Hurry up and wait

So, for those of you who don't remember the heart warming story from just a few months ago-let me update you. The Detroit Lions used a 7th round draft pick to select Caleb Campbell, a safety on the Army football team. Luckily for the Lions the Department of Defense had implemented a special policy in 2005 allowing any soldier with "unique skills" to be able to get out of having to be deployed to any wartime situations..aka Iraq or Afghanistan. Campbell would be able to serve his country in a different way by being a recruiter. Extremely respectable if I say so myself. However, other people had a problem with this for some reason. They found it unfair that Caleb got a pass from having to serve overseas. Hmm...interesting considering 90% of those people probably never had the guts to sign up for military service themselves. So, perhaps from added pressure of other soldiers bitching and complaining because they didn't have skills like Caleb, the U.S. Army has decided to make a new policy which is going to make Caleb have to serve at least a year or two in either Iraq or Afghanistan...wait...the Army changed their mind on something?!? NO WAY!!
Now you can say I served or didn't serve in the Army-whatever your opinion is on that. I did complete basic training and AIT (my schooling), but never reported to my first duty station. I was in for about a year total. However, that was more than enough time to see how the Army worked. The first thing they would tell you would never come out to be true...usually the 3rd or 4th thing that was said would wind up being the truth. So, it doesn't surprise me that they would go back on their word with Mr. Campbell. However, it should matter that the policy in place at the time the Lions used a draft pick to select Caleb would allow them to be able to at least try him out. It's appalling that the DAY BEFORE he was going to report to training camp they decide..."Oh wait, we have a new policy, you have to go fight in an unnecessary war and not go play in the NFL". It's not like Caleb wasn't going to serve his country at all. He was going to be a recruiter, and what better way to get people to sign up for the Army then to have a real life NFL player knocking at your front door!! Getting a bunch more kids to join the service would have more than made up for Caleb being deployed. Now he runs the risk of being killed or..oops..accidently killed like fellow NFL player Pat Tillman who VOLUNTEERED to go overseas.
I can't help but wonder if the Army changed their minds on the policy to avoid all the media attention that Caleb certainly would have got during training camp. Perhaps they were scared of the backlash of letting him stay stateside while more and more of our brothers and sisters die overseas. Well, too bad...you're gonna receive just as much backlash now for making him go join them. And god forbid, we do have another Pat Tillman situation with Caleb, not sure the Army can ever make up for that. Luckily for the Army, Caleb has been a class act throughout all this drama, even standing behind the Army's new policy, he understood that he took an oath and he is going to fulfill it. It's just a shame the Army took advantage of a great individual. Caleb, I hope you make it back safe and fulfill your dream of making an NFL roster...just play like shit twice a year against the Vikes!! Thanks buddy
Oh yeah...GO ARMY..BEAT NAVY : )