TOW #11: The Best Job in the Army by Carole Emberton (article)

            In the army there are many important jobs that must be done. But which job is the best? According to Carole Emberton, that job would be the driving of a commissary wagon.  A commissary wagon is a shop supplying food or equipment in a military camp during the Civil War.  Emberton’s great-great grandfather was a Commissary at the time of the war. As the article progresses, the author talked about the importance of food in the military and how different kinds of food were supplied for different reasons. For example, the vegetable, Onion, was seen as a delicacy for army men because it contained vitamin C, which is needed in order to prevent scurvy. At the end of his article, Emberton discusses Sam Watkins and strays slightly away from the importance of a Commissary. But, he keeps the idea of the importance of food in the army contestant throughout.

            As stated in the title of the piece, Emberton’s purpose for writing this article was to convince his reader’s that driving a commissary wagon is the best job in the army. By starting off the article with a list of three reasons why being a Commissary or even better a Chief Commissary is the best job.  One of these reasons was that the Commissary is close to food and supplies at all times.  Also, Emberton uses his great-great grandfather’s experience as a Commissary to enhance his points by giving short anecdote about what he did on the job.

            Overall, I was not completely convinced by Emberton. In the beginning, I thought he had a strong and well-supported argument going, but as the article progressed, he completely stopped talking about the Commissary job. Although, he did keep the focus on the importance of food throughout, which in a way does support the job, I believe his article switched focus from the job being the best in the army, to just on the importance of the food.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/the-best-job-in-the-army/