Semper Fi

And the halls of Montezuma, and the shores of Tripoli. You know, the Marines. That branch of the military that likes to refer to themselves as the "men's department" of the Navy, and whom other branches tend to call "Jarheads", "Leathernecks", or another one of the many less-than-charming terms that I won't repeat here.

Personally, I can't say that I have an opinion on the Marine Corps. I probably should, seeing as how I have an opinion on everything. But I don't. The only thing I know about them is that their basic training is definitely out of my league.

So when a fellow professor approached me about the educator's program run by the Marine Corps Office of Officer Selection (or perhaps it was Officer Selection Office. Or maybe the Selection of Officers Office), my interest was piqued. Apparently, the Marine Corps runs a program whereby a group of "select educators" are invited to spend a week at the Officer Selection Training School (or some title to that effect), to observe the "opportunities offered by the United States Marine Corps". Educators get to observe the "tough combination of academics and physical challenges first hand", and get to do all sorts of cool things, like ride in a helicopter, do an obstacle course, and shoot really big guns.

Look, I'm not a complete idiot. I know this will be a textbook case of white propaganda, you know, where they will do everything in their power to show how awesome and wonderful and uplifting the corps is, all in the hope that you will recommend your best and brightest students to consider the USMC Officer Selection Training School. But even knowing all of that, I have to admit, it sounded very interesting. I mean, when does anyone get a chance to observe Marine Corps training from that close up without commissioning? Besides people invited to the educator's week, obviously. It's just like that one time I almost went to a revival just because Steve told me it would be a month's worth of blogging. I still regret not going. If nothing else, this week in Quantico will give me something to write about.

But, and here's the problem. When you agree to go to this week, that means the recruitment officer for your area knows you. And not only does he know you. He has your email address and your phone number. And recruiters love those things. So he will call and email you, asking if he can come talk to your students. You can't blame the guy obviously. If I had to fly, feed, and entertain someone for a week, I would definitely expect something in return. Like, hey, actually allowing me to see if your students are interested in the Corps. Which is really not completely illogical, since that was the point of this whole exercise from the get-go. And that in itself isn't the problem. The problem is that I am not sure I -want- to encourage my students to join the Marine Corps. Or any branch of the military for that matter.

Please don't get me wrong. I think the military is an excellent choice of career. I mean, look at husband-dear. Look at most of my friends. But, this isn't about my students. Or their future careers. This is about me, and what I, as an academic, stand for. As an academic, my whole purpose in life to is to question everything. And to teach others to do the same. To always stay curious, wonder, test, and then know. If I then suddenly bring in a Marine Corps officer to tell them the Corps is an excellent future career for them, a future which will involve lots of learning, lots of opportunities, lots of stuff I know I will never be able to do, but which will also entail little to no real questioning, wondering, or time for philosophical reflection, aren't I selling myself out?

Now, obviously, I'm opening several cans of worms here. I can just hear the comments now, from "you're biting the hand that feeds you", "my husband is a great critical thinker, and he's in the military", to the "You just don't support the troops". Well, let me just beat everyone to the punch, and say, no, I'm not, yes, I know that's possible, and what the...!?

But, this isn't about my husband, or my friends, or my students' futures, this about what I think I, as both a professional and an academic, should teach my students. When I tell them, on the one hand, that they need to question everything, including me or any other authority, that they need to give it their all to make it in the industry, that they need to push themselves and their GPA to make it into graduate school, and then I show up with a man in blue-and-red pants and a khaki shirt who will probably tell them that the Marine Corps is the answer, am I doing my job right?

And on a more practical side, I do teach at a public university, which means we're not allowed to favor anyone. So does that mean that when I bring in a Marine Corps officer, I will also have to invite a recruiter from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and the Coast Guard? Because that would seriously cut into the time left to actually teach my students what they need to know to be critical and all that jazz.

So yes, I'm still completely undecided about what to do. Maybe I'll just have to put my own motto into practice then, "If you don't know what the right thing to do is, then don't do anything at all." I like it. Maybe if I just keep grading midterms, the answer will come.

Edit: And it did. Because sometimes you're saved by an email. Husband-dear, who has infinitely more managerial knowledge than I do recommended I check with my "chain of command" (aka chair/dean/provost/president) first. I did, and the chair replied with (and I quote) "Absolutely NOT". Well, that clears thing up, doesn't it?