DMS student reflects on Veterans Day

The United States military has five different branches. The Marines, Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard. The National Guard is not its own branch, it is part of the Army, or Air Force. Each branch has their own branch; the Navy patrols the surface force, submarine force, sealift command, expeditionary combat, and has their own air force. The Army has many different branches; some of them are the armor cavalry branch, artillery branch, the Army National Guard, the Army National Guard Reserve, infantry regiment, and infantry division. The Coast Guard is different, instead of having units, they have different bases all over the U.S. Air Force is slightly the same as the Coast Guard, it has squadrons, a wing (Military aviation unit) and is part of the British and USN. The Marines is the smallest branch by just having one unit, the Marine Corps.

    Each unit has its own purpose in their branch. The Navy patrols above, below, and in the sea; the Navy is deployed around the world. Army is combat support, campaign quality combat, combat service support, and other necessities for land warfare. Our Coast Guard is a multi-mission service with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters. The Marines is one of the most elite fighting forces in the world, they are a part of the Department of the Navy and operate in close cooperation with U.S. Naval forces at sea. Air Force focuses on flying, even though most don’t fly; most work on flight support missions, handling base affairs, protecting bases, constructing new airstrips, guarding missile sites, and rescue missions.

    Not all units are active duty which is full time, some are reserve or part time.  Part time usually refers to the National Guard, whether it’s Air National Guard or Army National Guard, and Homeland Security. Active duty refers to the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard until retirement. If you are in the Army or Air Force, and decide to change from active duty to reserve, you can join the National Guard or homeland security according to what section it is you are currently in.

    Because there are so many branches and units, there are many different jobs which means many different training programs. If you want to be an officer, you would need a four year degree. You could attend the reserve officer training program ,more commonly know as ROTC, military colleges, the direct commision, or the OCS ,officer candidate school. If you just want to serve as a soldier, then after enlistment you would go to a boot camp or some other training facility. After your enlisted training, you would move on to advanced training; provide diploma and degree training for entry-level positions in certain fields.

     Just as schools have mascots the military does as well. The navy mascot is the goat; in 1893, El Cid had a 6-3 win over the army with the goat there, so the goat stayed and has been the mascot ever since. Marines are the bulldogs from 1922, the first bulldog was named Pvt. Jiggs. The Army mascot is the mule; 1899, when an officer decided that the team needed a mascot to counter the Navy goat. Air Force has a gyrfalcon since 1954 named “March 1”.  The Coast Guard mascot is Objee the Bear, Objee was founded in 1984.The badger belongs to the Army National Guard (A.N.G).

     November 11th is a day to honour your veterans. The people who are retired military, or in the military yet have helped fight for their country. “To me veterans day is a day to honour everyone who was involved in the military, or still is.” Alyssa Childers quotes.

And here is a list of a few veterans: