In casting about for a topic about which to write, two people suggested independently that I talk about the military and romance. Not military romances, mind you, but how the (US) military and the romance genre interact.
I am a romance reader. I am an academic. But I also recently received a medical separation from the North Carolina Army National Guard after 7 1/2 years of service. I enlisted after 9/11, commissioned in 2003, and attained the rank of captain just before I was kicked out for the distressing habit of throwing up a lot if it’s more than 90 degrees. 
I was never deployed overseas, but I was involved in the National Guard’s nationwide response to Hurricane Katrina, spending 20 days in Louisiana.
What does this all have to do with romance? Leaving aside the obvious issue of the devastating Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy (which, yes, affected me), I’ve got three thoughts:
1. Research
I recently read a story in which a platoon sergeant was called “sir” by a lieutenant, ordered the lieutenant around, and was saluted by a private. All of which is so completely, unconscionably WRONG, I was utterly boggled. I was flung out of the story so hard I got whip-lash, and I couldn’t trust the story after that (and that was the first three paragraphs of the story!). I mean, the most basic of research would have told anyone that this was just wrong wrong wrong. And yes, this matters. If you’re writing a story about a world that’s not your own, don’t confuse the reason of “never been a part of it” with the reason of “making it up.” Don’t world-build something that should be researched.
2. Women and the Military
Women make up 14% of the US military and with the asymmetric wars we’re involved in, women see combat even if they’re not supposed to. They are also victims of the most vicious forms of sexual harrassment and are disproportionately represented in DADT discharges. And yet (maybe, somehow, as a result?) a woman just become the head of the US Army’s drill sergeant school. And we have our first female four-star general.
In not unrelated news, we have some serious kick-ass romance heroines nowadays, who overcome huge obstacles, go after what they want, save the world, and get their man. Women, in general, broad brush-strokes, don’t let much hold us down anymore. We can conquer the heights of military rank structure in ways that are not just tokenism. We can save the world–literally. That’s reflected in our books and that’s just awesome. Can I just say, “Go us!”
3. Military and Romance
Do you know how many of our beloved romance authors are veterans? I think many of us follow Jessica Scott’s blog as she’s deployed in Iraq and yet still writing. But to discover that so many authors are veterans fills me with pride.
And again, I think these things are connected. People join the military for lots of reasons, but I think the loyalty and honor, optimism and love for and pride in country that pervade the military mindset (at its best) are reflected in many romances, whether or not the authors are veterans. We all want our heroes (and heroines) to be honorable, steadfast, loyal. We all want them to believe in something larger than themselves, or at least to act that way, even if they profess not to believe. We want the love of two people, or the military service of one, to mean something, to be part of a greater good. And the soldiers, sailors, air-men and -woman, and Marines we honor ideally represent the best of the nation, as romances present and represent the best of humanity.
Melodramatic, maybe, but let me tell you how much I *miss* putting on that uniform once a month, the uniform with the American flag on one shoulder, US Army over my heart, and my family’s name emblazoned on my chest.
No related posts.
Thank you for your service to our country!
Some of my favorite authors are veterans.
Susan Grant- Science Fiction Romance author. I love how she brings the Mommy Factor to the Kick-Butt Heroines, which I find ridiculously lacking in other Kick-Butt Heroines. Some of the most fierce Real Life Kick-Butt Heroines are mommies! I live in Alaska where we know better than to get in the way of a Mama Bear and her Cub.
Patricia Wood- author of THE LOTTERY. Whoa, the most vivid telling of a Less-Than-Perfect Hero you’ll ever read.
I really enjoyed the military details of Sandra McDonald’s THE OUTBACK STARS – despite the book being science fiction, the quartermaster difficulties of a spaceship seemed very realistic and were incredibly interesting. (She did serve overseas.) I was more interested in that than in the alien plot!
I have to say that in general, I’m not a big fan of military romances because it feels that often the stories are laden with military jargon, which can be confusing if you’re not in the military, and short on romance. That being said, there is something wonderfully compelling about a man/hero with a strong sense of honor and duty and I’m a huge fan of kick butt heroines, which the sub-genre definitely plays to. I’ll read a romance with a strong, kick ass heroine any day! And I’m compelled now to follow those romance authors who are in the military simply because that’s an amazing feat and they have to be amazing people. So thank you for pointing that out
I’m sending the “platoon sgt with an LT that called him ’sir’” to my husband. And his NCO- and that NCOs wife who is a ‘terp for MI.
Because I laughed so hard coffee shot across my keyboard. Thank God he’s deployed so he’ll never know.
Thanks so much, Sarah, for mentioning my blog in your article.
As Antoinette pointed out, one of the hard things for readers to understand is all the jargon but for me, that’s one of the things that makes a military romance believable. And an LT calling a PSG ’sir’ would probably get slapped over here in Iraq but then again, calling a lieutenant LT and a platoon sergeant PSG might pull someone out of the story so hard, they can’t finish. So I have the same kind of challenge as Sarah when something is just blatantly wrong. But there are a lot of military romance authors who get it right and I love those stories. And I’ve had to work extra hard to keep the jargon under control, even though I know perfectly well what PT, ACS, ACUs and ACHsare and it sounds off for me to write out physical training, army combat shirt, army combat uniform and army combat helmets are.
Great post and thanks again for the mention!
My husband has been active-duty Air Force for 18.5 years, and I’ve been his wife for 23, so the military is simply our way of life. My oldest son just completed a tour of duty as a Navy Master-at-Arms, and my youngest leaves for Marine Basic training in January and plans to become a field medic. I’m so proud of all of them that I could bust.
I love military romances for the heroes who remind me so much of the men I love, and I love them for the recognition they give to military spouses and families for the very real (and often overlooked) sacrifices they make on a daily basis.
I do get irritated when authors don’t do their research and make obvious mistakes, but I still appreciate their willingness to recognize and honor the courageous men and women who, like my husband and sons, are willing to risk their lives for our freedom.
Great post, Dr. Frantz! And spot on. I have several female students who are looking to or have enlisted, and all of them feel empowered by the kick-ass heroines of science fiction, urban fantasy and romance in literature, film and television. They are the young women who’d rather be Buffy than Bella, as one wrote in a recent journal entry.
I love romances where the military element is done well, whether it is the setting itself or (more often) the backstory of a main character. And although I don’t know the milieu well enough to spot every error, I have been thrown out of (or put off) a story where a character’s military background felt stereotyped or overly simplified. I have quite a few veterans among my students, as well as some family members and friends, and I have seen the profound impact that the complex experience of military service has had on each one of them.
What a wonderful blog! I’m so glad I found it. First of all, thank you for your service! Not only am I a huge fan of Jessica Scott as a military person, a writer (trust me, you’re going to LOVE her book!), and a mom, I’m also the aunt of two servicemen currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And a member of soliders’ angels, who wears my blue bracelet every day to remind everyone I meet of the sacrifices our military men and women are making for the rest of us.
I’ve been writing romance for 27 yrs. Although not all have been “military” romance, per se, nearly all my heroes have been in the military, because these are the guys I know.
Recently I’ve begun adding military heroines. And although I’ve been writing military romantic thrillers the past few years (including my last book, which dealt a bit with “don’t ask, don’t tell,”), my upcoming series is going to focus more on what happens when our troops come home. Because my deepest desire is that all the brave men and women we’ve sent off to war will come home safe and sound. And for those who don’t, that the resources will be there to help them.
As I’ve argued with publishers, I firmly believe the military and romance are a perfect blend of genres. Because a hero or heroine who can commit in, and believe in something larger then his or herself, can obviously commit to another person. And that’s what romance is all about!
Thank you very much for your service!
Excellent blog and so true. Our military men and women face and overcome adversities daily, those that are inherent in our heroes and heroines.
I’m a retired Navy chief, a military brat, and my son is active duty in the marines and just heading home from deployment. I’m also an author and write Scottish medieval romantic suspense set in the Braveheart era. Not contemporary military, but knights, the servicemen of our past.
Also, I’m unsure if you’re aware of the group, but Jessica Scott as I belong to a phenomenal group of women called RomVets, women who write and who are serving in the military or who have served:
http://www.camulod.com/
Again, my sincere thanks for your service. God bless.
*Opppsss. Not sure how that url made it in there. RomVets is:
http://www.romvets.com/
Diana, I do actually link to RomVets just under #3.
I just don’t make it obvious. But yes, I love RomVets and I was amazed at the service when I went there the first time.
Sorry, I missed post #3. Sigh, it’s late. My bust. The RomVets are an amazing group. Take care and again, wonderful post!
Well, I once heard a British RSM bellow at Lt. “I call you, SIR, you call me, SIR, we all know who means it”….
Now, my husband is career Army. He just howls whenever he sees a SEAL/Ranger hero. He just wants to know who is fighting when they are all at home getting hot sexx.
Fascinating — thanks for tackling this.
I hope that Catherine Mann sees this Romancing the Blog … she always gets it right. LOL to the lady married to career Army … one has to wonder what actual SEALs say about how they’re portrayed.
Fabulous post, and can I just add, “HUA.”
I haven’t served in the military per se, but I’ve been employed by the military for over 14 years and my spouse is a LTC (uh, Lieutenant Colonel). I write SFR that often includes military elements. (Nothing sexier than a hero or heroine who values honor and duty.) I’m hoping to twist RomVets collective arm into letting me join their ranks someday.
I’m also a huge fan of Sandra McDonald’s THE OUTBACK STARS and I recommend it as a great read–to men, women, civ and military alike–every chance I get.
Hooah!!! Great blog!
I see several of my RomVets sisters have already beaten me to the punch
I write spy novels (with romantic elements) with former military personnel in the lead roles – and my heroine always kicks ass. I second your “Go us!”
(Not to nitpick but there are no “Airwomen”. In the A.F. we’re all “Airmen”.)
Like you, I miss wearing the uniform but my husband still wears it and I am lucky enough to live on a military base so that I hear reveille, retreat and taps every day.