Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig's August 2001 Proceedings review of Tom Ricks's A Soldier's Duty (New York: Random House, 2001) adroitly captured the major plot elements and accurately critiqued the overly dramatic finale of his fictional portrayal of the current crisis in U.S. civil-military relations. It also pointed out that the plot was abetted by the absence of civilian leaders to serve as connective tissue between civilian society and the military subculture. Secretary Danzig took the author to task for this, but it may have been the one aspect of the novel that was not fiction.
Had the service secretaries in A Soldier's Duty proved to be credible leaders by restraining unprofessional behavior in the officer corps, Mr. Ricks indeed would be open to charges about realism—because, with the exception of a precious few (Mr. Danzig, for example), there is a growing lack of interest in public service among civilian elites. Further, the officials who do emerge are disinclined to tackle sticky intangibles, such as the professional ethic that undergirds the armed forces and their role in serving the nation.
This is what A Soldier's Duty is about: decline of the professional ethic that used to be understood by the officers corps, modeled by senior officers, and enforced by senior officers and civilians. This implicit code—the military ethic identified by Samuel Huntington—has faded from the collective memory of the U.S. officer corps. One of the protagonists of the novel, General John Shillingsworth, represents the old school. Appropriately enough, he hails from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of General of the Army George C. Marshall. George Marshall epitomized the old soldier's unwritten code about the role of the military within a democratic system of government. He had a deep understanding of what he called the "sacred trust"—the bonds between the military services and the democratic society they protect. This understanding was a crucial component of the effective civil-military relations that dominated strategic management of World War II. The implications of an eroded or lost "sacred trust" are the essence of Ricks's novel.
A Soldier's Duty focuses on the conflict within the officer corps about its purpose and its basis for professional status. There are protagonists who cling to concepts of honor, duty, and professionalism that were the hallmark of Marshall's era. These officers struggle with the conflict between duty to political superiors and obligations to their services and subordinates. The moral conflict spawned by the nature of liberal democracy wears heavily on them, as they attempt to execute lawful orders with which they disagree. Others are more ambitious, even as they wrap themselves in patriots' clothing. The worst of the lot believes that democracy has weaknesses that must be overcome. He likes to quote Sun Tzu: "There are occasions when the command of the sovereign need not be obeyed." In his world, military matters need not be subordinated to policy or elected officials.
Junior officers in the novel struggle with the same professional obligations and the demands of selfless service over pure institutional preferences. One major notes, "It goes to professionalism. We have to be trusted as being above the fray. If we start going into the streets, we start looking like any other interest group." She argues that the self-styled, self-appointed "Sons of Liberty" defend the ability simply to turn their professional duty on and off like tapwater, picking policy choices and determining which are agreeable or proper to follow. The Sons of Liberty argue that their primary duty and loyalty should be focused downward to protect the enlisted personnel who end up doing the fighting and dying. "Breaking faith with the people we lead" is seen as the ultimate professional sin, while breaking faith with the American people and their elected leaders is a lesser problem.
Current security literature reflects an unresolved debate over civil-military relations in this nation. Recent studies warn of growing partisanship among officers, sharp identification with one political party, and resentment over the imposition of society's liberal values on the military system. Certainly, the nation's elected representatives come to office with less military experience than in the past, which may detract from their ability to deal readily with military matters. A Soldier's Duty highlights the implications if both civilian and military leaders do not pay greater attention to the intricacies and tensions inherent to civil-military relations.
In the past ten years, there has been much discussion about the growing gap between civilian and military cultures. There are, of course, certain gaps—in values and outlooks. Such gaps should be acknowledged and understood. But there should not be a gap between professional ideals and the behavior of the officer corps. Being a professional is more than competence or expertise at the military arts and sciences; it means more than status and privileges. The guiding principles and obligations require obedience to civil authority and selfless service to the nation—and the sacrifices that go with them.
A Soldier's Duty offers a glimpse into a politicized officer corps and the factions and crises it might create. It is not a pretty picture. But it imparts vital lessons and offers an excellent teaching tool for rebuilding the military's sense of professionalism. It has scenes that would be of great utility to civilian as well as military educational institutions—especially in ethics courses. A Soldier's Duty is an invaluable device for generating lively debate on the nature of the profession of arms. In addition, it can be the starting point for codifying the foundation of the military profession and its relationship to the United States at large.
An ethical foundation is critical for ambiguous times. To educate future leaders for the trials of tomorrow, the services should formalize the code that guided George Marshall. Both civilian leaders and senior military officers must ensure the "sacred trust" is preserved.
Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, recently served with the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century.