Why I Wear a Uniform

No, this is not about all the reasons I serve. This is about why it is important to wear a uniform in combat.

By the way, “wearing a uniform” doesn’t mean a snazzy one like mine necessarily. It could be a simple as an armband, certain headgear, or openly carrying a weapon. We in the Army like ours to be pretty obvious because it helps keep us from shooting each other, but forces are free to base their choice on whatever fashion statements or economic limitations they see fit. Low funds is no excuse for not identifying yourself as a warfighter.

Wearing my uniform differentiates me from terrorists, and other “war criminal” definitions according to the rules of warfare. I’m also not allowed to wear the uniform of the enemy, regardless of what you have seen in the movies.

My uniform establishes that I am a combatant and a lawful target of opposing forces. If one of them kills me, he is not a war criminal, he is a soldier doing his job. If I am captured, I am to be afforded certain rights like medical care, food, shelter, mail, etc.

Same thing with opposing forces. If they wear a uniform and follow some other rules, they get to be a legitimate target for me. Fair is fair. Of course, they also get official “prisoner of war” status along with the rights that come with it, should my aim be off a little and they get nicked instead of dispatched properly. My bad, sorry about that, let me get you a medic.

Of course, combat is messy and seems to happen more and more in urban environments these days. Lot’s of people who aren’t wearing a uniform get stuck in the middle of firefights in urban environments, so smarter folks than me came up with rules to handle that, too. We even developed an acronym for civilians on the battlefield: COB’s. We like acronyms in the Army.

Cobs get special consideration in firefights. We have to do what we can to limit civilian casualties, even when we are defending ourselves. To a grunt in a firefight this means looking for uniforms and equipment carried by our enemies and only shooting those people. Again, contrary to what you might have seen in the movies, close combat is confusing, terrifying, dirty, smelly, and for the most part started, ran, and completed in a few minutes by nineteen and twenty year olds I wouldn’t trust for five minutes with one of my daughters, much less life or death instant decisions in the most confusing environment you can imagine. That is how it is, so we must deal with it, but I submit that our youngsters do a hell of a job limiting cob casualties.

Now, if you have been paying attention, you might have noted that we have some fairly simple rules, and fairly predictable results of following them. That’s another thing we like in the Army: rules and predictability, by the way. But, you might have also noticed the fatal flaw of this system: it relies on everyone playing by the rules in order for it to work.

For example, you might have noticed that if one wished to increase his probability of killing his enemy and to decrease his probability of getting shot himself, he might consider not wearing a uniform. He might decide to dress just like the cobs around him, and sort of blend in right after he launches an rpg at a convoy. Can’t blame a guy for trying.

Such a person places himself outside the rules when he does that. He becomes an “unlawful combatant.” He broke the rules and gained an unfair advantage. But that advantage comes with risk, and if he is caught instead of killed, it comes with a result: he loses his status as an enemy prisoner of war. Sorry about that, YOUR bad this time. Guess what? That means he is outside the pale of the Geneva Convention’s protections for prisoners of war, and for cobs.

Back in the day, handling them was simple, if not comfortable for the uninitiated. Soldiers held them in utter disgust, and they were dispatched quickly with little or no formality like a trial. Sorry about the habeas corpus rights. He traded those in when he decided to play soldier instead of accepting the whole package.

That was back in the days before 24 hour live news coverage and millions of experts on warfare sitting on their couches back home watching the coverage on tv and passing judgment on the guys who were cooking up a Big Mac a couple of years ago and are now making tough decisions in even tougher situations. (Law and Order is a cool show, but what it teaches you about justice doesn’t apply on the battlefield. Sorry about that.)

No, these days we must maintain our image. We don’t conquer other countries, we liberate them from oppressive regimes. We are from the government, and we are here to help.

We get so wrapped up in being nice that we forget that the military is here to kill people and break things. Sorry about that, but it is what we do. You are only supposed to use us AFTER you have tried to win friends and influence people.

Plus, for the last sixty years or so, we haven’t bothered getting the American people on board, or finding out if they were on board before hand, by formally declaring war. That would be too messy for congressman, what with all of that making a decision and standing on it, and all. Much easier to “authorize the use of military force” so they can blame the commander in chief if things get messy. “I was for it before I was against it.”

Is it any wonder that America is divided about Gitmo and other holding facilities for these unlawful combatants and what to do with them? Is it any wonder that the average warfighter thinks just killing them would be simpler than all of this wrangling?

So what do we do with Achmed, the quasi-soldier/cob/terrorist? Hell, I don’t know. What, did you think I had the answer? I have no clue. All I know is that if he had followed the rules, he would either have been a cob minding his own business who got to go home with a wild story for his grandkids in a few years, or a prisoner of war with a place to sleep, a place to eat, medical care, protection from the elements, and red cross inspections to make sure he got it all. Oh, and by the way, incarceration by one of the only countries that really makes an attempt to provide such treatment. Achmed chose to step outside the program in order to get an unfair advantage. Applying those same rules and protections after he is captured is unrealistic. We either need new rules, or realistic acceptance for the consequences of such actions.

War is messy, and not for the uninitiated anyway.