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By James Kitfield, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Jan. 19, 2007

Perhaps every generation naturally looks askance at the next. Yet military leaders and senior noncommissioned officers once looked at today's "Generation Next" with particular fear and trepidation. These kids, they said, were couch potatoes and computer geeks hooked on Internet video games. Many had never participated in team sports or even physical education classes, let alone handled a weapon. The products of broken families and liberal parenting, they were ethnically diverse, politically correct, and thin-skinned. They talked back.

In other words, today's 17- to-24-year-old Americans hardly seemed to exhibit the steely mettle and discipline of an emergent warrior class. By the late 1990s, the armed services had even designed kinder, gentler versions of boot camp so as not to break or scare off this new breed of recruit.

And then came September 11, 2001.

"The same way many older Americans will never forget where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated, every young kid in the U.S. Army today knows exactly where they were when we were attacked on 9/11," said Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hunzeker, who is serving in Iraq and until recently commanded the Army's 1st Infantry Division. "In my opinion this generation was more profoundly impacted by those attacks than is the case in any other event in modern American history. Their response has been a huge groundswell of patriotism. Just consider that every young person who signs up for the Army today knows they are going to war. And they have shown themselves as courageous and dedicated in combat as any generation of Americans. I call them the 'Next Greatest Generation.'"

Who are these supposed miscasts-turned-warriors? No one denies that they reflect a more diverse, technologically savvy, and physically sedentary society. This generation does question authority. Marching in lockstep does not come as easily as it did for earlier generations. Given the challenges confronting the U.S. military today, however, the experts have also begun to see strengths in the relative independence and mental acuity of Generation Y recruits.

"Today's soldiers are different. They're thinking soldiers, and the No. 1 question they ask is, Why?" said Staff Sgt. Timothy Howell, a drill sergeant at the Basic Combat Training Brigade at Fort Benning, Ga. While enlistees of his generation would never think to question a drill sergeant (they would instead focus on looking busy and avoiding eye contact "like animals in the zoo"), Howell notes that today's drill sergeants must make themselves more approachable and be prepared to explain the reasoning behind their instructions. "It's more of a give-and-take, and I think basic training is better in some ways because of it," said Howell. "It's not a constant beat-down."

Gen. William (Scott) Wallace is the commander of the Army Training and Doctrine Command. The No. 1 fact Americans need to understand about Generation Y, he said, is that last year alone 80,000 of them joined the Army knowing they would be sent to war. "I think there were concerns in some quarters about Generation Y, but we've found that they are more digitally connected, better informed, and probably more patriotic than their parents' generation," said Wallace, noting that the differences from previous generations are hardly surprising given their short life experiences. "You have to remember that the bulk of young people we're recruiting today have known only two presidents and one Germany. For them, smoking has never been allowed on airplanes. They've always considered 'google' a verb, and known 'Madden' as a video game instead of a Super Bowl-winning coach. They've grown up in a time when it takes longer to make a coffee than a milkshake. Text messaging is their e-mail."

Few who have spent time with Generation Y troops in combat have failed to note the overall quality of this freshly minted generation of American fighters.

Because of the decentralized nature of counterinsurgency warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance, U.S. field commanders have pushed so much responsibility onto the shoulders of young, front-line troops that they often talk of the "strategic corporal."

"The level of expectation that we have for our young soldiers today is probably greater than it has ever been, and it's a testament to their smarts that they accept those challenges and have the ability to make the right decisions in difficult environments," said Army Col. Rob Baker, who commanded a brigade in Iraq for a year. "I've often been amazed at the degree of personal restraint and discipline some of our younger troops have displayed in dangerous situations. Sometimes I wonder if I would have shown such restraint at their age."

As for the innate bravery of Generation Y warriors, Baker says that those concerns have long ago been put to rest. "They are as courageous, steely-eyed, and hard-as-woodpecker-lips as any generation of American soldiers, and when I talk to them I'm always struck how they truly believe that their actions and sacrifices directly contribute to the safety of their friends and loved ones back in the states," he said. "I do think that is a consequence of 9/11 and subsequent terror attacks." [an error occurred while processing this directive]

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