This ethnography describes the intense contradictions that exist
between the cultural values of American life and the cultural
values needed to survive in combat, as represented through the
experiences of forward-deployed U.S. Army units in Germany during
the height of the Cold War. Living in constant military readiness,
yet participating in peacetime community and family processes, Army
personnel had to tolerate the contradictions and live by both sets
of principles. In soldier perception, family life and community
activities ought to have been guided by American rather than
military values. Yet the military ran the community, and military
activities penetrated and disrupted family life.
In Germany the penetration and disruption was much exacerbated
by isolation, for these Americans did not generally have the
language or cultural skills to escape from the military community.
Rather, they were marooned in an intensely judgmental fish bowl
community where there was no private life. The resulting scrutiny
and the measures people took to avoid it and sustain autonomy
corrupted the community, its families, and the units themselves.
The scrutiny, with its attendant risks, and the intense
contradiction in values led to feelings of profound alienation.
General
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