially, the ‘First Americans’ leadership would be Field and Company-grade officers from the Division. Eventually, NA officers who’ve graduated from West Point, Officer Candidate School, or an ROTC program from a university would meld in. This would take time, but in five or six years from inception, the FAs would have 100% NA leadership.
How would the Army utilize the FAs? Just the same as any other highly trained Infantry Brigade. The only difference would be that the members are all Native American. No special treatment, no special considerations. Nothing complicated or tricky. How they perform as a unit within that Army structure would be the basis for the ‘story’ and traditions that grow from their service to their country.
Now, imagine an annual event where recruiters from the ‘First Americans’ Brigade arrive on a given Reservation to interview, test, assess, etc., local candidates to fill vacancies in the elite Army unit. Imagine that kids, both boys and girls, have been dreaming of joining FA as long as they’ve been aware of it, know many tribal members who have served in the unit and, further, witness the respect the tribe bestows on those current and former members. Consider how these kids have been preparing for this day by staying in school, staying in shape, abstaining from alcohol and drugs, avoiding pregnancies, volunteering in their community, all in hopes of ‘making the cut’ and winning a slot in the FA. Those coveted slots mean that the recruit has joined a Warrior Society that will eventually become an integral part of tribal custom and history. How could any job on a Reservation compete for prestige with being a member of the ‘First Americans’, much less languishing without job or other prospects?
A ‘First Americans’ Brigade suggestion is way outside-the-box, and, to some, it might bring comparisons to segregated African-American units such as the ‘Triple Nickles’ Parachute Infantry Battalion of the 1940s and 50s, or even the ‘Tuskegee Airmen’ of WWII. But, those units were outgrowths of our segregated military, and the members had no option to serve in similar capacities outside those organizations. The FA would be an option available only to Native Americans if they found a normal enlistment less appealing; nothing more or less.
Somehow, America needs to break through the cloud of despair and dysfunction that hangs over many Native American Reservations. The ‘First Americans’ Brigade will give many NAs a way out and off those Reservations via a new opportunity that harkens back to their storied warrior history. When their enlistments are up, they’d return (if they wish) and infuse their discipline, organizational skills and experience to their communities. Positive improvements in overall Reservation life and governance are all but assured.
What’s the first step? I suggest a simple series of focus groups of young NAs at problematic Reservations. I’ve no doubt the results would be positive and the enthusiasm exceptional. Then it’s just a matter of the next President calling in the Army Chief of Staff and saying, “General, thanks for coming. I’ve got an idea I want to run by you. Have a seat. Coffee? OK, now what would you say if……..?”

Bill Gritzbaugh

February 20, 2016