Reflective Essay: My Service In The United States Army

Experience teaches me that diversity strengthens both individuals and institutions. Diversity encompasses respect and acceptance that are defined by an appreciation of individuality, not merely toleration of differences. My service in the United States Army profoundly shapes my attitudes and guides my actions that support these values. During my fifteen years leading sol-diers from varied socio-economic, ethnic, linguistic, racial and national backgrounds, I have learned the inherent strength that diversity imparts. When I became an Army officer, I joined one of the most successfully integrated organizations in the United States. The first unit I led consisted of over 30 members, who represented the full spectrum of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity - African-American, African, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern members, from different backgrounds. This multiethnic array chal-lenged me to critically examine personal views shaped by my limited background. As a young platoon leader, I had the privilege of working side by side with an experienced non-commissioned officer who was twelve years my senior and from a background very different from my own. As my platoon sergeant, he was nominally subordinate but equally …show more content…
These wars taught me the importance of defending the inherent rights and value of all people, and the social and personal impoverishment that ac-companies the loss of diversity. In these places, politicized differences actively manifested into violent conflict at the hands of political entrepreneurs, between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo and then Arabs and Kurds in Iraq, as well as sectarian fault lines between Sunni and Shia. I also witnessed how the participants in communal violence could, at other times, live side by side as neighbors, even valuing each other's