Field Research

Kevin Edminster
11/08/2015
Location: Camp Williams, Utah
Purpose: Headquarters of the Utah National Guard, Training facilities for all army formations in Utah
I chose this location for my field research for a few reasons. First is I was going to be here for my
training as part of the ROTC program and second the military is a key factor in my political issue and
the information they have is often first hand and very accurate.
Pictures: Camp Williams being a military base photography isnt allowed while military formations are
doing training.
I choose to do my observation during lunch at the base which is at 12:00pm- 1:00pm. This was my first
time being in the heart of a military base surrounded by soldiers and armed forces personnel. I had
fallen victim to thinking of soldiers as uptight and almost mechanical things rather then people but
being in the cafeteria I heard joke after joke, never ending laughter and a constant low level buzz on
conversation between the troops. The tones of the conversations varied greatly between different
groups, The low level officers (lieutenants and some captains) are smiling having fun talking about
their families, the mid ranked officers (Older Captains and Majors) seemed more tense and their
conversations were more focused on possible deployments and making sure each solider they
commanded was fully trained. The commanding officer (a colonel) talked with his second in command
and their conversation was very tense and high strung because the colonel had received orders that
something big was in the wind for his unit and that it wasnt good. Perhaps what I noticed most
however was the enlisted men in the building. They were the most light heart-ed, happy people I saw
all day. They were always joking with one another maybe one would crack a joke at another and then
the guy would say a comeback and they would go back and forth for ten-fifteen minutes just making
fun of each other and laughing. After watching and observing how the soldiers and officers talked and
interacted with each other for about 45-50 minutes I decided that I was going to go and talk to a few
officers and ask them some of the questions for my political issue and see what their thoughts were.
Interview #1 (Captian Carr, Female, 27)
- How familiar are you with the Middle East
I am very familiar with the Middle East. I was deployed to Afghanistan twice and while I was
there I had checkpoint duty which can be very stressful but is generally very boring so I had a lot of
time to read up on Middle East politics.
- Do you think the situation in Syria warrants U.S involvement
That is a hard question and there is a multitude of ideas over that within the Army. I Personally
believe that yes it does. I saw first hand what Muslim extremism can do to citizens and it is barbaric.
- Do you think what the United States is doing right now is enough
No not even close. Airstrikes alone wont do enough because air power has never won a war, we
learned that lesson in Vietnam. As far as aiding the rebels to fight ISIL I think its a good start but we

need to do far more to help them then give them few guns.
- Do you think Russia should be forced out of the conflict in Syria
No I do not I think that Russia and the United States should work together and that they could
destroy ISIL we could move pass the old Cold War mind set.
Interview #2 (Major Aaron, Male 36)
-How Familiar are you with the Middle East?
I served three Tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan but I never learned to much about the culture
or the politics other then who was shooting at me and who I could shoot back at.
-Do you think the situation in Syria warrants U.S involvement?
Again I dont know a whole lot about what happened before and led up to this whole situation.
However I would say no simply because after 12 years of war in the Middle East we dont need to get
bogged down in another fight where everyone fighting in it hates us even our allies.
-Do you think what the United States is doing right now is enough?
I think it is actually to much. We spend several million just to drop some high explosives on
some Muslims and it doesnt gain us anything it just makes the rest of the world hate us more.
-Do you think Russia Should be Forced out of the conflict in Syria?
Hell no I say let them do it all. If the Russians want to bleed in Syria like they did in
Afghanistan the I say let them.
Interview # 3 (Male, Didnt want his name attached because he is an intelligence officer)
-How Familiar are you with the situation in the Middle East?
I would say I am very familiar. I study it everyday and then when I come in to the National
guard I go over Intel reports and analyze what is happening over there.
-Do you think the situation in Syria warrants U.S involvement?
Yes and no, I say yes because as a human and a solider I feel that we have a duty to help the
people that are suffering in Syria under ISIL rule. I say no because also as a solider you have to know
when a battle is lost and I think that we have a lot to lose in a fight in Syria and not a lot to gain.
-Do you think what the United States is doing right is enough?
No I dont think it is. The airstrikes might be a good morale boost for the rebels and we might
even kill a few ISIL fighters in the process but they dont actually achieve that much in terms of
damage to ISIL. I think the United States can and should do far more to help those fighting ISIL
including supplying them with more advance weapons and large amounts of ammunition. We also need
their help to better coordinate our strikes against ISIL so that they can inflict the maxim amount of
damage.
-Do you think Russia should be forced out of the conflict in Syria?
Absolutely, they have supported a corrupt government that has butchered its own people and
now they are actively engaged in fighting for that government. What Russia has done by launching air

strikes against Syrian civilians in considered an act of war and by some a war crime. Since Russia
became actively involved in the fighting they have harassed our jets and our drones trying to show off
who the big man on the block is. We cant let Russia continue to act in this manner or we will lose what
little face we have left in the region.