Military-Civilian Divide

[LDAHL]

Having read of John Kelly's handling of the recent kerfuffle over his boss calling the families of soldiers killed in Niger, I began to wonder if we are heading toward yet another cultural divide around military service. Some fewer than 1% of Americans are actively serving, and perhaps 5-6% have served in the past. Increasingly, the military is staffed by people with prior family connections, and we hear more about the development of a "military caste". When Kelly asked the White House Press Corps if any of them had lost a family member in combat or personally knew someone who had, the response was completely negative.

I'm not sure how worried to be about this. In this era of identity politics, I would hate to see a tribal mindset develop among military members that felt civilians could never understand the military experience and perhaps a certain degree of contempt for the "soft" civilian world. That would be sad, and perhaps even dangerous in the long run.

I don't see a return to conscription as a solution. The Vietnam era revealed the consequences of a subset of unwilling, resentful troops in the field. I suppose a cultural shift toward more young people deciding to delay the start of their civilian careers to serve in the military would be a good thing. That doesn't seem very likely, especially among people who consider themselves among the elite.

[Tybee]

I have seen this with some of the military students that I teach, and it is unfortunate.
My father in law received the distinguished service cross from service in WWII:
This is his commendation, with his name removed for privacy:
Exposing himself to devastating automatic weapons and small arms fire, Sergeant hurled fragmentation grenades into an enemy emplacement and single-handedly forced the surrender of six Germans. While approaching a second hostile position a short while later, he again was subjected to intense fire as he closed in on the gun. Although he was painfully wounded by fire from a machine gun ten feet away, he crawled to the gun position and dropped several grenades into the emplacement, killing three Germans and knocking the position out of action. Sergeant 's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 9th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

After returning, he devoted himself to peace. He ran for congress on a World Government platform. He spent his life as a priest, preaching non-violence.
So I am not so sure that this tendency you describe does not come from service itself, but rather from a post Vietnam era change in the military from an attitude of defense of one's nation and freedom to something else.

[bae]

I attended the OSS Society’s awards dinner last night for members of the US intelligence community and special operations forces. I came away convinced we are just fine.

[Yppej]

I suppose a cultural shift toward more young people deciding to delay the start of their civilian careers to serve in the military would be a good thing. That doesn't seem very likely, especially among people who consider themselves among the elite.

No, not likely. My SIL is career military and told me when she visited last month that people have told her she should not have served so long, the government is taking advantage of her, to which she responds citing the educational and other benefits she has received.

I was surprised people would say that to her because there is so much lionizing of the military in the media, sports, and the culture in general. But I guess Michael Moore isn't the only one to see who is mainly serving, and it's not the elite.

[LDAHL]

No, not likely. My SIL is career military and told me when she visited last month that people have told her she should not have served so long, the government is taking advantage of her, to which she responds citing the educational and other benefits she has received.

I was surprised people would say that to her because there is so much lionizing of the military in the media, sports, and the culture in general. But I guess Michael Moore isn't the only one to see who is mainly serving, and it's not the elite.

I've heard the same thing. I'm not sure how true it is. My seven years of diligent albeit undistinguished service paid for the better part of three degrees, plus some pretty valuable self-knowledge. On balance, I suspect my "real" career might be a bit more advanced at this point had I launched into it immediately after college, but who can really say? Life is more than a resume anyway. I do think the media (as in so many other cases) may tend to contribute somewhat to the mutual incomprehension by portraying military characters as cartoon heroes or hapless victims.