Army morale reflects mood of general public: Your Say

Letters to the editor:

Army teams are some of the best in the world. The research reported in Paste BN, about Army low morale, is not an issue ("Army morale low despite 6-year, $287M optimism program").

The state of mind of Army personnel is often no different from the population at large. In fact, today it is better. A Gallup Poll reported 31.5% of U.S. workers were actively engaged in their jobs in 2014. According to Paste BN's article, Army data show 28% of soldiers scored well in engagement and 24% had borderline scores. To me, the Army looks as good if not better than the general population.

Additionally, the article said 39% scored poorly in trust of leadership and peers. The 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer shows only one in five members of the public trusts leaders to tell the truth and make ethical and moral decisions. Again, the Army looks better than the general population.

High engagement and high trust lead to better results, and of course we should continue to try to raise the Army's scores.

However, given what Army personnel face daily, the ongoing state of war and uncertainty of political policy leading them, I think they continue to be the best in the world.

Lawrence Polsky; Warwick, N.Y.

The purpose of the military is to win wars. I was drafted in 1951 and spent 13 months on the front lines in Korea. I griped along with other GIs but did what was expected. I came home and resumed normal civilian life. Perhaps if a draft were reinstated, we would not be involved in never-ending wars, and career servicemembers who hate their jobs would not be necessary.

Thomas G. "Skip" Hannon; Bradenton, Fla.

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Fighting bootless and hopeless wars in the Middle East is not helping the situation. Stationing our troops in countries that, for the most part, hate us has got to be demoralizing. And losing major parts of Iraq to the Islamic State, after so much death and sacrifice, is in a way worse than the Vietnam War.

It is time to bring the wars to an end. Unless they directly involve us, the troops need to come home, rest and get ready for what's coming next.

— Chuck Hunnefield

I don't doubt the numbers except to say the percentages of those who scored poorly on the assessments are smaller than I expected.

I bet a large chunk of those taking these mandated tests just click through them without really reading the questions or caring much about their results. If you don't think your opinions matter, why would you try hard?

— John Cavendish

I retired last year. The Army is still a heck of a place to be. Attitude? Well, leaders need to be stern, not mean, and mature enough to know the difference. Compassion for your subordinates is not a weakness.

Unfortunately, the best leadership and compassion are counteracted by undermanning because of cuts. In actuality, more troops are needed. No schematic can convince me that we need fewer troops.

Stop cutting budgets and closing bases, and I suspect morale will go up.

— Mark Galpin