When I think of “Team America,” well, one thing comes to mind: that puppet movie made by the South Park dudes, and of course the unforgettable anthem that they made especially for the film. I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about.
But for former Navy SEAL Dom Raso, “Team America” means something else. For him, it’s the union of two factions: civilians and soldiers. He believes “American civilians and our military warriors must be supportive of each other in order to keep our country strong.” Do you agree?
As a former officer of the USAF who served in a combat role, I am against creating a warrior society or a warrior class. America’s freedoms have always been best served by the citizen-soldier, guided by a professional officer corps. The officers are not warriors in the “tacti-cool” sense, but a cadre of professionals who serve as the institutional memory of how to fight and win at war. The soldiers come from the citizenry.
As I was taught by the old guard thirty + years ago, war is the extension of politics by other than political means, and the best system is that the politicians say what to achieve and when, and it is the military that decides the course of action to obtain the objective. And the politicians are constrained in ordering the use of force by the fact that the soldiers who will do the fighting are not a “warrior class” to be casually used at will, but the fathers and sons (now, regrettably, the mothers and daughters) of the citizenry at large, and not just the volunteers.
Everyone should be touched by the decision to use force, including the politicians and their families, so that the decision to use force is weighed more carefully, the objectives are more concrete and the support is broad based.
Also, no citizen should be required to reflexively support the military or the individual soldier, because that is an empty gesture. One may have utter respect for the sacrifices of a soldier, yet be completely against the mission they are undertaking. Also, it is not inconceivable that one may be so vehemently against the mission, that they cannot respect the soldiers who agree to undertake it. Garnering civilian support for the military mission is the job of the politicians, not the military. Inculcating a false patriotism towards a “warrior society” serves no one.
Look at what we have today – a political class who does not serve and has no one in their family who serves (e.g. Mitt Romney) and views the volunteer force as a willing tool for whatever foolish purpose they decide. A great majority of the public also views the volunteer force in the same way. Right or wrong, at least during the time of the Vietnam war people paid attention and protested. Now a five minute gesture of empty patriotism before a football game or rodeo is all they can muster before forgetting about the military entirely.