Religion: A Missing Component of Professional Military Education PKSOI Paper | Page 27

that military officers and Department of the Army civilians asked her the same question when she arrived.
This seems an odd question considering the presence religion played, and continues to play, in Iraq
and Afghanistan as well as emerging and on-going
intractable conflicts. What seemed so clearly plain to
me, the need for religious literacy on the part of the
United States’ military elite, was going to take some
selling. I decided to start by looking at current thinking regarding the role military education in developing religious literacy among the professional military.

Religion in PME.
Recently, professional Military Education curricula at the service colleges have received increasing
focus.53 It is suggested that Army War College (AWC)
curricula has not kept pace with a rapidly changing
global space. It is well understood that Armies are
prepared to fight the last war, not future ones. And,
if past experience is anything, future wars will very
likely possess a significant religious component.
A recent survey of the Army War College curricula suggests the peripheral role of religion in PME.
It appears little different at other War Colleges, too.
The formation of a religious literacy, and an understanding of the multiple potential roles of religion and
religious actors in conflict, is not viewed as core competencies. By offering electives in religion and conflict
there is a measure of recognition on the part of curriculum developers regarding the need to better understand the role of religion in PSO. It is worth noting
that this recognition is very recent. At the Army War
College, electives focusing specifically on religion and
peace and stability operations, as well as conflict and

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