Military Review English Edition November-December 2015 | Page 128

will cause division among the
increasing number of soldiers with
diverse perspectives. Accepting
then that everyone will die with
no valid guarantees otherwise, and
acknowledging the organizational
problems generated by spiritual
narratives in diverse forms, perhaps
leaders could focus on the accomplishments and contributions that
fallen comrades leave behind.

Remember Me Forever
The fourth narrative is legacy.
Of all the narratives of immortality,
(Photo by Staff Sgt. Justin Holley, 982nd Combat Camera Company)
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Kahler, left, supervises and provides security as Pfc. Jonathan
legacy lends itself most easily to the
Ayers and Pfc. Adam Hamby emplace an M240 machine gun 23 October 2007 in the
military context. In Homer’s Iliad,
mountains of Afghanistan’s Kunar Province. The soldiers are all from 2nd Battalion,
the
mythical warrior Achilles must
503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Kahler was
killed 26 January 2008. Respected and admired for his skill, professionalism, and dedica- choose to leave Ilium for “a long life” or
tion to duty, he was universally mourned by those who knew him.
stay and die to “gain unfading glory.”16
proposes that groups will “fight and die in order to
He chooses glory, and it is not surprisaffirm [their mode of immortality] or put down rivals ing that his story endures. Achilles symbolizes a warrior’s
who threaten their immortality system.”11 This is not
immortality through legacy, in the Western tradition.
to say that religion and views of resurrection and
However, few warriors—sparing names such as Alexander
the soul have no place in Army leadership, but they
the Great and Julius Caesar—gain enduring fame. Still, legremain deeply personal, not universal, views. Leaders
acy offers a path to avoiding complete personal extinction,
who attempt to use them must take care not to expect but it comes with a dark side.
conformity within their units or to proselytize.
The search for legacy through personal glory is a narA dominant trend within the U.S. military is the
cissistic one that runs counter to the selflessness needed
increasing diversity of the force, including a religious
for a unit-based ethos; therefore, modern armies seldom
diversity that mirrors America’s changing religious
celebrate heroes as the Greeks did. Since the Napoleonic
landscape.12 This is a trend that then chairman of the
era, the common tool for constructing a legacy narrative has
Joint Chiefs of Staff, now retired U.S. Navy Adm. Mike been nationalism. Soldiers may die, but their achievements
Mullen, said in 2010 “can’t go fast enough.”13 Despite
live on in the security and prosperity of the nation-state.
this narrative from strategic leaders to accept diversity,
A nationalistic theme is problematic for two reasons:
friction surrounds a significant population of military
the relationships between the force and the host-nation
leaders who struggle to integrate soldiers and families
population, and the relationships among members of the
whose beliefs lie beyond Judeo-Christian perspectives.14 force whose cultures differ. This is because a nationalisCertain warrior societies—the Japanese samurai
tic theme tends to be based on an ethnocentric defense
and Greek hoplites, for example—successfully emmechanism (a superior attitude about one’s culture).
ployed a belief in the immortal soul to promote resolve
Enhanced cultural themes such as nationalistic
in battle; however, these societies exhibited nearly
messages, combined with the high mortality risk of
perfect ethnic and religious homogeneity.15 In a diverse
combat, will generate increased tension between solforce such as the U.S. Army, using such narratives to
diers and populations of other nationalities, cultures,
bolster collectively hardy attitudes toward mortality
and religions—if they apply at all within a diverse force.
is risky. Some in the formation may find cour