Like ‘The Day Osama was Killed’: How the Military is Reacting to Trump’ Victory
Like 'The Day Osama was Killed': How the Military is Reacting to Trump' Victory by Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Washington Post
Like many Americans, active-duty service members stationed around the world were stunned at Tuesday’s night’s presidential race results.
“More than one person has compared it to the day Osama [Bin Laden] was killed,” said one Army officer, referring to the day the al-Qaeda leader was killed during a raid by U.S. Navy SEALs. “I guess there’s a feeling among soldiers that Trump will care about them and fix everything they see as broken about the Army.”
The officer, who like others spoke on the condition anonymity because of his active-duty status, also passed on a Snapchat image from a fellow Army officer. The picture depicted an alcoholic beverage with white text superimposed over the half-full glass that said: “Taking flag off wall, resigning commission tomorrow.”
As a traditionally Republican stalwart, the U.S. military appears to be embracing real estate executive Donald Trump’s Wednesday presidential win, though there is also a healthy amount of reservation as well, according to nearly a dozen active-duty service members interviewed for this report.
Pictures and videos were also circulating of soldiers celebrating the victory across the United States. At the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., soldiers cheered in their barracks as Trump’s electoral vote count broached 270.
Overseas in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, however, the response was more muted. A soldier serving in southern Afghanistan said that the election was barely discussed at his small base. Afghanistan in particular received hardly any attention during the presidential race. The soldier said troops were more focused on what was going to be for dinner last night.
Outside Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and the site of a bloody campaign against the Islamic State, BuzzFeed’s Mike Giglio tweeted a few impressions from the soldiers with whom he was embedded…
