Zombies are Great Teaching Tools, Ask the Pentagon

You will be glad to know that if a zombie apocalypse did break out, the United States military has a surprisingly thoughtful plan on how to respond.

Highlights include:

• Distinguishing between zombies made through black magic and those made from excessive radiation.
• Using robots to remotely operate critical infrastructure.
• Preparing nuclear weapons for use in the United States to eradicate the hordes.

Comfortingly, it does address how to restore civil authority after the threat is gone.

It's safe now!  I promise...

The Pentagon uses a zombie outbreak as a training tool to teach "basic concepts of military plans and order development through a fictional training scenario."  Which sounds like the coolest class ever.  Sign me up, please!

I'd love to fight zombie hordes.  It'd be nice to fight an enemy with no moral qualms about taking a human life.  The older I get, the harder it is to see black and white in our military conflicts.  Zombies would be a refreshing change.

Another thing I like about the zombie apocalypse; it provides an excellent parallel to the disintegration of the Roman Empire in Western Europe.  Central authority breaks down, trade screeches to a halt, regional warlords take control.  And while survivors in the Walking Dead always have to keep an eye out for roving zombie packs, survivors in Western Europe soon had something much worse to worry about.  Vikings.

The original apocalypse.

In truth, the Walking Dead with the prison and Mayberry does a remarkably accurate job of showing the logic behind and development of small feudal kingdoms.  These are the kind of connections that 7th graders love.  Them, and our military leaders.