America's military today : the challenge of militarism / Tod Ensign.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ensign, Tod.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History.

United States--Armed Forces.

United States.

Armed Forces.

United States--Military policy.

Military policy.

Militarism--United States.

Militarism.

United States--History--21st century.

World politics--21st century.

World politics.

Physical Description:

xvii, 430 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New Press : Distributed by W.W. Norton, 2004.

Summary:

America's Military Today provides an eye-opening survey of the way the modern U.S. armed forces enlist, train, and deploy their all-volunteer force. Long-standing soldiers' rights attorney Tod Ensign, along with other commentators, examine key issues, including: The techniques used by the Pentagon to recruit and train a required 200,000 volunteers each year, The controversial arguments being advanced for a return to the draft, The military's reputation as an exemplar in the promotion of racial minorities and the ongoing challenge of gender discrimination, sexual assaults, and bias against gays and lesbians, The appropriate role of the armed forces in policing post-9/11 America, The future of war fighting, with its emphasis on the continued relevance of "boots on the ground"-the ordinary foot soldier. The book also includes first-person accounts from soldiers on active duty in Iraq, providing a sometimes harrowing and sometimes poignant picture of life at the sharp end of combat duty today.

Contents:

1 Military Recruiting: Making Mission / Tod Ensign 1

2 Military Training: Basic Training / Christian G. Appy 33

Update: Army, Navy, and Marine Basic / Tod Ensign 62

3 Voices From Iraq: Letters from GIs and Family Members 83

4 Women in the Military: The Military Culture of Harassment

The Dynamics of the Masculine Mystique / Linda Bird Francke 135

Update: Women in the Military / Tod Ensign 168

5 Minorities and Gays in the Military

Who Will Fight the Next War? / Martin Binkin 175

An Overview of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass" / the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) 199

6 Veterans and Toxic Exposures

The Story of Depleted Uranium / Dan Fahey 231

Gulf War Illnesses / Charles Sheehan-Miles 249

7 Military Justice: An Oxymoron? / Tod Ensign, Louis Font 263

8 Policing America: A New Role for the Military? / Tod Ensign 291

9 Filling the Ranks: Volunteers or the Draft? / Tod Ensign 325

10 The Return of the Poor, Bloody Infantry / George Friedman, Meredith Friedman 355.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [377]-410) and index.

ISBN:

1565848837

OCLC:

55036834