The Military and Sustainability

It is bright and sunny outside on a brisk January morning. You are standing guard outside along a long stretch of concrete sidewalk. You're surrounded by hundreds of other soldiers, military vehicles, and a 12-foot fence hundreds of yards long. The streets are empty, with only rolling trash to give visual stimulation. Everyone is on edge; whispers of mobs, insider threats, and bombs move swiftly down the line. You're told to lock and load your 10-round magazine into your US Army-issued M4 carbine. Is something coming? Are 10 rounds enough? When are they going to feed us? It's freezing out here.

This could be the mountains of Afghanistan, the streets of Iraq, or even the desert of the Horn of Africa, but you'd be wrong You are in Washington, DC. You look back, and you see the dome of the Capitol building with the American flag fluttering in the early morning wind. This was the surreal scene for hundreds of National Guardsmen, including myself, for much of January 6th. 21 years old, standing outside the Capitol with a loaded rifle. This can't be sustainable.

There are three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic Each pillar relies on the other If one pillar is failing, then they all do, and right now the social and economic pillars are crumbling. Our ability to develop and meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is failing.

The social sustainability pill f ensuring that all members of so access to the resources and op need to thrive It involves addres as poverty, inequality, and soc Capitol riots showed the conse addressing any of these issues unequal distribution of resou making power, and dis misinformation, which eventua chaos at the Capitol. A society equitable, resilient, and suppo members is unsustainable. Havin year-olds guarding the Capitol w is indicative of social standstill, progress. This pillar is cracking.

This leads us to the pillar of environmental sustainability, preserving the natural environment and managing natural resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future. But how can this be completed without

The pillar of economic sustain create a strong, stable, and thrivi benefits individuals and socie balancing economic growth responsibility. However, with t cracking, this leaves the economi There cannot be economic susta is no social sustainability The benefit all individuals if there is The economy cannot be stable leaders are being chased out of th rioters. How can the economy thr is collapsing on itself? This pillar down comes the rest.