Dial 911?

     I have just finished my two weeks Annual training for the National Guard. I know that 25 years is a long time. Many things change in that period of time. I didn't expect the military to change as much as it has. Most of that change has occurred in the last ten years. Before you start speculating, this has nothing to do with the military openly accepting gay soldiers. That doesn't bother me. I have known that they were a part of our armed forces since, I was a wee young soldier. It never bothered me. This is more about the difference in the soldiers from the time of the Cold War to now.
     I noticed an interesting fact while I was sitting in the Chow Hall, sipping on my coffee. It is a morning ritual that most of us old dinosaurs share. While enjoying the extremely bitter brew that this Mess had concocted, I began to really look at the young soldiers around me. When I was a young pup every soldier carried a knife. For many, it was as simple as a pocket knife. In my day, almost every young boy had been given a pocket knife by the time they were 12 years old. It was a rite of passage most boys that lived in the country. This showed that your parents trusted you not cut off anything important; and that you were coming into adulthood. Today, I guess it would be a playstaion, xbox, or their first laptop.
     Every soldier I knew carried a pocket knife, or even better, a Buck knife on his belt. There was always a need for a knife to cut things in those days, or for self defense. The knives seemed to get bigger and bigger as manufactures produced larger folding blades. The knives became so large, that the military felt a need to limit the size and length of them. I believe the maximum length was a 6 inch blade. This stopped some of the soldiers that were trying to make-up for other inadequacies by carrying small swords.
     Those were quickly replaced by the Leathermen and Gerbers. Having a pliers, a screwdriver, and wire cutters beat having a big blade in most circumstances. I know there a few nasty places that I could still be trapped in, if it weren't for these wonderful tools. The leather knife holsters were quickly replaced with these cloth cases. They became so common that the Army started issuing them to certain types of soldiers. There aren't many combat soldiers, I know, that don't still carry one.
     Unlike the troops that have returned from multiple deployments, the new soldiers are very different. I ave had those "Computer Geeks" in my platoon before. You know those kids. They can make a computer do anything, except make a decent cup of coffee. Today's younger soldiers all seem to be of that caliber, at least they think they are. The days of 'Chest Thumping Neandethals' is coming to a close. I seldom hear soldiers bragging about how much they can bench press anymore. Too many prefer to relate to their powers as an operative on "Ghost Assassin," or something in that genre.
     Everyone of them has a laptop, cell phone, and God knows what other gadgets. Now, when you turn the lights out in a barracks, you have to tell them to quit texting. I'm not kidding. The dings and whistles can drive you nuts in the dark. I think I threatened to end the lives of some of these devices, and their owners recently. These are the same soldiers that replaced the knife and gerber on their belts with a cell phone carrier.
 I pointed out this fact to one of my fellow relics. We sat there sipping coffee counting the number of phone holsters we saw pass our table. I think we quit somewhere around 40 or 50. My fellow Non-Commissioned Officer shook his head in dismay. "What are they going to do if they get in trouble?" he asked me.
     I shook my head. I had no answer for him. He answered for me. "We at least carry something that we can cut our way out something not too bad. Or, we can fix a minor problem. What are they gonna' do? Call AAA or 911?"
     I know he was dead serious. He shouldn't have said it while I was taking a drink. I almost choked. He was right. I could see one of them trying to use their cell phone to call for help when things went bad. The rockets coming in and some kid online with 911. I can hear the operator now. "This is 911. What is your emergency?" BOOM!