A recent page-one photograph in The New York Times shows a handful of weary, rugged-looking Israeli soldiers returning from the front lines in Southern Lebanon where they had been engaged in some of the heaviest fighting of the recent Israeli-Hezbollah war.

I noticed however they were smiling and apparently singing, as if returning from some party or a ballgame. I then read the cutline and realized they were not just ordinary Israeli soldiers (if there is such thing). They were Israeli paratroopers -- some of the finest soldiers in the modern world -- and their smiling and singing was indicative of the personalities of any elite soldiers coming and going on the battlefield. It's simply the behavior of well-trained, confident men who know how to fight and who relish the chance of closing with the enemy.

The retreating French experienced it in 1918 when they passed a column of U.S. Marines heartily singing and laughing as they advanced toward the sound of the guns. One of the French soldiers shouted, “Turn back. Retreat. The Germans are coming!” To which Marine Captain Lloyd Williams responded, “Retreat Hell! We just got here!”

A quarter century later, General George S. Patton Jr. stood before his Third Army and said, “Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.”

Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when intelligence indicated foreign troops were moving into that country, Marine Brig. Gen. John Kelly stated, “We want all Jihad fighters to come here. That way we can kill them all before they get bus tickets to New York City.”

For those who may never have served in an elite unit, laughing and singing in the face of death, boasting about wanting to fight and welcoming the sting of battle, might seem like the behavior of disturbed, socially disconnected people.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Warrior Culture

Last month in The American Warrior -- Part I , we examined the warrior culture and the warrior class that exists within the overall American society: Both the culture and the class might be considered something of an anomaly to a society such as ours, because we are a nation with an institutional aversion to militarism and large standing armies. Our nation was set up this way. We have a civilian commander in chief of the armed forces, a civilian secretary of a defense department, civilian heads of the defense sub-departments, and civilian congressional oversight of the same. Moreover, throughout most of our history, our national defense emergencies have been met by rapidly mobilizing (what were prior to those emergencies) marginally trained forces. These facts combined would not normally be considered conducive to a rich military heritage. 

Nevertheless, the fact that almost every American generation from the Colonial era through the beginning of the 21st century has experienced war; has led us to a uniquely American military tradition that today serves as a model for many foreign armies, navies, and air forces; and is in many ways the envy of the world.

“Many of America's heroes have been military men,” wrote the late Professor Briton Cooper Busch in his book, Bunker Hill to Bastogne. It's something many Americans take for granted, assuming that all nations and cultures have traditionally held their professional soldiers and sailors in as high a regard as they would their greatest scientists, philosophers, and non-military champions.

Of course there was a period during the Vietnam War era -- and for close to a decade following -- when American military men were publicly scorned. But that disdain was expressed by only a segment of the population, angry over American foreign policy decision-making, but who displaced their anger on soldiers who weren't responsible for policy making. Fortunately, the scorn was short-lived.

Busch also writes, “America's roster of heroic images has long included esteemed elites, variously defined, from Rogers' Rangers at Fort Ticonderoga to the paratroopers at Normandy and the Marines at Iwo Jima.”

This military heritage (based on generations of war), a publicly favorable perception of military heroes, and a tradition of “elites,” continues, and is the primary reason today we are defeating the terrorists in every corner of the globe. 

What is truly amazing, however, is that we are winning today on a variety of fronts with a non-draftee, all volunteer (much smaller than a draftee army) professional force, which is in many ways being infused with the ethos of modern “elites” and special operations forces.

Standards today for both modern American conventional and special operations forces are exacting. Training is demanding. The post-training danger is real. Yet recruiting is up, which baffles the cut-and-run crowd.

What the Numbers Actually Say

Military recruiting numbers were high prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and have continued to be high post-9/11, usually exceeding goals in any given month, quarter, or fiscal year. And during those rare months or quarters where numbers have been down, the military has still been meeting goals in the 90-plus percentile.

There are a variety of reasons why, not the least of which is a sense of patriotism and a sincere desire to do one's part in thwarting terrorism. This is particularly reflected among members of elite units -- like Marines, Army Rangers, and the various special operations units, including Army Special Forces, Air Force Special Tactics units, Navy SEALs, and Marine Recon   -- whose members fully expect to be deployed in combat theaters overseas as soon as they've completed training. I know this for a fact, and not because of published statistics and press releases, but because I talk to these folks regularly, one-on-one.

But let's consider the latest numbers from the Pentagon: In July 2006, the Army met 104 percent of its recruiting goals. The Air Force was at 100. The Navy was at 100. And the Marine Corps was at a whopping 112 percent.

Fiscal year percentages from October 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006 were also high: The Army was at 104. The Air Force was at 100. The Navy was at 100. And the Marines were at 101.

So who are these young men and women who consistently volunteer for service? The cut-and-runners would have us believe they are the most impoverished, illiterate, aimless, and so perhaps exploited members of our society.

The Best and the Brightest

In the modern American military, between 93 and 95 percent of current recruits have high school diplomas, compared with 75 to 85 percent of their military-age civilian counterparts. And according to a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) document, Who is Volunteering for Today's Military, “nearly two-thirds of today's recruits are drawn from the top-half of America in math and verbal aptitudes.”

Soldiers and sailors in today's armed forces have to be smart. They are all taught to lead if their own leaders are killed or incapacitated, to operate independently if separated from their units, and to think outside of the box under conditions of extreme stress and fatigue.

Then there are the criminal background checks for new recruits and officer candidates, and the psychological evaluations (initial moral character screening followed by moral character, ethics, and values training). There also is the fact that nearly half of all young people who try to enlist are rejected because of “health-related issues, with obesity being the leading reason for rejection,” according to DoD. Then there are the young people who are in basically good health, but are ultimately rejected...