War Ready

[DISCLAIMER]

When stationed aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, other Marines and I posed for a photo when at the rifle range. As part of our annual qualification with a service rifle (back then, M16A2 – 5.56mm ammunition), we prepared to be war ready.

Also referred to as being “battle ready,” the phrase “war ready” relates to psychological and physiological preparedness for a potential conflict or battle. This includes procieincy with and maintenance of necessary equipment, as well as adherence to training standards.

Additionally, the expression infers a strong will to engage in hand-to-hand, armed, and other varieties of combat. More broadly, being war ready refers to a state of willingness to face any challenge or adversity. In the case of Marines, that includes foreign and domestic threats.

When the above photo was taken, I’d already unfavorably remained subject to an arduous administrative and legal process, eventually opting for voluntary appellate leave in 2003. Thus, I left Miramar and after my Washington D.C. appeal was finalized, I was discharged in 2007.

Apparently, it was the position of the United States (U.S.). Marine Corps that I wasn’t war ready. For many years, I self-disturbed with unrealistic philosophies regarding my abrupt end to military service. Because I’m aware of how odd the last sentence sounds, allow me to explain.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and one Believes an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s one’s unfavorable assumption and not the occurrence itself that causes an unpleasant Consequence.

Regarding this model, there are two quick points of clarification which I think may be beneficial. First, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people often use to upset themselves: global evaluations, low frustration tolerance, awfulizing, and demandingness.

When providing psychoeducational lessons about these unproductive beliefs, I invite people think of the acronym GLAD. For instance, consider the following example:

I was kicked out of the Marine Corps (Action) and I unhelpfully Believed, “I’m a failure [G], and I can’t stand [L] not being able to continue my service. It’s also horrible [A] that I can’t join other Marines who’re going to the Middle East, because I should [D] be with them in war!”

For the second point of clarification, when using a Belief-Consequence (B-C) connection such as the one above, I experienced Consequences which included ruminating thoughts (cognitive), sorrow (emotive), heaviness throughout my body (sensory), and disturbed sleep (behavioral).

Unlike the Action-Consequence (A-C) connection that applies to the function of physics (e.g., a fired 5.56mm round [Action] can cause catastrophic injuries to one’s body [Consequence]), the B-C connection suggests a causal relationship between psychological malfunction and outcomes.

Addressing how people upset themselves with unhelpful attitudes, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unhelpful assumptions in order to explore Effective new beliefs. Whereas inflexible B-C usage leads to self-disturbance, flexible B-C usage is how to un-disturb oneself.

Along with the ABC model, REBT uses the technique of unconditional acceptance (UA) to relieve suffering. This is accomplished through use of unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance, and unconditional life-acceptance.

Ultimately, I was able to rigorously and repeatedly interrogate my self-disturbing beliefs while applying copious amounts of UA to my iss-ME (i.e., an issue for which only I can take personal responsibility and accountability). Eventually, I had no residual unhealthy negative outcomes.

This isn’t to suggest that I don’t look back in regret, or that I don’t experience some healthy level of distress in the form of disappointment, because I do on fleeting occasions. For instance, it appears as though Marines are once again heading to the Middle East for conflict.

Though I vehemently oppose supporting Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza (Palestine), Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and its foreseeable battles with Turkey in the future, there’s a part of me, perhaps irrationally so (not in accordance with both logic and reason), that longs to be war ready.

Granted, I have no desire to aid in the senseless (deficient of either logic or reason) slaughter on behalf of a nation that ostensibly advocates perpetual war (i.e., Israel and/or the U.S.). In fact, I maintain that it’s immoral and unethical to support a potential genocide and/or ethnic cleansing.

In any case, I further acknowledge that fallible human beings don’t consistently function in a rational manner. I’m no exception to this proposition. Thus, on one hand, I’m a professional REBT practitioner that advocates the non-aggression principle (NAP).

On the other hand, I was introduced to gangs in fifth grade and hung out with gangbangers all the way through my senior year of high school, I’m a former Marine (1996-2007), and I’m no stranger to violence. Alas, the walking contradiction representing my views is worth addressing.

Because I maintain that people aren’t our beliefs, I’m not advocating that I (Deric) am war ready. Before delving into what I mean, I’ll highlight the 2016 album Prima Donna by lyricist Vince Staples. In particular, I consider the track “War Ready”. Lyrics include:

Need a breather from the tripping

Either that or my brains to the ceiling

Bite the bullet, tryna fight the feeling

Fuck around and pull it, push it to the limit

Ain’t a thang to a G

Life give[s] you lemons, nigga, hang from a tree

Cold game all came in a dream

Woke up feeling like the walls caved in

Fought to the death, never gave in

Write that on the grave that I get laid in

Heaven, Hell, free or jail, same shit

County jail bus, slave ship, same shit

A wise man once said that a black man[’s] better off dead

So I’m war-ready

Addressed in Staples’s verse are matters I’ve experienced in my personal life, remaining hyperbolically war ready from a civilian perspective. While I had the good fortune to make it through difficult times in my youth, another hip hop track comes to mind regarding the military.

Shifting preparedness for conflict or battle on the streets within U.S. cities to places across the globe, I entered U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Training after the summer of 1996. Correspondingly, on the album Summer 96 (2019), lyricist Twista released the track “War Ready”. Lyrics include:

How I fight, you gotta move the furniture

‘Cause I’m a mothafuckin’ Punisher, and I was born ready

Got my ambition and my ammunition up when my enemies start runnin’ up

And now I’m war ready

Admittedly antagonistic to the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine up with which I was raised, shortly after graduating Marine boot camp I sent my dad a letter with the quote: Born to fight, trained to kill, ready to die, but never will. Unsurprisingly, my dad wasn’t impressed. Yet, I digress.

Twista’s verse encapsulates my perspective during military service. My beliefs about engaging in conflict related to a war ready posture. Earlier, I acknowledged that I am not my beliefs. Thus, the contradiction of my peaceful beliefs is met with the inconsistency of a warlike attitude.

Ergo, there remains a dilemma— a usually undesirable or unpleasant choice, as well as a situation involving such a choice. When encountering dilemmas while practicing REBT, I find it helpful to demonstrate such phenomenon through use of syllogisms. For instance, consider this:

Form (constructive dilemma) –

If p, then q; and if r, then s; but either p, or r; therefore, either q, or s.

Example –

If I’m a professional REBT practitioner that supports the NAP, then I don’t condone irrational acts of violence which are associated with war; and if I’ve befriended killers (gangsters and Marines alike), then on some level I do condone illogical and/or unreasonable acts of violence which are associated with armed conflict.

But either I’m a professional REBT practitioner that supports the NAP, or I’ve befriended killers (gangsters and Marines alike).

Therefore, either I don’t condone irrational acts of violence which are associated with war, or on some level I do condone illogical and/or unreasonable acts of violence which are associated with armed conflict.

The dilemma represented herein follows a logical and predictable form. Likewise, I maintain that the premises and established conclusion are reasonable (justifiably consistent with applied logic). Further, I argue that of possible considerations, I haven’t utilized a false dichotomy herein.

Therefore, I’m presented with two essential choices worth contemplating in regard to my contradictory beliefs. Either I don’t condone irrational acts of violence, or I do condone illogical and/or unreasonable acts of violence. How then may I resolve this apparent dilemma?

My advocacy for violence through any number of plausible attempts to justify war ready actions is associated with my former beliefs and behavior. However, regarding my current attitude and actions, I don’t advocate such violence except for limited instances (e.g., self-defense).

Therefore, without use of irrational appeals to emotion, I continue maintaining that people aren’t our beliefs, as I’m not advocating that I (Deric) am war ready – nor are my current beliefs about gangbanging or military action. Consequently, I now advocate peace and non-intervention.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

References:

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