"...do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."

"For the good of the Air Force, for the good of the armed services and for the good of our country, I urge you to reject convention and careerism..."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Maxwell AFB, April 21, 2008

"You will need to challenge conventional wisdom and call things like you see them to subordinates and superiors alike."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, United States Air Force Academy, March 4, 2011

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Lt Col Duffy (Ret) Says Enough is Enough - Military Entitlement Generation


I've expressed the same concern over military entitlement and how it makes my stomach churn.  It's amazing how prevalent it is today, and it's not a healthy thing.  Not for a democracy with a powerful military that is to be the servant of civilian masters.  Whether it's obsession with military discounts, or wanting to be escorted to the front of the line at an airline terminal, it saddens me to see those in uniform expect to be treated special as if they somehow deserve to be.  As if getting paid to do a job, and one they volunteered to do, isn't recognition enough from a grateful nation.  Of course, it's not all their fault.  The nonsense blasted into the airwaves by media and politicians when they want meat for their grinder is partially to blame.  Whatever the reasons, public servants armed with the most lethal technology in human history should not feel themselves superior to the civilians who pay them and who trust them to defend them.

Lt Col Dave Duffy, a retired Special Forces officer and a business owner who offers military discounts, expressed concern much better than I could in his recent article in the Washington Post.

At the end of the day, I just regret that military-civilian relations are suffering, in part because of the attitude among some that civilians should have the military on a pedestal. Enough is enough.

He's right.  Very right.

No comments:

Post a Comment