"OUR GIRL" IN THE ARMY

 [This essay was originally published on my Facebook page in two parts.]

Karen and I are currently binge watching "Our Girl" which at the surface is a harmless 4-season soap drama about two British army medics, Molly Dawes and Georgie Lane, albeit in different seasons, as they serve Queen and country. But heretofore throughout the series numerous serious issues arise:

1.     Different reasons why working class and middle-class persons enlist in the army

2.     Can an army truly "nation build"

3.     The downside to an army's role in humanitarian assistance

4.     The danger posed by home-grown terrorists

5.     The dangers of child sex trafficking

6.     Do soldier romances hinder good order and discipline within the ranks

7.     How effective is the informal command between officers and enlisted ranks in the British army

But perhaps the biggest issue that merged in the series is the disconnect between soldiers and civilians of the same country. I believe this disconnect is primarily an emotional one caused by the increasingly smaller numbers of men and women enlisting in the military branches relative to the national population. I further believe that this is true for the UK as it is for the US.

For example, during World War II, the US had about 12 million men and women in its military branches- army, army air force, navy, marines, and coast guard- out of a population of about 120 million. That was a ratio of one military member for every 10 persons. Today, with a population of about 320 million, the US has about 2 million persons in its armed forces- army, navy, marines, air force, coast guard, and space force- for a ratio of one military member for every 160 persons. That is quite a reduction for the US and I am sure the UK ground, air, and sea forces have had similar results.

The practical consequence of these reductions is that fewer families have parents or children on active duty or are veterans of military services, or even know families associated with the military. Other than thanking such folks for their military service, most life-long civilians cannot offer long-term support for veterans, who too often dive into alcoholism, drug abuse, homelessness, and mental illness. E.B. Sledge came home from World War II as a combat marine and was asked by a college counselor what skills the marines had taught him. He replied to the horrified counselor that he had been taught to kill the enemy. Sledge overcame his demons, graduated from college, became a professor, wrote With the Old Breed chronicling his war experiences, and was portrayed in the HBO series “The Pacific.” But too many vets do not have happy homecomings.

Both Molly and Georgie, despite their differences are shown experiencing disconnects when they return home on leave. Parents, siblings, and civilian friends cannot understand the traumas they have experienced in their military service, and they are eager to return to their units.

BTW, Molly is played by Lacey Turner who is one of the top soap actors in the UK and Georgie by Michelle Keegan who is currently starring in the Netflix series "Fool Me Once" as a former combat helicopter pilot who is accused of war crimes and finds herself as a civilian in the center of the murders of her sister and her husband.