Retired Gen. James Mattis says civilians know little abou | MilitaryTimes

I agree with him. I've worked around a military community my entire career, but I can tell you in being in civilian organizations and civilian agencies, they really don't understand what military personnel do, and how it's really a calling to the mission, not a job. In one organization where I coach, one of the PM civilians had the engineers doing weapons developers carry the load-bearing equipment of field soldiers, and the engineers were shocked--and they didn't want to walk around with it all day!! But they surely developed a new appreciation for how their "piece" and it's weight made a difference to a soldier. I am also sometimes amazed at the lack of information and understanding of what military families go through. Thank you for showing this article. I want to buy the book, too.

Our patron saint of chaos and insurgency reduction.

The General is absolutely right. I grew up for 17 years not an hour away from Fort Campbell, and it wasn't until I joined the military that I became aware of its existence. That was 1988, way before the Internet, though. I write periodic article for a website that is aimed at military awareness, and maybe the times are changing a bit with respect to awareness.