In late July, I was sitting in a Seattle restaurant with my uncle and his wife. Our conversation ebbed and flowed among the many problems our country faces –recidivism, poverty, Afghanistan, economic uncertainty – you name it, and I assure you it came up. Since I do the whole “progressive national security thing” for a living, we invariably circled back to those themes.
Though an oversimplification by any stretch, it’s probably safe to say my uncle and his wife classify themselves as “west coast liberals,” or a bit further left on than yours truly at least on military issues. They had, however, spent time in Italy in 2008 teaching English to military officers, and enjoyed the experience.
“You know,” Uncle Bill said, “The only other experience I’ve had with the military was when I was 17. I marched in to see your grandfather and told him that he had to sign these papers so I could join up and go to Vietnam. Of course, he didn’t even bother to drop his paper and said ‘no’. But it’s probably one of the most patriotic things I’ve done in my life.”
The American public’s lack of familiarity with the military, something we subsequently brought up, continues to be a huge problem. Because military recruiting is confined to a few areas of the country – notably poorer areas of the South and Midwest – most of the country has little “skin in the game” when it comes to major foreign policy decisions involving military deployments.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates feels just about the same. He spoke about the issue yesterday at Duke University:
“With each passing decade, fewer and fewer Americans know someone with military experience in their family or social circle…. There is a risk over time of developing a cadre of military leaders that politically, culturally and geographically have less and less in common with the people they have sworn to defend.”
For rational economic reasons, our forces are concentrated in several areas throughout the country – southern Virginia, San Diego, North Carolina, and Texas are amongst the largest – and DoD remains the bedrock of many of those communities.
While that may not change, the next Secretary of Defense should make it a priority to expand the recruiting base. This is a big argument that needs much more fleshing out, but it’s worth beginning to discuss now: Our military should draw from a more even cross-section of American society to inject a more diverse set of ideas into military culture and policy, which will further benefit the country by engaging those diverse recruits’ families and friends in pressing foreign and military policy debates. How many officers have Ivy League educations these days, anyway?
