Military Review English Edition September-October 2013 | Page 46

A recent study from the Pew Research Center looked to further investigate if a separation between the military and society really does exist to the extent Ike Skelton claims. The study finds that during the past decade, as the military has been engaged in the longest period of sustained conflict in the nation’s history, just one-half of one percent of American adults have served on active duty at any given time.18 This represents a massive change from previous wars our nation fought where the burden of wartime service was distributed much more evenly across the country. As the average American becomes increasingly separated from the military, personal connections between civilians and soldiers are lost, and the military is viewed more as a tool of the government than as an organization of fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who have volunteered to serve their country. Just as the American population has seen a decline in military participation, so has the U.S. Congress. The recently convened 113th Congress contains the least amount of veterans serving since World War II. In 1977, shortly after the Vietnam War, 412 veterans were sworn into Congress, but in today’s Congress only 106 members have any military experience.19 Less representation in Congress, particularly during a time of inevitable budgetary reductions, can foster an attitude among the armed forces that the dozen years of war fighting the military has done on behalf of the country is under-appreciated by our elected representatives. A report by the Triangle Institute for Security Studies found that less than half of the civilian population believes military leaders can be relied upon to respect civilian control of the military.20 Furthermore, only one-third of civilians believe the military shares the same values as the American people. More than 20 percent report they would be disappointed if their children joined the military.21 Army doctrine states that the trust between the Army and the American people is based upon a mutual confidence; soldiers swear an oath to the Constitution to serve the nation before all other considerations, and in return soldiers ask that fellow citizens remember their sacrifice.22 The majority of Americans do still support the military, but the growing separation between the military and society is dwindling this support. As sociologist David
44

Segal has stated, “The military is at war, but the country is not . . . and the military resents that.”23 Former Secretary of Defense Gates in a 2010 speech at Duke University echoed many of these sentiments. He stated that although veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have been supported when they came home, “for most Americans the wars remain an abstraction—a distant and unpleasant series of news items that do not affect them personally.”24 Even after the tragic events of 9/11, which highlighted the importance of having an effective and prepared military, Secretary Gates said, “in the absence of a draft, for a growing number of Americans, service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do.”25

Trust within the Force

Our Army has been given great autonomy by our civilian leadership because of the high moral standards we have set for ourselves. We understand this independence in policing our organization can be quickly taken away if we fail to live up to the expectations we have established. The past dozen years of war have provided a number of examples of situations in which members of our Army have acted in ways completely contradictory to our professional norms. The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib, the rape-murders in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, and the “sport” killings of three Afghan civilians are just some of the examples of the severe moral failings of some who serve within our ranks. In an Army where over a million soldiers have deployed to combat, some multiple times, it is naïve to think there will not be instances where individual soldiers take actions that bring discredit upon our country. In today’s world where the media is regularly embedded with military units and has the capability of quickly disseminating information, any unethical act committed by American soldiers is likely to be shared with the rest of the world in a matter of hours. In most instances our civilian leadership is quick to condemn the actions of U.S. service members who have committed atrocities and point out their conduct is not representative of the values instilled in our fighting men and women. As unacceptable as these tragic events may be, our society does seem to recognize there are some who are unable to emotionally and psychologically manage the stress of war. Unlike the My Lai
September-October 2013 ? MILITARY REVIEW