Deployed : how reservists bear the burden of Iraq / Michael Musheno and Susan M. Ross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Musheno, Michael Craig, author.

Ross, Susan M., 1968- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Army Reserve.

United States.

United States. Army--History--21st century.

Iraq War, 2003-2011.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (204 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Deployed is an important and deeply moving book. Here, in this story, the heroic tradition of the American citizen-soldier lives on." ---Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor, Boston University, and author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War "Whatever your feelings about Iraq, Deployed is an important and compelling work that illuminates the real human cost of the war, and gives voice to those compelled to fight it." ---Ken Wells, Senior Editor, Condé Nast Portfolio "Currently, there are few to no books dealing with the sociology of Iraq, and even fewer have empirical data on the experiences of American soldiers. More important, this work provides a strong and needed voice for soldiers---their words are compelling, rich, and moving." ---Morten Ender, Professor of Sociology, United States Military Academy at West Point "This is a unique book that weaves historical, ethnographic, and organizational approaches for a study of Iraq-War military reservists. . . . the authors' findings challenge the pervading wisdom on reservists' motivations for service; the chemistry between family, reserve duty, and relations with regular military; and the effect that service in Iraq had on them." ---Jerry Lembcke, Associate Professor of Sociology, Holy Cross College What is it like to be one of the citizen-soldiers summoned to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan? The events of 9/11 were a call to arms for many reservists, as shock, anger, and fear propelled large numbers to volunteer for the opportunity to serve their country in the Middle East. Even the most patriotic, however, had not expected that the wars would last so long or that the Army Reserve would supply so much of the manpower. Using the soldiers' own voices, Deployed draws upon the life stories of members of an Army Reserve MP Company, who were called to extraordinary

service after September 11. The book explores how and why they joined the Army Reserve, how they dealt with the seismic changes in their lives during and after deployment, the evolution of their relationships inside and outside their military unit, and their perspectives on the U.S. Army. Musheno and Ross uncover five pathways that led these citizens to join the reserves, showing how basic needs and cultural idioms combined to stimulate enlistments. Whatever path led to enlistment, the authors find that citizen-soldiers fall into three distinct categories: adaptive reservists who adjust quickly to the huge changes in their lives abroad and at home, struggling reservists whose troubles are more a product of homegrown circumstances than experiences specific to serving in a war zone, and reservists who are dismissive of military life while they live it and oppose the war even as they fight it. Perhaps most important, Deployed challenges the prevailing stereotype of returning soldiers as war-damaged citizens. Jacket photograph: AP Photo/Hutchinson News, Travis Morisse.

Contents:

Introduction

Shadows of Vietnam

Deploying the 893rd MP Company

Joining the reserve

Adaptive reservists

Struggling reservists

New conscripts of the twenty-first-century U.S. Army

Afterword

Appendix A : Frames, logic, and methods of inquiry

Appendix B : Soldier characteristics of the 893rd MP Company

Appendix C : Glossary of military terminology.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-191), filmography (pages 193), and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9786612423161

9781282423169

1282423169

9780472021253

0472021257

OCLC:

1017612903