About the heavy drug use in the Navy SEAL community.

I posted a blog article on the use of drugs in the Navy SEAL community.  I did it without comment but to be honest I can't hate them for it.  I see it as both a cultural thing and an abuse thing.

Culturally...

1.  People can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that grunt shit hurts and wears on the body.  The average football players carrier is two or three years.  Even with that we hear about how they wake up with aches and pains. The silly thing is that people don't give that benefit to the grunt world and especially to the special ops community.

2.  High risk jobs attract the type of people that like to push the edge.  In other words if your job might see you shot and killed at the end of the day its pretty hard to get worked up about the dangers of getting high.  If you can accept one with a grin and a fuck it attitude then drug use is nothing.

Abuse...

1.  I'm not talking about the abuse of drugs I'm talking about the abuse forced on these guys by the demands of the Pentagon and their leadership. Missions that should be spread to the conventional forces are instead SOCOM/SEAL only.  That means that they're being overused.  If you're always forward with the idea/knowledge that tomorrow might be your last day then you party hard today.

2.  McRaven.  Remember when the "Head Bullfrog" was pumping up the SEALs and every other day we heard news of a new movie or book deal?  I call this abuse because in my opinion it got out of hand.  Instead of recognizing that these are flesh and blood human beings they allowed themselves to morph into something different.

Long story short?

I don't want to see one of these guys punished.  I want them to get freaking help.  Not because they're special but because in my opinion we as a society have used and abused me.  Sometimes it took the form of lavish praise and hero worship that they probably feel a need to live up to.  Other times its deciding that they must be in the lead even though its obvious that the force is tired.

You might disagree but I can't wag my finger and talk trash about them.  You call it a personal failing?  I say maybe but we played a role in the problem.