After an unconscionable delay, help arrived in New Orleans and the surrounding areas in the form of United States military forces. There was an immediate sense of relief expressed by state and local officials, as well as those on the ground looking for help. The image of a National Guard general officer giving orders, telling troops and police to lower their rifles, and demanding action, reassured the people of that city and the nation.
The governor and the mayor had been vocal in their calls for assistance, but they had little in the way of resources to commit. FEMA was noted by its absence in what will go down in history as a criminally inept performance. Hope was fading fast and the fabric of society was being torn apart as a consequence. And then the military arrived, restoring faith and inspiration to those who had little of either.
Why was the military institution the only efficient and effective force in this situation? Why did the picture of men and women in uniform, under command, so reassure the survivors and those looking on from afar? It would be easy to argue that the military establishment has the resources - personnel, equipment, and mobility - to get the job done. But that conclusion alone would hide the most significant element in this equation.
The reason why military units are effective has to do with training. Unlike their civilian counterparts, the armed forces are built upon an ethic of training both in the field and in the school house. The officers and enlisted personnel spend the overwhelming portion of their careers either studying military operations or practicing them. Practice involves the accumulation of knowledge from prior history, the study of theory and incessant field operations. The military services do this as a source of professionalism and because they know that, from time to time, they will be called upon to defend the interests of their country. The stakes are high so their training must be as realistic and as demanding as possible.
