Advice for Soldiers

"Who am I to give advice to soldiers? I have only been in the military for four years and am a reservist. I don’t know army regulations, how to fill out paper work, or exactly how to be a model non-commissioned officer. I guess I am learning but I am on the slow track to success.

If I know anything it is how to do my job while on deployment. I have only spent about a year off of active duty so I know more about deployment then anything else. I am a modern day reservist. As one of my friends so duly noted we have a new motto in the reserves: “One weekend off a month, two weeks of leave in the summer.” Granted the reserves are scaling back in Iraq but I am one of the lucky ones who came back for a second tour. There are some reservists who love it over here and are on their third tour but those guys are crazy in my book.

So what is my advice to soldiers then you may be asking yourself? Well I recently read a couple of books that shed light on my day-to-day living in the military. The first book is called Stoic Warriors* by Nancy Sherman, the second is The Abolition of Man** written by C.S. Lewis. Both books provide examples of how to better live as a member of the military albeit in different regards. "
T.F. Boggs