I’ve recently been faced with unemployment as part of corporate downsizing and changes within our economy. It has not been a pleasant experience. However, I’ve had the fortune and misfortune of ample time to ponder the universe and wonder what direction my life will take now that I have been displaced from a steady source of income and busy career. In my ample time, I spent an evening watching a Netflix movie entitled “A House of Dynamite.” If you haven’t seen it, I make no recommendation on it. It is a thriller and well-crafted for its genre. The overall premise is that our military deterrence against ICBM missiles is potentially inadequate or inept.

Additionally, the Oregon National Guard has recently been in the news regarding its deployment for ICE facility protection in Portland. I feel that our profession has been caught in the middle of various competing agendas, and we are unnecessarily trapped within this conflict. Noah Oppenheim, the director of this Netflix movie, has stated that the agenda for the movie is to call attention to the military’s potential inability to protect our country with the technology in place and its fallibility, and invites conversation on this dilemma. Unfortunately, we have not been historically very good at simply having a “conversation.”  As of now, we await a judicial decision to allow Oregon Soldiers to deploy, all the while we watch chickens, panda bears, and pink dinosaurs in protest of such deployment. We are caught in the middle of an ideological conflict with diverse opinions, both positive and negative, from the public, politicians, and the media, both news and movies. As I sit back and watch with grave concern over the reputation of our profession.  I realize I have allowed the white noise of opinions and conflict to cloud my thoughts.

If the Oregon National Guard faces reputational risk, it will be from within and not from without. Reputational risk involves the potential or actual damage to an entity’s reputation resulting from product failures, negative media attention, or unethical behavior.  The Pentagon has already addressed the issue of product failure stirred up by the Oppenheim movie. As far as I can tell, the only negative attention received in the news from the ICE facility deployment in Portland is dancing bears protesting near the ICE facility. Local residents are getting frustrated with all the hubbub. Unethical behavior, though, is something we can manage within our profession.

The Army has done a great job of guiding this. I think of the Soldier’s Creed,

“I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values…

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills…

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.”

I am reminded of the apostle Paul’s quote to Timothy, his disciple, where he states, “No Soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since he aims to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Tim 2:4; ESV) Our aim and concern should always be toward the mission we work toward in the National Guard. I am encouraged by this to ignore the white noise caused by public, politicians, and media to what we do. I am encouraged to disregard these things to maintain focus on maintaining my arms, my equipment, and myself. I AM AN AMERICAN SOLDIER!