Letter to the Editor ;
I have spent the last 19 years in the United States Air Force living out my childhood dream of serving my country. In every community I lived in, I was always encouraged by the generosity and appreciation that has been shown to me just for doing my job. I truly believe that the area around Hill Air Force Base supports the military better than anywhere else in the world. The community consistently reminds us with picnics, Thanksgiving dinners and the constant “thank you” when I’m out in the community in uniform. However, every once in a while there are things that happen that really make me take a step back and think about the job that our country has asked us to do. Last week I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Gregory Salicido teach his students at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, CA, that those of us in the military are “not high-level thinkers. They’re not academic people. They’re not intellectual people. They’re the lowest of the lowest of the low”, and “that our parents didn’t love us enough to push us” to make something of ourselves. For some reason this put my “low level of thinking” into a slightly elevated state. Several days have passed since I heard the video, and I have been unable to get his words out of my head. We (the military) failed Mr. Salicido because there is not doubt that he believes his words are true and it is disappointing that we have Americans that could feel this way.
The military spends approximately $4 billion on recruiting each year, but how much do we spend telling the real story to the American public on the success of your American Military? Maybe, this is where we fall short? So let’s take a minute and use a “low level brain” to try and understand how a person can come to the conclusion that America does not have “a good military”. We spend 3.5% of the United States GDP on the military. This equates to around $600 billion a year in taxpayer money. The only countries that exceed our GDP percentage is Saudi Arabia, Israel and Russia. So, what is it that would cause us to have a bad military? Is it our lack of experience? What country has been fighting every day since we were attacked on September 11, 2001? We went to war one month later and haven’t stopped fighting since. We put bombs on target within a few feet of the desired impact point from miles away. There is no one in the world that can hide from us. We are the best in the world in finding, fixing, tracking, and engaging targets (just ask Osama Bin Laden). We have a kill ratio of 40 to 1 in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we have been fighting people that blend in to the] civilian population so they generally had the element of surprise. We spend more in recruiting, equipping and training than any other country but yet we are still a “bad military”. How does one come to this conclusion? Where have we failed you?
I would like to set the record straight for those of you that feel that your military is disappointing. I have spent six years overseas, and I’m currently one of the “dumb guys” that is deployed in support of a Theatre Security Package in Asia. About half that time was spent in Iraq and Afghanistan and what I have seen would inspire even the “lowest thinker”. I’ve worked alongside professionals every day that never complained about being there for years at a time and went out on every mission with determination in their eyes to accomplish the mission that their country had sent them to do. Mr. Salicido believes that the people I worked with were the “lowest of the low.” If that was the case, I can assure you that your military has transformed them into the “best of the best”. They are now dependable, trustworthy and very determined individuals that know their job and are professionals at doing what the American people have asked them to do. My eyes have seen a very different perspective than that of Mr. Salicido. I’ve watched TSgt Travis Jordan get shot by a Taliban sniper and refuse medical treatment because he wanted to continue his duties to ensure everyone got out of a very bad situation alive. I’ve watched the family of Maj. Troy Gilbert as his five children tried to make sense again after their dad gave his life to save others in Iraq. And I’ve watched Trey and Tiffany Vandela for the past seven years raise a family of four boys in Kaysville as Trey lives from his wheelchair without his legs due to an improvised explosive device from Iraq. However, since these individuals and their families are the “lowest of the low” and we have the freedom of speech to make this claim we can simply push our emotional part aside and not use our very small temporal lobe the military has developed for us and simply address the claim that we are not “high level thinkers”.
The military encourages its members to continue their education and pays for us to accomplish this goal. The VA spends about $11 billion a year on GI Bill education benefitting over 800,000 veterans and their families. The military has paid for over $20 million of professional training and education for me personally. I would argue there few companies out there that encourage personnel development and furthering education more than the U.S. Military. I would argue that the military produces a more well-rounded individual than any other institution or company in the world. What other company teaches teamwork, trust, dedication to duty, loyalty, service before self and excellence in all that we do? What company encourages you to develop your mind and body and even pays you to do it? What company gives a 22 year old the keys to a $100 million airplane and trusts them to make life and death decisions with the press of a button? There is nothing like it in the entire world and I am very proud of the decision I made to be part of this organization.
I take no offense to any of Mr. Salicido’s words. In fact, I appreciate a differing opinion and appreciate his right to freedom of speech. However, the part that got to me was when he said that my family “didn’t love me enough” to push me to make something of myself. My mother taught me at home for six years. She dedicated her life to instilling values and character that made me who I am today. I have wanted to be in the military since I was seven years old, and my parents worked and struggled to give me the best possible education so that I could reach my childhood dream. They have encouraged me the entire way and did it because they love me, and because they too were willing to sacrifice everything to ensure this country remains the greatest country in the world.
I conclude with one request. The intent of writing this is not to make a rebuttal to Mr. Salicido’s words, but more to try and understand where he and others may be coming from. To those people that are out there that may feel like your military has disappointed you. Please give us the chance to make it right before you come to the same conclusion as Mr. Salicido. Please send me an email (via sdc.sentinel@gmail.com attn. Wilbanks) or come and visit Hill Air Force Base if you feel that we haven’t lived up to the military you wanted us to be. I believe, if given the opportunity, I can change your mind by showing you what the men and women at Hill Air Force Base have been doing and what we will continue to do to ensure that we will continue to live in the greatest country in the world for years and years to come.

Lt. Col. Bart Wilbanks
USAF
Hill Air Force Base
Ogden, Utah