Harder Army, a More Distant America

In the 10th Year of War, a Harder Army, a More Distant America

David Wood
Chief Military Correspondent

The U.S. Army now begins its 10th continuous year in combat, the first time in its history the United States has excused the vast majority of its citizens from service and engaged in a major, decade-long conflict instead with an Army manned entirely by professional warriors.

This is an Army that, under the pressure of combat, has turned inward, leaving civilian America behind, reduced to the role of a well-wishing but impatient spectator. A decade of fighting has hardened soldiers in ways that civilians can't share. America respects its warriors, but from a distance.

"They don't know what we do,'' said Col. Dan Williams, who commands an Army aviation brigade in Afghanistan.

The consequences of this unique milestone in American history are many -- the rise of a new warrior class, the declining number of Americans in public life with the sobering experience of war, the fading ideal of public service as a civic responsibility.
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In the 10th Year of War