As we end 2004, many of us look back on the things we should have done and try to do them before the new year arrives.

In my case, I have long wanted to do a column about how thankful I am for all the men and women who are in and around Iraq serving in our armed forces, but especially those from Maine.

No matter what one’s views on the war itself, or the administration which began it or the difficulties in seeing it through to a positive conclusion, we all should underscore our appreciation for those who are far from home and sacrificing their time, their treasure and even their lives to make our own safer.

Heartfelt thank-you

They deserve our strongest support and most heartfelt appreciation.

This is true for those men and women in the regular Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as those Maine-based Army National Guard and Reserve units called to active duty. In addition to the 133rd Engineer Battalion unit recently in the news after the attack in Mosul, there are Maine members from the 304th Regiment, the 619th Transportation Company and the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion, as well as crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Wrangell and the VP Navy Patrol Squadron and those recently called up for active duty like the 152nd Maintenance Company scheduled to go to Iraq in January. I apologize in advance if I have inadvertently missed any of the Maine units deployed.

Hard to watch

It is particularly heart-wrenching to see mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, and even grandfathers and grandmothers being uprooted from friends, family and normal life to go abroad to a hostile land in the middle of a vicious insurgency.

Especially around the holidays, their departures and tribulations seem particularly poignant. Loved ones know their own sacrifices as they serve and often continue to serve beyond their prescribed tours of duty. Whether through poor planning on the part of our leadership or changed circumstances, the need for their ongoing service continues as we enter 2005.

During the Vietnam War, the National Guard served many important functions and purposes, but its members did not generally serve overseas in combat. One of the major post-war reforms in the military was to fully integrate the National Guard into the regular armed forces and make sure that the Guard could and would be used wherever and whenever needed. The swift and decisive conclusion of the 1991 Gulf War seemed to indicate just how well that adjustment had worked.

But the major shrinkage of the total American armed forces following the end of the Cold War has meant that the United States military has had to depend more and more on the National Guard for protracted wars or peace-keeping efforts. The results have been painful. Lives are disrupted, families separated and the harsh realities of a long-term war casts a long psychological and physical toll. The strains seem almost palpable and is becoming harsher as personnel are deployed over and over and for longer periods.

As the United States pursues the global war on terror and faces an increasing arc of instability from collapsed and failed states that cannot police their own borders nor control their own countries, a major expansion of the regular armed forces (and a much needed rebalancing of the new needs within those regular armed forces) will be required. We have found out, unfortunately, that many of our “allies” in Europe and the U.N. cynically refuse to help stabilize the situation and want only for us to fail. I think of Kosovo with some bitterness since Europe was unable to stop the fratricide and the U.N. was paralyzed, leaving us to do the bulk of the work.

Fighting global terrorism will not be an easy or quick task. The campaign rhetoric about a reinstated draft completely misses the point of 21st century warfare. The Pentagon does not want a draft. Given the demands of warfare, especially command and control today, a draft simply would not provide the necessary high quality of recruits to master both the technology and the far more vigorous training of small unit cohesion. We need to expand the all-volunteer force as quickly and judiciously as possible, but that requires higher benefits and will take a good deal of time to implement.

In the meantime, we should focus our praise, our hopes and our thanks on the men and women from Maine and elsewhere who have disrupted their lives and even paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep us and our way of life secure.

Our debt to them is enormous.

Chris Potholm is professor of government at Bowdoin College, president of a national polling company and a writer, analyst and speaker on Maine’s political scene. He can be reached at The Potholm Group, 182 Hildreth Road, Harpswell, Maine 04079 or by e-mail at cpotholm@polar.bowdoin.edu.

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