President Obama has signed an Executive Action, allowing undocumented immigrants who came to the United States with their parents prior to age 16, to serve in U.S. military forces. The program is titled “Military Accessions Vital to National Interest” (MAVNI).

In a recent interview, retired U.S. Army Colonel Chuck Winn expressed some opinions about potentially severe combat readiness problems this could cause, and offered an alternative concept for meeting military manpower requirements. Winn began with an historical example of ancient Rome.

“A great strength of the Roman Republic rested on the concept of military service as an obligation of citizenship. In the tradition of Cincinnatus, during an emergency the farmer would put down his plow, take up his sword and shield and go to war to defend of the republic. When the danger had been repelled, the citizen-soldier put down his sword, and again took up his plow. Later, Rome made it easier for the upper strata to evade service and eventually employed mercenaries on a large scale from conquered and other foreign lands. Mercenaries, unlike citizen-soldiers, had no vested interest other than compensation and frequently had conflicted loyalties. This ultimately led to Rome’s downfall.

Fast forward to the present and you can see how the underlying fallacy of using illegal aliens in our military forces today violates the underlying premise of why we maintain a standing military. Can we trust people who showed no respect for the rule of law in entering our country, to uphold the oath they take when they join the armed forces to protect and defend our Constitution, our fundamental law?“

Colonel Winn’s concerns about the Administration’s policy of absorbing illegal aliens into the U.S. military include:

• Loyalty to the United States. Conducting thorough background investigations for security clearances will be highly problematic making infiltration by terrorists far easier.

• The standards for citizenship only require illegal aliens to successfully complete basic training, not an entire enlistment with an honorable discharge.

• Low standards and a motivation of rewards rather than service will increase demands on inadequately funded programs for veterans who have earned them through great sacrifices.

• Combat readiness will be degraded by diverting resources units need to maintain their go-to-war capabilities for remedial programs. Will limited training time be used for “sensitivity sessions”? Will there be special affirmative action investigations for illegals?

When asked it was possible for America to send its best—those who have chosen to serve without gain for themselves when it goes to war, Winn explained some of the difficulties. “This issue is far more complex than the government investing time and money to train our service men and women.” He went on to explain: “Over the past several decades meeting our manpower requirements has been increasingly difficult. We need educated, skilled, motivated and dedicated young men and women in our armed forces. Currently, only one in four in the prime enlistment ages of 18 to 24 qualifies. Holdbacks include drug dependency, being physically unfit, or having a criminal record. Additionally, the propensity to serve, particularly by youth from higher socio-economic backgrounds, has resulted in a situation where a disproportionate number from lower-middle and working class families go to war. As a conservative I find myself in agreement with New York Democratic Congressman’s Charlie Rangel’s argument that the decision making elites do not have to bear the risk of losing their children.”

Colonel Winn, however, does not advocate a return to compulsory military service through a draft. As an alternative Winn advocates legislation establishing a 6 year community-based national service program. Under this concept, all men and women in the ages of 18 to 24 would be required to serve two days each month plus two weeks in the summer working on various public service projects. This could involve infrastructure maintenance and improvements, or care giving for the elderly. Making this unpaid community service a mandatory prerequisite for graduate and professional school admissions, and licenses for professions, trades and businesses would re-instill a national unifying value of the obligation of citizenship. Since this mandatory program would be part time, it would not disrupt education or vocational training. An expensive, new federal agency would not be needed, since local governments could administer it. Since the compulsory service would not be in the military, conscientious objectors and those not physically fit would still be required to participate, avoiding the inequities of past military drafts. A shorter, paid term of military service as an alternative however, would be very attractive and enlistment programs would likely become highly competitive. The existing Selective Service System could take on the role of monitoring the military manpower aspects of it.”

In today’s society, the idea of service is becoming a thought of the past, but it is the action upon which a free society is founded. Service must be taught, by those who have come before to those who are the inheritors of tomorrow.

Chuck Winn resides in Stuart, Florida. A Vietnam veteran and retired U.S. Army colonel, Chuck completed a 32-year Army career that began as a private. His service, which also included 10 years in the National Guard, entailed troop level assignments as an advisor to South Vietnamese irregular units, infantry company command and battalion operational and intelligence staff positions, and assistant professor of military science at Tuskegee University. Chuck later served in senior operational and strategic planning assignments on the Department of the Army Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), where he developed reserve component combat unit training strategies and readiness legislation; and represented OSD on an interagency working group for combating domestic terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD); and on a special task force that created an organization for defending against domestic WMD incidents. Winn’s final overseas assignment was as a senior war planner with Headquarters, U.S. Forces Korea.

The tradition of military service in Chuck Winn’s family began when his Polish immigrant grandfather served in the Army during World War I. Chuck’s father, who also completed a military career, earned a commission after serving in combat in Europe as an enlisted man during World War II. He later served in support of the Nuremburg War Crimes trials. While serving in combat during the Korean War, Winn, Sr. was captured by Chinese Communist Forces and spent 34 months as a prisoner-of-war.

HAVE A HERO TIP? Send your Hometown Hero tip to Kelly Jadon: kfjadon@gmail.com

Mary Armbrust: Red Cross Hometown Hero

The United States is a country of volunteers. The military is all volunteer. Libraries, schools, local organizations, churches and hospitals thrive on community service at a grass roots level. The United States depends heavily upon the assistance of ordinary people giving their time, their money, their sweat and even their blood to fill the gaps of need.

One national organization, the American Red Cross, reaches out to help with boots on the ground. Founded by Clara Barton in 1881, she campaigned for an American Red Cross and for ratification of the Geneva Convention to protect those injured in war.

The first U.S. congregational charter was given to the Red Cross in 1900. Today’s charter gives the organization the ability to “give relief to and serving as a medium of communication between members of the American armed forces and their families and providing national and international disaster relief and mitigation.”

The Red Cross provides relief to disaster victims in the United States; collects blood, processes it and distributes the products where needed; provides health and safety education and training.

For such a wide area of responsibility, community support and organization are key.

Mary Armbrust of Stuart, Florida is the Captain of the Martin County Red Cross Disaster Action Teams. She has spent her life in service, beginning as a pinstriper in the hospital (Red Cross), becoming the support of a military husband, and later going to work with Homeland Security. She has been an inspector inside detention centers in Arizona, worked at the Port of Entry in El Paso, and been on duty during 9/11 in Atlanta’s airport.

Now retired, she has returned to work part-time with the Red Cross, dispatching volunteers in four Florida counties to immediate disasters, most often fires. She also works as a volunteer for her local House for Hope, helping provide food to the needy. Additionally, Mary serves as the Government Liaison Representative for Martin County’s Emergency Operations Center. She is the Mass Care, Logistics, Regional Disaster Services instructor as well. Also, she holds a part-time Americorps position, specializing in Disaster Services and Recruiting. In all, Mary works full-time in service positions. This is a picture of active American retirement.

Mary Armbrust states, “People can do and be whatever they want. Their only limitations are their own.”

Mary relates, “As the American Red Cross evolves, it sees a future of moving more toward client services. Money and volunteers are always needed. Quick relief is provided to victims of hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and terrorist bombings.”

As the United States moves into a new generation and a new America, its citizens must each realize that each one of them matters to their community, and to their country. Freedom comes at the price of responsibility, to speak up, to participate, to change lives for the better—to make a difference.

Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 were events that paralyzed the nation. Today’s young adults do not remember these events, but the Red Cross was there, almost immediately, because they are in each community. We do not know what is yet to come in the United States, but it is prudent to be ready.

Today, the American Red Cross is in need. Give of yourself.

America, a country by the people, for the people.

HAVE A HERO TIP? Send your Hometown Hero tip to Kelly Jadon: kfjadon@gmail.com

Hometown Heroes

Mary Armbrust: Red Cross Hometown Hero

Addiction? Recovery is possible~Mike Beath