Two weeks ago I was present as a battalion of soldiers graduated from basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. My son-in-law was among those who were honored, moving on to further training with the U.S. Army. I couldn’t have been more proud of him. Thirty-four years old and taking big steps to do what he thought best for his family, and his country.

At the same time, I was intrigued by the complexity of my feelings regarding his having enlisted in our country’s armed forces at all. While I was proud of him, I was afraid for his future safety as he moves from training to assignments, wherever that may lead him. I felt protective of my daughter, who will be raising their 10-month old son in his absence.

Everyone needs the support of others, and on a national scale we seem to have defined this as having a military force to keep other (larger) parts of our safety net safe. This safety begets the infrastructure of libraries, roads, schools; mail delivery, fire fighters, teachers; the myriad of programs that help those of us who have various disabilities or needs; and more.

While we all need the support of others - the safety net that will allow us to bounce back when there’s adversity, or to bounce higher when good fortune comes, I wonder whether, on the larger level, we might not do better to have a national service program that brings every single young adult (OK, there might be some exceptions for health or disability) into contributing a couple of years of life, skills, and energy toward national good. A portion of this service would undoubtedly be military, yet I can’t help thinking that if every one of us were to have our own daughters and sons doing something for the good of the whole, we might make different choices about where to focus national energy than we do now. National service wouldn’t necessarily be about armed forces, but could be about peace, prosperity, and freedom. Could it happen?