Citizenship

On the subject of citizenship, 186 non-citizen soldiers took the oath of citizenship at the palace. It was good to see so many young men and women who loved their adopted country enough to be here for their swearing in. Non-citizens can join the military, but they work under strict limitations, mostly because non-citizens can't have the security clearances needed for the more interesting jobs. This also limits their opportunities for promotion. A lot of them still enlist and more than a few have died. Death brings automatic posthumous citizenship by the way. I have never met a foreign national in the United States military who didn't love our country and hope to be a citizen some day. It is a sad thing that this privilege is wasted on so many who are born into it and grow up to despise it. Not these though. They know what it is worth, because they have paid for it.