First Honorable Mention, Arleigh Burke Essay Contest
Many ideas have been floated, but conspicuously absent is any plan to reinvest the military in society through domestic operations. The military is an ideal starting point for a national service program.
The crisis, if it can be called that, is by no means new. Before the ink declaring our independence was dry, Sam Adams warned the infant nation: "Soldiers are apt to consider themselves as a Body distinct from the rest of the Citizens.... Such a Power should be watched with a jealous Eye." But lately the issue has received increasing attention. The demise of the Soviet Union, while ending one great conflict, had reopened countless other fronts, and the oldest of these, alluded to by Adams, is once again at the forefront of public debate. The "crisis" is the civil-military divide.
Member-Only Content
Join the U.S. Naval Institute to gain access to this article and other articles published in Proceedings since 1874. Members receive this valuable benefit and so much more.