Like many other players that expected to be taken in the 2008 NFL draft, Caleb Campbell was pondering where his career would take him. Campbell was eventually picked up by the Detroit Lions in the seventh and final round of the NFL draft. Just like any other player, Campbell could have ended up in Carolina, Atlanta or maybe Indianapolis, but there was a place that Campbell was supposed to go where other players were not: Iraq.
You see, unlike other football players, Caleb Campbell played for the United States Military Academy at West Point. Along with the free education and opportunity to play collegiate sports, West Point also involves a multi-year commitment in the armed forces - no exceptions. Until recently, at least.
In 2005, the United States military began the Alternative Option Service program that allows, in certain privileged cases, West Point graduates to forego their oaths that required them to take part in active duty and work as a recruiter or reserve in their spare time. Such cases include signing a contract with a major professional sports league like the NFL.
The program is not provided to those in the Navy or Air Force, whose members must serve a two year tour of duty before choosing three years of active duty or six years in the reserves.
What the army is trying to do with this program is to improve its publicity and potentially attract more recruits. Bringing a major figure into the NFL could potentially bring some positive attention to the armed forces in general. The problem, however, isn't that the program won't bring attention - which it will. The major issue with the Alternative Option Service program is that it brings forth the wrong attention.
The war in Iraq is by no means a popular topic, especially with high school graduates - just the type of people the Army wants to attract. When they see a recruit such as Campbell avoid active duty because of his talent on the football field, they don't see the Army's icon for youths. Instead, they see a man near their age take an oath to go and fight overseas, only to back out of it, regardless of the circumstances.
Campbell was selected in the final round of the NFL draft, where a large amount of players are cut from teams before the season even begins; nevertheless, he will be viewed as a role model for the Army. It simply gives the image of an Army graduate barely making it in the NFL to get out of fighting.
Despite our government's best efforts, the war in Iraq is viewed more and more as something that can, or should, be abandoned. There is no requirement for service; it's purely volunteer. So when potential recruits see someone that has taken an oath, on their own free will, to go and fight only to "get out" through his football talents, it speaks volumes about the war.
We no longer view military service as an honor; it's now a burden. With every rumbling about a potential draft that isn't for a sports league, we're coming closer to a reality that we don't want to accept: Nobody wants to fight in this war. Even more important than that, however, is the attitude people have towards those that are heading there. The overall attitude towards the drafting of Campbell is that he's being saved from his duty in Iraq, the very duty for which he volunteered.
Caleb Campbell is an outstanding individual that will do more good for this country that most of us can speak of - he has done nothing wrong.
The issue, however, is that when the army allows leeway for a binding military commitment, regardless of how small, it makes an impact. It's sad that the army has come to the point where it takes good publicity from a relatively unknown football player that has yet to even make the roster of an NFL team.
Whether or not they intended to do so, the army's actions have made military service something to be avoided and even abandoned. The army can't be taking cadets such as Campbell away from his military duty in hopes that he'll attract some kids that, in regards to joining, were on the fence. Because if kids do end up looking up to him, they might be jumping right back over it.
Nick O'Malley is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at nomally@student.umass.edu
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