Posted on Oct 10, 2015
COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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Have you read about the Army Vet’s Take On Trigger Warnings In The Classroom?

An Army vet shares his perspective on the national debate surrounding trigger warnings and microaggressions in college classrooms.

http://taskandpurpose.com/an-army-vets-take-on-trigger-warnings-in-the-classroom/

There’s been a lot of slinging going on about trigger warnings and microaggressions lately. For the uninitiated, trigger warnings are a kind of “spoiler alert” for those who might be affected by being exposed to something traumatic. For instance, this article on video game “Life Is Strange” makes the argument that the game might have done a better service to its players if it gave them a trigger warning because of the traumatic nature of the content. Others argue that by doing that, it robs the game of some of the suspense and surprise.

Microaggression is a term that I’m not sure really has a rock solid definition yet, but is pretty much a form of discrimination or passive aggressive hate.

For example: “Oh you were in the military, huh? You weren’t able to get into college?”
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
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In many other Social Media forums, especially those frequented by the younger generation (18-25) it is very common to see TW or "trigger warning."

I don't understand it. I really don't.

It's not that I'm insensitive to the phenomena, it's that there is no feasible way to warn every person of every possible trigger. This is simply me an my and my overly pragmatic view of the universe.

As an example, the smell of diesel fuel. It's relatively uncommon where I live, but I get the occasional whiff. And dammit, but every time I do, I'm taken half a world a way. Not unpleasant memories. But memories of being knee deep in the stuff being burned. I would never expect a gas station that sold diesel to have a sign to say "Warning: Memories of 13 MEU" prominently posted.

Now, the author brings up another great and valid argument. Something I've brought up in previous topics (I believe the most recent was started by SGT Ben Keen). We (Vets) have become so rare, that we are essentially "Foreigners in our own Country" at this point. I'm really not sure how to deal with that..
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COL Ted Mc
COL Ted Mc
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS - Sergeant; Your "foreigners in our own country" comment also raises the question "If the military is 'uncharted territory' to the populace, how prepared are the members of the populace for the military if they join it?".

It appears that a lot of the research seems to indicate that one of the major factors in "post-deployment dysfunction" is the degree to which the service member was "tempered" prior to joining the military (or, at least, prior to deployment). The less prepared for the reality of deployment the service member ACTUALLY is (make sure that you don't confuse "theoretically" with "actually" because if the preparation hasn't been internalized then it isn't going to work very well), it seems that the more likely they are to be afflicted with "post-deployment dysfunction".
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LTC Stephen F.
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No COL Mikel J. Burroughs I have not read about the Army Vet’s Take On Trigger Warnings in the classroom. I am not aware of a national debate surrounding trigger warnings and microaggressions in college classrooms. I am certainly aware of shootings on colleges in classrooms and outside and the national debate the President is using his Bully Pulpit to build a case for with limited success.
The example quote “Oh you were in the military, huh? You weren’t able to get into college?” seems most likely to be uttered on a liberal campus which has rejected ROTC etc for some time.
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PFC John Henry Parker
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