Opinions

What do Sen. Begich and a Senior NCO have in common? Tenacity and leadership

In this clustered mess of a campaign season, fueled by a bunch of turbo-rich Outlanders with a bone to pick and not a damn to give about Alaskans, you're all aware that this extraordinary level of mud-slinging in political TV ads is not normal. One in particular has me a little miffed -- a little National Republican Senatorial Committee ad that tabled a few accusations against the Begich campaign for criticizing Lt. Col. Dan Sullivan's service with the U.S. Marines.

That's cute.

The Sen. Begich I know would never stand for such a travesty; nor would his staff or supporters.

Since I left the 173rd I've found myself in the role of veteran advocate, and in the course of my travels I've had constant companions from Begich's office. Of Alaska's congressional delegation, his people are the most willing to reach out to the community and lend a helping hand. They've been the only team to visit UAA since I started going to school there in 2011. Through them I have been able to meet with the USDA, the Alaska Department of Labor, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Labor. And I have been able to get the word out about their veteran skill training, employment and small business initiatives thanks to Begich's people. Additionally, they've processed about a dozen congressional inquiries I've made on behalf of fellow veterans in the past three years.

Recently, one of my buddies from my old outfit ran into some trouble. Long story short, he had been terribly injured during my second deployment, retired with a half pension (not a full pension because of VA fraud, but don't worry, that guy's in prison already) and sent on his way to live in a shack in Georgia with no medical assistance from the VA.

I bet you can imagine how heartbreaking it is to see a once-proud brother paratrooper reduced to making the decision between paying for his own medication and feeding his two daughters. I bet you can also imagine how surprised he was when he received a call from the regional VA director asking, "Why is a senator from Alaska chewing up my office, and what can I do for you to make them stop?"

I got a call from him recently. Turns out the orthopedic surgeon found the massive, improperly healed fracture in his spine from an IED strike in 2010 that every other Army and VA doctor before had told him was "just his imagination" and "didn't warrant wasting money on an X-ray."

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Begich has fully immersed himself in our world. He has time and again asked us what we need to ensure our state's gallant sons and daughters can not only serve with pride but also come home with a purpose through the G.I. Bill, along with a multitude of other programs. These programs will make sure that America's war fighters can become the captains of industry, science and innovation that she will need to be as triumphant in peace as they were on the battlefields of Southwest Asia. Begich has ensured that rural veterans can get local medical care, rather than having to deal with the hassle of flying hundreds of miles and losing a day's wages to see a physician.

He's gone into the Senate and fought like a junkyard dog to ensure the atrocious behavior of a few people in the VA did not go uncorrected. His office has even taken my suggestions and had them hand-delivered to the secretary of labor himself. To me, that's utterly incredible.

He reminds me of some of the senior noncommissioned officers I had the pleasure of serving with -- a hardcore leader who stands up for what he believes, genuinely gives a damn, and is not afraid to put himself on the line to protect his people; a leader who will not ask those under him to do anything he is not willing to do. If he were one of my paratroopers, and if I were his senior rater, his evaluation report would say, "promote before peers," or, "as soon as eligible."

Begich has continued to impress outside of the realm of my own self-interest as well, taking a stand against the nonsensical "Foreign Policy" decisions coming out of Planet Washington and the Neo-Con architects of The First Iraq Quagmire -- a party to which Sullivan, as part of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's team, subscribes. One has to be a special kind of lunatic to think that sending "advisers" and oodles of money and returning the soldiers of 1st Infantry Division to Vietraq is going to produce desirable second- and third-order effects. Only a coalition of Gulf nations with American air support and a good plan will fix that unmitigated ate-up mess, and Begich has made that point.

Before I left the Sky Soldiers, the Armor Branch sergeant major told us to expect The Forever War and its attached "contingency operations" to last until at least 2027. I'd like it just fine if my children could avoid having to spend their years in uniform dealing with the same tomfoolery as my generation has. I believe that Mark Begich's vote in the Senate can make the difference.

Have a fantastic day, everyone, and if you vote like a sheep, you should expect to be treated like one. So please, do your duty: Be informed, and serve your country by voting responsibly.

Bryan Box is a Republican and a veteran of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He is currently using his post-9/11 GI Bill at UAA to earn a B.S. in Biology with dual minors in physics and chemistry -- a gift from the American people for which he is truly grateful.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.

Bryan Box

Bryan Box is a veteran of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. When not studying as a Biological Sciences major at the University of Alaska Anchorage, or fulfilling his duties as vice president of Student Veterans of UAA, he spends his time writing and experimenting with advanced agricultural techniques.

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