Examines how the military corporate culture clashes with the values of American democracy, which produces a feeling of betrayal and disheartenment-a feeling known in academic disciplines as alienation and in the Army as low morale.

Foreword / Faris R. Kirkland -- Army of hope -- "Inside the Fence": Community, Army, and Family in Context -- "Ordered to Germany": Entry Shock and Its Lingering Impact -- "Danger Forward, Sir!": Readiness and the Corruption of Leadership in Military Units -- "Living with the Army": Family and Work in Conflict -- "The Army Takes Care of Its Own": Breach of the Support for Sacrifice Contract -- "The System Is Totally Screwed to Hell": Space-Available Health Care for the Military Family -- "If You Can't Control Your Family": Law and Informal Military Control of the Family -- "Little America": Islands of Isolation in Germany -- "Living in a Fishbowl": Surveillance and Social Control in the Military Community -- "You Gotta Get Away": From Taking a Break to Making an Escape -- Army of Alienation -- Appendix I: acronyms -- Appendix II: principal consultants.