On Warrior Servants

Somewhere on the planet it is early in the morning. As an embattled city awakes, a squad of American soldiers pick their way carefully through a debris cluttered street taking care to watch for furtive movements, unusual objects beside the road and anything and everything that might be considered a threat. Their boots crunch on broken bricks and glass and although the sun has only risen a few minutes ago, the temperature is already stifling. The soldiers sweep their areas of responsibility with their rifles deliberately as they move looking high and low for a heretofore unseen enemy. They walk where no one else wants to walk. They walk there because their country has asked them to walk there, because of duty, because humans suffer if they do not walk there. They are all that stands in between the oppressed and oppressor and probably most importantly, because in spite of the danger, the physical and mental strain, they walk there because they are willing to walk there when few others are willing.

A category four hurricane looms in the Gulf of Mexico. The RADAR image shows the massive storm occupies most of the shallow, warm body of water as it grinds its way toward landfall. Most people who can evacuate have done so. Grocery store shelves are empty. Streets are empty. The outer bands have brought wind, rain and a howling noise that portends a darker time. Power blinks out all over the area and its now too dangerous for the power crews to even attempt to restore power. While all this is going on, a group of people are setting up tents and hammocks in their place of business. Their families far away. Sleeping bags are rolled out and folding chairs set here and there. These folks are here for the duration in spite of maelstrom. They are your PSCO (Public Safety Communications Operators). They are camped out because once the beast has passed, most are aware they won’t be able to move much less come to work and their sense of duty has brought them into the makeshift campground so that they can help care for the community through the raging storm and after it subsides.

It’s a few days before Christmas and it’s cold out. At this early hour of the morning in this frigid weather, little moves with the exception of the men and women in bunker gear leaping from their vehicles. The house they are in front of has thirty foot flames and oily black smoke shooting from the living room window. The din is incredible. The fire roars, firefighters shout to each other to be heard over the noise while neighbors watch in horror. Most of the family is huddled together across the street bundled in blankets and as they recover from the shock, one of the parents frantically reports to a firefighter that their toddler and dog are still inside the house. Instantly, and without a second thought the duty driven firefighters spring into action and go where no other person would or could go…into the fire. As sirens blare in the distance, a window shatters on the side of the house and the smoke parts enough to reveal firefighters hand a small boy and the terrified family dog to their partners outside the inferno.

Somewhere in the United States, it is a busy day for the officers working on patrol. There aren’t enough of them to answer the high volume of crashes, burglaries, shoplifting incidents, and other miscellaneous calls for service. Then when the city seems to pause and take a breath, police radios all over the jurisdiction sound with an emergency tone “Shots fired! Subjects down”. and officers are directed to local elementary school. These officers, some of whom are parents, all turn their cars and hurtle toward the gunfire. Thats right, they do the unthinkable and move to the sound of gunfire. When they arrive, without hesitation a small team drives into the school stepping around a bleeding teacher in the hallway, consumed with their duty to drive to the threat and neutralize the threat or…refocus that threat on them instead on teachers and children.

Author Michael D. Janich describes the warrior as well or better as any other. He says: “And although we may do our best to avoid trouble, sometimes trouble insists on finding us. When that happens, when the time for talk is over, warriors act. They flip the switch and act decisively-ruthlessly if necessary-to preserve and defend the things that they hold dear. And when the fight is over, they turn off the switch and continue to cherish the things they valued enough to defend. That’s what makes them warriors. And that’s what makes them the good guys.” Well said Mr. Janich. Well said. The only thing I would add is that warriors flip the switch to act decisively to preserve and defend the things that they and others hold dear. The warrior mentality is not inherently violent. It is not inherently cruel or indifferent, callous or craven or dominated by hubris. Warriors are instead a rare breed of human who are willing to step into the gap when they are needed most for the greater good. Then, after the need has abated as Janich stated, they flip the switch and blend into the crowd fading away with their arm wrapped around their spouse and holding their child’s hand walking away cherishing what they and others hold dear.

So what of the “servant” portion of the term warrior servant? Author James P. Owen in part describes duty as the responsibility to something larger than one’s self, a willingness to sacrifice self interest and doing what has to be done. In his book “Cowboy Values” he speculates: “Without question or complaint, he (the cowboy) puts duty first. Why else would someone go out into a blizzard to rescue a calf that doesn’t even belong to him?” Is it possible that the answer to this question is because the cowboy in question has the heart of a servant? What about those soldiers, firefighters, PSCO’s and law enforcement officers mentioned above? Pause a moment to consider that in all of these professions and many more that fall into the “warrior servant” category spend most of their days with the “switch” as Janich calls it flipped into the servant position. Somewhere in that same beleaguered city where the soldiers patrol, a soldier in heavy vest and a rifle plate has slung his rifle and is giving a kid a candy bar. Somewhere a firefighter is taking the blood pressure of a citizen that has walked into the fire house and afterward, gives their children a tour of the fire apparatus. While that is happening, a PSCO is taking up a donation for a child orphaned by an act of violence that the PSCO had the horrifying experience of witnessing over the phone. A police officer comforts the mother of a child that died in a crash, another screws in a light bulb on the front porch of an elderly widow who lives by herself in a high crime area, while yet another officer listens to and comforts a mother whose child has descended to addiction. There are hundreds of thousands of stories like these that illustrate the servant side of the flipped switch. Yet somehow, these amazing and oft maligned people are thankfully able to flip the switch back when needed for the rest of us.

These warrior servants are the glue that holds our fragile world together. They are called to do what they do, and although many cannot explain how they were led to the calling they concede that it is a calling. Vast numbers of these warrior servants pursue their calling at great peril, be that physical peril or psychological or the perfect storm of both. These risks go unimagined by those whom they serve and mostly without recognition. In that light, it is worth my time to write about them and your time to read about just exactly who these unsung heroes are.

Additionally, it is worth closing with a final thought. The term “warrior” as it relates to first responders has taken a beating in recent years. And while a small percentage of these beatings are well deserved, warrior servants must always stand at the ready for that moment when the wolf arrives on our doorstep, your doorstep. The warrior servant must not, cannot, ever succumb to the belief that those whom we/they serve are the enemy. Yes, it is a difficult line to walk when one must always remain on high alert, when one is subjected to repeated and tragic traumas, but a true warrior servant always remembers why they are there, the love for those whom they serve and the principles that brought them to service in the first place. True warrior servants are men and women of peace who only throw the “switch” Janich refers to out of absolute necessity and once the necessity has passed, throw the switch the other way and fade into the crowd indiscernible from any other citizen. Our wellness as a society depends on our warrior servants and the wellness of the warrior servant depends absolutely on the confidence of the people for whom they serve and making sure they never forget that most of what they do is on the servant side of the “switch”. All the while staying fit and resilient enough to bring it when the wolf arrives and duty requires a warrior. It is my fervent hope that none who read this ever have an encounter with a “wolf” on their doorstep, but if you do, it is my equally fervent hope that a healthy, resilient warrior servant is around to step between you and that wolf.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. George Orwell