PIETRO'S ESSAYS AND COMMENTARIES
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REQUIRED CIVIL SERVICE

In 1987 I was teaching mountaineering skills on the Dana Glacier in Yosemite National Park. We came across a Special Forces team that was training in mountain warfare. I noticed that they had their crampons laced improperly. We got them to retie the crampons to that they would not fall off suddenly.
Since then I have thought alot about the skills needed for warfare. Most of them are skills I had trained in, especially for mountaineering. True, I had not been trained in the use of weapons, but I had trained in teamwork and survival under adverse conditions. I had trained in wilderness first aid, including treatment of blunt trauma and puncture wounds without outside medical assistance. I had trained in backcountry navigation. Four years later, when I thought of our troops in Kuwait and Iraq, mostly I thought about how much work it would be to keep each other alive in those conditions. And I give the U.S. Military great credit for keeping so many troops alive and healthy there. It was a masterpiece of logistics, which is the real backbone of any military.
I wish that all Americans learned the basic skills of teamwork, first aid, and coordination in an emergency. Across America we experience frequent emergencies caused by weather, fire, and earthquakes. We could all benefit from having a whole population ready to mobilize. Most of the training that American soldiers receive would be valuable for the entire population.

Therefore I recommend a 2-year required Civil Service for all Americans, for ages 17-19 typically. Others have made this proposal and I have not studied their proposals, so I welcome input. In general, I think we should look at the Outward Bound Schools as a model for team building and survival skills, and use the American Red Cross organization for the first-aid training. I think that every citizen should be trained in the safe handling of weapons, unless they object based on conscience or religion. Perhaps less than 10,000 Americans per year would die if proper gun safety were universally taught. Furthermore, the organization of participants into troops can be used as a way for people of different backgrounds to get to know each other very well. Hopefully increased exposure of all parts of our society to each other will promote some sense that we are indeed a society.