So, I think I made mention in class before that my ex-husband is in the Army. I don't know if I've ever mentioned how long we were married, but it was just shy of ten years (yep, I got married before you all were in middle school. Now you see why I feel so old? LOL), so I had a lot of experience as an Army wife, which is truly a subculture of it's own. I got to play a unique role as a liaison between Army families and military units, which I truly loved. I got to see some unique perspectives between how families view circumstances and how the Army views them. I say all this to premise this interesting article I just read.
The Pentagon is actually funding research to investigate regrowth of human tissue for Soldiers who lose a limb in combat. At first, I was a little taken aback with "okay, sure, let's spend money in this economy on some science fiction . . . why don't we create the Incredible Hulk while we're at it . . ." but then as I read further, it sounds really cool and not too far outside of current scientific capabilities.
The unit I volunteered for was an Engineer unit. Now, for normal human beings, we would think this means they design and construct things (which they do), but for the Army, Engineers not only build things, they blow them up. (The unit motto for 391st Engineers is actually "Build and Destroy") When this unit was sent to Afghanistan, their mission was to build roads, but in order to build roads, they had to clear mine fields and be on constant alert of IEDs (roadside bombs). These two tasks made their mission very dangerous, and we actually lost 5 Soldiers during the deployment (one to gunfire, four to an IED). No Soldiers lost any limbs, but the threat is ever present.
I don't know if you are aware, but the body armor Soldiers are provided covers their head (Kevlar helmet), neck (there is a flap on the IBA, Interceptor Body Armor that flips up), and trunk (Ceremaic plates that cover the chest and stomache, a flap that covers the genitalia and plates which cover the back and kidneys). Because the armor is so heavy, it is would not be functional to cover limbs as well. Therefore, although life may be protected in an attack, limbs are extremely vulnerable to loss.
In addition to the grief that comes simply with the loss of a limb, losing a limb could end the career of a Soldier. This can be doubly devestating to someone who has dedicated his whole life to a career he loves. He not only loses his job, he is expelled from the community and culture he is accostomed to. There are many factors that compound the devestation a Soldier feels.
Regenerated limbs sounds a little freaky to me, but it would be an ideal resolution for military personnel. I think it's a really cool idea in this context, but how would it play out in regular society?
Referring back to our conversation on Tuesday about genetics and the impact of genetic knowledge on our understanding of disability, how would this capability redefine disability in terms of amputation? Would it change the way we view someone missing a limb? Would we form negative opinions about the person with the amputation who makes the choice not to, has a medical obstruction that prevents him, or is unable to afford this procedure? Would Soldiers feel pressured to undergo this process and continue their enlistments? Is this a way for the military to increase the quality of life for an injured servicemember or is it a manipulative way to obligate Soldiers to more service? I would hate to think this about an entity I have so much respect for, but I would hope that there would not be a "we'll only provide this for you if" clause attached.
Anyway - what are your thoughts? I'll include the link to the article below.
http://www.agi.it/world/news/200903262107-cro-ren0099-art.html
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I think that this is a great advance. In general I feel like as a nation we don't recognize our soldiers enough or provide them with enough benefits. To be a solider is to risk your life in order for others to be free, or at least that is the impression I get. It is like risking yourself for the good of all, so admirable.
ReplyDeleteIf they offered these procedures to soliders I wonder if once they had their limb back if the army would expect them to continue their service? In my opinion this would be a major drawback.
That's my concern. In general terms, most of the Soldiers I know really embrace their role and wouldn't want to be "put out" of the Army for any reason, but that's not to say that a brush with death wouldn't skew that position. I would hope that the military would give them the option of staying in or getting out but would allow them the procedures to regrow the limb either way. Usually, Soldiers who are undergoing any rehabilative services are still on active duty throughout the process. They wear their PT uniforms, they have formations (or at least have some method of accountability), and they still live within communal military units under military supervision and rules until they are discharged from the military. The benefit of this is that they retain all of their free medical benefits and monthly pay during this time. I would presume that the military would expect them to continue their service if they were back to full health, because they do so with any other Soldier/indident. If a Soldier were in an accident and broke a leg, was unable to walk for three months, he would still be expected to return at full duty once he had healed. I would think it would be the same concept, although, I would imagine that the process of regrowing and rehabilitating a new limb would be time-consuming enough to eat up contract time from an enlistment, so a Soldier may have no other obligations at the end of his rehab. Interesting complication to this issue, though.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought about how this plays into the body (perhaps because I'm still thinking about the bodies exhibit)...but I feel like this makes the body far more mechanized. No worries if you lose a limb, we'll just fix it later. I feel like it will lead to a very flippant attitude (somewhat...I mean not like everyone will be lining up to lose a limb so that they can regrow it...but still) about the body. I just feel like a lot of this technology is making the body less and less impressive in the way that it functions. Does this lessen the importance of the body? I know that we talked about this idea at least a little bit in class but it's been something that's been on my mind just in deciding whether or not I want to go to Atlanta to see the bodies exhibit. I think that this is a very interesting idea but that it could also cause the military to just be further removed from seeing actual people. I promise I'm not trying to bad-mouth the military because I have several friends who have been in/are in/lost their lives in the military. But it just makes me wonder what this would do to the way that the body is viewed and the people are viewed...less of a person, more of a machine?
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