XBradTC

By

XBradTC

·

Defense in Depth » Does America Have a Warrior Caste?

Who is truly bearing the burden of repeated deployments and protracted conflicts? Who comprises our shrinking all-volunteer force? As the daughter of an A-10 pilot, I see my fellow military brats enlisting and being commissioned at incredible rates. Anecdotally, it has seemed at least one child in every military family tends to serve, while the…

Who is truly bearing the burden of repeated deployments and protracted conflicts? Who comprises our shrinking all-volunteer force? As the daughter of an A-10 pilot, I see my fellow military brats enlisting and being commissioned at incredible rates. Anecdotally, it has seemed at least one child in every military family tends to serve, while the ROTC programs in the Ivy League are some of the smallest in the country, and military service is left unconsidered as a viable career option for most young Americans.

This is creating a cultural gap between military and civilians and presents challenges for effective civilian control and oversight of the military. More and more military service has become a family affair, creating a “warrior caste” whose mantle is passed down from generation to generation.

via Defense in Depth » Does America Have a Warrior Caste?.

Eh… to some extent, the military has always been a “family business.”

The article spends a good bit of time on the Ivy League and the disconnect they have from the military. Though what it doesn’t recognize is that the Ivy’s are gaining a significant number of veterans in their ranks, particularly the graduate programs, but also in the undergrads. Whether the Ivy’s should come before or after military service might be an interesting question on its own.

Tags:

  1. Paul H. Lemmen

    Reblogged this on A Conservative Christian Man.

    Like

  2. Esli

    That’s what we do. Some families go into the mines. Some are police or firefighters. Some work the assembly line and get the union job from dad. My family has produced vets going back through many generations. Despite my never having encouraged it, my older daughter plans to serve, too (but we shall see). Not for a lifetime, but to do her part.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Quartermaster

    If you have one group looking down on another, the result may be ominous. If the “warriors” are seen as little more than necessary evil and are treated as such and given little respect, then history has some bad lessons to teach. I hope the US does not arrive at that point, but there is no reason why we are exempt from human nature.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Buck Buchanan

    What is also bad to have is the warriors to think they are superior to the civilians they serve.

    What metric I would like to see is amongst the Ivy’s “families” how many serve as foreign service officers, federal attorneys, in the intelligence services and in the FBI.

    There are a lot of Ivies serving in those branches of government.

    Is that not also public service?

    Like

  5. ultimaratioregis

    “What is also bad to have is the warriors to think they are superior to the civilians they serve.”

    That would be a feather on top of ten tons of bricks. The “Ivys” hold service members in moral and intellectual contempt. Witness Bill Clinton’s admonition to his ROTC commander that he didn’t care to waste his life in the service, and John Kerry informing students that they need to get an education, otherwise they will be stuck fighting in Iraq. And Hillary declaring in her outside voice as First Lady how much she despised uniforms.

    Like

  6. diogenesofnj

    The “Ivy League” is an anachronism. I say tax their endowments to provide free community college for all. (I wonder why the mulatto jackenapes hasn’t thought of that?)

    Liked by 1 person

  7. xbradtc

    They’re major donors. Can’t tax those folks.

    Like

  8. timactual

    No, no, no! You are attacking the wrong 1%.

    Like

  9. Tarl

    I remember the story a while back in which the State Dept employees were practically in revolt because they might get sent to Iraq.

    So they want to “serve”… only on their terms… so long as they get to live in suburban Virginia, never get sent anywhere icky, and never get their well-manicured nails dirty.

    Like

  10. dnice

    My mom’s side has been involved in military since the Civil War when our Irish ancestors come off the boat. I was the first of my Grandfather’s grandkids to serve (there are 90 last counting) and 4 have joined. My grandpa and his brother both flew b17s but I think only my great uncle was in combat – he married a swede then worked for boeing.

    Like

  11. Buck Buchanan

    Ulti & Tarl,
    Sorry I cannot answer at the bottom of your posts so it would make more sense.

    Your examples of Ivys are dated. What are the metrics for today? For the past 5 years? For the past 10 years? You are throwing out 30 -40 year old examples. And at that time kids across America were doing EVERYTHING they could to get out of military service…at not only the Ivys but at the Cow Colleges as well.
    I am the son of an Ivy…my Dad was a WW2 Navy veteran who used his GI Bill to go to Harvard undergrad and Suffolk for his doctorate. He went into academia, becoming the president of 3 different colleges. Yet the product of the Ivys supported me becoming an Infantry officer.
    I went to West Virginia University 1976-1980. I know it’s safe to say that WVU is not mistaken for an Ivy. During that time, as both a West Virginia Guardsman and ROTC Cadet, I heard a pile of crap daily when in uniform. And it wasn’t from a bunch of flower power idiots. It was from teh straight laced business students. If you were in ROTC you were not welcome in a frat. Not a great sacrifice but that was a common experience across the country. And my experience was shared by many of my peers and subordinates across the country through the 1980s and well into the 1990s. I served in 4 different Infantry & armor battalions, 3 brigades and 3 divisions in that time. My experience was the norm.
    Yup, there were issues with getting volunteers within the State Department going to Iraq in 2004-2006. But they got enough to fill the mission and expanded the Foreign Service Officer (FSO) ranks so it no longer became an issue. Same for A’stan.

    But what about the FSO who served in Norway, Sierra Leone, and Paraguay….did they not also serve their country?

    Like

Leave a comment