The Tribune is to be commended for its recent five-part series on today’s Army. The breadth and depth of F. Richard Ciccone and Joseph A. Kirby’s reporting was impressive.
In my 30-plus-years as a military officer, including my last duty as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel, I have read literally thousands of professional articles, magazine articles and newspaper series on the state of the nation’s armed forces.
The Tribune’s series was singular in explaining to your readers the lives of the men and women who serve so faithfully in one of the nation’s most important institutions and one that predates the Declaration of Independence.
Their accurate portrayal of the life and times of our soldiers and families is a must-read for all those concerned about our nation’s defense. This is especially so for those serving in positions of responsibility for that defense, be they elected or appointed officials.
This was more than a snapshot of our Army, which marks 25 years of being an all-volunteer force this summer. Ciccone and Kirby superbly showed the successes, dilemmas and challenges facing today’s soldiers. But the increased number of deployments, declining investment in quality-of-life programs and the almost 14 percent pay gap between the armed forces and comparable civilians portend that today’s vibrant Army may become tomorrow’s fragile force.
The series clearly portrays a need for increased investment in our armed forces.
Ciccone and Kirby, the photographers, graphic artists and editors are to be commended for their superlative effort.
The Tribune’s devotion of time, talent and space to this series was exceptional in these days of nugget-sized stories, often on trivial subjects.
