A veteran’s case for investing in effective international assistance and diplomacy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joe Ricker, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is founder of At Ease Orchard and a member of U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Farmers for Prosperity and Veterans for Smart Power networks.

For 30 years, I wore the uniform of the U.S. Army. I deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, served two tours at the Pentagon, and spent my career helping defend our country and protect America’s national security.

Today, that commitment to service continues in a different way.

In 2016, I bought 10 acres in Hancock County, Ind., and discovered that farming gave me a sense of peace and purpose. Working the land, caring for goats, and simply being outdoors became a way to slow down, reconnect, and find an outlet outside the military.

I also knew I wasn’t the only one in the military searching for that sense of connection and community.

In 2018 I turned my farm into At Ease Orchard, a place where veterans could find community, learn new skills, and perhaps discover a new sense of purpose along the way.

I’ve watched veterans come to the orchard and our programs and find something they didn’t know they were looking for. Some have simply found a community of people who understand where they’ve been. Others have taken the skills they learned and started farms of their own.

I am passionate about meeting veterans where they are, not where we want them to be. Those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan can carry the impact of those deployments long after they come home — the loss of friends, difficult memories, and questions about the conflicts in which we served. Many veterans carry those experiences quietly.

Spending time with them has also caused me to reflect on a question: Before we send troops into harm’s way, have we made full use of every tool available to protect our country and advance our interests?

It has reinforced something I believe deeply: America is strongest when we use every tool of national power — defense, diplomacy and development — to keep our country safe.

There are times when military force is necessary. There are threats and evils in this world that cannot be persuaded away. As a soldier, I understood that responsibility and carried out missions to protect my country. But we must make use of the tools that can prevent conflict, strengthen allies and partners, and advance American interests before having to take a final resort of deploying our service members in crises.

I saw the importance of those partnerships firsthand in Afghanistan. While serving in Mazar-e-Sharif, I worked alongside a Jordanian hospital providing lifesaving care to the Afghan people. Helping protect that largely peaceful mission did more than deliver medical care. It helped build trust with local communities and strengthen relationships with partners working toward a more secure environment.

Experiences like that taught me that strong partners are essential to achieving both our diplomatic and military objectives. Building trust and relationships before a crisis erupts makes America safer and gives our leaders more options when challenges arise.

Diplomacy and effective international assistance play a key role in that. In fact, according to data from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, every $1 invested in conflict prevention can save $16 in later response costs. These preventative investments represent less than 1% of the federal budget.

Preventing instability starts with something as simple as food. Having served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I found an appreciation for how abundant and reliable our food supply is here at home. And now as a farmer myself, I have a new appreciation for just how much depends on the ability to put food on the table.

Food provides economic opportunity and stability. When families cannot feed themselves and communities lose those foundations, desperation grows — and instability follows.

That connection is especially important for my state and America’s Heartland region.

Agriculture is a major part of how Indiana, and states across the Heartland, engage with the world. For example, Indiana is one of the nation’s leading agricultural exporters, exporting $6.1 billion in soybeans, corn, pork, feed grains and other products overseas each year. Those exports support farmers, processors, truck drivers and communities across our state.

When assistance helps countries become more stable and prosperous, and when American leadership opens doors to stronger economic partnerships, Indiana benefits.

Our job at At Ease Orchard begins when veterans come home. As a country, our responsibility begins much earlier.

The best way to honor those willing to go to war is not only to stand by them when they return. It is to use every tool of American power to prevent crises and address instability before American service members are called upon.

And when we do send them, we owe them a clear mission, the resources to accomplish it, and a commitment to stand with them when they come home carrying challenges that the rest of us may never fully understand.