CIVIL-MILITARY GAP

November 1999
		Is there a widening "thought gap" between civilians and the military? Colonel Charles Dunlap, Colonel Mackubin Owens and professor Richard Kohn respond to your questions.

Forum introduction Who gives the military its "reality check?" Does the gap go deeper than just between civilians and top military leaders? Do civilians understand the military's mission? Is the civil-military gap a function of natural selection? Should the military change to emulate society? Could a military coup occur in the U.S.?   Online Special: Background on the civil-military gap by forum participants. Nov. 10, 1999: A discussion on the civil-military gap. Sept. 20, 1999: A report on the lobbying campaign to save the defense project F-22. July 1, 1999: Gen. Wesley Clark discusses the war in Kosovo and the military lessons learned. April 15, 1999: A look at the continuing debate over the use of ground forces in Yugoslavia. April 8, 1999: Two experts discuss the draft issue in comparison to an all-volunteer military force. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of the military.     The TISS Project on the Gap Between the Military and Civilian Society "The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012" by Charles Dunlap The Pentagon The Department of Defense

Brad Flora of St. Joseph, MI asks: I was in the army from '74 to '82, shortly after the volunteer Army was instituted. I believe there has probably always been a gap and that it's primarily a function of natural selection. I think that a certain type of person makes a career in the military -- and they tend to have certain common beliefs that set them apart from civilians. Would you agree or disagree, and do you think the differences are really growing?   Col. Charles Dunlap responds: I agree that there is a certain self-selection that creates a gap between the military and civilian societies. For a lot of reasons, I do think that this gap may be growing as reflected in the TISS study - among other things, I think the military today views itself as an elite, better society than the one it serves.   Professor Richard Kohn responds: One of our studies, as I mentioned previously, discovered that at accession, soldiers (in the generic sense) did not differ all that much from their peers. Certainly there is something of a "natural selection" effect in those who decide to make the military a career, but the literature suggests that years in a professional setting is more the molder of approaches and behaviors. Your term "certain common beliefs that set them apart from civilians" is most apt--and I think it would be mistaken to overemphasize these differences. The military comes from and remains firmly embedded in American society, and while all professions shape views and attitudes, our military people are Americans through and through. Our project concludes that the differences are growing in large part because with the end of the Cold War, military affairs are growing less important to the American people and less in their consciousness. At the same time, with a growing population but a military establishment reduced in size, fewer and fewer Americans are having contact with the military, and fewer and fewer as a percentage of the population are (and will be) veterans. So the "gap" in a generic sense is bound to grow. However there are steps that can be taken to increase contact and reduce the "gap," and the next phase of our project is to develop policy proposals for these very purposes.   Col. Mackubin Owens responds: I agree. My response to the previous question probably applies here as well. There is not just one gap, but several, but they are all related. The functional gap refers to the differences between what society does and what we ask the military to do. Soldiers have to be trained to meet the rigors of war and armed peace. The legal gap arises from the functional one. The military justice system includes offenses that do not exist in civilian life. They are offenses because of the nature of the military and military life. Any "values" gap that does exist seems to arise from the sort of person that is drawn to military life. I am not convinced that the gap is growing. I think it was much greater during the Vietnam war and for years afterward.